memeorandum: Joe Biden's Campaign About Nothing (Jack Shafer/Politico)

3:30 PM ET, February 12, 2020

Top Items:

Cameron Joseph / VICE:

EXCLUSIVE: Harry Reid Says It's Time to Kill Off the Iowa Caucus — LAS VEGAS — Harry Reid is done with Iowa. — The former senate majority leader, who remains a powerful force in the Democratic Party, led off a lengthy interview with VICE News by declaring the end of the Iowa Caucuses.

Discussion: Vox, IJR, The Hill, Bloomberg and CNN

Politico:

‘Blood in the water’: Biden campaign reels after New Hampshire trouncing — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Joe Biden limped away from New Hampshire with a devastating fifth-place finish, zero delegates and the viability of his campaign in question. — It's a precipitous fall for the former vice president …

Discussion: New York Times, The Week, Washington Post, Associated Press, Townhall, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Mother Jones, IJR, The Daily Beast and Vox

New York Times:

Democrats Got Endorsements From Lawmakers on Their Campaigns' Payrolls — As the 2020 candidates vie for support in South Carolina, Tom Steyer has been criticized for hiring black lawmakers or their companies. Records show Bernie Sanders's campaign has done the same.

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Joe Biden's Campaign Was a Disaster For Liberalism and the Democratic Party — Candidates who flame out early in presidential primaries, almost by definition, do not make history. But Joe Biden may be an exception. Biden's presidential campaign is now almost certain to fail …

Discussion: The Intercept, No More Mister Nice Blog, VodkaPundit and Reason

Ebony Bowden / New York Post:

The spectacular collapse of Joe Biden as Democratic frontrunner — MANCHESTER, NH — He was once the presumptive Democratic nominee, but on Tuesday, Joe Biden fled New Hampshire with his tail between his legs — and headed to South Carolina where he watched his dismal results come in.

Discussion: Power Line and Althouse

Jack Shafer / Politico:

Joe Biden's Campaign About Nothing — With his Iowa and New Hampshire thumpings etched into the record books, it's finally safe to say that Joe Biden's deepest problem as a candidate is that he can neither be taken literally nor seriously. — I'm not talking here about Biden's career-long talent …

Discussion: Breitbart

Amanda Terkel / HuffPost:

Cable News Just Can't Bring Itself To Admit That Bernie Sanders Won — It was the moderates who really won! — Just so we're clear, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary. He received the most votes. He won. — But you might not know that if you were watching cable news.

Discussion: Common Dreams, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Washington Post:
New Hampshire Democratic primary exit poll results and analysis

Discussion: Vox, Politico, Slate, NBC News, The Nation, PJ Media Home, Common Dreams, ABC News, Fox News, The Hill, Washington Times and IJR

Jacqueline Alemany / Washington Post:
Power Up: Bernie Sanders's ‘revolution’ may not materialize after narrow New Hampshire primary win

Discussion: CNN, IJR, NPR, New York Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill and Rolling Stone

Joe Concha / The Hill:
Van Jones: ‘People are depressed’ by primary process, just want ‘somebody to vote for against Trump’

Discussion: NB Blog, IJR, ABC News and Breitbart

Elie Mystal / The Nation:
They Rocked New Hampshire—but Pete and Amy Still Can't Win Over Black Voters

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post and The Guardian

Michael Scherer / Washington Post:
Mike Bloomberg wins the Democratic spotlight and the derision of his rivals

Discussion: Breitbart, NBC News and The Guardian

John Judis / Talking Points Memo: Requiem for Elizabeth Warren's Campaign

Catherine Garcia / The Week:
In Twitter rampage, Trump attacks federal judge set to sentence Roger Stone

Discussion: Reason, NPR, Raw Story, Axios and HuffPost

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Sanders Is The Front-Runner After New Hampshire, And A Contested Convention Has Become More Likely

Discussion: Power Line, The Week, Jill Filipovic, The Dispatch, Common Dreams and Teen Vogue

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Sanders won, but he's not the big story coming out of New Hampshire

Discussion: Vox, VICE, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Common Dreams

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
What happened to Elizabeth Warren?

Discussion: Vox, New York Post, The Rush Limbaugh Show and USA Today

Jonathan Allen / NBC News:
Klobuchar's bronze is gold as Democrats awaken to a scrambled field

Discussion: Washington Post, Joe.My.God., The Daily Beast and MSNBC

Alexandra Jaffe / Associated Press:
Deval Patrick, last black candidate in 2020 race, drops out

Discussion: Fox News, ABC News, Washington Post, The Week, The Hill, Press Herald and FiveThirtyEight

Andrew Desiderio / Politico:

Lindsey Graham shuts down calls to investigate DOJ's Roger Stone reversal — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has little interest in investigating the Justice Department's abrupt reversal on a sentencing recommendation for Roger Stone — rebuffing a Democratic demand sparked …

Discussion: Axios, The Guardian, BizPac Review, Raw Story, Vox, National Review and Talking Points Memo

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

As Trump openly corrupts DOJ, a former insider sounds the alarm — With the Justice Department in turmoil over the decision by higher-ups to downscale a sentencing recommendation for longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone, Trump tweeted: … This is a straight-up celebration of the fact …

Discussion: National Review, Bloomberg, Mediaite, The American Independent and Washington Examiner

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Trump Congratulates William Barr for Eliminating Justice Department Independence

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Hill and POLITICUSUSA

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Trump just made the DOJ's Roger Stone intervention look even worse

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Common Dreams, The Hill and Breitbart

Victoria Taft / PJ Media Home:
Trump Says He Had ‘Nothing to Do’ With Changing Roger Stone's ‘Disgraceful’ Sentencing Memo

Discussion: Townhall, Redstate and The Hill

NBC News:
Barr takes control of legal matters of interest to Trump, including Stone sentencing

Andrew J. Tobias / Plain Dealer:

Jim Jordan's name comes up during Statehouse testimony on OSU abuse victims bill — COLUMBUS, Ohio — U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan's name came up Tuesday during a Statehouse hearing on a bill that would pave the way for victims of former Ohio State University doctor Richard Strauss to sue the university for damages.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, The Hill, Daily Kos, Raw Story and The American Independent

Liz Roscher / Yahoo Sports:

Rep. Jim Jordan accused of participating in OSU sexual abuse cover-up by ex-wrestler — Ohio congressman and former Ohio State assistant wrestling coach Jim Jordan has been accused of participating in the cover up of widespread sexual abuse in OSU's wrestling program.

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and Raw Story

Todd Stacy / Alabama Daily News:

New Alabama poll shows tight race for U.S. Senate — MONTGOMERY, Ala. - With less than three weeks to go until the primary election on March 3, a new Alabama Daily News poll shows a tight race among Republican contenders for the U.S. Senate. — According to the survey of likely Republican voters …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Joe.My.God.

CNN:

First on CNN: Deval Patrick ends 2020 presidential campaign — (CNN)Deval Patrick, the former Massachusetts governor who in November made a late entrance into the Democratic 2020 race, ended his campaign on Wednesday, according to a statement provided to CNN.

Discussion: National Review, Townhall, The Week, Outside the Beltway and Joe.My.God.

Sonam Sheth / Business Insider:

Trump repeatedly asked Reince Priebus if Wisconsin badgers are ‘mean to people,’ how they ‘work,’ and what they eat, according to a new book — When Reince Priebus was the White House chief of staff, President Donald Trump often subjected him to questioning about badgers …

The Daily Beast:

Accused Yovanovitch ‘Stalker’ Robert Hyde Now Supplying Documents to Congress — When asked what he gave the Hill, Robert Hyde told The Daily Beast: “Everything that I had between Lev Parnas and I.” — Not long ago, he was accused of tracking a U.S. ambassador from the shadows.

Discussion: The Independent

Richard Ruelas / Arizona Republic:

QAnon follower who blocked bridge near Hoover Dam pleads guilty to terrorism charge — A man who, motivated by his belief in the wide-ranging conspiracy theory known as QAnon, blocked the bridge near the Hoover Dam with a homemade armored vehicle, has pleaded guilty to making a terrorist threat.

Discussion: Raw Story and Joe.My.God.

Megan Messerly / The Nevada Independent:

In new flyer, Culinary Union warns members Sanders would ‘end’ their health care if elected president — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders speaks during a Culinary Union town hall in Las Vegas on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. (Jeff Scheid/The Nevada Independent) — Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would …

Discussion: Politico, NBC News, Washington Post, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Vox, VICE, CNN, American Prospect, The Intercept and Raw Story

Chris Cillizza / CNN:

Susan Collins' defense of her Trump vote just keeps looking worse and worse … Asked Wednesday morning by CNN's Manu Raju about those comments — made to CBS' Norah O'Donnell following Collins' vote to acquit Trump — the Maine senator said this: … OK. — Well, the “actions” Manu is referring to are, among other things, these:

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

CNN:

This should disqualify Michael Bloomberg — Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness.” Follow her on Twitter. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely her own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

Discussion: Redstate

Becket Adams / Washington Examiner:
CNN goes full conspiracist on Twitter user who posted viral Bloomberg audio

Discussion: The Guardian, Gothamist, Redstate and Instapundit

Kevin Roose / New York Times:

A Thorn in YouTube's Side Digs In Even Deeper — Carlos Maza, a socialist who calls YouTube “deeply unethical and reckless,” is trying to bolster the video site's left wing. — Carlos Maza believes that YouTube is a destructive, unethical, reckless company that amplifies bigots and profits off fascism.

Discussion: Twitchy

Yossi Klein Halevi:

The Jewish nightmare of Bernie vs. Trump — In his first months in office, President Trump emboldened the far-right fringe. President Sanders would do the same with the far left — Ask British Jews what advice they would offer to American Jews, based on their experience fighting Corbynism …

Discussion: The Federalist

Richard Sisk / Task & Purpose:

Neo-Nazi group membership may not get you booted from the military, officials say — Editor's Note: This article by Richard Sisk originally appeared on Military.com, a leading source of news for the military and veteran community. — Membership in a white supremacist or neo-Nazi group …

Nihar Kabinittal / ABC News:

House to vote on resolution that would dissolve Equal Rights Amendment deadline — The 10-year deadline issued in 1973 created legal controversy over ERA adoption. — The U.S. House of Representatives is slated to vote on a resolution Thursday that would pave the way for the long-developing …

Discussion: The Hill

Akbar Shahid Ahmed / HuffPost:

Ilhan Omar Pitches A New ‘Progressive Baseline’ For U.S. Foreign Policy — The first-term congresswoman is again affirming that she's about more than the image right-wing conspiracy theorists present. — Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) introduced a broad package of bills Wednesday that would amount …

Discussion: Common Dreams

David Ingram / NBC News:

Bloomberg spends big to challenge Trump on his home court: Facebook — Bloomberg spent on average more than $1 million a day during the past two weeks on Facebook, according to data compiled by NBC News. — Mike Bloomberg is spending so much money on Facebook ads that he has surpassed …

Discussion: The Hill, Florida Politics and MSNBC

Lee Brown / New York Post:

Coronavirus is a bigger threat than terrorism: World Health Organization — Coronavirus should be treated as “public enemy number one” — posing a bigger threat than terrorism, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. — WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insisted Tuesday that the virus …

Discussion: Fox News

John McCormick / Wall Street Journal:

Buttigieg Faces Tough Path in Coming Democratic Contests — He has struggled to win over nonwhite Democrats ahead of votes in more diverse states — NASHUA, N.H.—Even as Pete Buttigieg savors a second-place finish just shy of a win in New Hampshire's presidential primary, the road ahead looks much more challenging.