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- The Hill reports that RNC members have called for their own special meeting, an "unprecedented" move that allows the member states to bypass the usual Washington hierarchy. Ostensibly the meeting is to allow the large field of candidates for the national chair to get a chance to make their case, but I can't help but wonder if maybe they're all trying to get on the same page after the "Barack the Magic Negro" fiasco. Speaking of which, does anyone else find it odd that Ben Smith would characterize Charlie Crist's post-election efforts as a "leader of the modernizing, more diverse Republican Party," while ignoring the fact that it took several days for Crist's staff to come up with a condemnation of the sophisticated humor of the Saltsman Christmas gift? Or for that matter, why Republicans are just now getting around to expressing outrage over a "joke" that's been around since March.
- I see The Wall St. Journal is having trouble accommodating the inevitable slowing of the news cycle that the holidays bring, reporting that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid faces a "potentially tough fight" for re-election as "perhaps the most-vulnerable Democrat who will face re-election in a midterm race." Eve Fairbanks brings a little clarity to the situation, noting that Reid's would-be Republican opponent is currently under indictment, and that the Nevada state GOP is in shambles.
- Back in the day, when I argued Jim Webb would be more effective as a Democratic Senator than Barack Obama's vice president, I wasn't thinking about prison reform being one of his signature issues. But apparently the now-senior Senator from Virginia wants to tackle it in the 111th Congress. Excellent.
- The synergy between MoveOn.org and Barack Obama's agenda, reported in today's Politico, is hardly an accident according to Matt Yglesias, who confirms his suspicions with a followup from MoveOn's Communications Director: "Rather than blind followers, as Politico portrays, our members have been determined and persevering in their pursuit of these progressive goals. The only thing that’s changed is now they have an Administration who is friendly to these aims--at least in rhetoric."
- Rahm Emanuel will resign his House seat on Friday, leaving a five day window for Gov. Rod Blagojevich to decide if he wants to fill the vacancy with a special election or appoint some tainted goods to Congress.
- CQ Politics has compiled their annual study on the partisan voting patterns for the 110th Congress, the conventional wisdom-confirming results of which can be found in PDF and interactive table forms.
- The comedy stylings of Karl Rove are always guaranteed to leave you in stitches ("In the 35 years I've known George W. Bush, he's always had a book nearby. He plays up being a good ol' boy from Midland, Texas, but he was a history major at Yale and graduated from Harvard Business School. You don't make it through either unless you are a reader."), but let it be known that Condoleeza Rice and Laura Bush are each mining the rich earth of the Bush legacy project for pure comedy gold as well.
- Speaking of the great Bush whitewash of aught-eight, Ed Gillespie gives us the "Myths & Facts About the Real Bush Record." To accept Gillespie's historical revisionism, you'd also be accepting that 1) Bush's economic policies have made for a prosperous America and reduced inequality, 2) his foreign policy has been a towering success, and 3) there hasn't been a better president on global warming and environmental protection. Heckuva job!
- Weekend/holiday leftovers: Steve Clemons on the prescience of Joe Biden's prediction that a president Obama would be tested on foreign policy early in his administration, and Ari Berman on the "prophecy" of Howard Dean's 50-state strategy.
--Mori Dinauer
