memeorandum: In 2008, Trump Dismissed Clinton Sex Scandal as ‘Totally Unimportant’ (Josh Feldman/Mediaite)

2:10 PM ET, December 29, 2015

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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: Liberal Values, America Rising, The Daily Caller and The Hill

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, Hot Air, New York Times 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.”

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
In 2008, Trump Dismissed Clinton Sex Scandal as ‘Totally Unimportant’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, addictinginfo.org and alan.com

Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Fiorina defends Trump: ‘Bill Clinton is fair game’

Discussion: ABC News, Booman Tribune, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Shakesville, Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit

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

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

Discussion: Hot Air

Lauren French / Politico:
House rebels crusade for Cruz

Discussion: Daily Kos

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:
Bush super PAC criticizes Rubio for missing votes in U.S. Senate

Discussion: The Hill, Vox, WEAREIOWA, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, New Yorker, Business Insider and Politico

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: BizPac Review, LiberalAmerica.org, 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: New York Times and Politico

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook, presented by NextGen Climate …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Des Moines Register

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 and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

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, The Ring of Fire, Raw Story, KTLA, Scared Monkeys, WQAD-TV, RT, Mediaite, Jezebel and Balloon Juice

ABC News:
‘Affluenza’ Teen Ethan Couch Detained in Mexico, Officials Say

Discussion: Washington Post, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, New York Times, Business Insider, WFAA-TV, Crime and Consequences Blog, abc13.com and abc7chicago.com

Joe Coscarelli / New York Times:

Lemmy, Singer and Bassist for Motörhead, Dies at 70 — Ian Fraser Kilmister, the jagged-voiced heavy metal singer and bassist known as Lemmy, who led the loud and fast British rock band Motörhead for decades, died on Monday. He was 70. — Motörhead confirmed his death on its official Facebook page.

Discussion: Guardian, There is no easy …, Raw Story, Scared Monkeys, The Verge and abc7chicago.com

Andrew Liszewski / Gizmodo:

Ford Wants to Turn Your Car's Back Wheel Into a Batpod — A patent filed by Ford a few weeks ago reveals a rather unorthodox alternative to throwing a bicycle in your trunk. Like the Batpod that ejected from the Batmobile in The Dark Knight, the back wheel of your car could quickly transform into a self-balancing electric unicycle.

Discussion: The Verge, Engadget and Mashable

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

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 and Mediaite

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