memeorandum: On Super Tuesday, Romney Makes Himself And Bob Dole The Conversation (Marc Ambinder)

2:35 PM ET, February 5, 2008

Top Items:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: McCain Dominates GOP Races; Dems Locked in Tight Contests As Super Tuesday Polls Open — UTICA, New York - The final day of polling before Super Tuesday was one of hardening positions in key races across the country, the latest Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby survey work shows.

Discussion: MSNBC, Open Left, The Moderate Voice, Reuters, Wake up America, TalkLeft, Raising Kaine, American Street, Wonkette and PrestoPundit

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

THE POLLS — There's one guarantee I can make right now about tonight's results. They are going take make either Zogby or SurveyUSA look like complete fools. Which one I'm not completely sure, but definitely one of them. — Consider this spread. Zogby has his final California number as Obama 49%, Clinton 36%.

Discussion: The Opinionator, The New Republic, Balkinization, MyDD, The Sideshow, US Presidential race 2008 real … and Shakespeare's Sister

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008 — Based on daily polling from Feb. 2-4, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain fairly closely matched in national Democratic voters' nomination preferences, although Clinton appears to have stopped Obama's momentum over the past two days.

Discussion: The Washington Note

Election Projection:
Super-Duper-Mega-Jumbo Tuesday predictions and results

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Washington Post, Wizbang, Captain's Quarters, Confederate Yankee, The Strata-Sphere, Macsmind, michellemalkin.com and Redstate

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
8 Questions Super Tuesday Could Answer

Discussion: Salon, New York Times, Greatscat! and The Carpetbagger Report

Michael Barone / US News:
A Super Tuesday Guide

Discussion: The Swamp, protein wisdom, The Other McCain and You Decide 08!

Josh Gerstein / Latest Politics:

Limbaugh Defends Clinton and Obama on Iraq — Talk show host Rush Limbaugh is so exasperated about Senator McCain's surge in the Republican presidential contest that he is coming to the defense of Senators Clinton and Obama. — On Mr. Limbaugh's program today, he said people should not be rushing …

Discussion: Firedoglake, protein wisdom, The Jawa Report, TownHall Blog, Think Progress, Weekly Standard, No More Mister Nice Blog, Buck Naked Politics, Donklephant, Angry Bear, RADAMISTO and The Politico

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Limbaugh on McCain: It's Better to Be Right All the Time — It may be the best sideshow in presidential politics: the nation's top radio talker trying to take down the Republican front-runner in today's Super Tuesday showdown. — Rush Limbaugh has been relentless in his criticism of John McCain …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, NY Daily News, Political Machine, DownWithTyranny!, MSNBC, Center Face, New York Post, The Carpetbagger Report, PBD and CNN

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
Limbaugh: McCain Out to Destroy GOP for 2000 S.C. Defeat

Discussion: Chuck for, The Page, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, PoliBlog (TM), michellemalkin.com, Middle Earth Journal, Gateway Pundit and Commentary

Marc Ambinder:

On Super Tuesday, Romney Makes Himself And Bob Dole The Conversation — But ... if the goal is gin up resentment against McCain from party activists, maybe Dole isn't such a bad target. — After Dole sent a letter to Rush Limbaugh (kind of a weird choice, there), Romney told Fox News that Dole is …

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

Limbaugh says McCain's camp manipulated Bob Dole — The Conservative world is cracking up. I told you yesterday that it was a bad idea for McCain to seek out Bob Dole to try and calm down Rush and the right wing talkie attacks on him. Anyone could have predicted that wasn't a very good idea.

Discussion: Ice Station Tango and The Fix

Byron York / The Corner:
Mitt: Get Out of Here, Bob. Mac: How Dare You

Discussion: Hot Air, michellemalkin.com, PERRspectives Blog and Sister Toldjah

John R. Bolton / Wall Street Journal:

Our Politicized Intelligence Services — Today, Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell testifies before the Senate Intelligence Committee (and Thursday on the House side) to give the intelligence community's annual global threat analysis. These hearings are always significant …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, The Corner, Commentary and On Deadline

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: A Reworked NIE? — Former UN Ambassador John Bolton wants DNI …

Michael Luo / The Caucus:

Romney at the West Virginia Convention — CHARLESTON, West Va.—The 1,200 delegates who would determine how 18 of West Virginia's delegates are allocated at the Republican National Convention gathered inside a dingy hall at the civic center here this morning.

Discussion: Washington Wire, TownHall Blog, Assorted Babble and The Page

Marc Ambinder: West Virginia Intrigue

Roger Simon / The Politico:

Picking up, putting aside the poor — Some political moments are so bizarre that you have to believe they actually are sincere. — One such moment came this weekend, when Barack Obama mocked John Edwards in a speech. — Obama had done it before, but that was before Edwards suspended his campaign last Wednesday.

Discussion: Iddybud Journal

Bruce Fein / Washington Times:

Power of the purse purloined? — Jan. 28, 2008, is a date that will live in congressional infamy. Congress surrendered the power of the purse over national security affairs to the White House. — President Bush appended a signing statement to the National Defense Authorization Act …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Think Progress and rubber hose

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Cooper Concerns — I'm not a Hillary-hater. She's been an outstanding senator. She hung tough on Iraq through the dark days of 2005. In this campaign, she has soldiered on bravely even though she has most of the elected Democrats, news media and the educated class rooting against her.

Discussion: TalkLeft, NY Daily News, MSNBC, abu muqawama, The Newshoggers, Betsy's Page, Commentary, Redstate, Bats Left Throws Right and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Darryl Fears / Washington Post:

Attorney General Reverses Curbs On Gay Group at Justice Department — Five years after a gay advocacy group was told that it could no longer use the e-mail, bulletin boards and meeting rooms at the Justice Department, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has reversed that decision and issued …

Discussion: New York Magazine, ACSBlog and Box Turtle Bulletin

Little Green Footballs:

Dreaming of Super Tuesday — Super Tuesday is upon us. I tossed and turned all night, haunted by the ghosts of Rudy and Duncan. And when I awoke, it was all not a dream—we really do have to choose between McCain and Romney. — Sometime during that unrestful interval, I decided: I'm pulling the lever for Mitt Romney today.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

Marc Ambinder:

Delegates In California: A Caution — If, in many congressional districts in California, a Democrat does not receive more than 62% of the vote, he or she will receive the same number of delegates from that CD as the he or she who finishes second. (Only Clinton and Obama will earn viability — above 15% in those CDs.)

Discussion: D-Day and Cogitamus