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    Will Reporters Be This Craven?

    TPM Reader MJ gets the plan ...

    Romneyworld is not pushing the 50% angle because they really believe it, clearly. They're pushing it because they know it will muddy the waters on the issue, since mainstream media reporters are constantly looking for their "balance" these days, and now the 13.9% or 15% reference will surely start being accompanied in press stories by "but Romney claims the figure is more like 45-50%." Conservative outlets and talk radio then start pushing Romney's angle, and I can hear it now, an exchange between Republican primary (or for that matter, general) voters - "can you believe Romney only paid 14% tax on all those millions?" "Nah, I heard that was wrong! It's more like 50%!" And the seeds of doubt are successfully sown, taking the power out of the 15% story.

    Josh Marshall

    Romney: Actually, I Kind of Pay 50% Tax

    I'm pretty surprised that Mitt Romney's team let their guy go down this path. Or maybe it's just him. Stung by the 13.9% tax rate story and goaded on by some conservative columnists, Mitt Romney is now saying that his actual tax rate is "really closer to 45 or 50 percent."

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    Josh Marshall
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    Not So Quick Reax

    I found last night's debate so messy and scattered that I had a hard time knowing quite what to make of it. But here's my take. As a debate, I thought it was terrible. Very disorganized. The moderation was close to not there at all. Perhaps it was that we've been through this routine so many times there wasn't much more to say or to ask. I don't know. One of the funnier moments for me was when Newt apparently got tired of waiting for a host to say something that outraged him and just attacked the host anyway, to pretty poor effect.

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    Josh Marshall

    Hate Mail

    Things you probably shouldn't do when accused of a race motivated attempted bombing:

    Correspond with a noted white supremacist leader from prison.

    Paul Werdel
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    Wow

    TPM's "Not-So-Veiled-Insult-Of-The-Night Award" goes to Fred Thompson for his remarks about Bob Dole.

    Thomas Lane

    Florida Debate Live Blogging Pt.3

    9:13 PM: It's not worth getting angry about? What did that even mean?

    9:13 PM: Dead to rights. It's amazing that it took 19 debates but Santorum finally got Romney dead to rights on his plan being more or less identical to Obama's.

    Josh Marshall

    Worst Debate Ever?

    A lot of these debates have been pretty bad. But this strikes me as the most disjointed debate I think I've ever seen. The moderation is poor. The candidates seem to be the campaign equivalent of punch drunk. What do you think?

    Josh Marshall

    Florida Debate Live Blogging Pt.2

    8:53 PM: I think this debate is a bigger mess than any of the previous ones.

    8:56 PM: Newt started off strong but this extended digression on space and moon states. Just not happening.

    8:59 PM: When I was a little kid I used to watch those great Ali fights when you had these two heavyweights exhausted in the late rounds. Got sloppy. Messy. About like this debate.

    9:01 PM: Newt started pretty strong. And then Mitt got in that pretty embarrassing spot where he said he hadn't seen one of his own ads and denied it even being his ad. A classic Mitt moment. But since then Newt's just been all over the place and he's given Mitt all sorts of opportunities to come in and be the grown up. Not good for Newt.

    9:04 PM: Mitt: I'd fire anyone who bought me a moon base.

    Josh Marshall

    Combo!

    I pay a 40% combo tax and charity rate.

    Josh Marshall

    Nope

    There's a lot of evidence that Romney's 'blind trust' isn't that blind.

    Josh Marshall

    Florida Debate Live Blogging Pt.1

    8:11 PM: When's the fighting start?

    8:17 PM: Really good answer there.

    8:18 PM: Mittdignation!

    8:19 PM: Is Newt actually managing to use logic and understatement this time? That's total newtjitsu.

    8:22 PM: Okay, this may be a problem for Mitt. He just said he hadn't seen this ad about Gingrich allegedly attacking the Spanish language and doubted it was his. (Here's the ad.) Well, it's his ad and actually have the 'I approve this message' tag at the end.

    Josh Marshall

    Where Things Stand

    Three big dynamics are likely to drive the Florida primary race between now and next the election next Tuesday.

    The biggest and most interesting is the growing effort by what we think of as the GOP establishment to knock Newt down hard enough in Florida that he can't get up off the canvas. Bob Dole's seering attack on Newt today and Larry Kudlow's very aggressive interview with Newt tonight on CNBC are the latest examples of the Stop Newt movement. The second dynamic is the $5 million of pro-Newt money from the Adelsons. Does it go toward a ferocious last-minute attack on Mitt? Signs point to yes. The final driving force is tonight's debate, in a primary season where the debates -- nearly 20 of them now -- have had sometimes outsize influence.

    The debate starts at 8 p.m. ET. You can follow the debate here in the Editors Blog and on TPM Livewire.

    David Kurtz

    Most Recent Latest news stories from TPM reporters

    Muckraker

    Obama DOJ Protects Military Voters From Texas Republicans

    The Justice Department said in a filing on Friday that the primary schedule proposed by the Texas Republican Party wouldn't give enough time for military and overseas voters to participate in the election process in violation of the Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment (MOVE) Act. Here's the kicker: conservatives -- led by Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn -- have long been on a crusade against the Justice Department for what they said was a failure to protect military voters under the MOVE Act.
    TPM2012

    Who's Winning The Ex-Reagan Staffers Vote?

    Friday's theme in the Republican presidential primary was a battle for the legacy of Ronald Reagan. The Romney team hosted a conference call with ex-Reagan staffers who claimed Newt Gingrich had no claim to the Gipper's legacy. The Gingrich team fired back with ex-Reagan staffers of their own (and a former biographer of Reagan) who claimed Newt was the evident heir of the GOP hero. How to arbitrate this division? TPM reached out to Lou Cordia, the head of the Ronald Reagan Alumni Association.
    TPM2012

    Day In 100 Seconds: Fly Me To The Moon

    In a busy day on the campaign trail, President Obama posted up in Michigan and Maryland to continue to press his messages of income equality and investment in green energy and education. With a lack of soundbites abundant in that story, cable news dedicated a lot of their rainy Friday to making jokes about Newt "Let's Build On The Moon" Gingrich. Also in the news - some pressing business at the UN...
    IdeaLab

    Report: Facebook Could File For IPO February 1, 2012

    Investors will probably "like" this one: Facebook is preparing to file papers imminently with the Securities and Exchange Commission for its long-awaited initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The report, which cites "people familiar with the matter," states the IPO filing could come as early as Wednesday, February 1, 2012. That would be much earlier than a previous report from The Journal, which pegged the IPO filing to come between April and June 2012.
    IdeaLab

    Twitter's New Selective 'Censorship' Draws Fire

    Twitter on Thursday raised the ire of some users by announcing a fairly radical shift in policy: The company can "withhold content from users in a specific country -- while keeping it available in the rest of the world," as Twitter explained in a blog post. The technical details of the process are somewhat arcane, but Danny Sullivan has a great rundown at MarketingLand. In essence, here's what's changed: Prior to the new policy, Twitter had already been regularly removing tweets from appearing to anyin ...
    IdeaLab

    Congress Puts Google On Defense Over Privacy Policy Changes

    Google's recent announcement that it will consolidate 60 disparate privacy policies for its various products into one meta-privacy policy, allowing the company to combine and mine user information across all of the Google products, hasn't gone over well with Congress. On Thursday night, eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives -- five Democrats and three Republicans -- sent an open letter to Google CEO Larry Page, asking "why Google feels that these changes are necessary, and what steps are...
    Muckraker

    2nd Mayor Says Obama 'Wasn't Tense At All' During Brewer Encounter

    Out of the three officials who met President Obama on an airport tarmac near Phoenix earlier this week, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) is now the only one who has characterized the president as anything other than cordial. In numerous TV and radio interviews since the meeting, Brewer has said the president was "tense to say the least" and took issue with a book she wrote last year. She said Obama walked away from her while she was in mid-sentence and even told one Phoenix television station she felt "a...
    Muckraker

    Duke Tells Newt He'd Have The Felon Vote Locked Down

    Here's an endorsement Newt Gingrich probably doesn't need: former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA), currently serving a 100 month sentence in federal prison after being convicted of bribery in one of the largest congressional corruption cases in recent memory. Cunningham, the inspiration for the TPM Golden Dukes and a TPM pen pal, acknowledged in a letter to Newt he forwarded to the Voice of San Diego, that his endorsement "would do more harm than good." But he was hoping Gingrich would help out...
    Muckraker

    Bachmann, Coulter Named As Witnesses In Suit Over Alleged Tea Party TV Scam

    After no one took him up on his televised "lie detector challenge," the man accused of scamming his co-investors in the failed television venture Tea Party HD is trying to make his case by calling a number of high-profile conservative witnesses like Michele Bachmann and Ann Coulter to his defense. Anthony Loiacono, who was sued for $19 million by a group of conservative businessmen in November, introduced a list of 50 witnesses he plans on calling in the case, Brandon Gee of The Tennessean reports. The ...
    TPM2012

    Ron Paul-Supporting Former Ron Paul Secretary: He Knew All About Those Newsletters

    Something often overlooked in the Ron Paul newsletter story: the basic political cynicism that led to their publication in the first place. There isn't a whole lot of new information in the Washington Post's latest story on the Paul newsletter scandal, but there is one fresh name attached to an on-the-record quote that could prove damning to Paul, who has said for years that he was totally unaware of the racist, anti-Semitic and anti-gay language that filled his for-profit leaflets.
    TPMDC

    New Figures Show Economy Improving -- But Still Not Fast Enough

    The U.S. economy grew 2.8 percent in the last three months of 2011, the Commerce Department announced in an advance estimate Friday. The new figures help quell lingering fears of a double-dip recession, but economists say there remains cause for concern. "At first glance, it looks good, because it's the 10th straight quarter of economic growth," Chad Stone, chief economist at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, told TPM. "But there's an awful lot to be concerned about when you dig into the...
    TPM2012

    Colbert: Gingrich Clearly A 'Seductive' Man

    Newt Gingrich's infidelity has been well documented. It's no secret he left his first wife when she was diagnosed with cancer, and his second wife when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. But "Fox News therapist" Dr. Keith Ablow wrote last week that Newt's three marriages could actually make him a strong president. Stephen Colbert happens to agree. "Gingrich is so seductive that three women, two of whom knew he was an adulterer, were willing to pick Newt," Colbert said Thursday. So Ablow is...
    IdeaLab

    Bankrupt Green Company Ener1 Backed By Republicans

    Updated 5:24 pm ET Friday, January 27, 2012 Republicans in Congress didn't wait long after government-funded New York electric-car battery manufacturer Ener1 declared bankruptcy on Thursday to begin branding the company another "Solyndra." The two situations are distinct though, and not in the least because prominent Indiana Republicans including Governor Mitch Daniels and Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IL) are among the strongest supporters of an Ener1 subsidiary in their state that received government funds. ...
    TPM2012

    Jon Stewart: Newt Wants To Divorce Earth For Younger, Healthier Moon

    If Newt Gingrich wants to play down accusations that he is "grandiose," calling for a permanent, American moon base might not be the best approach, Jon Stewart said on Thursday. Stewart is referring to a speech Gingrich made earlier this week, promising a lunar base by the end of his second term. "What, did you start with Death Star and you got kind of reined in?" Stewart said.
    TPM2012

    Quinnipiac Poll: Florida Becoming Romney Territory Again

    Polls earlier this week showed a huge bump for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich after his win in the South Carolina primary. Only days later, the momentum has returned to Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is again up in the Sunshine State. The question now is whether Romney's performance in Thursday's debate, after which many pundits argued he outshone Gingrich, will be enough to hold him through the weekend, as he remains the subject of negative attacks on his business record via a pro-Gingrich...
    TPM2012

    Today On The Trail: January 27, 2012

    We've seen the last of the debates ahead of the January 31st Florida primary. Here are ten things you need to know today. Quinnipiac Poll at 8 A.M.: A new Quinnipiac Poll of the Florida GOP race is out Friday morning and shows a nine point lead for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Initial polling of the race in the Sunshine State showed former House Speaker Newt Gingrich with a huge bump from his win in South Carolina -- but as the week has gone on Romney has moved back into a healthy lead -- the...
    Muckraker

    Harpham's White Supremacist Prison Pen Pal Thinks MLK Parade Bomber Was Set Up

    Less than a week after 36-year-old Kevin Harpham was arrested for allegedly attempting a racially motivated bombing of a 2011 Martin Luther King Jr. parade in Spokane, white supremacist leader Glenn Miller sent him a letter offering to help start a legal fund on his behalf. "Keep your chin up and stay strong," Miller wrote in a letter dated March 14, telling Harpham that he and other members of an online white supremacist forum believed he'd "been set up."
    TPM2012

    In Oregon Special Election, Democrats Look To Hold Seat Vacated By Disgraced David Wu

    The heated Florida Republican primary isn't the only big election on Tuesday. All the way on the other end of the country is the special election for Oregon's 1st Congressional District -- or rather, the final day of an election where voting has been actively going on for three weeks. A SurveyUSA poll released in early January, when ballots were first going out, gave Democratic state Sen. Suzanne Bonamici a lead of 50%-39% over Republican businessman and 2010 nominee Rob Cornilles, in the race to fill...
    TPM2012

    The Dems Now Know How To Deal With OWS: Embrace It

    Inequality. Fairness. Cracking down on CEOs. These could be hand-painted slogans on Occupy movement signs. Or they could be the takeaways from President Obama's latest State of the Union address and his subsequent tour across several swing states. In yet another sign that the Occupy movement's call for a focus on the income gap has solidified Democratic messaging, the President's first big political moment of 2012 has a decidedly Occupy Wall Street tinge.
    TPM2012

    Debate In 100 Seconds: Have A Sunshine State Disposition

    It was the last debate before the Florida primary on Jan. 31 the candidates fought to maintain a sunny disposition befitting the Sunshine State. They also fought to hold a sunny disposition about Latino immigrants... about whom some of them had been - well - let's just say they'd been "less enthusiastic" in states where there are drastically fewer Hispanic Republicans. Indeed, it suddenly seems that if there's one thing all the candidates agree on, it's that grandmas are awesome, no matter where...

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