memeorandum: While Congress was impeaching, Trump was busy deregulating (Ruth Marcus/Washington Post)

2:50 PM ET, February 8, 2020

Top Items:

CNN:

CNN poll: Sanders leads as Buttigieg grabs momentum in New Hampshire — Buttigieg and Sanders both claim victory in Iowa — (CNN)Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders heads into the New Hampshire primary still holding a lead over his top rivals for the Democratic nomination, but with Pete Buttigieg …

Discussion: Mother Jones, USA Today, The Week, New York Post and WTOP

CBS Boston:

Exclusive NH Tracking Poll: Buttigieg Takes Lead Over Sanders In Tight New Hampshire Race — BOSTON (CBS) - Pete Buttigieg continued his rise in Friday night's exclusive WBZ/Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll, for the first time taking a narrow lead that falls within the survey's 4.4% margin of error.

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

Colin Kalmbacher / Law & Crime:

Pete Buttigieg Funded by Russian-Linked Oligarch Who Supports Trump and McConnell — Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is facing questions after recent revelations that his 2020 effort has taken campaign contributions from an infamous …

Discussion: Mediaite

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Bernie Sanders showed us he's a very skilled politician — Sen. Bernie Sanders walks onstage as he arrives for the Democratic debate on February 7, 2020. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images — He's a much savvier operator than the establishment gives him credit for.

Discussion: ABC News, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Daily Caller, Breitbart and Outside the Beltway

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Journalists shouldn't make political predictions. I learned this lesson the hard way. — Of all the lessons the mainstream media should have learned over the past four years, one of them is inexcusably obvious: We're bad at predictions. — Who can forget poll analyses, the infographic needles …

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Winners and losers from the New Hampshire Democratic debate

Discussion: Associated Press, Breitbart, The Daily Beast and Bern Notice

The Boston Globe:
Buttigieg opens slight lead over Sanders in N.H., Globe/WBZ/Suffolk poll shows

Discussion: Axios, Politico and New York Post

Julie Pace / Associated Press:
Democrats on edge after 2020 election season's ragged launch

Discussion: Axios and Breitbart

Niall Stanage / The Hill:
Five takeaways: Fear of Trump hangs over Democratic debate

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Politico and NBC News

Politico:
Everything you need to know about the 2020 race in New Hampshire today

Discussion: Associated Press, CNN and The Hill

New York Times:
How Pete Buttigieg Became the Surprise of the Iowa Caucuses

Discussion: Mediaite

Alex Griswold / Washington Free Beacon:
Pete Buttigieg Refuses to Answer Half of NYT Foreign Policy Survey

Discussion: New York Times and New York Times

New York Times:
7 Takeaways From the Democratic Debate in New Hampshire

Discussion: Mother Jones and The Hill

Nihar Kabinittal / ABC News:
Klobuchar takes aim at Buttigieg in ABC News debate in New Hampshire

Discussion: New York Times and Breitbart

The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Trump used Philly girl's story to attack ‘failing government schools.’ But she's at one of the city's most desired charters. — President Donald Trump turned a Philadelphia fourth grader into a poster child for the school-choice movement Tuesday when he told the nation that thousands of students were …

Discussion: Daily Kos

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:

Friday Night Massacre's Just the Beginning for Acquitted Trump — Nine months before election day, our most corrupt, unfit, demented and malevolent president has been given more power than any other human being in our history. — BEAST INSIDE — In an administration founded on lies, telling the truth is the ultimate crime.

Discussion: Raw Story

Vivian Salama / CNN:
Firing of House impeachment witnesses raises questions over US-Ukraine policy

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Raw Story and East Bay Times

John Gans / New York Times:
Col. Vindman and the Trumpification of the National Security Council

Discussion: Raw Story, The Brussels Times, Mediaite, Vox, The Daily Caller and The Week

Washington Post:
Trump ousts Vindman and Sondland, punishing key impeachment witnesses in post-acquittal campaign of retribution

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, One America News Network, Mother Jones, Vox, UPI, The Resurgent, The Last Refuge, Associated Press and The Hill

New York Times:
Trump Fires Impeachment Witnesses Gordon Sondland and Alexander Vindman in Post-Acquittal Purge

Todd Spangler / Detroit Free Press:

Bloomberg gets key endorsement from Michigan congresswoman, who says he will be president — WASHINGTON — Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is pulling out all the stops to win Michigan's March 10 presidential primary and on Saturday picked up what could be a watershed endorsement …

Discussion: Political Wire

Axios:

Bloomberg's big bet on massive campaign spending — Data: Advertising Analytics, FEC; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios — Michael Bloomberg's prolific spending aims to make him as legitimate and familiar as his rivals. It also confronts two realities: President Trump is out-raising …

Discussion: Ballotpedia News, The Hill, Fox News, Washington Post and Politico

NBC News: Elizabeth Warren's ‘unity’ pitch clashes with her ‘fighter’ message

Associated Press:

Actor-comedian Orson Bean, 91, hit and killed by car in LA — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Orson Bean, the witty actor and comedian who enlivened the game show “To Tell the Truth” and played a crotchety merchant on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” was hit and killed by a car in Los Angeles, authorities said.

Discussion: Breitbart, New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line and The Wrap

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

VA chief Wilkie sought to dig up dirt on woman who complained of sexual assault, agency insiders say — The Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general is reviewing a request from a top House leader to investigate allegations that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie sought to dig up dirt …

Discussion: ProPublica

Brittany Shammas / Washington Post:

Meet the 71-year-old staging a one-man protest in his Trump-loving retirement community — For most of his life, Ed McGinty kept his political beliefs to himself. — Raised Irish Catholic in Philadelphia, the 71-year-old retired real estate broker has always been a Democrat, just like his parents before him.

Discussion: Raw Story

Molly Jong-Fast / The Bulwark:

Donald Trump Definitely Learned His Lesson — He knows exactly who he's dealing with now. — We should have expected that a speech tasked with unpacking “our Country's VICTORY over the Impeachment Hoax!” would be crazy. — But none of us could have possibly predicted just how crazy it turned out to be.

New York Times:

Amy Klobuchar — Jamelle Bouie (7/10) — Klobuchar sounded confident and aggressive, willing and able to go after her competitors. Her defense of experience, in particular, was strong. More and more, she looks like a real alternative for moderate Democrats.

Jackie Kucinich / The Daily Beast:

Democratic Voters Worry Biden Has ‘Too Much Baggage’ After Trump's Ukraine Smears — The conspiracy theories about Biden amplified by Trump may have been debunked, but some voters say it doesn't matter—the former VP already has a huge weak spot. — On the campaign trail …

Riham Feshir / MPR News:

Thousands of Hmong and Lao Americans face deportation under Trump proposal — In a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Rep. Betty McCollum calls the plan ‘unconscionable’ — Advocates warn that a Trump administration proposal to deport thousands of Hmong and Lao Americans back to Laos …