memeorandum: Hillary Clinton diverts to Flint to show support (Andrew Restuccia/Politico)

4:55 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, 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, FiveThirtyEight and BostonGlobe.com

Brian Beutler / New Republic:

A Panic-Inducing Night for the GOP Establishment — At Saturday night's debate, Republicans wanted Marco Rubio to soar and Donald Trump to stumble. The opposite happened. — The Republican establishment's fondest hope before Saturday night's debate was that Marco Rubio would deliver yet another solid …

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

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

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

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:
Trump: Bush family used eminent domain to build a baseball park

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

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

Discussion: The Hill and Hot Air

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
GOP debate winners and losers

Discussion: Politico and Hot Air

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

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

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

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

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

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

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, Washington Free Beacon, MichelleMalkin.com and NBC News

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

Andrew Restuccia / Politico:

Hillary Clinton diverts to Flint to show support — FLINT, Mich. — Hillary Clinton took her campaign to church Sunday, departing New Hampshire two days before the primary to travel to this beleaguered city to assure residents that they haven't been forgotten.

Discussion: ABC News

Kyle Balluck / The Hill:
CNN schedules Democratic debate in Flint

Discussion: Des Moines Register, Common Dreams and RedState

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

Discussion: ThinkProgress and CNN

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

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

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Los Angeles Times, CNN, New Republic, Guardian, Althouse, Mashable and Patterico's Pontifications

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

Discussion: Politicus USA and The Week

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

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, The Gateway Pundit and Outside the Beltway

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