Top Items:
Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Are Primary Polls Finally Predictive? No, but This Is When the Fun Starts — You have undoubtedly heard that primary polls aren't necessarily very predictive far from an election. With just a month to go until the Iowa caucuses, I'm writing to tell you that ... it's still true.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Washington Post
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Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:
Six Factors That Could Make a Difference for Republicans in 2016 — Will next year's dynamics be a continuation of this one's—or a return to politics as usual? — Just four weeks before the first votes of the 2016 presidential contest are cast in Iowa's caucuses, a bizarre …
Discussion:
Politico
Erick Erickson / RedState:
Marco Rubio's Path to Victory — Dan McLaughlin has a very convincing look at how Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 94% waits out Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) 100%'s early wins. As we move in the calendar, we get to more moderate states, and Rubio's odds go up. — What we have to consider, however, is voter psychology.
Discussion:
Hot Air
Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:
Bush super PAC criticizes Rubio for missing votes in U.S. Senate
Bush super PAC criticizes Rubio for missing votes in U.S. Senate
Discussion:
The Hill, Vox, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, New Yorker, Business Insider and Politico
Annie Karni / Politico:
6 moments that could haunt Hillary Clinton — Hillary Clinton, her aides will tell you, is focused solely on winning the Democratic primary. Hillary Clinton, Democratic strategists with ties to the campaign will tell you, has one eye planted on the general election in everything she says and does.
Discussion:
America Rising and The Hill
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Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump expands his attacks on the Clintons — Donald Trump defended and expanded upon his attacks on the Clintons on Tuesday, asserting once more that former President Bill Clinton's past infidelities are “fair game” if Hillary Clinton keeps hitting him for his own views on women, bringing up Monica Lewinsky and Paula Jones as examples.
Discussion:
TODAY.com, The Daily Caller, Washington Times, Da Tech Guy Blog and Daily Kos
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Donald Trump Once Blogged That Hillary Clinton Would Make A Great President — Less than a decade ago, Donald Trump could be spotted on TV or in print gushing over Hillary Clinton. He publicly praised her health care plan (it had an individual mandate). He said he liked Clinton and her husband “very much.”
Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Fiorina defends Trump: ‘Bill Clinton is fair game’
Fiorina defends Trump: ‘Bill Clinton is fair game’
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Shakesville, The Huffington Post, Washington Post and The Gateway Pundit
Reuters:
Exclusive - Islamic State ruling aims to settle who can have sex with female slaves — Islamic State theologians have issued an extremely detailed ruling on when “owners” of women enslaved by the extremist group can have sex with them, in an apparent bid to curb what they called violations in the treatment of captured females.
Discussion:
Shakesville and Jezebel
Benjamin L. Ginsberg / Wall Street Journal:
Flirting With a Chaotic GOP Convention — There are three scenarios for how the primaries will play out. Two of them mean uncharted territory. — Reports of Republican officials convening a closed-door session over the possibility of a deadlocked convention are feeding speculation …
Discussion:
Politico and New York Times
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WRGT-TV FOX 45 News:
Woman Shoots, Kills Home Invasion Suspect In Trotwood — TROTWOOD — A home invasion turns deadly when the homeowner takes the safety of her family into her own hands. — One of three home invasion suspect was shot and killed during the incident, and has been identified …
Discussion:
Bearing Arms, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and The Jawa Report
Evan Perez / CNN:
‘Affluenza’ teen Ethan Couch detained in Mexico — (CNN)Mexican authorities have detained so-called “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch and his mother near the popular Mexican Pacific beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta, officials briefed on the matter told CNN. — Couch went missing earlier this month …
Discussion:
addictinginfo.org, KFOR-TV, NBC News, Raw Story, Scared Monkeys, WQAD-TV, RT, Mediaite, KTLA, Jezebel and Balloon Juice
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Ashe Schow / Washington Examiner:
Harvard Law dean compares microaggressions to violence, sexual assault — Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More — In a move that should surprise no one who has been watching the utter meltdown of privileged college students this year, a Harvard Law School dean has compared “microaggressions” to sexual assault and violence.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
How Donald Trump destroyed the Republican Party in 2015 — History will remember 2015 as the year when The Republican Party As We Knew It was destroyed by Donald Trump. An entity called the GOP will survive — but can never be the same. — Am I overstating Trump's impact, given that not a single vote has been cast?
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Megan McArdle / Bloomberg View:
Bernienomics 101 — The day after Christmas, Bernie Sanders asked a question on Twitter: “You have families out there paying 6, 8, 10 percent on student debt but you can refinance your homes at 3 percent. What sense is that?” — Finance types may snicker.
Discussion:
Hot Air
James Hibberd / EW.com:
DAREDEVIL SEASON 2: FIRST PHOTO OF THE PUNISHER — Exclusive: Season 2 to have faster pace, Punisher morality debate — Marvel's Daredevil is shaking things up in season 2 with a faster pace, more romance, and some morally complex storytelling that introduces the controversial gun-toting super-antihero The Punisher.
Discussion:
ABC News, The Mary Sue and Maxim
CNN:
Dissatisfaction, anger dominate year-end reviews of Washington — President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign pledge to bring change hasn't panned out successfully in the eyes of many of his constituents — (CNN)Heading into the final year of Barack Obama's presidency, the American public …
Discussion:
MichelleMalkin.com, The Hill, Washington Post, Hot Air, myfox8.com and RedState
Nick Gass / Politico:
One person shows up to O'Malley event in Iowa, remains uncommitted — Amid a vicious winter storm on Monday that forced some presidential campaigns to cancel their scheduled stops in Iowa, only Martin O'Malley decided to press on. — And one man at his last event, the only person to show up …
Discussion:
Hit & Run
Hadas Gold / Politico:
Trump: Union Leader publisher a ‘lowlife’ — Donald Trump took aim at his latest target in the media world — this time, Joe McQuaid, publisher of the New Hampshire Union Leader. — “He's a real lowlife, there's no question about it,” Trump said on New Hampshire television station WMUR …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, The Hill and Mediaite
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