Cheat Sheet - Romney’s VP Dilemma

Today: U.S. to Resume Talks With Taliban, Obama Raises $68M at End of 2011, Japan to Cut Iran Oil Imports January 12, 2012 SHORTLIST 1. Romney's VP Dilemma It's a bit too soon, even in the aftermath of his New Hampshire victory, for Mitt Romney to start picking a running mate, the most important decision of his campaign. But it's not too early for us to have some fun thinking about it. So who's on the shortlist—Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley? The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz runs down the pluses and minuses of potential Mitt running mates. Read it at The Daily Beast PEACE 2. U.S. to Resume Talks With Taliban Paging Hamid Karzai. The Obama administration announced that it will resume talks with the Taliban—provided the Afghan president does not have a problem, a senior official told The Washington Post. In December, a U.S.-Taliban deal that would have transferred five Afghan detainees from Guantánamo Bay to Qatar fell apart after Karzai said he wouldn't support it. While the U.S., Afghanistan, and the Taliban have said they are all for opening a Taliban office in Qatar, talks have not taken place since the falling out. The U.S. has maintained that talks with the Taliban must be Afghan-led, though some officials say the Taliban is not willing to sit down and talk to Afghanistan. Read it at The Washington Post WAR CHEST 3. Obama Raises $68M at End of 2011 President Obama's approval rating might be faltering, but he can still raise a lot of money. Obama's campaign took in more than $68 million in the last three months of 2011, both for his own re-election and for the Democratic Party. Campaign officials had hoped to raise at least $60 million during the quarter. In total, Obama and the DNC raised more than $220 million in 2011. Meanwhile, Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren showed own her fundraising chops in the last quarter, raising $5.7 million, far more than her opponent Sen. Scott Brown's $3.2 million. Read it at Associated Press ISOLATION 4. Japan to Cut Iran Oil Imports Japan's finance minister announced his readiness to cut the amount of crude it imports from Iran, in a show of support for the U.S. economic war against Iran. "The nuclear development issue is an issue that the international community cannot overlook," said Jun Azumi, the Japanese finance minister, in a news conference with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Japan imports 10 percent of its crude from Iran. The U.S. got no such assurance from China, however, which said it wanted no part in the sanctions. Read it at CNN 2012 5. Romney Prepares Bain Counterattack After several days of attacks on his record at Bain Capital, Mitt Romney is readying a defense. That defense starts with a series of ads featuring Bain employees speaking positively about the company, a direct response to a 28 minute Bain movie Newt Gingrich released featuring people laid off by Bain. One adviser admits the Romney campaign was caught off guard by the attacks on Romney's private equity firm, but that now they're preparing to defend it more aggressively. "Being in favor of capitalism is always a major positive in the Republican primary," said Kevin Madden, one of Romney's advisers. Despite reports that quoted Gingrich as saying he'd crossed a line, he now says he isn't backing down. Read it at Politico MEMORIAL Kim Jong-Il Will Be Embalmed And put on display. PREDICTIONS Handwriting Expert: Newt Won't Drop Out Speaker's upward-slanting 't' shows willpower. UPRISING Second Syrian Monitor May Quit Says mission hasn't helped civilians. 99 PERCENT Survey Finds Increasing Class Tension Eclipses race and immigration conflicts. BUH-BYE Oscars May Leave Kodak Theater Awards Show Considers Moving to Nokia Theatre in LA. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET The Yes List Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. The Endgame Behind the Iranian Nuclear-Scientist Assassinations by Michael Adler Standard & Poor's and Other Ratings Agencies Must End Their Power Trip by Zachary Karabell The Great Transformation of Rooney Mara Into Lisbeth Salander by Isabel Wilkinson

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