memeorandum: Bush Weighs Reaching Out To 'Brothers' (Eli Lake/New York Sun)

9:15 AM ET, June 20, 2007

Top Items:

Bloomberg Severs G.O.P. Ties, Fueling Talk of '08 Bid — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced Tuesday that he was dropping his Republican affiliation, a step that could clear the way for him to make an independent bid for the presidency. — The announcement was released during …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Right Wing Nut House, The Atlantic Online and News Bloggers Blog

Sewell Chan / City Room:

Bloomberg Leaving Republican Party — Michael R. Bloomberg, a longtime Democrat who switched to the Republican Party to run for mayor of New York City in 2001, announced this evening that he is changing his party status and registering as an independent. — Mr. Bloomberg maintained that …

Discussion: Firedoglake, ABCNEWS, The Moderate Voice, QandO, The Reaction, Outside The Beltway, The Gun Toting Liberal™, All Spin Zone, Comments From Left Field, D-Day, MyDD, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Swamp, Jules Crittenden, Gothamist, Crooks and Liars and The Agonist

Jill Gardiner / New York Sun:

Bloomberg Leaves GOP — Speculation Soars Over His Plans — Mayor Bloomberg's decision to quit the Republican Party is being interpreted as a significant step in the direction of declaring an independent run for the White House. — Mr. Bloomberg sent out a statement last night saying …

Discussion: Reason Magazine and Time

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Mike Bloomberg: Registered Independent — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is changing his party affiliation from "Republican" to "unaffiliated", a move certain to fuel talk that he is preparing for an independent run for president in 2008. — "Although my plans for the future haven't changed …

Discussion: Donklephant, A Blog For All, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, State of the Day, Iowa Independent and Central Sanity

Marcia Kramer / WCBS-TV:

Bloomberg Leaves GOP — Now Independent, Will He Run For President? — Reporting — (CBS) NEW YORK New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leaving the Republican party and will remain unaffiliated with any political party, CBS 2 HD learned Tuesday night.

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Don Surber, TIME and Comments From Left Field

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Billion-dollar elephant inches toward run — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg revealed Monday that he has ended his marriage of convenience with the Republican Party, thrusting himself firmly onto the national stage as a potential independent candidate for president - a billion-dollar elephant in the room of presidential politics.

Discussion: Vox Popoli

Carla Marinucci / SFGate:
Bloomberg-Schwarzenegger in '08? — Potential running mates surround L …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Bloomberg Switches ... Again

Discussion: Hot Air, Tapscott's Copy Desk and Macsmind

Jonathan Singer / MyDD: The Potential Ramifications of a Bloomberg Run

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Bloomberg Quits G.O.P., Stirring Talk About '08 Race

Discussion: Don Surber, New York Sun and ImmigrationProf Blog

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
N.Y. Mayor Bloomberg Leaves GOP

Discussion: The Politico, City Room and New York Times

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

The new Hillary Clinton video is a take on the last scene of "The Sopranos." — It's clever, the way the video uses the jukebox business from the last "Sopranos" episode to remind us of Hillary's theme song contest. In case you care, I'll just tell you that the winner is "You and I," …

Alex Spillius / Telegraph:

Two for the price of one, if Hillary wins — If Americans elect Hillary Clinton as president next year they will also be re-electing her husband Bill, according to the author of a new biography of the former First Lady. — Carl Bernstein, one of the reporters who broke the Watergate scandal …

Discussion: Heading Right and Captain's Quarters

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:

Hillary Clinton Spoofs The Last Scene Of The Sopranos — This Hillary Clinton video spoofing the last scene of The Sopranos is a masterful use of American culture. Can you spot the real cast member from The Sopranos? — http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=9BEPcJlz2wE

Discussion: The Gun Toting Liberal™ and The Democratic Daily

INSTAPUTZ:
Sometimes an Onion Ring is Just an Onion Ring

Discussion: Think Progress, Sadly, No! and Majikthise

Crystal Patterson / HillaryClinton.com:
And the Winner Is..... I LOVE this "Sopranos" spoof video!!!!

Discussion: Dean's World

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

Ladies and Gentlemen, Digby — From the Take Back America conference — Joe Wilson, Digby, Rick Perlstein. — No Trackbacks to "Ladies and Gentlemen, Digby" — dakine01 says: … SeamusD says: … Joe Klein's conscience says: … Jane Hamsher says:

Discussion: The American Street and NO QUARTER

Guardian:

China overtakes US as world's biggest CO2 emitter — China has overtaken the United States as the world's biggest producer of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas, figures released today show. — The surprising announcement will increase anxiety about China's growing role in driving man …

Discussion: QandO, Right Wing News, The Volokh Conspiracy and NewsBusters.org

Roger Harrabin / BBC: China building more power plants

Dan Sabbagh / Times of London:

News Corp explores swap of MySpace site for Yahoo! stake — News Corporation has discussed swapping MySpace, its internet social networking unit, with Yahoo! in return for a 30 per cent stake in the enlarged group. — The discussions remain tentative and could collapse after the departure …

Discussion: BuzzMachine

John Steele Gordon / Opinion Journal:

Racial Role Reversal — What the Scottsboro Boys and the Duke lacrosse players have in common. — Imagine this: In a Southern town, a woman accuses several men of rape. Despite the woman's limited credibility and ever-shifting story, the community and its legal establishment immediately decide the men are guilty.

Discussion: Brendan Nyhan

David Millward / Telegraph:

Passport checks threaten chaos at airports — Holidaymakers were warned yesterday to expect summer holiday travel chaos as the first signs emerged that the Government's new border controls are causing significant delays at airports. — The introduction of sophisticated scanning machinery …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway and Tim Worstall

Michael D. Evans / Jerusalem Post:

Father of the Iranian revolution — We just don't get it. The Left in America is screaming to high heaven that the mess we are in in Iraq and the war on terrorism has been caused by the right-wing and that George W. Bush, the so-called "dim-witted cowboy," has created the entire mess.

Discussion: Power Line