memeorandum: Taking to Twitter, Murdoch Signals Support for Santorum (Brian Stelter/The Caucus)

2:37 AM ET, January 3, 2012

Top Items:

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Fox News' Alan Colmes Flips Out When Called Out For ‘Cheap Shot’ About Rick Santorum Baby (Updated) — In a wild exchange on Fox News' Happening Now, longtime contributor Alan Colmes lost it a little bit when National Review's Rich Lowry pressed him over an attack on Rick Santorum's handling of the 1996 death of his newborn son.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, 2012 Decoded, Flopping Aces, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Other McCain, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, nation.foxnews.com, The PJ Tatler and The Atlantic Online

Brian Stelter / The Caucus:

Taking to Twitter, Murdoch Signals Support for Santorum — The media mogul Rupert Murdoch signaled his support for Rick Santorum on Monday evening, calling him the “only candidate with genuine big vision” for the United States. — His comments were significant not only because Mr. Murdoch …

Discussion: New York Times, The Page and New York Magazine

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

For no reason, Santorum ‘singled out blacks’ — Over the weekend, Rick Santorum told an Iowa audience, “Diversity creates conflict. If we celebrate diversity, we create conflict.” It seemed like an odd thing for a presidential candidate to say. — The line does, however …

Discussion: Verum Serum, NPR, The Hinterland Gazette and Booman Tribune

Evan McMorris-Santoro / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPM2012 — Rand Paul Calls Rick Santorum A War-Mongering Moderate — DES MOINES, IOWA — Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) is in town today to be a walking Daisy ad on behalf of his father, Ron. — His main target: the surging Rick Santorum. — On Iowa talk radio this morning …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, The Moderate Voice and Ron Paul 2012 Presidential …

Wallacegw / CNN:

Santorum's fundraising soars along with his poll numbers — Des Moines, Iowa (CNN) - Rick Santorum's poll numbers aren't the only thing on the rise. The former senator from Pennsylvania's fundraising figures are also skyrocketing. — A senior Santorum adviser tells CNN the campaign raised …

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Politico, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Firedoglake, Rajiv Sethi and National Review

Rebecca Kaplan / CBS News:
Perry: Santorum can't beat Obama

Discussion: 2012 Decoded, Campaign 2012 and Daily Kos

Wallacegw / CNN:
TRENDING: Ron Paul: Santorum is ‘very liberal’

Discussion: Mediaite and New York Times

Roger Simon / The Politico:
Mitt don't need no surges

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, NO QUARTER, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, American Prospect, The Week, Daily Pundit, nation.foxnews.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Telegraph, Talking Points Memo and Ballot Box

James Crugnale / Mediaite:
TLC's The Duggar Family Endorses Rick Santorum

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Truth Wins Out and Weekly Standard

Elise Foley / The Huffington Post:
Rick Santorum Saves Cash, Gains A Surrogate, By Turning To Daughter

Discussion: Daily Kos

Niall Stanage / Ballot Box:
On eve of Iowa vote, Santorum focusing attacks on Romney

Discussion: CNN, The Politico, RedState and Sister Toldjah

Joe Klein / Swampland:

1 Day Till Iowa: I Approve This Message — I saw a very effective anti-Ron Paul ad on the air last night, but I don't know who was responsible for it. It was about gay marriage, which Paul tolerates because he doesn't believe the state should involve itself in marriage.

Discussion: Truthdig and Saint Petersblog

Rabbi Kaufman / We Are For Israel:

Caucus Craziness and Israel — There are many of you around the country wondering, “Why Iowa?” One of the main reasons is that in Iowa people can actually meet the candidates and interact with them on issues. Candidates come to speak to relatively small gatherings and share their views …

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Ginger Gibson / The Politico:
Newt sends mixed signals on Iowa expectations

Discussion: National Review

Wallacegw / CNN:
Gingrich: Paul plays by different set of rules

Discussion: The Week

NBC's Alex Moe / msnbc.com:
Gingrich: 'I don't think I'm going to win' in Iowa

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, National Review, Campaign 2012, Indecision Forever, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Saint Petersblog

Tony Leys / Iowa Caucuses:
Mitt Romney: “We're going to win this thing”

Discussion: msnbc.com, The Politico and Hot Air

ABCNEWS: Romney in Iowa: 'We're Gonna Win This Thing'

New York Magazine:
Battered in Iowa, Gingrich Plans to Rip Romney in New Hampshire and Beyond

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post, Balloon Juice, Guardian, Daily Kos, Iowa Caucuses, The Politico and Saint Petersblog

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Iowa Race Tightens in Final 48 Hours

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Los Angeles Times, Religion Dispatches, CNN, Saint Petersblog, The Huffington Post, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Associated Press, Iowa Caucuses, Daily Kos and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

videocafe.crooksandliars.com:

Eric Cantor's Press Secretary Interrupts 60 Min Interview to Claim Reagan Never Raised Taxes … In what was overall a pretty softball interview with Republican House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, there was one pretty telling moment to illustrate the type of toxic political environment we're living in …

Discussion: CBS News, Philly.com, Towleroad News #gay, PERRspectives and Daily Kos

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
“60 Minutes” Grills Eric Cantor on Why He's Republican in Sunday Night Hit Piece (Video) …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, nation.foxnews.com and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
Cantor can't handle the truth about Reagan

Discussion: CBS News, The Moderate Voice, The Caucus, The Raw Story, CANNONFIRE, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway and The Mahablog

Donald Douglas / American Power:

‘Occupy’ Crashes Rose Parade: Attacks ‘Corporate Greed’ With 70-Foot Nazi-Era Octopus Depicting Global Jewish Conspiracy — Are people so afraid to stand up against the hatred, public hatred broadcast for the entire world to see? The image of the octopus has been used in attacks on the Jews for over a century.

Discussion: The Informer, Daily Mail, L.A. NOW, The BRAD BLOG, Atlas Shrugs, Doug Ross and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Angel Jennings / L.A. NOW:
Rose Parade 2012: Occupy activists form ‘peacekeeping’ team

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and Scared Monkeys

BuzzFeed:

Ron Paul's Secret Plan To Actually Win — He probably can't. But with stealthy preparations in Bismarck, Boise, and Minnetonka, he can be a huge pain in Mitt Romney's neck. — Ron Paul — poised to finish strong in the Iowa caucuses - has begun to implement a quiet …

Discussion: Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, The Other McCain, PolitickerNY, The Week, The Daily Dish, Saint Petersblog and Guardian

Jonathan Bernstein / A plain blog about politics:

No, You Can't Skip New Hampshire Either — Rick Perry is apparently telling reporters that he'll skip New Hampshire and make a last stand in South Carolina. — Two things. First, presidential candidates always say that they're going to stay in the race no matter what.

Discussion: Associated Press

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Does the New Hampshire primary matter?

Discussion: The Politico, 2012 Decoded, The Boston Globe, The Daily Caller and Swampland

Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Romney's media strategy includes courting liberal news outlets

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Big Journalism and The Moderate Voice

Jeff Dunetz / YID With LID:

EXCLUSIVE: Former Staffer Eric Dondero Responds To Ron Paul's “I Don't Believe in 9/11 Conspiracies” Claim — Note: Yesterday I had an email exchange with former Ron Paul senior campaign aide Eric Dondero (who blogs at the site Libertarian Republican) about a totally different issue regarding the Ron Paul campaign.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Crooks and Liars, Los Angeles Times, Mediaite and Washington Post

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Rasmussen: Dem party affiliation at all-time low — Perhaps the report of a general retreat on party affiliation was a bit exaggerated — at least for one of the two parties. Rasmussen's latest monthly survey of 15,000 respondents for party affiliation shows Republicans gaining …

Discussion: Rasmussen Reports

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Obama to speak to Iowa caucus voters Tuesday — President Obama will hold a televideo conference with Iowa caucus voters on Tuesday evening. — He will hold the event at 8:15 p.m., the White House announced Monday. — Obama hasn't campaigned in the early caucus state during the primary process …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Page