memeorandum: Trump's Campaign Is Damaging His Brand (Michael D'Antonio/Politico)

11:50 AM ET, January 11, 2016

Top Items:

Ben Jacobs / Guardian:

Harvard scholar: Ted Cruz's citizenship, eligibility for president ‘unsettled’ — Liberal law professor Laurence Tribe cited by Donald Trump in his ‘natural-born’ citizenship attacks has questioned Cruz's own constitutional positions — The legal and constitutional issues around qualification …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Observer, The Last Tradition, Political Wire, Arizona Republic, Washington Post, ABC News and Vox

John DiStaso / WMUR:

NH staff at pro-Carson super PAC quits to volunteer for Cruz — Five paid staffers' last day was Sunday, call Cruz a ‘conservative who can win’ — All five paid New Hampshire staffers at the pro-Ben Carson 2016 Committee super PAC quit their posts on Sunday to become volunteers for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, WMUR.com has learned.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo and Bloomberg.com

Michael Falcone / ABC News:

The Note: Bernie Sanders In Striking Distance

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and 6abc.com

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Poll: Neck-And-Neck 2016 Races in Iowa, New Hampshire

Discussion: Guardian, Washington Post, ABC News, Marist Poll, Bloomberg Business, Mashable, The Moderate Voice, RedState, Raw Story, Florida Politics, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, American Power, Political Wire and Wall Street Journal

NBC News:
Meet the Press - January 10, 2016

Discussion: Members, NBC News, BuzzFeed and Althouse

Fox News:

FBI's Clinton probe expands to public corruption track — Jan. 10, 2015: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton addresses an audience during an event in Hooksett, N.H. (AP) — EXCLUSIVE: The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of private email as secretary of state …

Discussion: National Review, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Washington Free Beacon, The Right Scoop, Hot Air, The Resurgent and Jammie Wearing Fools

Jon Pareles / New York Times:

David Bowie, the Legendary Musician, Has Died at 69 — David Bowie, the infinitely changeable, fiercely forward-looking songwriter who taught generations of musicians about the power of drama, images and personae, died Sunday, two days after his 69th birthday, according to his publicist.

Discussion: Gay Star News, CBS New York, No More Mister Nice Blog, Comicbook.com, Outside the Beltway, ABC News, Patterico's Pontifications, Shakesville, 89.3 KPCC, Guardian, Scared Monkeys, Mashable, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Liberal Values, Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Refinery29 and Althouse

Hollywood Reporter:
The singer-songwriter and producer excelled at glam rock, art rock, soul, hard rock, dance pop …

Discussion: Guardian, NPR, Florida Politics and The Week

Lukas I. Alpert / Wall Street Journal:

New Republic Owner Chris Hughes Puts Magazine Up For Sale — Facebook co-founder, who purchased the title in 2012, says magazine needs a new business model — The New Republic, the century-old magazine that was rocked a year ago by the mass exodus of its staff following an effort by its owner …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Business Insider and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Chris Hughes / Medium:

The New Republic's Next Chapter — I sent the letter below to the The New Republic staff this morning on the next chapter for our institution. I've reposted it in full here. — To the staff of The New Republic, — I have some difficult news today: I have decided to put The New Republic up for sale.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon and Mashable, more at Mediagazer »

Joshua Miller / The White House:

We're on Snapchat: Add WhiteHouse — Summary: The White House launches an “Official Story” on Snapchat to provide a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Administration. — At the White House, our digital strategy centers around meeting people where they are.

Discussion: Politico

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Obama, GOP Congress near end of long, ugly relationship

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:
The White House Just Joined Snapchat

Discussion: Re/code and Business Insider

Peter Baker / New York Times:
Obama's Last State of the Union Address Aims to Set Tone for '16 Campaign

Discussion: CNN, The Week, Refinery29 and NBC News

Alyssa Bereznak / Yahoo Politics:
The State of the Union will be snapchatted, live-streamed, tweeted and, oh yeah, broadcast

Discussion: Medium, Wired and Bloomberg.com

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Democratic, Republican Identification Near Historical Lows — PRINCETON, N.J. — In 2015, for the fifth consecutive year, at least four in 10 U.S. adults identified as political independents. The 42% identifying as independents in 2015 was down slightly from the record 43% in 2014.

Discussion: Hit & Run and Washington Post

Nick Gass / Politico:

Gallup: Share of Democrats reaches record low — The share of Americans identifying as Democrats dropped to a record low in 2015, according to the latest Gallup results published Monday, in the latest indication that Americans' attachment to either political party is at or nearing historical lows.

Discussion: Hot Air and Political Wire

Bloomberg Business:

The State of Chris Christie's New Jersey, in Six Charts — Republican governor to give annual address to lawmakers — On the presidential campaign trail, he confronts his record — After a year in which Governor Chris Christie spent more than half his days outside New Jersey …

Discussion: Politico

Matt Arco / New Jersey Online:
Did Christie just lie about past Planned Parenthood donation? (VIDEO)

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, National Review and BuzzFeed

David Bowie / Facebook:

January 10 2016 - David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18 month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family's privacy during their time of grief.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, ThinkProgress, Gay Star News, Mashable, CBS New York, New York's PIX11, FOX31 Denver, RT, The Verge, The Last Tradition and Wall Street Journal

Michael D'Antonio / Politico:

Trump's Campaign Is Damaging His Brand — If Donald Trump is nothing else, he's an American brand. The Trump name adorns luxury condominiums, hotels and golf courses around the world; it has sold a TV show, millions of books, a line of cologne and even, briefly, an airline.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Week

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Obama Boom — Do you remember the “Bush boom”? Probably not. Anyway, the administration of George W. Bush began its tenure with a recession, followed by an extended “jobless recovery.” By the summer of 2003, however, the economy began adding jobs again.

Discussion: Prairie Weather