memeorandum: Obama gets beefed-up protection (Joseph Curl/Washington Times)

4:05 PM ET, January 7, 2008

Top Items:

TALK OF HILLARY EXIT ENGULFS CAMPAIGNS — Facing a double-digit defeat in New Hampshire, a sudden collapse in national polls and an expected fund-raising drought, Senator Hillary Clinton is preparing for a tough decision: Does she get out of the race? And when?!

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Clinton fights back tears: 'It's not easy' — Exhausted and facing the prospect of losing the second test of her primary campaign, Hillary Rodham Clinton fought back tears as her voice broke at the close of a sedate event in a Portsmouth coffee shop. — She expressed the sheer difficulty …

Discussion: The New Republic, Blogs of War, Liberty Pundit and Blue Crab Boulevard

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:

Clinton Gets Emotional on Campaign Trail — ABC News' Kate Snow Reports: Campaigning in New Hampshire one day before the first-in-the-nation primary, Senator Hillary Clinton got emotional and had tears in her eyes as she spoke with voters about how hard it is to balance a busy campaign life and her passion for the country's future.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Power Line, michellemalkin.com, TalkLeft, Outside The Beltway, QandO, On Deadline, Tammy Bruce and Boston Globe

Robert Shrum / NY Daily News:

Sen. Clinton's massive mistake - and the final chance to fix it — Be Our Guest — If (although I strongly suspect the right word is “when") Hillary Clinton loses tomorrow's New Hampshire primary, there will be a few proto-obituaries for her campaign and many more stories about how it will be “shaken up” or “relaunched.”

Discussion: The Trail, The Democratic Daily, HazZzMat, Talking Points Memo, Liberal Values, Riehl World View, Outside The Beltway, Los Angeles Times and Washington Post

WSJ.com:

Emotional Moment for Clinton in N.H. — Amy Chozick reports on the presidential campaign from Portsmouth, N.H. — Speaking to an intimate group of undecided voters this morning at a cafe in Portsmouth, N.H., Sen. Hillary Clinton showed a rare emotional side.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Caucus, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Spin Cycle, Oliver Willis, Attytood, L.A. Times, Taylor Marsh and Althouse

Zogby:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby New Hampshire Tracking Poll: Big “Mo-bama” Grabs Dems in Granite State; McCain Regains Lead Over Romney in GOP Battle — UTICA, New York - Democrat Barack Obama's dramatic post-Iowa momentum has come to full bloom in the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby New Hampshire daily tracking poll …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Donklephant and TPM Election Central

Ernie Paicopolos / Fox News:
FOX News Poll: McCain Makes Late Surge In New Hampshire—Takes Top Spot

Discussion: Pollster.com

The Anchoress:
Will 2008 finish what 1968 began?

Discussion: Macsmind and Associated Press

The Politico:
Romney dials down expectations hard

Discussion: TIME: Swampland, The Hill, Hot Air, TBogg, Brainster's Blog, UNCoRRELATED and GreenMountainPolitics1

Dan / Riehl World View:
A Drudge Intrigue: Is Hillary Dropping Out?

Discussion: The Caucus

Fernando Suarez / CBS News: Clinton Fights Back Tears

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:
In New Hampshire, Bill Clinton Finds Less Spark

Discussion: Times of London, The Swamp, The Corner, Los Angeles Times, Salon, Washington Post, New York Post, Washington Times, TIME, Political Machine, Betsy's Page, The Moderate Voice and Blue Crab Boulevard

Roger Simon / The Politico:
Can you win on dull? — NASHUA, N.H. — Two candidates …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, JustOneMinute, Publius Endures and CBS News

Michael O'Hanlon / Wall Street Journal:

Obama and Iraq — One of Sen. Barack Obama's many strengths is his ability to inspire beyond party lines. Because he lacks the baggage of the past, and because his melodic message of hope speaks to many, he garnered much more support from independents in Iowa than either Hillary Clinton or John Edwards.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Matthew Yglesias, JustOneMinute, Commentary, toohotfortnr, Captain's Quarters and democracyarsenal.org

William Kristol / New York Times:

President Mike Huckabee? — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Thank you, Senator Obama. You've defeated Senator Clinton in Iowa. It looks as if you're about to beat her in New Hampshire. There will be no Clinton Restoration. A nation turns its grateful eyes to you.

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:
Whoopsie! Kristol's First New York Times Column Attributes Quote To Wrong Author

Discussion: The Opinionator and The Plank

Matthew Yglesias:
Words and Things

Discussion: Jewish World Review

Andrew Gray / Reuters:

Iranians threatened U.S. ships in Hormuz: Pentagon — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five Iranian boats made aggressive maneuvers and showed hostile intent towards three U.S. Navy ships at the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route in the Gulf, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, FP Passport, The Newshoggers, Associated Press, The Glittering Eye, Corrente, Booman Tribune, CALIFORNIA YANKEE and Unqualified Offerings

New York Times:
U.S. Describes Confrontation With Iranian Boats

Discussion: The Belmont Club and Prairie Weather

Barbara Starr / CNN:
U.S. Navy: We were ready to fire at Iranians

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, The Blotter, ThreatsWatch, The Raw Story, Jihad Watch and Cold Fury

MSNBC:
U.S.: Iran boats harassed warships

Discussion: The Lede, Jules Crittenden and On Deadline

Michelle Malkin:

Duncan Hunter to make an announcement; Update: He's staying in, blasts media “knuckleheads” — Update 2:38pm Eastern. Rep. Hunter is staying in the race. He blasted “knucklehead, arrogant” TV execs at ABC and Fox for excluding him from the presidential debates this weekend.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, TVNewser, Los Angeles Times, Ground Game, Say Anything and Hot Air

CNN:

Struggling GOP candidate to stay in the race — (CNN) - Underdog GOP presidential candidate Duncan Hunter lashed out at “knucklehead media executives” who did not include him in this weekend's New Hampshire primary debates, telling reporters he was staying in the race despite widespread expectations he would announce his withdrawal.

Discussion: The Campaign Spot

Atrios / Eschaton:

Conservative Victims — From Red State. This is pretty hilarious even for them. … There's more, but you get the idea. It's the fault of liberals that they can't run their website because... hell I don't know.

Discussion: Redstate, The Supreme Irony of Life and Angry Bear

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake: RedState Tells Readers Scoop Developers Are All Liberals, So Fork Over $25 Grand

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Ron Paul Supporters Confront Frank Luntz — It's always great when Fox News calls for civility. After excluding Ron Paul (who is, per some polls, in a statistical tie for third in the GOP New Hampshire primary) from the debate last night, Fox's official pollster Frank Luntz's feathers …

Discussion: New Haven Independent, Crooks and Liars, The Supreme Irony of Life and Cameron's Corner

The Corner: How Shameful — Ron Paul supporters harrassed Sean Hannity in Manchester last night.

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

FALSE HOPES....I don't like to obsess too much over single sentences in presidential debates, but by far the most jarring statment I heard in Saturday's Democratic debate was Hillary Clinton's admonition that “we don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered.”

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Carpetbagger Report

Martin Lewis / The Huffington Post:
Obama may be ready - but is AMERICA ready?

Discussion: TalkLeft

Joseph Curl / Washington Times:

Obama gets beefed-up protection — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Secret Service presence has increased for Sen. Barack Obama since his dramatic win in Iowa, amid fears over the safety of the man seeking to become America's first black president. — The Illinois senator's security now rivals that of President Bush …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Liberty Pundit, Daimnation!, The Carpetbagger Report and On Deadline

Adam Liptak / New York Times:

If Your Hard Drive Could Testify ... A couple of years ago, Michael T. Arnold landed at the Los Angeles International Airport after a 20-hour flight from the Philippines. He had his laptop with him, and a customs officer took a look at what was on his hard drive.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Blue Crab Boulevard, ABA Journal Daily News, Discourse.net and The Volokh Conspiracy

Steven Maviglio / The California Majority Report:

CMR EXCLUSIVE: This Time It's For Real: Doolittle to Drop Out, Oller in for Congressional Seat — Embattled Congressman John Doolittle, the focus of a federal corruption probe, will announce that he will not seek re-election paving the way for former State Sen. Rico Oller …

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, TPMmuckraker and Hotline On Call

Mark R. Levin / Human Events:

Man of the Year: Rush Limbaugh — Rush Limbaugh's detractors never learn. They've tried everything to come between Rush and his more than 20 million listeners, intending to destroy his appeal and impact. But it's a hopeless, almost laughable endeavor. They led boycotts against his advertisers …

Discussion: The Corner and Think Progress