memeorandum: Republican debate: Best ratings of 2016 (Brian Stelter/CNNMoney)

4:20 PM ET, February 7, 2016

Top Items:

Shane Goldmacher / Politico:

Rubio chokes — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Marco Rubio knew exactly what he was doing on Saturday night. — Marco Rubio knew exactly what he was doing on Saturday night. — Marco Rubio knew exactly what he was doing on Saturday night. — The problem was he flubbed it.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, BostonGlobe.com, Washington Post, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Los Angeles Times, Taylor Marsh, CANNONFIRE and Yahoo Politics

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

Last Night's “Marcobot Moment” May Have Ruined a Political Career — I was out to dinner last night—the duck at Il Fornaio was great!—so I missed the Republican debate. That was too bad, because apparently the highlight of the night was Chris Christie's brutal beatdown of Marco Rubio over precisely the point I made a few days ago.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, National Review, Business Insider, RedState and Scripting News

Jon Ward / Yahoo Politics:

Rubio starts digging out after debate debacle — In his first public appearances the morning after a terrible debate performance, Marco Rubio tried to push back Sunday against the idea that he lacks accomplishments as a lawmaker, a key part of the argument being made against him by rivals …

Ines de la Cuetara / ABC News:

Marco Rubio Defends Repeated Attack of President Obama During Republican Debate

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Mother Jones, The Hinterland Gazette, BuzzFeed and Hullabaloo

Todd Graham / CNN:

Debate Coach: Only one candidate got an A — Bush jabs Rubio over leadership experience — Todd Graham is director of debate at Southern Illinois University. His teams have won national championships for three years, and he's been recognized twice as the national debate coach of the year.

Discussion: Politico, New York Times, American Spectator and FiveThirtyEight

Washington Post:

Transcript of the New Hampshire GOP debate, annotated — The Republicans are taking the stage again for a debate on AB, held in New Hampshire. The Fix team and other Washington Post reporters are annotating a transcript. The debate comes just days before New Hampshire's Feb. 9 primaries.

Discussion: RedState, National Review, Slantpoint, Informed Comment and Vox

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:

Trump: Bush family used eminent domain to build a baseball park — Following attacks from primary rival Jeb Bush about his past use of eminent domain, Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Sunday accused the Bush family of using the practice to build a baseball stadium in Texas.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Daniel Strauss / Politico:

Bush piles on Rubio — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush didn't hesitate to join the pile on of Sen. Marco Rubio's debate performance on Saturday night, calling the senator “scripted.” — “He's so scripted, he's so gifted. He's a great speaker, but he came across as totally scripted and kind of robotic …

Discussion: Political Wire

Brian Beutler / New Republic:
A Panic-Inducing Night for the GOP Establishment

Discussion: RedState, Politico, The Right Scoop and Washington Post

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
GOP debate winners and losers

Discussion: Politico and Hot Air

Theodoric Meyer / Politico: Christie: ‘The whole race changed last night’

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:
Bush loyalists concede the end may be in sight

Discussion: New York Times

Elias Isquith / Salon:
Why Chris Christie's beatdown of Marco Rubio was the only moment from the GOP debate that mattered

Discussion: New York Times, DownWithTyranny!, Scared Monkeys, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Politico

Russ Choma / Mother Jones: The Six Best Moments of the GOP Debate

McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:
Under Attack, Marco Rubio Malfunctions — And Repeats The Same Line Four Times

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

ABC News:
‘This Week’ Transcript: Hillary Clinton, Sen. Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump

Discussion: Associated Press, addictinginfo.org, ThinkProgress and Washington Post

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:
A Rattled Rubio Survives New Hampshire Debate

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and New York Times

Business Insider:
Donald Trump dismisses audience after getting booed at the debate

Discussion: Althouse and The Gateway Pundit

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:
Video calls ABC ‘Anybody But Carly’ network for debate snub

Discussion: Politico, Yahoo Politics and Hot Air

Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:

Franklin Pierce-Herald poll: Clinton, Sanders just 7 points apart — U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders' once-formidable lead over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire has shrunk to just 7 points, putting another Clinton comeback within reach two days before the pivotal first primary …

Discussion: Political Wire

Caitlin Yilek / The Hill:
Poll: Trump's lead grows in NH days before primary

Discussion: ThinkProgress and CNN

Andy Hiller / WHDH-TV:
7News/UMass Lowell New Hampshire tracking poll day 6

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Politico, The Right Scoop and The Last Refuge

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:

Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright Scold Young Women Backing Bernie Sanders — Hillary Clinton's older feminist supporters have a message for young women who are not backing her candidacy: Shame on you. — Women were expected to help power Mrs. Clinton to the Democratic nomination …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, MichelleMalkin.com, Washington Free Beacon and NBC News

Hilary Hanson / The Huffington Post:
Gloria Steinem Says Young Women Only Support Bernie Because Boys Do

Discussion: CNN, New Republic, Althouse, Mashable and Patterico's Pontifications

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Republican debate: Best ratings of 2016 — Bucking a trend of declining debate ratings, ABC's Saturday night GOP face-off was the highest rated debate so far in 2016, according to overnight Nielsen ratings data. — The debate averaged a 9.3 household rating between 8:15 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. in Nielsen's so-called metered markets.

Discussion: RedState, Politico, The Gateway Pundit and Outside the Beltway

Jennifer Hansler / ABC News:

Hillary Clinton Says She Has ‘Never, Ever’ Let a Donor Influence Her Vote

Discussion: AOL and Associated Press

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Hillary Battles Bernie Sanders, Chick Magnet

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Steven Hayward / Power Line:
The Coming Hillary Meltdown?

Discussion: New York Times

David Frum / Featured stories:

Embed — Some thoughts on Rubio's bad debate, in numbered sequence (for 1 last time before Twitter algorithm destroy this format ... 1) Politicians often repeat talking points. Friend @portraitinflesh forwards this richly comic example of the genre — youtube.com/watch? v=wCem9E

Discussion: The Atlantic and Talking Points Memo

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:

CNN schedules Democratic debate in Flint — CNN announced early Sunday that it will host a debate between Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders next month in Flint, Mich., which has been hit hard by contaminated drinking water.

Discussion: Politico, Des Moines Register, Common Dreams and RedState

Mark Preston / CNN:
CNN to hold Democratic presidential debate in Flint, Michigan

Discussion: Politicus USA and The Week

Sara Jerde / Talking Points Memo:

‘SNL’ Mocks ‘Nasty Little Weasel’ Ted Cruz After Iowa Caucus Win — NBC comedy show “Saturday Night Live” mocked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)'s campaign and the candidate himself following his Iowa caucus win. “SNL” cast member Taran Killam played the GOP nominee hopeful.

Discussion: addictinginfo.org

Tim Mak / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: Trump Tried to Pay Vets To Be Props — Trump's campaign asked a small veterans charity to stand on stage with the mogul at a rally to receive a six-figure check. The charity took a pass. — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Donald Trump wanted a small veterans charity to be his political prop.

Discussion: Raw Story and addictinginfo.org

Anna Fifield / Washington Post:

North Korea launches ‘satellite,’ sparks fears about long-range missile program — TOKYO — North Korea on Sunday declared that it had successfully put an “earth observation satellite” into orbit under the direct orders of leader Kim Jong Un, and said it planned to launch “many more.”

Discussion: CNN, Hot Air and The Week