memeorandum: Some Republican candidates spend big on ads, with little to show for it (Los Angeles Times)

8:10 AM ET, January 25, 2016

Top Items:

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Rick Perry endorses Ted Cruz — Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is endorsing Ted Cruz in the Republican presidential primary, Perry told POLITICO in an interview Sunday night. — Perry, who also sought the GOP nomination before dropping out in September, said he now sees the race as one that is between Cruz …

Discussion: RedState, AOL, The Week and NBC News

Monica Langley / Wall Street Journal:

Behind Donald Trump's Attack Strategy — A behind-the-scenes look at how the GOP front-runner personally drives his pointed attacks — NASHUA, N.H.— Donald Trump made his decision to start skewering Sen. Ted Cruz as his private jet was approaching here earlier this month.

Discussion: Des Moines Register

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP senators: Anyone but Cruz — Jittery Republican senators think Donald Trump would actually give them a better chance of keeping their Senate majority if he were the party's presidential nominee instead of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). — With the Iowa caucuses, the first contest …

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Guess which divisive Republican is now campaigning as a political uniter? — SIOUX CENTER, Iowa — In the final minutes of a campaign rally here, after an hour-long speech full of his signature bluster and bomb-throwing, Republican front-runner Donald Trump made his closing pitch to Iowa voters.

Discussion: Political Wire

Los Angeles Times:

Some Republican candidates spend big on ads, with little to show for it — Jeb Bush, center, at a campaign stop in Pelham, N.H., on Jan. 23. A super PAC has spent at least $60 million on ads for Bush, but he remains stuck at about 6% in polls. — In a drumbeat that gets more insistent every week …

Discussion: Political Wire

David Axelrod / New York Times:
The Obama Theory of Trump

Discussion: Politico

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
GOP fear and loathing in New Hampshire

Discussion: Balloon Juice and The Last Refuge

Kate Scanlon / TheBlaze.com:
Why Marco Rubio Thinks Historic Blizzard is the ‘Best Thing to Happen to the Republic in Quite a While’

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

Wesley Muller / Sun Herald:

Father and son die in shootout at Pearl River County gun shop — wmuller@sunherald.com Twitter: WesleySMuller — PICAYUNE — A father and son were killed in a shootout with another man and his son at a gun store Saturday in Pearl River County's Henleyfield community.

Discussion: WLOX-TV and Associated Press

BostonGlobe.com:

Hillary Clinton deserves Democratic nomination — America looks different in 2016 than it did the last time Hillary Clinton ran for president: The economy has come out of free fall, the military has left the quagmire of the Iraq war, barriers to equality have toppled, and universal access to health care has become a reality.

Discussion: Politico, The Daily Beast, Concord Monitor, New York Times, Washington Post and Des Moines Register

Politico:

Podcast: President Barack Obama — POLITICO's “Off Message” podcast relaunches for 2016 with Glenn Thrush's exclusive sit-down interview with President Barack Obama, conducted on Jan. 22 in the Oval Office. — A week ahead of the Iowa caucuses, the president makes his most expansive comments yet …

Discussion: New York Times and Political Wire

Pamela Geller:

VIDEO: Muslim Migrant Who BEAT, SPAT ON Mother with Children in Sweden is Being Deported to ...... Denmark — A couple of days ago, I ran video of a Muslim migrant in Sweden who beat and spit on a mother with her children. The video caused such an uproar, the now “Most Hated Man in Sweden” is being deported — to Denmark.

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News and Jihad Watch

Paul Sperry / New York Post:

Hillary's team copied intel off top-secret server to email — The FBI is investigating whether members of Hillary Clinton's inner circle “cut and pasted” material from the government's classified network so that it could be sent to her private e-mail address, former State Department security officials say.

Discussion: Politics Informer, MichelleMalkin.com and Power Line

Tony Barboza / Los Angeles Times:

Fast-acting methane from Aliso Canyon leak is boosting global warming — Pilot and UC Davis scientist Stephen Conley points out the air intakes on his pollution-detecting plane that measure methane emissions from the Aliso Canyon leak. (Joe Proudman / UC Davis)

Discussion: The Week, 89.3 KPCC, NPR and KTLA

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Trump gains in Iowa, still dominates in New Hampshire — With just over a week until the first 2016 election contest, Donald Trump takes the lead in Iowa — and maintains his big advantage in New Hampshire. — That's according to the latest round of Fox News state polls …

Discussion: Politico, CBS News, Political Wire, Bloomberg Business, Hot Air, The Last Tradition, Taylor Marsh, AOL and Weekly Standard

Colin Wilhelm / Politico:

Trump would ‘love’ a third-party Bloomberg bid — Donald Trump said Sunday he'd “love it” if former New York mayor and fellow billionaire Michael Bloomberg entered the presidential race as a third-party candidate. — “He's very opposite on me with guns and he's opposite on pro-life …

Discussion: Political Wire