memeorandum: Republican group appeals ruling striking down federal gay marriage ban (Howard Mintz/Mercury News)

1:35 PM ET, February 24, 2012

Top Items:

Rick Santorum winning more support from Republican women — Over the past several weeks, Republicans have watched squeamishly as presidential contender Rick Santorum has waded into multiple controversies that risk alienating half the 2012 electorate: women.

Discussion: Politico, Wake up America, Taylor Marsh, Pirate's Cove, Hot Air and The Page

Steven Rattner / New York Times:

Delusions About the Detroit Bailout — WHEN Mitt Romney takes the podium at Ford Field in Detroit today, he's likely to include yet another sharp denunciation of the government's rescue of General Motors and Chrysler. — That Mr. Romney would traverse Michigan trashing a program that saved tens …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, msnbc.com, A plain blog about politics, Mediaite, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Atlantic Online, ThinkProgress, Jared Bernstein, ABCNEWS, Detroit Free Press and The Raw Story

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

What happens if Mitt Romney wins Michigan? — DETROIT — For the past week, much of the focus of the Republican presidential race has centered on the consequences Mitt Romney will face if he loses Michigan's primary. After a debate in Arizona on Wednesday, the question should be: What will happen if he wins his home state?

Discussion: Politico, Los Angeles Times, MLive.com, ABCNEWS, FiveThirtyEight, New York Times, Washington Times and Las Vegas Sun Blogs

Tim Mak / Politico:

Arlen Specter: Rick Santorum ‘so far to the right’ — ‘I intend to watch the campaign. I intend to make a decision on the merits,’ Specter said. AP Photo — Close — Former Sen. Arlen Specter said Friday that he thought fellow Pennsylvanian Rick Santorum was too extreme to be president.

Discussion: ThinkProgress and On Top Magazine Headlines

Politico:

The ‘gotcha’ campaign — MILFORD, Mich. — Caught in a make-or-break moment, Mitt Romney went to the videotape. — To hear him tell it, the GOP front-runner clicked on a classic piece of opposition research for a peek. The six-day-old Fox News clip summed up the day's attacks on Rick Santorum.

Discussion: Daily Kos and ABCNEWS

Rosie Gray / Politics:
Ron Paul Fans Outraged At Hearty Post-Debate Handshake

Discussion: Althouse, Shakesville, Hot Air and BuzzFeed

Arizona Republic:
Romney right for these times

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN, Talking Points Memo and GOP 12

Kyle Leighton / 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPM2012 — Why Mitt Romney Might Be Even Weaker Than You Think

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Obama Diary

Mary Beth Schneider / Indianapolis Star:
Recount puts Santorum on Indiana primary ballot

Discussion: The Hill, Rasmussen Reports and GOP 12

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:
ARLEN AND RICK — In 1996 and 2004, Rick Santorum supported …

Discussion: CNN and Campaign 2012

Paul Blumenthal / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Super PAC Republishes 2007 Romney Ad, Violating Finance Laws, Watchdog Says

Discussion: Online NewsHour, Hot Air and CNN

Larry J. Sabato / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
The Santorum Surge and Its Larger Meaning

Discussion: GOP 12, The Moderate Voice, American Spectator and Politico

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Romney's Economic Closet — According to Michael Kinsley, a gaffe is when a politician accidently tells the truth. That's certainly what happened to Mitt Romney on Tuesday, when in a rare moment of candor — and, in his case, such moments are really, really rare — he gave away the game.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hullabaloo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Prairie Weather and Washington Post

Sara Murray / Wall Street Journal:
Romney Taps Bush Hands to Shape Economic Policies

Discussion: The Page

James Hohmann / Politico:
Morning Score: Romney on economy

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN and detroitnews.com

Emily Goodin / The Hill:

Palin said her divorce was ‘when,’ not ‘if’ — Sarah Palin, in 2007, indicated she was contemplating a divorce. — In a Sept. 26, 2007, email obtained by The Associated Press, Palin wrote to an aide and her husband, Todd Palin: “So speaking of. .. If we, er, when we get a divorce …

Discussion: Associated Press and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Associated Press:
Emails show Palin wanted to leave Alaska governor's job months before she resigned

Discussion: Mediaite, Politico and The Jane Dough

Investor's Business Daily:

5 Biggest Whoppers In Obama's Energy Speech — Energy: The White House billed President Obama's energy policy speech as a response to mounting criticism of record high gas prices. What he delivered was a grab bag of excuses and outright falsehoods. — Obama's main message to struggling motorists …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Wizbang, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, JunkScience.com, Power Line, Betsy's Page, Doug Ross and New York Times

The White House:
Remarks by the President on Energy

Discussion: Firedoglake, Slate, ThinkProgress, tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com, The Week, GOP.com, White House.gov Blog, The Enterprise Blog, The Maddow Blog, Ecocentric, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Campaign 2012, Obama 2012 Blog and Politico

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Obama: Why, these Republicans are licking their chops over higher gas prices

Discussion: National Review, Ed Driscoll, Patterico's Pontifications, Houston Chronicle, Wizbang, Pirate's Cove, The PJ Tatler and The Lonely Conservative

Rebecca Kaplan / NationalJournal.com:

Santorum: Obama College Plan Aimed at ‘Indoctrination’ — DALLAS, Texas - Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum said Thursday that President Obama wants more young adults to go to college so they can undergo “indoctrination” to a secular world view.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, Little Green Footballs and A plain blog about politics

Politico:
Democrats: Is Rick Santorum for real?

Discussion: CNN, Guardian, The Reaction and The Mahablog

ABCNEWS:
Romney Campaign Doubles Down On Rick Santorum-Arlen Specter Connection

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Maddow Blog and Mediaite

Tim Mak / Politico:

Reports: Jeb Bush says 2012ers are 'appealing to people's fears' — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said Thursday that he found it “troubling” that the 2012 presidential candidates are “appealing to people's fears and emotion” on the campaign trail, according to reports.

Discussion: CBS Dallas, UPI, GOP 12, Guardian, Weasel Zippers, Booman Tribune and LewRockwell.com Blog

Jake Gibson / Fox News:
Jeb Bush: 2012 GOP Field “Appealing to People's Fears”

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Guardian, GOP 12 and Rumproast

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

The Death Star is a Surprisingly Cost-Effective Weapons System — There's been a lot of loose talk about the Death Star lately. I want to put it into a bit of perspective. — As background, some students at Lehigh University have estimated that it would be a very expensive project.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Enik Rising, The Jawa Report and US Politics

Elizabeth Warren / The Boston Globe:

Denying women coverage under any guise is a big step backward — MAYBE YOU saw the pictures. Five middle-age men seated at a congressional hearing table to discuss freedom of religion and contraception. And not a single woman was on the panel. Unbelievable.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Politico and Daily Kos

Howard Mintz / Mercury News:

Republican group appeals ruling striking down federal gay marriage ban — Moving swiftly, gay marriage foes on Friday appealed a San Francisco federal judge's order this week finding the federal government's ban on same-sex marriage benefits unconstitutional.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

Maryland Senate passes same-sex marriage bill — Maryland will join seven states and the District in allowing same-sex marriage, ending a year-long drama in Annapolis over the legislation and expanding nationwide momentum for gay rights. — The Senate passed the measure by a vote of 25 …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Atlantic Wire, The BLT, Mother Jones, US Politics, The Page and The Reaction

Scott Johnson / Power Line:

A message to Mickey Kaus — Yesterday I clicked on an Instapundit link in this one-sentence post: “Mickey Kaus notes a case of eerie prescience.” Clicking on the link, I was transported to a link-filled post stating: “Eerie Prescience, Esquire Division: A lot of what is written …

Discussion: JustOneMinute

David Pogue / New York Times:

What Cameras Inside Foxconn Found — I wrote about the Apple/China/Foxconn controversy in this space a couple of weeks ago, but there have been some developments, some progress and some new revelations. — The story so far: Last month, The New York Times published a front-page article …

Discussion: Democracy in America, Modeled Behavior, Salon, TPM Idea Lab and BillMoyers.com

Jim McElhatton / Washington Times:

Solyndra abandons efforts to go clean and green — Environmental mess left at plant — Federal officials hailed Solyndra LLC's plan to create clean energy when they awarded the company more than a half-billion dollars in loans, but the solar-panel maker's abrupt closure now threatens to leave behind an environmental mess.

Discussion: Don Surber, The Heritage Foundation and JunkScience.com

Ken Dilanian / Los Angeles Times:

U.S. does not believe Iran is trying to build nuclear bomb — The latest U.S. intelligence report indicates Iran is pursuing research that could enable it to build a nuclear weapon, but that it has not sought to do so. — Revolutionary Guard personnel watch the launch of a Zelzal missile in June 2011 near Qom, Iran.

Discussion: Guardian and The Agonist