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Today On The Trail: February 11, 2012


Maine's Republican caucus results will be announced today and it's the last day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Here are ten things you need to know.

  • Maine caucuses finish up: Republican caucuses in Maine, which have been going on all week, will be announced Saturday evening. There's no polling data on the contest there, but Public Policy Polling (D) pollster Tom Jensen published a few thoughts on the race: He said the conventional wisdom is that Romney, who was in Maine on Friday, will do well in the New England state. But Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) has campaigned there too and may have the organizing edge. "I'm not making any predictions for tomorrow -- I really have no idea -- but our past Maine polling certainly suggests some vulnerability for Romney there," wrote Jensen.
  • Palin closes out CPAC: Former Alaska Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin will close out CPAC, speaking at 4:30pm Eastern. The day will also include talks from Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) and Gov. Rick Scott (R-FL) on the last day of the conservative event.
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'Anonymous' Claims Takedown of CIA Website


The public website of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA, was knocked offline Friday evening, and a person claiming to be associated with the hacker group Anonymous took credit for the outage on Twitter.

"[C]ia.gov DOWN. #UMAD?#Anonymous," tweeted one Twitter user, whose name was not given, at 3:10 p.m ET, the Russian news outlet RT reported.

At the time of this posting, the CIA website was still offline and has been for approximately two and a half hours.

"We are looking into these reports," said CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood, CNN reported.

However, there is some doubt over whether this is a true "Anonymous" operation in the sense that involves any of the group's regular participants.

A search of Twitter's publicly available tweets by TPM did not reveal that tweet quoted by RT, and other accounts under the banner of Anonymous have mainly re-tweeted the link to the RT report. A widely cited tweet by the account YourAnonNews reading "CIA TANGO DOWN: https://www.cia.gov/ #Anonymous," also linked back to the RT report.

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Newt's 'Dream Team' Suddenly Very Quiet About Their Leader


Newt Gingrich debuted what he called his "conservative dream team" in his big address at CPAC Friday. It was the one new bit of a speech that was for the most part a stump speech retread.

With music blasting, Gingrich strutted out on to the CPAC mainstage under a group photo featuring his most prominent conservative backers, including Fred Thompson, Chuck Norris, Michael Reagan, Rick Perry and Herman Cain.

However, those last two names were notable at CPAC for not saying a word about Gingrich when it was their turn to speak.

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Day In 100 Seconds: CPAC Day Two


CPAC rolled straight on to day two today, so for those of us that might not normally attend this kind of an event, it was a chance to see how the other half lives.

How they live, as it turns out, is on a very high pedestal of their own making.  Fresh from Mitch McConnell's declaration that conservatives are "more fun" because they are "always right", we were treated to an array of people with fresh opinions to smack down those they disagree with.

It certainly wasn't a good day to be a Kenyan, Socialist, Anti-Colonial Muslim in Washington DC today, but neither was it a good day to be a protestor outside the building (Laura Ingraham: You may not have seen them but "you could smell them.").

Overall it was a day of chuckles at other people's expense, so if you have a hardy constitution, sit back, watch the highlights and comfort yourself with the fact that it will all be over soon...

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Crowd-Funding Website Kickstarter Has Double Million Dollar Day


Kickstarter, the Manhattan-based crowd funding website launched in 2009 that's since gone on to fund an iPod Nano Watch and the Occupy Wall Street Journal, among other strange projects, has made two projects into millionaires.

On Friday, the Kickstarter team announced that users had successfully funded two different projects to the tune of $1 million each within the same 24 hour period. Both projects set the record for the most dollars ever raised on the website. One of them also set the record for fastest funded project yet.

Kickstarter allows anyone to launch projects and solicit donations on its website, although it takes a 5 percent cut of all successfully funded projects.

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Romney's CPAC Speech Has An Epic Stagecraft Fail


The awkward elements of Mitt Romney's speech at CPAC Friday began even before the GOP frontrunner opened his mouth.

Like all the high-profile speakers before him, Romney delivered his address from the CPAC main stage at a Marriot hotel in Washington, DC. That means he stood behind a pair of teleprompters and in front of a pair of fake Grecian columns.

Just the other night, when he was giving his address amid the defeats in Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado, Romney took a shot at the man he's trying to oust from the White House for - well - using teleprompters and standing in front of fake columns. Here's part of the transcript from Romney's Colorado speech on February 7):

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Video Of The 'Occupy CPAC' Protests


Protesters rallied outside the hotel hosting the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) during Mitt Romney's speech on Friday. Private security guards responded, and at times even threatened to arrest attendees who were observing the protest.

Victoria Jackson, the former SNL actress, author of the song "There's A Communist Living In The White House" and conservative activist, was on the scene to watch the "angry" "communists."

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Iranian Users Report Major Websites Blocked


A number of websites and Iranian Internet users are reportedly receiving error messages when trying to visit major websites from within the country, including Google, Yahoo and online banking websites.

Iranian users suspect that it is the result of a government-imposed block in advance of the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, celebrated beginning February 11 and throughout the rest of the month. As such, the block isn't expected to be lifted until March, according to Kabir News.

The Iranian government appears to be making a pre-emptive attempt to head off dissent by reform and pro-democracy advocates. Protesters, many of whom organized online, took to the streets last year, beginning February 14, 2011, to demonstrate against the regime and in solidarity with the uprisings sweeping Tunisia and Egypt. While those protests weren't quite as large, dramatic or violent as the protests that followed Iran's disputed 2009 election, in which Twitter played a crucial role, they were still a blight on the regime.

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Mitt Romney's CPAC Speech In Full


Mitt Romney today delivered remarks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C. The following remarks were prepared for delivery:

Thanks, Al, for that warm introduction.

This year, here at CPAC, we've got a great crowd. It's been a great conference. For that I suppose we should acknowledge President Obama, the conservative movement's top recruiter. Turns out, he really is a great community organizer. Although, I don't think we were the community he had in mind.

Today we are poised for a great victory in November. The pundits and the pollsters tell us we can win this election. But we must tell the nation why we should win. It is up to us to prove that we are truly ready to step forward and lead this country. This election is not just about getting more votes. Defeating Barack Obama is only one step toward our greater goal of saving America.

Of course we can defeat Barack Obama! That's the easy part! Believe me, November 6th will be the easiest day our next President will face.

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What Will Google's Reported Home Entertainment System Be?


Just when it seemed like the reportedly imminent launch of the iPad 3 was going to be the big tech story of the week, Google came along and stole Apple's thunder.

Now the piece of hardware that's at the top of everyone's minds (or at least the top of Techmeme) is a reported Google home entertainment system. According to the Wall Street Journal, Google's new device will be unveiled "later this year, people familiar with the matter said."

The new Google device described by The Journal would stream music wirelessly throughout a user's home from Google Music and would be controlled by a smartphone or tablet. Such a device would compete directly with, and be cheaper than, the Sonos wireless music streaming system currently available on the market. Though no specific Sonos product is mentioned, the most expensive product on Sonos's website is the $499 Connect: Amp, which can stream music from a home computer throughout any other speakers in the home and is also controlled by a smartphone or tablet.

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Twin car bombs rock Syria's Aleppo, kill 25


Today On The Trail: February 10, 2012


It's day two of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Follow TPM for live updates and reports. Here are ten things you need to know.

  • Romney, Gingrich and Santorum speak at CPAC today: Three of the Republican presidential candidates will speak at CPAC today. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum will take the podium at 10:30AM, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will be up at 12:55PM, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is slotted for 4:10PM. Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), a libertarian that often bucks traditional conservative orthodoxy, will not be speaking at the event.
  • Obama hits 49 percent in Gallup tracking: President Obama's approval rating has been ticking up, having been positive in Rasmussen's tracking poll for four days in a row. Now he may be verging into that territory in the Gallup nightly numbers as well -- he hit 49 percent yesterday. The last time Obama was at 50 percent in Gallup's tracking poll was early June, but he's also snapped back quickly after short bursts in their numbers over the last few months, so we'll know which at 1 p.m. eastern when the polling organization releases its numbers.
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Lugar's Residency Defense: It's Like Being In The Army


Indiana Republican, Sen. Dick Lugar, who is facing attacks from both Democrats and internal opponents to the right in a Republican primary, has been dealing with a tricky political issue: that he lives mainly in northern Virginia, in the Washington suburbs.

The issue was first reported a week and a half ago by the Daily Caller -- noting that Lugar actually sold his home way back in 1977, but continues to use the same location as his legal voting address.

Lugar campaign spokesman David Willkie has now explained the issue to the local CBS affiliate in Indianapolis. "It's just like the United States military," said Willkie. "If you're military personnel and in defense of this country, in service to this country and you're overseas you keep your last place of residence."

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Even At CPAC Conservatives Seem Despondent About 2012 Choices


The Conservative Political Action Conference is one of the biggest and most anticipated events on the conservative calendar. Generally, the excitement in the air is palpable as conservatives gather to hear over and over again about how their ideas alone are the path to the nation's salvation.

This year? Not so much.

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Day In 100 Seconds: CPAC Day One


Well, we're one third of the way through the annual right wing confab known as the Conservative Political Action Conference and what a journey already.

The big guns are still to come, but the warm up acts today included Senators, Congressmen, former Presidential Candidates, actors, talking heads and one self-described comedian.

We heard a litany of reasons why conservatives are just plain awesome and possibly more reasons why the President has to go. So, sit back, catch up on the highlights and get ready because the best is yet to come...

Read more »

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