memeorandum: Politics — Okay, politics time. — I'm a political junkie … (xkcd)

9:30 PM ET, January 29, 2008

Top Items:

First (?) Wave of Florida Exits, Revealed — The first wave of exit poll numbers, including absentees: McCain 34.3 percent, Romney 32.6 percent, Giuliani 15.3 percent, Huckabee 12 percent. — UPDATE: Interestingly a second source — yes, guardians of the exit poll data …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere, Wonkette, Gateway Pundit, My Two Sense, Hotline On Call, Right Voices, Balloon Juice and Sister Toldjah

Robert Perez / Orlando Sentinel:

Area voters in Florida Primary are reporting problems at polls — One voter was told by poll workers there was no Democratic primary today — On Florida Primary day, voters are reporting problems across Central Florida from Daytona Beach to Hunter's Creek.

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG, TalkLeft, Wonkette, Norwegianity and American Street

Associated Press:

Early FL exit poll highlights — Some highlights of preliminary data from exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks in the Florida presidential primary Tuesday: — ___ — RISING IMPORTANCE FOR FALLING ECONOMY — Given four choices, nearly half …

Discussion: The Trail, The Campaign Spot, Captain's Quarters, Pollster.com, Riehl World View and Commentary

Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Live-Blogging the Sunshine Primary

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money

Michelle Malkin:
All eyes on the Sunshine State

Discussion: CNN, MiamiHerald.com, The Jawa Report, Associated Press and Stop The ACLU

Robert Nolin / South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
Primary day glitches few but frustrating

Discussion: D-Day, Political Machine, michellemalkin.com, MyDD and Babalu Blog

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker: What Democratic Primary? — The Orlando Sentinel reports …

New Hampshire Union Leader:

Hillary's word: It's worth nothing — COURTING VOTERS in Iowa and New Hampshire, last August Sen. Hillary Clinton signed a pledge not to “campaign or participate” in the Michigan or Florida Democratic primaries. She participated in both primaries and is campaigning in Florida.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, QandO, The Opinionator, The American Mind, Comments from Left Field, Hot Air, Political Machine, The Field, Blue Crab Boulevard, UrbanGrounds and The Nation

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:
Did Obama Hand the Clintons a Talking Point?

Discussion: Democratic Strategist

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
A pro-Hillary robo-call in Florida

Discussion: TPM Election Central

Marc Ambinder:
Tonight: Clinton Parties In Florida

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Liberal Values, Spin Cycle and Tom Watson

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

McCain Accused Of Gay Baiting In Anti-Romney Attack — On the eve of the Florida Republican primary, Sen. John McCain launched a robo-call campaign attacking his rival Mitt Romney that some gay rights groups say amounts to gay baiting. — The call, which comes at the end of a hotly contested election …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Outside The Beltway and Riehl World View

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Florida Primary Results: First Live Thread

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Page

You Decide 08!:
McCain, Romney Too Close to Call in Florida Primary, Clinton Wins Among Democrats

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Pajamas Media and CNN

Chris Cillizza / The Fix: Florida Primary: What to Watch For Tonight

New York Times:
Republicans Make Final Pitches in Florida

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Think Progress and The Page

Krooney / The Page:

A DEAL — SOURCES: Giuliani expected to endorse McCain, as early as Wednesday — in Los Angeles or Simi Valley. — Now that the Sunshine has set, two old friends come to an understanding. — McCain topper Rick Davis has quietly moved an agreement to near final. — Developing......

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Comments from Left Field, Commentary, Cadillac Tight, Outside The Beltway, The Campaign Spot, Punditry, Althouse and Blogs of War

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Results: Floridamania! Update: Hillary wins; Update: McCain wins bellwether county; Report: Rudy to endorse McCain tomorrow — Early vote counts are expected at 8 p.m. ET, fuller results by 9. High drama on two fronts, needless to say, both in the Romney/Maverick showdown and the last rites coming for Rudy at Giuliani HQ.

Discussion: Political Radar, Cameron's Corner and Wonkette

Washington Post / The Trail:

Richardson's Choice — SANTA FE, N.M. — Gov. Bill Richardson's phone has been ringing off the hook. Sen. Hillary Clinton called Sunday night. That was followed by a call from former president Bill Clinton, then a call from Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, who's supporting Clinton.

Discussion: Wonkette, Liberal Values, New York Times, Left in the West, Comments from Left Field, The New Republic, Donklephant, The Carpetbagger Report, Balloon Juice, Slog, TPM Election Central and The Caucus

Ruben Navarrette Jr / CNN:
Commentary: Kennedy nod may be key for Hispanics

Discussion: L.A. Times and ImmigrationProf Blog

Amanda / Think Progress:

Bush Issues Signing Statement On Defense Act, Waiving Ban On Permanent Bases In Iraq — President Bush yesterday signed the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act after initially rejecting Congress's first version because it would have allegedly opened the Iraqi government to “expensive lawsuits.”

Discussion: Associated Press, White House, Comments from Left Field and The Carpetbagger Report

George W. Bush / White House:
President Bush Signs H.R. 4986, the National Defense Authorization Act …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Washington Independent, Democrats.com and Daily Kos

Ari Shapiro / NPR:

Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum — Listen Now — · Army officials in upstate New York instructed representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs not to help disabled soldiers at Fort Drum Army base with their military disability paperwork last year.

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, No More Mister Nice Blog, Whiskey Fire, Blog entry and The Gate

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Obama: ‘El nos entiende’ — Obama's up with this spot in Arizona and California, starring Rep. Luis Gutierrez, Chicago's Hispanic congressman. — But there's a hint of more to come: It opens with a still of Teddy Kennedy. — Earlier Spanish-language spots tried to make an immigrant connection …

Discussion: DownWithTyranny! and Spin Cycle

Paul Krugman:

An Iraq recession? — One thing I get asked fairly often is whether the Iraq war is responsible for our economic difficulties. The answer (with slight qualifications) is no. — Just to be clear: I yield to nobody in my outrage over the way we were lied into a disastrous, unnecessary war.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Los Angeles Times, Comments from Left Field, D-Day and Economist's View

xkcd:

Politics — Okay, politics time. — I'm a political junkie, but I've largely kept that out of xkcd (other than occasional cracks about science and net-related issues). So this will be a one-time thing — after this post, you'll hear no more political advocacy on this site for the rest of the election.

Discussion: Corrente

Ruth Gledhill / Times of London:

Archbishop of Canterbury calls for new law to punish ‘thoughtless or cruel’ words — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has called for new laws to protect religious sensibilities that would punish “thoughtless and cruel” styles of speaking. — Dr Williams, who has seen …

Discussion: protein wisdom

Reuters:

Cannabis bigger cancer risk than cigarettes: study — HONG KONG (Reuters) - Smoking a joint is equivalent to 20 cigarettes in terms of lung cancer risk, scientists in New Zealand have found, as they warned of an “epidemic” of lung cancers linked to cannabis.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, QandO and Don Surber