memeorandum: Obama and Clinton Seek a Softer Tone (New York Times)

8:40 AM ET, January 16, 2008

Top Items:

Hillary Clinton / CNN:

Potentially troubling news for Clinton in Michigan ‘win’ — (CNN) — Hillary Clinton faced a grim statistic in Michigan tonight, despite her primary “win” there: results revealed that she may have reason to worry about her grasp on the African-American vote.

Discussion: The Politico, Outside The Beltway, MichiganLiberal, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Gun Toting Liberal™, MSNBC, Ben Smith's Blogs, Secular Blasphemy, Boston Globe and Michigan Messenger

Patrick Ruffini / Townhall.com:

McCain's Michigan Letdown — Mitt gets his win, Hugh gets his night, and we begin to see what mainline conservative opposition to McCain can look like in later primaries. — In two states in a row, John McCain underperformed 2000 — when he was eventually drubbed by 20 points nationally.

Discussion: Reason Magazine

CNN:

How Romney won: Economy, evangelicals, local ties — (CNN) — Mitt Romney's victory over John McCain can be credited to three factors, CNN exit polling indicates. — A majority of Michigan voters named the economy as the most pressing issue — and those voters overwhelming chose …

Discussion: BobKrumm.com, The Politico and BitsBlog

Gordon Trowbridge / Detroit News:

Romney wins Michigan primary, blasts GOP race wide open — Mitt Romney won a crucial victory in Tuesday's Michigan Republican presidential primary, defeating John McCain and Mike Huckabee with a message of optimism for the state's ailing economy. — With 95 percent of precincts counted …

Discussion: Attytood, Donklephant, PoliGazette and CNN

Associated Press:

Bill Clinton paints Obama as ‘establishment’ candidate — SPARKS, Nev. (AP) — Bill Clinton, who carried Nevada in two general elections, urged voters Tuesday to buck labor endorsements for Sen. Barack Obama and support his wife in Saturday's hotly contested presidential caucuses …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jay Cost / HorseRaceBlog:
On the Michigan Results — Romney's victory last night was decisive.

Discussion: protein wisdom, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Detroit Free Press and The Corner

Hindrocket / Power Line:
MITT ROMNEY, RONALD REAGAN, AND THE ELECTION OF 2008

Discussion: Althouse

Sean Hackbarth / Fred File:
Bill Lacy on the Results of the Michigan Primary

Discussion: alicublog and Instapundit.com

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
EXITS — According to the Fox exit polls, in the Democratic …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Open Left, Booman Tribune, MyDD and Ben Smith's Blogs

John M. Broder / New York Times:
Romney Beats McCain in Michigan Vote

Discussion: The Swamp, FP Passport, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Democratic Daily

CNN:
Analysis: Gold boosts Romney as S.C. heats up

Discussion: Blogs of War

Washington Post:
Romney Wins Michigan GOP Primary

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and The Strata-Sphere

Associated Press:
Michigan ties boost Romney

Discussion: Scared Monkeys

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Blacklash? — So far, in Michigan, the African-American vote …

Discussion: Salon

New York Times:

Obama and Clinton Seek a Softer Tone — LAS VEGAS — A Democratic presidential debate unfolded with an exchange of pleasantries and acts of contrition among rivals on Tuesday as Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama promised to dispel a rancorous feud over race and gender …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Democratic Daily, Taylor Marsh, PoliGazette and The Trail

Senator Hillary Clinton / New York Times:

The Democratic Debate in Las Vegas — The following is a transcript of the Democratic debate in Las Vegas, as provided by the Federal News Service. — DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DEBATE PARTICIPANTS: — FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC) SENATOR BARACK OBAMA (D-IL) — MODERATORS:

Discussion: Las Vegas Gleaner, Suburban Guerrilla and MSNBC

Brian Stelter / The Caucus:

NBC Wins Battle Over Debate — The Nevada Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that MSNBC is not required to include candidate Dennis Kucinich in its scheduled Democratic presidential debate. — The decision, which came one hour before the debate was scheduled to begin in Las Vegas …

Discussion: Las vegas sun Blogs, MSNBC, Althouse, Crooks and Liars, The Newshoggers, skippy the bush kangaroo, Irish Trojan in Tennessee, Truthdig, OPENERS, Macsmind and Los Angeles Times

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Ruling Quashes Kucinich's Hope of Joining Lineup

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:
9:02 p.m. | …

Discussion: THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Irish Trojan in Tennessee, Pam's House Blend, JustOneMinute, Connecting.the.Dots and American Street

CNN:

Exit polling: Democrats pick McCain over Romney — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Despite urging from some activists like Markos Moulitsas that Michigan Democrats vote for Mitt Romney over John McCain, CNN exit polling indicates the Arizona Republican won the liberal vote.

Discussion: Power Line, CBS News, Kiko's House, National Review and Macsmind

The Campaign Spot:

And The First Exit Polls in Michigan Say... I'm surprised no one else has put this up yet. I'm hearing the first round of exit polls have Romney 35, McCain 29, Huckabee 15, Ron Paul 10, Giuliani 4. This doesn't count absentee ballots. — If this holds, the networks will be able to announce shortly after 9 p.m. eastern time...

Discussion: Huliq, Talking Points Memo, Townhall.com, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, TIME, Daily Kos, Riehl World View, Firedoglake, Wizbang, Punditry and Booman Tribune

CNN:
Exit polling: Independents don't show up

Discussion: TownHall Blog

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:
Exit poll favors Romney's prospects

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Wonkette, Stumper, MSNBC, Comments from Left Field, You Decide 08!, Firedoglake, The Page, Irish Trojan in Tennessee, Hotline On Call, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and MyDD

Matthew Yglesias / Washington Monthly:

The Unbearable Inanity of Tim Russert — On May 27, Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson appeared on Meet the Press hoping, no doubt, to get a question about Iraq policy. Richardson was advocating the complete withdrawal of all U.S. forces, an important policy distinction …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Gristmill

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
WORST. MODERATORS. EVER.

Discussion: Swords Crossed and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Jeffrey Young / The Hill:

Huckabee about-face on smoking — Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has reversed his position on a federal ban aimed at workplace smoking and now believes the issue should be addressed by state and local governments. — The about-face is apparent in a Huckabee campaign statement …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Betsy's Page, PoliGazette, race42008.com, Hot Air and Transterrestrial Musings

Linda Greenhouse / New York Times:

Supreme Court Restricts Securities Lawsuits — WASHINGTON — Ruling in its most important securities fraud case in years, the Supreme Court on Tuesday placed a towering obstacle in the path of shareholders looking for someone to sue when a stock purchase turns sour.

Adam Cohen / New York Times:
A Supreme Court Reversal: Abandoning the Rights of Voters

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

CNN's John King responds — Over the weekend, I wrote about an adulating interview which CNN's John King conducted with John McCain while riding on the storied Straight Talk Express bus. The interview was broadcast on “Situation Room” with Wolf Blitzer. In that post, I printed all of the …

Discussion: protein wisdom

Atrios / Eschaton:

Pissy Chrissy — Chris Matthews, this evening. — ...Michigan primary results are here and here. — ...Rudy's currently in 7th place... behind Uncommitted!