What to Read Before You Unwonk Tonight

Stuff besides the Cain Wreck happened today. Read about them here.

by Jaime Fuller

November 28, 2011

10:37 PM

Newt Gingrich continued his newfound dominance in the polls and the media with an endorsement from New Hampshire's Union Leader yesterday. But, Gingrich is far behind his opponents in campaign organization and grassroots support, according to the latest Power Outsiders poll. More interesting, if less omnipresent, news comes the Ron Paul campaign. Apparently federal employees have donated more money to Ron Paul than any other GOP candidate. This leads me to believe that either 1) They don't realize he wants to fire them or 2) Everyone in government is actually like Ron Swanson. I think you'll agree that the time is ripe for The Real World: Department of Transportation. John Sides also noticed that Paul's poll numbers are dropping, and he's not quite sure why. Thoughts?

Bloomberg's report on the bank bailout is a (long) must-read if you want to understand the scope of the 2008 bailout, as well as the scope of the Fed's job. The report will make you want to yell at the Fed, but Derek Thompson points out that it's a useful exercise to compare the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank's tactics at dealing with crisis.

Barney Frank announced today that he is not running for re-election next year, which means there will be a huge snark-shaped hole in Congress come next November. The requisite best quips lists have been circulating today, and Charles P. Pierce wrote a great piece today about Frank's tenure, and many more will undoubteldy pop up between now and November 2012. In other sad Barney Frank news, the politician who takes over for Frank will most likely not be as liberal, or witty, as their predecessor.

Dahlia Lithwick's excellent piece on Elena Kagan's first term paints a mult-dimensional and favorable picture of the new justice, and argues that Kagan has no reason to recuse herself from the Affordable Care Act hearing.

After reading Ashley Parker's article on the GOP primary candidates' relationships, I'm even more positive the sitcom, "How I Met Your 2012 GOP Candidate" needs to happen. To quote David, "Is this real life?"

The "What is the Democratic coalition of 2012 and Beyond" debate is shaping up to be the next big nerd fight of the election cycle. No matter whether the FDR coalition is actually lost forever to the Republicans, the Obama campaign doesn't seem to think its best chance at re-election is to try and revive it.

Herman Cain predicts that he will be the big news item tomorrow.

There's too much at stake this November for us to quit. As we navigate another presidential election year, thoughtful independent journalism is more important than ever. We're committed to bringing you the latest news on what's really happening across the country this election season, shining a light on the stories corporate media overlooks and keeping the public informed about how power really works in America.

Quality reporting doesn't come for free, and we don't have corporate backers to rely on to fund our work. Everything we do is thanks to our incredible community of readers, who chip in a few dollars at a time to make what we do possible. This month, we're trying to raise $50,000 to help fuel our election coverage, and we've fallen behind on reaching our goal. Any amount you give today will bring us closer to making our reporting possible—and a generous donor has agreed to match all online donations, so your impact will be doubled.

You can help power this newsroom by making a donation today.