memeorandum: Now or Never for Obama — COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina … (David S. Broder/Washington Post)

1:40 PM ET, January 23, 2008

Top Items:

Bill Clinton: 'Screw It, I'm Running For President' — CHARLESTON, SC—After spending two months accompanying his wife, Hillary, on the campaign trail, former president Bill Clinton announced Monday that he is joining the 2008 presidential race, saying he “could no longer resist the urge.”

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Maggie's Farm

Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Clinton Education — One of our favorite Bill Clinton anecdotes involves a confrontation he had with Bob Dole in the Oval Office after the 1996 election. Mr. Dole protested Mr. Clinton's attack ads claiming the Republican wanted to harm Medicare, but the President merely smiled …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Political Punch, QandO, Maggie's Farm, NewsBusters.org, Outside The Beltway, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Rox Populi and Betsy's Page

Washington Post:

Clinton Now Looking Beyond S.C. — Focus on 4 Delegate-Rich States Is Considered Risky — The next Democratic presidential nominating contest will take place in South Carolina on Saturday, but Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has already turned her full attention to places such as this …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Zogby, protein wisdom, Booman Tribune, National Review, The Strata-Sphere, Donklephant, The Field, MSNBC, Cliff Schecter, TalkLeft and The Democratic Daily

David S. Broder / Washington Post:

Now or Never for Obama — COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina has become a must-win state for Barack Obama. — Whatever the outcome of Saturday's Democratic presidential primary here, the Illinois senator has the money and the organization to compete in the nearly two dozen states voting on Feb. 5.

Discussion: Horses Mouth, DownWithTyranny! and Captain's Quarters

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Two Against One — GREENVILLE, S.C. — If Bill Clinton has to trash his legacy to protect his legacy, so be it. If he has to put a dagger through the heart of hope to give Hillary hope, so be it. — If he has to preside in this state as the former first black president stopping the would-be first black president, so be it.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Total Information Awareness, New York Post and Prairie Weather

NY Daily News:
Mud, muddier, muddiest

Discussion: Redstate

Times of London:

Exclusive: Hamas ‘spent months cutting through Gaza wall in secret operation’ — James Hider of The Times at the Rafah border crossing — As tens of thousands of Palestinians clambered back and forth between the Gaza strip and Egypt today, details emerged of the audacious operation …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Agence France Presse, Israel Matzav and Jihad Watch

Haaretz:

UN: Some 350,000 Gazans stream into Egypt as militants blast border wall — Some 350,000 Palestinians poured out of Gaza and into Egypt early Wednesday, the United Nations said, after masked gunmen blew dozens of holes in the wall delineating the border. — The Gazans rushed to purchase food …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Ynetnews, Jerusalem Post, Yourish.com, Commentary, Gateway Pundit, American Footprints and Israellycool

New York Times:
Palestinians Topple Gaza Wall and Cross to Egypt

Discussion: The Swamp, Commentary and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

George Soros Funded Study Says Bush Lied — The AP reports, and the New York Times expands, on a new study by a supposedly “independent” organization that claims to have assembled hundred of “false statements” by the Bush administration in the course of the Iraq war.

Discussion: New York Times, The Swamp, The Opinionator, Big Lizards, Firedoglake, The Heretik, Commentary, The Carpetbagger Report, protein wisdom, The Glittering Eye, On Deadline, skippy the bush kangaroo and Brave New Films blog

CNN:
Study: Bush, aides made 935 false Iraq statements

Discussion: Big Brass Blog and Preemptive Karma

Associated Press:
Study: False statements preceded war

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:

ABC News Badly Mischaracterizes Obama's Alleged “Testy Exchange” With Reporter — Okay, this is really a bad one. Late yesterday, ABC News posted a story called: “Is Bill Clinton getting in Obama's head?" — The piece reported that Obama had had a “testy exchange” with New York Times reporter Jeff Zeleny …

Discussion: TalkLeft, MoJoBlog, Political Radar, FOX Embeds, Jack and Jill Politics, Riehl World View, TPM Election Central and Spin Cycle

Los Angeles Times:

Longtime patron may be a problem for Obama — Alleged slumlord and indicted businessman Antoin ‘Tony’ Rezko has long supported the Democratic presidential hopeful, who has returned related donations. — CHICAGO — Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped the name of Barack Obama's Chicago patron …

Discussion: Judicial Watch, The Caucus and The Huffington Post

Frank James / The Swamp:
Obama's Rezko problem; it's about judgment

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and FactCheck.org

Lynn Sweet / Chicago Sun Times:
Hillary plays Rezko card

Discussion: The Caucus, MSNBC, Boston Globe, Spin Cycle, Simply Left Behind and New York Times

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

Worries That the Good Times Were Mostly a Mirage — So, how bad could this get? — Until a few months ago, it was accepted wisdom that the American economy functioned far more smoothly than in the past. Economic expansions lasted longer, and recessions were both shorter and milder.

Discussion: abu muqawama, Brilliant at Breakfast, PrestoPundit and Suburban Guerrilla

Robert J. Samuelson / Washington Post:
Capitalism's Enemies Within

Discussion: EconLog, Economist's View and The Glittering Eye

Jay Cost / HorseRaceBlog:

Is McCain Inevitable? — James Madison had nothing to do with the Republican nomination system. Nevertheless, it bears his imprint. Madisonianism is deeply ingrained in the American political consciousness. When we invent new political institutions, as both parties did in the 1970s …

Discussion: protein wisdom, BobKrumm.com, The Strata-Sphere and Riehl World View

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Sen. McCain starts urgent dash for cash

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, PoliGazette, American Power, Baltimore Sun and TPM Election Central

Marc Ambinder:

Thad Cochran Endorses Romney — Word from Romneyville is that Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS) has endorsed Gov. Mitt Romney, bringing to six the number of John McCain's colleagues who've fallen behind the former Mass. governor. — Here's the statement that Cochran plans to release:

Amy D. Goldstein / American Thinker:
Why they Hate Mitt Romney

Discussion: The Corner

Ben Adler / The Politico:

Ron Paul continues to best Giuliani — Ron Paul, the Texas congressman frequently dismissed as a long shot candidate with no real chance at winning the Republican presidential nomination, has won nearly twice as many total votes to date as Rudy Giuliani, a candidate still widely viewed as a strong contender.

Discussion: Hot Air and Volunteer Voters

Joseph E. Stiglitz / New York Times:

How to Stop the Downturn — AMERICA'S economy is headed for a major slowdown. Whether there is a recession (two quarters of negative growth) is less important than the fact that the economy will operate well below its potential, and unemployment will grow.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Glittering Eye, Norwegianity, Prairie Weather, Balloon Juice and Alterdestiny

Amir Shah / Associated Press:

Afghan Journalist Sentenced to Death — KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan court on Tuesday sentenced a 23-year-old journalism student to death for distributing a paper he printed off the Internet that three judges said violated the tenets of Islam, an official said.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden and Jihad Watch

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

CLINTON V. REAGAN. — , there's really no dispute as to whether Hillary Clinton is distorting Barack Obama's statements on Reagan. She is. And so is her husband. But she's arguing for her campaign, and in that context, statements do get pulled out of context and refashioned as cudgels.

Discussion: TalkLeft