memeorandum: Joe Biden Is Collapsing (Walter Shapiro/New Republic)

6:35 PM ET, February 8, 2020

Top Items:

CNN:

CNN poll: Sanders leads as Buttigieg grabs momentum in New Hampshire — Buttigieg and Sanders both claim victory in Iowa — (CNN)Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders heads into the New Hampshire primary still holding a lead over his top rivals for the Democratic nomination, but with Pete Buttigieg …

Discussion: Mother Jones, USA Today, The Week and New York Post

Colin Kalmbacher / Law & Crime:

Pete Buttigieg Funded by Russian-Linked Oligarch Who Supports Trump and McConnell — Democratic presidential candidate and former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is facing questions after recent revelations that his 2020 effort has taken campaign contributions from an infamous …

Discussion: Mediaite

Walter Shapiro / New Republic:

Joe Biden Is Collapsing — Joe Biden brought his “No Malarkey” tour to a New Hampshire debate stage on Friday night. But in promising to tell the truth, he accidentally exposed his own doleful (or I should say, Bob Dole-ful) prospects in Tuesday's opening-gun primary.

Discussion: CNBC

Margaret Sullivan / Washington Post:

Journalists shouldn't make political predictions. I learned this lesson the hard way. — Of all the lessons the mainstream media should have learned over the past four years, one of them is inexcusably obvious: We're bad at predictions. — Who can forget poll analyses, the infographic needles …

Associated Press:

Biden mocks rival Buttigieg's record as small city mayor — MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — Scrambling to salvage his presidential campaign, Joe Biden escalated his criticism of Pete Buttigieg on Saturday, mocking Buttigieg's experience as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and warning that he would struggle without …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Breitbart and Washington Post

FiveThirtyEight:
Who Won The New Hampshire Democratic Primary Debate?

Discussion: Political Wire

CNN: Amy Klobuchar raises over $2 million dollars after debate, campaign says

Sarah Mucha / CNN:
Biden on Buttigieg: 'This guy's not Barack Obama'

Discussion: HuffPost and The Hill

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite: Bernie Sanders Support with Black Voters Cratered by More Than Half in a Week

CBS Boston:
Exclusive NH Tracking Poll: Buttigieg Takes Lead Over Sanders In Tight New Hampshire Race

Discussion: BuzzFeed News

The Boston Globe:
Buttigieg opens slight lead over Sanders in N.H., Globe/WBZ/Suffolk poll shows

Discussion: Axios, New York Post and Politico

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:
Bernie Sanders showed us he's a very skilled politician

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, The Daily Caller, NewsOne, Talking Points Memo and Outside the Beltway

Julie Pace / Associated Press:
Democrats on edge after 2020 election season's ragged launch

Discussion: PJ Media Home, Associated Press, Breitbart and Axios

Politico:
Everything you need to know about the 2020 race in New Hampshire today

Discussion: The Hill, Associated Press and NBC News

New York Times:
How Pete Buttigieg Became the Surprise of the Iowa Caucuses

Discussion: UPI, NB Blog and Mediaite

TMZ.com:

Trump's ‘Orange Face’ Photo Appears Edited to Show Stark Contrast … DT took to Twitter Saturday, writing ... “More Fake News. This was photoshopped, obviously, but the wind was strong and the hair looks good? Anything to demean!” The black and white rendition of the pic was also posted by this Moon guy.

Discussion: Mother Jones, Vox, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story, Althouse, The Guardian and Sputnik News

Getty Images:
President Trump Arrives To White House From North Carolina

Discussion: Mediaite

David Rothkopf / The Daily Beast:
Friday Night Massacre's Just the Beginning for Acquitted Trump

Discussion: Raw Story

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed News:

The Democratic Primary Is A Mess. Michael Bloomberg Is Taking Advantage. — NORFOLK, Virginia — While the rest of the Democratic field showed up in New Hampshire still unclear about who, exactly, won the Iowa caucuses, Mike Bloomberg was elsewhere. — He was in Philadelphia …

The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Trump used Philly girl's story to attack ‘failing government schools.’ But she's at one of the city's most desired charters. — President Donald Trump turned a Philadelphia fourth grader into a poster child for the school-choice movement Tuesday when he told the nation that thousands of students were …

Discussion: Slate, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

CNN:

Major cuts to National Security Council staff expected as soon as next week, sources say — Key impeachment witness and his brother fired from White House — Washington (CNN)National security adviser Robert O'Brien is expected to make major cuts to the National Security Council staff …

Discussion: Contemptor, Raw Story and Rolling Stone

Vivian Salama / CNN:
Firing of House impeachment witnesses raises questions over US-Ukraine policy

Discussion: East Bay Times, The Gateway Pundit and New York Post

John Gans / New York Times:
Col. Vindman and the Trumpification of the National Security Council

Discussion: Raw Story, The Brussels Times, Mediaite and Vox

Washington Post:
Trump ousts Vindman and Sondland, punishing key impeachment witnesses in post-acquittal campaign of retribution

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Vox and UPI

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

VA chief Wilkie sought to dig up dirt on woman who complained of sexual assault, agency insiders say — The Veterans Affairs Department's inspector general is reviewing a request from a top House leader to investigate allegations that VA Secretary Robert Wilkie sought to dig up dirt …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Jezebel and Task & Purpose

Washington Post:

‘Tempted to despair’: Trump's resilience causes Democrats to sound the alarm — Anxiety is coursing through the Democratic Party as President Trump emerges from his impeachment proceedings as a potent threat for reelection, with party leaders and activists uncertain about how to beat …

Associated Press:

Actor-comedian Orson Bean, 91, hit and killed by car in LA — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Orson Bean, the witty actor and comedian who enlivened the game show “To Tell the Truth” and played a crotchety merchant on “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” was hit and killed by a car in Los Angeles, authorities said.

Discussion: New York Times, Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line and The Wrap

The Times of Israel:

Kushner: It will take ‘couple of months’ to prepare maps ahead of any annexation — Trump envoy says joint Israeli-US commission to finalize ‘conceptual’ proposal, ensure ‘contiguous territory’ for Palestinian state; urges Palestinians to join talks — Jared Kushner, the chief architect …

Jackie Kucinich / The Daily Beast:

Democratic Voters Worry Biden Has ‘Too Much Baggage’ After Trump's Ukraine Smears — The conspiracy theories about Biden amplified by Trump may have been debunked, but some voters say it doesn't matter—the former VP already has a huge weak spot. — On the campaign trail …

Heather Knight / San Francisco Chronicle:

The Castro's shame: Addiction and mental illness devastate iconic SF neighborhood — Heading up Market Street the other day from City Hall to the Castro, we spotted her: a woman sitting on a concrete median in the middle of Duboce Avenue, her skinny, sore-covered legs and bright orange shoes hanging dangerously into traffic.

Brittany Shammas / Washington Post:

Meet the 71-year-old staging a one-man protest in his Trump-loving retirement community — For most of his life, Ed McGinty kept his political beliefs to himself. — Raised Irish Catholic in Philadelphia, the 71-year-old retired real estate broker has always been a Democrat, just like his parents before him.

Discussion: Raw Story