MORNING READ

The American auto industry doesn’t have much of a long-term future despite government attempts to bail it out, according to one centrist blogger and Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman. Democrat Mary Jo Kilroy’s win in her House race in Ohio is great news for her party, according to liberals online. The victory by Republican Joseph Cao over Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-La.) is historic, according to conservatives online.

Lawmakers negotiating an auto bailout are trying to save an industry in long-term decline that has shown no ability to compete in the 21st century, writes Below the Beltway’s Doug Mataconis. And while New York Times columnist Krugman also believes that the auto industry is destined to disappear, Krugman should consider the negative impact the industry’s collapse would have on the economy and on Democrats’ political fortunes, writes Open Left’s Paul Rosenberg.

The victory by Kilroy in the recount of her House race over Republican Steve Stivers makes up for Democratic losses in the three congressional runoffs held after the general election, writes Daily Kos’s brownsox. Her victory is sweet because she’s a liberal and is one of the few 2006 challengers to succeed in 2008, writes MyDD’s Todd Beeton. Kilroy’s election and the ouster of indicted Rep. Jefferson is good for Democrats, writes DownWithTyranny!.

Jefferson’s loss is good for Republicans, too, according to conservative bloggers. It means that Congress wil have its first Vietnamese-American member ever, writes Ilya Somin at The Volokh Conspiracy. Cao, who left Vietnam just before the fall of Saigon and had his father captured by Communist forces, is a real American hero, writes Townhall’s Amanda Carpenter. But Cao’s support for open-border immigration measures tempers Michelle Malkin‘s enthusiasm for him.

FROM THE BLOGS:
U.S. Auto Industry Is Doomed – D. Mataconis, Below The Beltway
Krugman: U.S. Auto Industry to Disappear – P. Rosenberg, Open Left
Hit Me Congress, One More Time – W. Brasch, Moderate Voice
Kilroy Wins! – Todd Beeton, MyDD
Kilroy Wins!!! – brownsox, Daily Kos
Huge Victory for Dems – DownWithTyranny!
Cao First Vietnamese-American to Congress – I. Somin, Volokh Con.
Republican Beats Corruptocrat Jefferson – Michelle Malkin
Jefferson Loses to An American Hero – Amanda Carpenter, Townhall

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Dems Call For Federal Oversight of Automakers – Washington Post
In Washington, Some Optimism About a Big 3 Bankruptcy – NY Times
Outside Pressure Grows to Oust Wagoner – Wall Street Journal
Streisand, President Bush Share Awkward Smooch – Associated Press