Psst: He's Loaded! [Liz Sidoti, Associated Press]: "Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson have begun casting Republican rival Mitt Romney as a scion of the upper class, contrasting him with their more humble roots in hopes of undermining the richest candidate in a well-off group."
Luckily, Chuck Norris Fixed It [Michael Luo, The New York Times]: "The Huckabee campaign was crippled for about 24 hours by a massive e-mail breakdown that began just after Wednesday’s Republican debate and stymied its communications just as media attention on it crescendoed."
There's Gotta Be a Word for That [Ross Douthat, The Atlantic]: "Huckenfreude (n): Pleasure derived from the outrage of prominent conservative pundits over the rising poll numbers of Mike Huckabee."
The First GOP Casualty? [Daniel Larison, Eunomia]: "I have never given Fred Thompson much of a break this year, and from the beginning I thought the enthusiasm for him was an irrational outburst, a kind of mania that revealed despair among Republicans. Simply put, it never made any sense."
Independents Finally Make Up Their Minds [Todd Beeton, MyDD]: "It was always expected that independents would break for Obama whose above the partisan fray message was presumed to appeal to them. That finally appears to be happening."
Two More Polls [Hotline, Research 2000]. New Iowa numbers. Hotline: Democrats: Clinton 27 percent, Obama 27, Edwards 22. Republicans: Huckabee 36 percent, Romney 23, Giuliani 12, Thompson 8, McCain 5, Paul 5. Research 2000: Democrats: Obama 33 percent, Clinton 24, Edwards 24. Republicans: Huckabee 31 percent, Romney 22, Giuliani 9, Thompson 9, McCain 7, Paul 7.
--Josh Patashnik