memeorandum: Bill Clinton: John McCain and Hillary are ‘very close’ (CNN)

12:25 AM ET, January 26, 2008

Top Items:

CLINTON TRIES TO REINSTATE MICHIGAN AND FLORIDA'S DELEGATES. — This is a very, very, very big deal. From the Clinton campaign: … This is the sort of decision that has the potential to tear the party apart. In an attempt to retain some control over the process and keep the various states …

Discussion: protein wisdom, michellemalkin.com, The Trail, The Opinionator, QandO, Say Anything, Outside The Beltway, The Edge of the American West, Riehl World View, Blue Crab Boulevard, Liberal Values and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

NO WAY — The Clinton camp really needs to be shut down on this new gambit of theirs to muscle the party and the other candidates into seating the Michigan and Florida delegate slates. — And let me be very clear about what I mean. It was very debatable decision whether the DNC …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Donklephant, D-Day, Matthew Yglesias and The Reaction

CNN:

Bill Clinton: John McCain and Hillary are ‘very close’ — (CNN) — If Hillary Clinton and John McCain become their party's presidential nominees, the general election race is likely to be a love-fest. — At least according to Bill Clinton. — Campaigning in Spartanburg, South Carolina …

Discussion: The Politico, Flopping Aces, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, URGENT AGENDA, Political Punch and Truthdig

HillaryClinton.com:

Statement by Senator Hillary Clinton on the Seating of Delegates at the Democratic National Convention — “I hear all the time from people in Florida and Michigan that they want their voices heard in selecting the Democratic nominee. — “I believe our nominee will need the enthusiastic support …

Discussion: TPM Election Central, PoliGazette, Wizbang, Emptywheel and Rolling Stone

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:

Obama And Edwards Are On The FL Ballot Too — After railing against Hillary Clinton for her UNENFORCEABLE call to seat the Florida and Michigan delegations (Josh Marshall calls it an attempt to “muscle” the Party, what muscle is not at all clear) and lambasting Clinton for not taking …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and JustOneMinute

Marc Ambinder:

Clinton. Obama Spar Over Florida Delegates — Sen. Hillary Clinton pledged today to work to seat Florida and Michigan's delegates at the Democratic National Convention, thereby negating the penalties meted out by the Democratic National Committee. — It's true that the party's eventual nominee …

Discussion: MyDD

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Exclusive: Sen. Bill Nelson To Endorse Hillary Clinton

Discussion: TPM Election Central and The Page

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Breaking Up Is Hard to Do — We begin, as one always must now, again, with Bill Clinton. The past week he has traveled South Carolina, leaving discord in his wake. Barack Obama, that “fairytale,” is low, sneaky. “He put out a hit job on me." The press is cruelly carrying Mr. Obama's counter-jabs.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Hullabaloo, Real Clear Politics, Tapscott's Copy Desk, Flopping Aces, QandO, Macsmind, bustardblog, PrestoPundit, The Plank, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Trail, Captain's Quarters and Preemptive Karma

John Kerry / CNN:

Kerry blasts Bill Clinton for ‘abusing truth’ — WASHINGTON (CNN) — John Kerry, the Democratic Party's 2004 nominee for president, took aim at Bill Clinton Friday, telling the National Journal the former president does “not have a license to abuse the truth.”

Discussion: Liberal Values, The Moderate Voice, the talking dog and Gateway Pundit

Blue Texan / Firedoglake:
Peggy Noonan: “George W. Bush Destroyed The Republican Party”

Discussion: Pat Dollard, Norwegianity and American Street

NationalJournal.com:
Transcript: John Kerry On Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton And More

Discussion: The Field and Spin Cycle

Mark Blumenthal / Pollster.com:

SOUTH CAROLINA: WHY SO MUCH VARIATION? — We've had quite a bit of discussion today in the comments section about the wide variation in results from the South Carolina polls. Reader Ciccina noticed some “fascinating” differences in the percentages reported as undecided …

Discussion: Hotline On Call, The Field and TPM Election Central

Deborah Charles / Reuters:

Bill Clinton again wagging finger, raising eyebrows — SPARTANBURG, South Carolina (Reuters) - The resurgence of the old Bill Clinton, flushing with anger and wagging his finger as he fights for his wife's presidential bid, has cast a shadow over her campaign and could mar his new image as a global statesman.

Discussion: Cold Fury, Wonkette, Don Surber and PunditGuy

Charles Franklin / Pollster.com: SOUTH CAROLINA DEMOCRATIC ENDGAME

The Raw Story:

UPDATE: ‘No way of knowing’ who whispered, MSNBC says — The whisper that could be heard just before an answer from Mitt Romney at Thursday's Republican debate was the result of a microphone malfunction, an MSNBC spokesman tells RAW STORY, but its source remains a mystery.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Shotgun, Dirt Rhodes Scholar, Rolling Stone, Crooks and Liars, Hot Air, Democrats.com, The Jawa Report, JustOneMinute, Riehl World View, Wonkette, CANNONFIRE, Daily. Gay. News. and The Strata-Sphere

NEWSRADIO - 1290 WJNO:
Bizarre Whisper During Romney Debate Answer

Discussion: MSNBC, The Carpetbagger Report and D-Day

Scott Horton / Harper's:

The Illustrated President — W.H.D. Koerner, “A Charge to Keep” (1916) — George W. Bush is famous for his attachment to a painting which he acquired after becoming a “born again Christian." It's by W.H.D. Koerner and is entitled “A Charge to Keep." Bush was so taken by it …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Firedoglake, Pharyngula, CREDO Action and Political Machine

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
The unintentional humor of ‘A Charge to Keep’

Discussion: Think Progress

Rasmussen Reports:

Attorney General Edwards? — An Inside Report by Robert Novak — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Illinois Democrats close to Sen. Barack Obama are quietly passing the word that John Edwards will be named attorney general in an Obama administration. — Installation at the Justice Department …

Discussion: Hot Air, Political Machine, Sister Toldjah, Donklephant, Don Surber, The Daily Dish, Overlawyered and QandO

The Huffington Post:

Reid Issues Ultimatum: More Time Or No Wiretaps — At a State of the Union preview speech today at the National Press Club, Majority Leader Harry Reid issued a dramatic ultimatum to President Bush: either sign an extension of the Protect America Act (which sets conditions …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Washington Post and Wake up America

Megan McArdle:

The poor, you shall have always with you — The mental model most Americans use for dealing with poverty is Dickens-with-a-hotplate. Thus the raging anger triggered by the statement—which has rich supporting evidence from places like the Census Bureau and the USDA—that however many and varied …

Megan McArdle:
Why not food stamps?

Discussion: TBogg, JustOneMinute, Unfogged, Feministe, Obsidian Wings, Salon and Unqualified Offerings

Michelle Malkin:

Meet the open borders family: McCain, Hernandez, Soros, and the “Reform Institute” — Follow the bouncing ball with me: — Hernandez is a fellow at McCain's “Reform Institute." What has he been working on there for the past year? — “Dr. Juan Hernandez serves as a Senior Fellow …

Discussion: Hot Air, The Sundries Shack, Riehl World View and Pat Dollard

Michelle Malkin:
John McCain's open-borders outreach director: The next DHS secretary?

Discussion: WorldNetDaily, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Hot Air, Ankle Biting Pundits, Lonewacko, Cold Fury, Wizbang, Pat Dollard, The Sundries Shack, The Corner and Say Anything

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

What The F*!k Is Up With FISA — I would just like to clarify my understanding of what's happening with the FISA debate. — The Democrats were ready to give George Bush everything that he wanted on FISA. They used Senate procedure to tank the Judiciary bill, paving the way for the …

Discussion: The Hill Blog, Shakespeare's Sister, D-Day and Cliff Schecter