memeorandum: Militant Group Is Out of Baghdad, U.S. Says (Damien Cave/New York Times)

3:15 PM ET, November 8, 2007

Top Items:

Militant Group Is Out of Baghdad, U.S. Says — American forces have routed Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, the Iraqi militant network, from every neighborhood of Baghdad, a top American general said today, allowing American troops involved in the "surge" to depart as planned.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Redstate, IraqPundit, Captain's Quarters, Don Surber, NewsBusters.org, Wake up America, Donklephant, Hot Air, QandO, Buck Naked Politics, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, Connecting.the.Dots, Political Machine, The Strata-Sphere and The Anchoress

Andy McCarthy / The Corner:

SSSSHHHHHHH ... Don't Tell Anyone: Al Qaeda Has Been Routed in Baghdad — The Newspaper of Record has the story today ... on page A-19. — ... And even there, the Times can't bring itself to say we won. The report is headlined, "Militant Group Is Out of Baghdad, U.S. Says."

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom and Redstate

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:

The War And the Election — The decline in violence in Iraq has been reflected in a shift in public opinion since July. Charles Franklin looks at the data here. Jay Reding concludes: … Surely this gets well ahead of what we actually know. The causes of the current lull are …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Strata-Sphere

Washington Post:

Cheney's Impeachment Literally Fell 'Off the Table' — Maybe now we know what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) meant when she said impeachment was "off the table." — Lawmakers' voting cards on the issue were literally just that — off the table — during Tuesday's brouhaha …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and The American Street

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

Democrats adopt new campaign plan — Top House Democrats, sensing an opportunity to pick up additional seats in 2008, are warning some of their more vulnerable incumbents that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee won't spend money in their districts unless Republican leaders do.

Discussion: Eschaton, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos and Democratic Strategist

Anne Flaherty / Associated Press:

House readies another Iraq war vote — WASHINGTON - Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will vote as early as Friday on legislation that would spend $50 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but require that President Bush start bringing troops home. — The money is about a quarter of the $196 billion requested by Bush.

Discussion: Say Anything, Wake up America, Outside The Beltway and Weasel Zippers

Spencer Ackerman / TPMmuckraker:

AT&T Whistleblower: Telecom Immunity Is A Cover-Up — Earlier today we flagged that Mark Klein, who uncovered a secret surveillance room run by the NSA while employed as a San Francisco-based technician for AT&T, is in Washington to lobby against granting retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies.

Discussion: Flopping Aces, Prairie Weather, The Carpetbagger Report, Brains and Eggs and The American Street

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Just Follow The Law... Matt Browner-Hamlin interviews Mark …

Discussion: The Hill, The Politico, MyDD, The Van Der Galiën Gazette and Democrats.com

USA Today:

Poll: Clinton lags in quest for male voters — WASHINGTON — More than eight in 10 Republicans and more than half the married men in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll say they definitely wouldn't vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton for president. — The poll provides an early snapshot of who's ruling out Clinton …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, Washington Times, Los Angeles Times, The Moderate Voice, JammieWearingFool, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Stop The ACLU, The Swamp, Donklephant and PoliPundit.com

Jeff Dinelli / The Left Coaster:
Does Edwards Campaign Have Ulterior Motives?

Discussion: National Review, The Democratic Daily, JoeTrippi.com and Taylor Marsh

Ray Fisman / Slate:

AND SOLVES THE MYSTERIES OF DATING. — When economists began broadly applying their theories of rational choice-making, love and marriage were among the first areas they colonized. Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker laid the foundations back in 1973 with his two-part article "A Theory of Marriage."

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Stephanie Strom / New York Times:

Tax Proposal From Rangel Could Benefit His Donors — The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee has proposed legislation that would effectively halt some current tax audits of people who get a tax break for living and operating a business in the United States Virgin Islands.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Weekly Standard, TownHall Blog, Redstate, Blue Crab Boulevard and Washington Post

David Stout / New York Times:

In First Bush Veto Override, Senate Enacts Water Bill — The Senate voted overwhelmingly today for a popular $23 billion water projects measure affecting locales across the country, thereby handing President Bush his first defeat in a veto showdown with Congress.

Discussion: NO QUARTER

Ed OKeefe / Political Radar:

Clinton's Tipping Point? — ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Rule number one when campaigning at a diner: always leave a good tip — and, apparently, make sure it gets properly 'disbursed'. — In early October, Sen. Hillary Clinton's 'Middle Class Express' made a pit stop at the Maid Rite diner in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Trail, The Swamp, The Politico and Riehl World View

CNN:

'Date rape' drug-tainted toys recalled — NEW YORK (CNN) — U.S. safety officials have recalled about 4.2 million Chinese-made Aqua Dots bead toys that contain a chemical that has caused some children to vomit and become comatose after swallowing them. — Scientists have found …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, michellemalkin.com, Wonkette, AMERICAblog and On Deadline