The Daily Digest

The Yangtze River Dolphin

Patrick Ruffini has fast become one of my favorite new-media pundits (others include Rob Bluey, Todd Zeigler, David All, Micah Sifry and Josh Levy). His post explaining why Ames was "the perfect place to roll out an SMS program" evinces his expertise: it's an eminently sensible proposal yet remains unembraced (the only candidate to avail himself of texting was a noncandidate, Newt Gingrich, who also did so at this year's CPAC).

The National Review editors defend our recently announced $20 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. They are quick to note that these so-called desert rats play "both sides of the War on Terror," but argue that with a weak Iraq, the U.S. needs a new counterweight to Iran. The deal "passes the realist’s most important standard in such matters," they conclude. "It’s better than the alternative."

Contrary to reports that George W. and George H.W. Bush have grown distant, the NYT's Sheryl Stolberg discovers that "[t]hey talk almost every morning by phone," and the father "has passed on his own foreign policy wisdom to the president."

Taking a cue from the latest Obama Girl video, David All produces two new mockumentaries for the Majority Accountability Project. He thinks it's his "best work yet," and I agree.

Jonathan Martin files another admiring Romney profile, which paints him more as a reformer than a Republican. Money quote: "Frankly, the only thing I’d be worried about having behind my name is ‘United States Senator,'" Romney said. "Somebody who's been in Washington, that’s the challenge."