memeorandum: Ron Paul says he's ‘flavor of the decade’ (Peter Schroeder/The Hill)

12:15 PM ET, December 4, 2011

Top Items:

Jennifer Jacobs / Iowa Caucuses:

Iowa Poll: Newt Gingrich leads three-candidate race in Iowa — Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich appears at a news conference before a tea party rally in New York Saturday. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) — Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich has carved out a clear lead …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Monthly, Patterico's Pontifications, Business Insider, The Reaction, The Caucus, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Daily Kos, Ballot Box, Hot Air, msnbc.com, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S …, Scared Monkeys, Lynn Sweet, National Review, The Daily Dish and The Politico

Erik Wasson / Ballot Box:

Coburn blasts Gingrich, found his leadership ‘lacking’ as House Speaker — Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Sunday that he cannot support GOP presidential frontrunner Newt Gingrich because the former House speaker lacks leadership skills. — “I am not inclined to be a supporter …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and The Political Carnival

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Obama to channel T.R. — Cain may endorse Newt — Gingrich talks Middle East, inner city this week - Perry bus tour - Iowa Poll: Newt, Ron Paul, Mitt, undecided, Bachmann, Cain, Santorum, Perry — GREEN ROOM CHEAT SHEET - our notes for “Face the Nation” roundtable:

Discussion: CNN, HotAirPundit and The Page

Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:

State attorneys general grill Republican candidates at forum — Six presidential hopefuls court conservatives with shows of commitment to the Constitution and a less powerful federal government. — Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul, left, greets Virginia Atty. Gen. Ken Cuccinelli …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Towleroad News #gay and Althouse

ABCNEWS:

‘This Week’ Transcript: GOP Candidate Rick Santorum and Rep. Barney Frank — CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST: Thank you, John. — And a big question this morning, where will all those Herman Cain voters go? Our headliner today hopes they flock straight to him. He's former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum.

Discussion: The Politico, The Other McCain and CNN

Emily Schultheis / The Politico:

GOP hopefuls keep it friendly at Huckabee forum — The presidential race began Saturday with Herman Cain's dramatic, theatrical exit from the contest, but it ended with a substantive and subdued discussion of constitutional issues at Mike Huckabee's presidential forum.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, 2012 Election Central, Hot Air, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, iOwnTheWorld.com and Harry's Place

Andrew Malcolm / Investor's Business Daily:

Is Ron Paul about to win Iowa? He surges past Romney into 2d behind Gingrich — Elderly, iconoclastic Rep. Ron Paul, the longtime champion of meaningless straw polls, is now doing it where it counts in the ongoing struggle for the Republican presidential nomination.

Discussion: americanthinker.com, ABCNEWS, Ballot Box, Business Insider, M.JOSEPH SHEPPARD'S … and The Moderate Voice

Ross Douthat / New York Times:

The Decadent Left — IN the days when Tea Party activists were crowding town hall meetings and Glenn Beck's fans were thronging the Washington Mall, a kind of existential despair settled over the American left. The country was mired in an economic crisis that most left-wingers believed …

Discussion: Booman Tribune and TBogg

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Ron Paul says he's ‘flavor of the decade’ — Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) said Sunday he hoped voters attracted to Herman Cain's “independent mindedness” would take a second look at his presidential campaign with Cain now out of the race. — “We're paying a lot of attention of that …

Discussion: CNN and Weasel Zippers

Associated Press:

Panetta Scolds Israel on Peace Talks — WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Israel on Friday to “reach out and mend fences” with Turkey, Egypt and other security partners in the Middle East, saying he is troubled by the Jewish state's growing isolation in the volatile region.

Discussion: American Spectator, Jihad Watch and Atlas Shrugs

The Official Home of the Department of Defense:
Remarks by Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta at the Saban Center

Discussion: Power Line, GLORIA Center, Campaign 2012 and Weasel Zippers

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

McCain: GOP needs to address immigration in a ‘humane’ way — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said his home state and others could be “up for grabs” in the 2012 presidential election, due in large part to the growing numbers of Hispanic voters and warned GOP candidates to watch their rhetoric on immigration issues.

Discussion: CNN

Nicholas Hirshon / NY Daily News:

85-year-old woman may sue TSA after being strip searched at JFK Airport — ‘I really look like a terrorist,’ 110-pound Long Island grandmother says — Lenore Zimmerman, 85, shows injury she says came during strip search by security at JFK Airport. — An 85-year-old Long Island grandmother …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, National Review, US Politics, msnbc.com, Israel Matzav, HotAirPundit and LewRockwell.com Blog

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Out of Africa and Into Iowa — NEWT GINGRICH'S mind is in love with itself. — It has persuaded itself that it is brilliant when it is merely promiscuous. This is not a serious mind. Gingrich is not, to put it mildly, a systematic thinker. — His mind is a jumble, an amateurish mess lacking impulse control.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Daily Kos

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

The Moral of the Herman Cain Story — So Herman Cain is out; no surprise there. There is, I think, a moral to be drawn from his demise. Cain was a hit with Republican voters because of his relentless focus on the economy. He didn't get personal in his attacks on the Obama administration …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post and The Lonely Conservative