In a somewhat scary development for first-term Sen. Scott Brown (R-MA), Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren‘s campaign has just released its first fundraising numbers since she joined the race, and the trend is stark. Warren raised $3.15 million since August 30, while Scott Brown, who already had a substantial fundraising lead on Warren, took in only $1.55 million. Warren’s haul and her performance in early polls have at least one conservative wondering if Republican fundraising committees should cut bait on Brown.

Several conservative blogs have taken note of a campaign email, from Obama For America Texas Campaign Director Hector Nieto, that asks Texans to submit their choices for “which part of Rick Perry‘s record you’d most like to see him held accountable for.”

Conservative blogs are interpreting this as an oppo research fishing expedition, but given the staggering resources at OFA’s disposal, it’s hard to imagine that this is anything other than a fundraising come-on.

If you are looking for a good narrative to follow tonight’s primary elections, look no further than Delaware, where the Sarah Palin endorsed Tea Party candidate Christine O’Donnell is now up in the polls over the GOP-establishment candidate Mike Castle. Charles Krauthammer called Palin’s endorsement of O’Donnell “destructive and capricious.” This is appears to be where the rubber meets the road in the fight for the future of conservatives.

Did Reuters alter images taken on the flotilla Israeli soldiers boarded last week in order to make it look like the passengers were not bearing arms? It certainly looks that way. In images used by Reuters, evidence of weapons were removed or cropped from the pictures. Reuters, meanwhile, says that the mistake was not intentional.

CPAC hasn’t even officially started and already its making news. Mediaite has learned that leading center-right web site Hot Air has been acquired by Salem Communications for an undisclosed sum. Sources close to the deal claim that Michelle Malkin, the conservative pundit and sole owner of Hot Air, has been in talks with Salem for some time, but the announcement was timed to coincided with the Conservative Political Action Conference, which opens tomorrow in Washington D.C.

Newspapers are dying, magazines are dying: this is the story of 2009 where the media is concerned. However, the future of media, such as it is, does not look quite so dim. Or dim at all, really. Obviously, the brave new media world that we are slowly moving into (some at a quicker pace than others!) will look entirely different in twelve months’ time, likely in large part due to the efforts of the folks we listed on our online editors of the year poll. So who gets the final nod? Our picks below: feel free to add yours in the comments section.

If 2009 was a tough year for magazines and newspapers — and boy, was it ever — it was a bang-up year for the editors of the blogs listed here. Now we are asking you, our loyal, smart, and attractive readers to share your thoughts on who had the biggest year in the Online Editor category:

Robert Gibbs’ answer to David Corn of Mother Jones’ last question at Friday’s briefing is getting considerable attention from the right. Corn asked Gibbs about House Republican leader John Boehner’s declaration that the House health care bill was the “greatest threat to freedom” he’s ever seen. Gibbs’ response was worth a slight chuckle, but they ignore his larger point.

The saying goes “Dying is easy, comedy is hard,” but what about combining the two activities? A new video from the Onion News Network features the kind of dark, irreverent humor and high production values that have become their stock-in-trade, but with an added twist: a quasi-death wish for Glenn Beck. The clip is called “Victim In Fatal Car Accident Tragically Not Glenn Beck,” and it has some people wondering if The Onion has crossed even its own far-flung line.

As online writing becomes increasingly a part of the mainstream dialogue in America, “blogger” is no longer a dirty word. Some of the best writers of our time operate exclusively on the internet, but some of the most talented still work under the radar. In this in-depth, magazine-length feature, Mediaite has assembled a list of 25 of the best underappreciated bloggers and explained why they matter.

Somebody call Gossip Cop. As theories about the fate of NBC Universal rages on, one eyebrow-raising potential bidder has popped up in press accounts: Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corporation. Two questions worth asking: how likely is this? More importantly, what’s in it for both parties to keep this speculation alive?