memeorandum: Democratic Contenders Step Up Attacks in Debate (Washington Post)

10:10 AM ET, November 16, 2007

Top Items:

Democratic Contenders Step Up Attacks in Debate — Sen. Barack Obama, stepping up his criticism of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, directly accused her of being duplicitous in one of several testy exchanges that marked the Democratic debate here Thursday night as one of the most heated of the presidential campaign.

Discussion: New York Times, The Caucus, Talking Points Memo, Time, Commentary, TIME and The Hill

New York Times:

The Democratic Debate — The following is a transcript of the Democratic Presidential debate in Las Vegas, as provided by the Federal News Service. — PARTICIPANTS: — FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC) — SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL) — MODERATORS: — WOLF BLITZER, CNN — CAMPBELL BROWN, CNN

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, Dick Polman's American Debate, The Carpetbagger Report, Brendan Nyhan and LiberalOasis

New York Times:

Clinton Takes Aggressive Tack at Debate — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton shifted to a much more assertive tone in a debate Thursday night by going directly after her opponents, issuing a stern warning that Democrats should stop "throwing mud" and adopting tactics "right out of the Republican playbook"

Discussion: ABCNEWS, New York Post, Los Angeles Times, Comments from Left Field, Gothamist, The Swamp, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Washington Wire, Flopping Aces, New York Sun, Spin Cycle and The Page

Michael Scherer / Salon:

What you missed while watching the "Project Runway" premiere — The Democratic debate in Vegas: Fire-retardant pantsuits! Hecklers! Mysterious booing! GOP-style mudslinging! And a bizarre photo op. — Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama applaud at the start of the Democratic debate …

Discussion: The Fix, Reason Magazine, Pirate's Cove and Prairie Weather

CNN:

Clinton punches back at rivals' attacks — LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) — Democratic front-runner Sen. Hillary Clinton fought back at criticism from some of her presidential rivals Thursday night, decrying what she termed mudslinging and defending her record against the charge that she avoids taking firm positions on controversial issues.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Sister Toldjah, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post, Roger L. Simon and BlogHer

Chuck Todd / MSNBC:
QUICK POST-DEBATE IMPRESSIONS

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, American Prospect, HillaryClinton.com, The New Republic, Macsmind, The Huffington Post, The American Street, Open Left, Liberal Values, Taylor Marsh, Political Radar and Stop Her Now

Carla Marinucci / San Francisco Chronicle:
Clinton shows she can take a punch in Vegas debate

Discussion: CBS News and The World Wide Rant

Molly Ball / Las Vegas Review-Journal: FACEOFF IN THE SILVER STATE: Clinton strikes back

David Yepsen / Des Moines Register:
Yepsen's analysis: That's why the lady is a champ

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Atlantic Online, The Caucus and MyDD

Mark Preston / CNN:
Analysis: Clinton recovers in Vegas debate

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Guardian, Examiner, Boston Globe, TalkLeft and Brilliant at Breakfast

James Risen / New York Times:

Panel Drops Immunity From Eavesdropping Bill — Reflecting the deep divisions within Congress over granting legal immunity to telephone companies for cooperating with the Bush administration's program of wiretapping without warrants, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved a new domestic surveillance law …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Swamp, Left in the West, TigerHawk, At-Largely, Lean Left, Obsidian Wings and Brilliant at Breakfast

New York Times:

In Contempt — White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, showed their utter disregard for Congress, the Constitution and the American people when they defied Congressional subpoenas in the United States attorneys scandal.

Greg Sargent / Election Central:
Sources: Latest Senate FISA Bill Does Not Contain Telecom Immunity

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Raw Story, Chris Dodd National Blog, Threat Level, Corrente, skippy the bush kangaroo, MyDD, Macsmind and TalkLeft

Dan Eggen / Washington Post:

Gonzales Defense Fund Set Up — Supporters of former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales have created a trust fund to help pay for his legal expenses, which are mounting in the face of an ongoing Justice Department investigation into whether Gonzales committed perjury or improperly tampered with a congressional witness.

Discussion: Political Machine, DownWithTyranny!, The Carpetbagger Report, Salon, The Next Hurrah, The Board, The Raw Story, ePluribus Media Community, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Shakespeare's Sister

White House:

President Bush Delivers Remarks at Federalist Society's 25th Annual Gala — Washington, D.C. — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. (Applause.) So much for the dress code. (Laughter.) I'm honored to be with you. Thanks. I appreciate being with an organization that understands the value …

Discussion: The Corner, Los Angeles Times, The American Street and First Draft

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Federalists Relish Well-Placed Friends

Discussion: Law Blog

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Played for a Sucker — Lately, Barack Obama has been saying that major action is needed to avert what he keeps calling a "crisis" in Social Security — most recently in an interview with The National Journal. Progressives who fought hard and successfully against the Bush administration's attempt …

Discussion: Eschaton, Open Left, Cafe Hayek, NewsBusters.org and Prairie Weather

Irenep / Michael Yon:

Come Home … The Dome Under the Cross: Local Muslim and Christian leaders had prepared the church for his arrival. — A Bishop came to St John's Church in Baghdad today, 15 November, where a crowd of locals welcomed him home. They were joined at the service by soldiers from the 2-12 infantry battalion …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler

Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:

SPITZ VOWS TO PUSH FOR GAY MARRIAGES — Gov. Spitzer said at a private fund-raiser that he wants a Democratic-controlled state Senate to legalize gay marriage - a highly divisive and controversial issue - as one of its first priorities in 2009, a witness to the remarks told The Post.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool, A Blog For All, Daily. Gay. News. and Macsmind

Tom Baldwin / Times of London:

America suffers an epidemic of suicides among traumatised army veterans — More American military veterans have been committing suicide than US soldiers have been dying in Iraq, it was claimed yesterday. — At least 6,256 US veterans took their lives in 2005, at an average of 17 a day, according to figures broadcast last night.

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Philip Johnston / Telegraph:

Immigration out-paces British exodus — Britain is experiencing unprecedented levels of immigration with more than half a million foreigners arriving to live here in a single year, new figures show. — Last year, 510,000 foreign migrants came to the UK to stay for at least 12 months, according to the Office for National Statistics.