Remainders: Onward
30 Dec 2011 9:59pm GMT Ben Smith, who wrote his final blog post for POLITICO today, sitting on the steps of New York's City Hall, where he has long blogged about politics. (Photo: Axel Dupeux, for Adweek) Ben Smith moves on. Iowa media gets its moment in the sun. Journalists are secretly rooting for electoral outcomes. The candidates have a broad view of presidential power. Ron Paul has an abortion problem. Mitt Romney has a humor problem. He claims he's not a Wall Street guy. His...
The latest from Newtland
30 Dec 2011 9:07pm GMT The latest email from pro-Gingrich Super PAC Winning Our Future: FEAR OF NEWT STUNNER! In field of Seven — 45% of all advertising in Iowa was directed at the former Speaker In what must be one of the most stunning political statistics in a long time — a survey quoted by ABCNEWS.com put cold hard numbers to what most already knew. Newt Gingrich has undergone an unprecedented barrage of attack ads from his opponents. According to ABC News, the Campaign Media Analysis...
Sunni leader denies NY Times byline
30 Dec 2011 8:53pm GMT Iraqi parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi is denying his participation in a New York Times op-ed bearing his byline, Agence-France Press reports. "The article published in The New York Times ... has been written without the knowledge of speaker Nujaifi," a statement issued by his office today said. The article, "How to Save Iraq From Civil War," is attributed to three leaders of the country's Iraqiya party — Nujaifi, Finance Minister Rafa...
Thanks
30 Dec 2011 3:48pm GMT I thought for a time I'd never write this item: That I'd literally keel over in front of my keyboard in a couple of decades, and leave behind a post with even more typos than usual. Instead, this is my last blog item. You'll still find my columns every week over on the front page of POLITICO. But I wanted to say thanks before handing over the keys. I'd like to thank, in particular, my regular readers and correspondents, dozens of whom I’d call friends, and some of...
Fox bites man
30 Dec 2011 3:48pm GMT Paul Farhi has the latest in a series of stories reflecting Fox's course correction since the glory days of the Beck era: But just days before the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus takes place, there’s not much evidence to suggest that Fox News has crowned any one candidate as the eventual nominee. There’s little question that Fox is an important news and opinion source for conservative voters, despite the relatively small audiences that cable news attracts (Fox News, the...