memeorandum: Bye-bye ‘surge,’ ‘waterboarding,’ ‘organic’ (Associated Press)

10:25 AM ET, January 1, 2008

Top Items:

New Iowa Poll: Obama widens lead over Clinton — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has widened his lead in Iowa over Hillary Clinton and John Edwards heading into Thursday's nominating caucuses, according to The Des Moines Register's final Iowa Poll before the 2008 nominating contests.

CNN:

2 days to go and poll shows Iowa all tied up — DES MOINES, Iowa (CNN) — With two days to go until the Iowa caucuses, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll out Tuesday shows both the Democratic and Republican presidential nomination races tied at the top. — But with a quarter …

Discussion: Southern Political Report, On Deadline, Pollster.com, TIME and TIME: Swampland

Jonathan Roos / Des Moines Register:

GOP poll: Huckabee maintains lead over Romney — Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist minister riding a wave of support from fundamentalist Christians, tops Mitt Romney for first place in a new Des Moines Register poll of Iowans planning to attend Thursday's Republican caucuses.

Discussion: The Trail, Mike Huckabee for President, michellemalkin.com, TIME and GreenMountainPolitics1

HillaryClinton.com:

Register poll adopts unprecedented turnout model — UPDATE: Two new Iowa polls are out today. In the Zogby poll, it's Clinton 30, Obama 26, Edwards 25. In the CNN/Opinion Research poll, Hillary leads with 33 percent, Obama 31, Edwards 22. — The Des Moines Register poll adopts …

Discussion: TIME and The Page

Los Angeles Times:

Democrats angle for second place — On Iowa caucus night, backers of candidates who don't make the cut will be freed up. The front-runners are ready. — DES MOINES — The top three Democratic presidential candidates have begun focusing intensely on becoming the second choice among supporters …

Discussion: The Caucus

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs: DMR poll analysis: Huck hanging on, Fred fading, McCain rising

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
DMR Poll: Obama widens lead, Huck still up

Discussion: Des Moines Register, The New Republic and TPM Election Central

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Saying He Pulled Negative Ad, Huckabee Shows It

Discussion: The Politico, Althouse, The Swamp, The New Republic, Opinions You Should Have, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and Cliff Schecter

Associated Press:

ABC, Fox News cutting low-polling presidential candidates out of debates — NEW YORK: ABC and Fox News Channel are narrowing the field of presidential candidates invited to debates this weekend just before the New Hampshire primary, in Fox's case infuriating supporters of Republican Ron Paul.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and Los Angeles Times

Washington Wire:
Paul Supporters Target Fox News

Discussion: Middle Earth Journal

CNN:
Protesters block Huckabee

Discussion: MSNBC

John Distaso / New Hampshire Union Leader:
FOX, ABC to reduce debate fields

Discussion: Marc Ambinder

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
YEP, IT'S AN OUTRAGE

Discussion: Miss Beth's Victory Dance, The Swamp and Hullabaloo

Saeed Shah / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Bhutto report: Musharraf planned to fix elections — NAUDERO, Pakistan — The day she was assassinated last Thursday, Benazir Bhutto had planned to reveal new evidence alleging the involvement of Pakistan's intelligence agencies in rigging the country's upcoming elections, an aide said Monday.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Outside The Beltway, Emptywheel, PBD, Cliff Schecter, The Moderate Voice, The Galloping Beaver and New York Times

Claude Salhani / UPI:
Analysis: Military slew Bhutto — sources

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and Power Line

Peter Graff / Reuters:

In a safer Baghdad, Iraqis party for 2008 — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - On New Year's Eve Ridaa al-Azzawi squeezed into his pointy snakeskin boots, his tight black sweater and his snazzy corduroy flared jeans, hustled down to a Baghdad hotel ballroom and partied for peace.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, Fausta's blog, Sweetness & Light and Sister Toldjah

Aseel Kami / Reuters:
For hopeful Iraqis, New Year's parties at last

Discussion: IraqPundit, Captain's Quarters, Democracy Project and The Anchoress

John Tierney / New York Times:

In 2008, a 100 Percent Chance of Alarm — I'd like to wish you a happy New Year, but I'm afraid I have a different sort of prediction. — You're in for very bad weather. In 2008, your television will bring you image after frightening image of natural havoc linked to global warming.

Discussion: TigerHawk

David Brooks / New York Times:

Road to Nowhere — The most impressive thing about Mitt Romney is his clarity of mind. When he set out to pursue his party's nomination, he studied the contours of the Republican coalition and molded himself to its forms. — Earnestly and methodically, he has appealed to each of the major constituency groups.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, National Review, Crunchy Con and Booman Tribune

David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:

Nader throws support to Edwards — MUSCATINE, Iowa — Ralph Nader unleashed on Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday - criticizing her for being soft on defense spending and a chum of big business - and expressed his strong support for John Edwards. — In an 11th hour effort to encourage liberal Iowans to …

Discussion: TIME, New York Times, DownWithTyranny!, Connecting.the.Dots and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
What if Iowa Settles Nothing for Democrats?

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Editorial RSS, The Swamp and The New Republic

Jerome Starkey / The Sun:

Our Boys blitz Taliban bash — On patrol ... British soldier in Helmand province — BRITISH commandos launched a devastating blitz on the Taliban - as the evil terrorists held a party to celebrate Benazir Bhutto's murder. — The dawn raid was staged after messages were intercepted …

Ron Fournier / Associated Press:

ON DEADLINE: Did Huckabee go too far? — DES MOINES, Iowa - Mike Huckabee may have finally gone too far. — After running an unconventional, surprisingly strong and sometimes strange race to the top tier of the Republican presidential campaign, the former Arkansas governor topped himself Monday …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Firedoglake and Power Line

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:
Huckabee's Remarkable Play

Bloomberg:

Defaults on Insured Mortgages Rise 35% to Record — Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) — Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages rose 35 percent in November to a record, an industry report today showed, adding to evidence the U.S. housing slump is deepening. — The number of insured borrowers falling …