memeorandum: We Thought Marco Rubio Lost The Debate, But New Hampshire Might Think Differently (Nate Silver/FiveThirtyEight)

8:10 PM ET, February 7, 2016

Top Items:

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: CANNONFIRE, Vox, National Review, Scripting News, Business Insider and RedState

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

We Thought Marco Rubio Lost The Debate, But New Hampshire Might Think Differently — We here at FiveThirtyEight endorse the conventional wisdom, for a change. Like most other people covering the event, we thought that Marco Rubio had a really bad night in Saturday's Republican debate …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, BuzzFeed, Slate, Washington Post, The Resurgent and Vox

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 Hill, Hot Air, The Atlantic, Boston Herald, The Huffington Post, ABC News, Washington Post, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Los Angeles Times, Taylor Marsh and CANNONFIRE

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

Todd Graham / CNN:
Debate Coach: Only one candidate got an A

Discussion: BostonGlobe.com, New York Times, The Hinterland Gazette and Politico

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Cruz: Drafting women is ‘nuts’

Discussion: Slantpoint

Reid J. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:
Cruz Opposes Women in Selective Service, Warns of Danger in Foxholes

Discussion: The Daily Caller

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

Discussion: The Hill

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

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

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

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

Daniel Strauss / Politico: Bush piles on Rubio

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

Discussion: New York Times

Washington Post:
Transcript of the New Hampshire GOP debate, annotated

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

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

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

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

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
GOP debate winners and losers

Discussion: Politico and Hot Air

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 and Lawyers, Guns & Money

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

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and New York Times

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

Discussion: 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: RedState, Talking Points Memo, JustOneMinute, Weekly Standard, Liberal Values, NBC News, Outside the Beltway, Althouse, The Wrap, Washington Free Beacon and MichelleMalkin.com

Gloria Steinem / Facebook:

In a case of talk-show Interruptus, I misspoke on the Bill Maher show recently, and apologize for what's been misinterpreted as implying young women aren't serious in their politics. What I had just said on the same show was the opposite: young women are active, mad as hell about what's happening to them …

Discussion: Yahoo Politics, Guardian and National Review

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

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

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: Des Moines Register, Common Dreams and RedState

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

Discussion: ABC News

Jennifer Hansler / ABC News:
Hillary Clinton Says She Has ‘Never, Ever’ Let a Donor Influence Her Vote

Discussion: Politico, AOL and Associated Press

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

Discussion: Politicus USA and The Week

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

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

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 …

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

Discussion: CNN and ThinkProgress

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

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

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: addictinginfo.org and Raw Story

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