memeorandum: “Popularity Contest” — John Dickerson, while ruminating … (Lawyers, Guns and Money)

Israel kills terror chief with headrest bomb — Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Hala Jaber in Beirut and Jon Swain — NOTHING seemed very remarkable about the short, bearded man who mingled with other guests on Tuesday evening at a reception in Damascus, the Syrian capital …

Discussion: BLACKFIVE, Israel Matzav, Jules Crittenden, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

The Charisma Mandate — TAKING office in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt confronted a country in crisis. Four in 10 working-age Americans were jobless. Banks were collapsing. There were long lines outside tellers' windows as people rushed to withdraw their savings.

Discussion: The Reaction and PoliGazette

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:

NY Times on “The Cult of Personality” — The Times constrasts “the cult of personality” with charisma. It's a long article. Here are the quotes I took from it: — I'll give the first round to the challenger, Barack Obama: … Next round goes to Sean Willnetz, a Princeton Historian and friend of Hillary's, who says:

Washington Post:
Blacks in Congress Torn Over Candidates

Discussion: American Street, The Hill, On Deadline and New York Times

Tyler Cowen / New York Times:

It's an Election, Not a Revolution — IT has become common wisdom that the battle for the presidency is all about the economy. Voters are being told that the country's economic health depends on pulling the right lever in the polling booth. — This election is certainly important.

Discussion: Swords Crossed, Economist's View, American Street and Marginal Revolution

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

The World's Worst Panderer — Even for those of us who shudder at many of John McCain's positions, there is something refreshing about a man who wins so many votes despite a major political shortcoming: he is abysmal at pandering. — What sets Senator McCain apart isn't so much his physical courage …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Carpetbagger Report and The RBC

Taimoor Shah / New York Times:

At Least 80 Killed in Afghan Bombing — KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber blew himself up in a large crowd gathered at a dogfighting festival just outside this city in southern Afghanistan, killing some 80 people and wounding nearly 100 more in the country's worst single bombing since 2001.

Allauddin Khan / Associated Press:
Suicide bomber kills 80 in Afghanistan

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, On Deadline, VetVoice and JammieWearingFool

Sarah Baxter / Times of London:

Right slams Obama as ‘shady Chicago socialist’ — Republicans are out to crush Barack by painting him as a leftwinger with dubious support — LEADING Republicans believe they can trounce Barack Obama in the presidential election by tarring him as a shady Chicago socialist.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Althouse, Fausta's blog, Macsmind, Shakespeare's Sister, Liberal Values, Booman Tribune, Oliver Willis, Middle Earth Journal, American Power, Real Clear Politics, protein wisdom, Buck Naked Politics, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Jules Crittenden and The Ruckus

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Obama as the Next McGovern?

Discussion: progressive involvement

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Steadfast McCain ally sparks veep talk — Even through the McCain campaign's darkest days in 2007, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty remained a steadfast ally to the Arizona senator in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. — As a result, with John McCain as the clear GOP frontrunner …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Ian Traynor / Guardian:

'I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star — Geert Wilders, the popular MP whose film on Islam has fuelled the debate on race in Holland, wants an end to mosque building and Muslim immigration. Ian Traynor met him in The Hague

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:

Sunday Morning Election News — Here's some early morning news items: — A new Alabama poll shows McCain would sweep the state in November by double digits, and it might happen throughout the deep south. — Alabama has voted for the Republican nominee every year since 1980.

Discussion: al.com and presstv.ir

Matthew Yglesias:

The Price of Reform — I thought there were plenty of congenial ideas in David Brook's latest stab at formulating a reformist conservative agenda, but I wonder a bit about his math. Brooks writes that “Income taxes are not going to be coming down, but they need to stay where they are.”

Discussion: Grasping Reality …

Paul West / Baltimore Sun:

Clinton backers fault campaign — Supporters outline errors as focus turns to big states — It may be hard to recall the shield of inevitability that once surrounded Hillary Clinton, but a December 2007 cover story in a liberal magazine is a reminder. — “Has Hillary Locked It Up?” …

Keith B. Richburg / Washington Post:

New York ‘Crack Tax’ Proposal Is Derided — Many States Aid Enforcement With Levy on Illicit Drugs — NEW YORK — If you can't beat it, tax it. — That seems to be the axiom in New York these days, where Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer (D), struggling to close a $4.4 billion budget gap …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Blue Crab Boulevard