memeorandum: The Mendacity of Hope — John Edwards lied about the cost of his haircuts. (Richard Cohen/Washington Post)

4:40 PM ET, January 1, 2008

Top Items:

Paul Steinhauser / 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 …

Tony Leys / Des Moines Register:

Edwards' ‘Mudcat’ gives tasty dish on Clinton — Storm Lake, Ia. — John Edwards' most colorful adviser let fly today with complaints that Hillary Clinton's campaign is already trying to spin its way out of a possible loss in Iowa. — Dave “Mudcat” Saunders told a van full of reporters …

Discussion: Hotline On Call

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Obama-labor relationship tense in Iowa — Sen. Barack Obama's campaign manager has spent the final days of the Iowa campaign railing against “big interests” that have poured a “flood of Washington money” into the state in “underhanded” efforts to support his rivals.

Discussion: The Swamp and Eschaton

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Clinton Pitches Her Experience; Disputes Register Poll

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, You Decide 08! and Taylor Marsh

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Joe Trippi: Sit and Spin

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos and TIME: Swampland

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Divisive Dems

Discussion: Eschaton, Whiskey Fire, Open Left, The Nation, Daily Kos, Political Punch and Captain's Quarters

HillaryClinton.com:
Register poll adopts unprecedented turnout model

Discussion: Des Moines Register, Pollster.com, Taylor Marsh, The Page, The Carpetbagger Report, Ben Smith's Blogs, No Left Turns, Taegan Goddard's …, Donklephant, The Heretik and TIME

Southern Political Report:
Reallocated Numbers Based on Second Preferences Gives Edwards A Solid Lead

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Los Angeles Times, Booman Tribune and Patrick Ruffini

Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Daily Tracking Poll: Clinton, Huckabee Hold …

Discussion: Open Left and MyDD

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: Matthew Yglesias, The New Republic, The Daily Dish, Eschaton, The Strata-Sphere, Middle Earth Journal, Crunchy Con, National Review, GreenMountainPolitics1 and Booman Tribune

Associated Press:

Networks cut debate fields, angering Paul backers — NEW YORK (AP) — 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 Rep. Ron Paul.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, Flopping Aces, The Volokh Conspiracy and Daimnation!

Matthew Yglesias:

The Possibly Not Coming Storm — Ross Douthat previews the next great conservative crack-up: … To which I say: Maybe! — Seriously, I sometimes do think that'll happen. Alternatively, maybe Romney gets the nomination and Romney gets beaten pretty badly.

Discussion: Eschaton

Washington Wire:

Paul Supporters Target Fox News — Susan Davis reports from Des Moines, Iowa, on the presidential race. — Republican Rep. Ron Paul and his supporters are targeting the Fox News network today after an Internet discussion spread during the weekend that the cable network wasn't giving …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, New York Observer, Shakespeare's Sister, Wake up America, Talking Points Memo and Hullabaloo

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Jumping The Gun? — Ron Paul's supporters are seeing red …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Outside The Beltway, Los Angeles Times, Balloon Juice and New Hampshire Union Leader

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
GETTING STINGY WITH DEBATE INVITATIONS....After having watched …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Caucus, The Sideshow, Angry Bear and MSNBC

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Clinton errs on Pakistan — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton was praised in the wake of the assassination of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto for demonstrating her command of the players and the issues at stake in Pakistan, even as another candidate, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, MSNBC, Wizbang, Power Line, Patterico's Pontifications, Sweetness & Light, Riehl World View and Middle East Times

Mark Halperin / The Page: Transcript of Clinton on “This Week”

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

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Counterterrorism Blog, Outside The Beltway, McClatchy Washington Bureau, QandO, The Strata-Sphere, Jules Crittenden, Emptywheel, Cliff Schecter, Firedoglake and Power Line

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: NewsBusters.org, Blue Crab Boulevard, Macsmind, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, TigerHawk, If I Ran the Zoo, The Strata-Sphere, Maggie's Farm and A Blog For All

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 …

Discussion: Say Anything, Don Surber, Dr. Sanity, The Sundries Shack, The Corner and DownWithTyranny!

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

Poll: Clinton, McCain lead in NH — From NBC's Domenico Montanaro — With exactly a week to go until New Hampshire, McCain has pulled ahead of Romney and Clinton has opened back up a double-digit lead in New Hampshire, according to a 7News/Suffolk University poll.

Discussion: The Corner, MyDD, Hot Air, CALIFORNIA YANKEE and Daily Pundit

Davidswanson / AfterDowningStreet.org:

The White Rose and the Rose Parade — Since the conquest of Poland three hundred thousand Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way ... The German people slumber on in their dull, stupid sleep and encourage these fascist criminals ... Each man wants to be exonerated …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and The Mahatma X Files

Michelle Malkin: Cindy Sheehan: Down with BushCo-and screw the evil corporate Rose Bowl parade, too!

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

The Mendacity of Hope — John Edwards lied about the cost of his haircuts. Fred Thompson lied about lobbying for a pro-choice outfit. John McCain insists that the United States was founded as a “Christian nation." Mitt Romney concocted the story about how his father marched …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Washington Monthly, The Carpetbagger Report, The Sideshow, AMERICAblog and The Corner

The Corner:

“Rudy's Got No Heartland” — The above New York Post headline is talking about Iowa, where Giuliani's numbers are becoming all but undetectable. But it gets to the heart of the Rudy problem. In recent conversations with New Hampshire Republicans, I'm struck by how fierce hostility to the Mayor is.

Discussion: bustardblog, Vox Popoli, New York Post and MSNBC

Bob Herbert / New York Times:

Still Reeling After All These Years — It promised to be a very good year. But then anything would be better than 1967, with its angry kids burning the flag, and the war raging, and American cities going up in flames one after another. — A Page 1 headline in The New York Times said: “World Bids Adieu to a Violent Year.”

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Firedoglake and PoliGazette