memeorandum: Bloomberg may launch bid to get on state ballots but delay … (Sara Kugler/Associated Press)

11:15 PM ET, February 4, 2008

Top Items:

Dole scolds Limbaugh — Bob Dole, the former Senate Republican leader, wrote an insistent letter to Rush Limbaugh on Monday and suggested that for the good of the party, the conservative talk-show host should stop his strafing of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, protein wisdom, The Swamp, Political Machine, Riehl World View and Boston Globe

CNN:

In letter to Limbaugh, Bob Dole defends McCain — BOSTON (CNN) — Former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole on Monday wrote conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh defending John McCain as a “mainstream conservative” who had supported the party on critical votes during Dole's time as the Senate Republican leader.

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, American Power, Shakespeare's Sister and The Reaction

Tony Allen-Mills / Times of London:

Flawed Cindy McCain has a grudge list — ON almost every step of his march towards the Republican nomination, John McCain has relied on the support of his glamorous second wife Cindy. Yet she has not always been a political asset. A Republican victory in November would bring to the White House a formidable but flawed first lady.

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Truthdig and protein wisdom

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Reaching Out To Rush? — UPDATE, 6:35 pm: The Romney campaign …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and RushLimbaugh.com

Jason George / The Swamp:

Hillary Clinton cries in Connecticut — NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Sen. Hillary Clinton teared up this morning at an event at the Yale Child Study Center, where she worked while in law school in the early 1970s. — Penn Rhodeen, who was introducing Clinton, began to choke up …

New York Magazine:

Breaking: Hillary Reemploys ‘The Cry’ — Yep, it's official. Hillary Clinton is running to be Crybaby-in-Chief. According to the Tribune Co.'s politics blog, the Swamp, Clinton teared up after a heartfelt introduction by a former colleague at the Yale Child Study Center in New Haven, where she worked in college.

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, Comments from Left Field, Wonkette and TIME: Swampland

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:

Michelle Obama: I Would Have To Think About Supporting Clinton If She Is The Nominee — Imagine if Bill Clinton had said that? Michelle Obama needs to straighten this out immediately. Really bad stuff from the Obama campaign. — Update (TL): More than 300 comments, this thread is closing.

Discussion: The Opinionator, The Field, US Presidential race 2008 real …, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Rox Populi, Don Surber, Tom Watson and Salon

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
PULLING THE LEVER....So who am I going to vote for tomorrow?

Discussion: Liberal Values, Matthew Yglesias, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, newsrack blog, Brian Beutler, bustardblog, BartBlog, TalkLeft, The RBC, culturekitchen, HillaryClinton.com and The Crone Speaks

Andrew Taylor / Associated Press:

Bush Budget Would Bring Record Deficits — WASHINGTON (AP) — The record $3.1 trillion budget proposed by President Bush on Monday would produce eyepopping federal deficits, despite his attempts to impose politically wrenching curbs on Medicare and eliminate scores of popular domestic programs.

Discussion: Pottersville, BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com, Rising Hegemon, AirCongress, The Crone Speaks and Raising Kaine

Washington Post:
Bush's Budget Projects Deficits

Discussion: FP Passport, Hullabaloo and Political Machine

New York Times:
Bush Seeks Budget of $3.1 Trillion

Discussion: Think Progress, NewsBusters.org, The Politico, Captain's Quarters, The Crypt's Blogs, My Two Sense and The Aristocrats

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008 — Based on daily polling from Feb. 1-Feb. 3, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — On the eve of the Super Tuesday election, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama remain closely matched in national Democratic voters' nomination preferences.

Discussion: Spin Cycle, Liberal Values, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Comments from Left Field, Needlenose, American Power, Pollster.com and Talking Points Memo

Marc Ambinder:

Plouffe Memo: We're The Giants, Baby — (not in so many words...despite or because of polls showing that Obama is now leading or tied with Hillary Clinton nationally.). … I'm sorry. Hold up, time out. What?? Unless every Obama adviser I've spoken to over the past year has out and out lied to me …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Taylor Marsh, Wonkette, Salon, The New Republic and Comments from Left Field

CNN:

FBI wants palm prints, eye scans, tattoo mapping — CLARKSBURG, West Virginia (CNN) — The FBI is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of an effort the bureau says to better identify criminals and terrorists.

Discussion: Concurring Opinions, Why Now? and BlueHerald 2.0

Seymour M. Hersh / New Yorker:

A STRIKE IN THE DARK — What did Israel bomb in Syria? — Israel and the U.S. have avoided comment on press reports about a nuclear facility. — Sometime after midnight on September 6, 2007, at least four low-flying Israeli Air Force fighters crossed into Syrian airspace and carried …

Discussion: Mercury Rising and A Tiny Revolution

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Clinton's January: $13.5 million — That's from campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe on MSNBC today: … A lot of money by most measures, but less than half of what Obama's claiming for the month.

Discussion: Political Machine

Little Green Footballs:

Muslims Enraged, Seething at Wikipedia — Apparently there are a whole lot of Muslims enraged and offended at Wikipedia, because there are ... gasp ... drawings and images of Mohammed in his Wikipedia entry. — Blasphemy! — So they're demanding that Wikipedia stop violating …

Discussion: Wake up America

A.B. Stoddard / The Hill:

Before the Big Day... I resist predictions, as all sane people should after the New Hampshire primary, but I felt compelled to make a few observations before the Big Day. — GOP: — 1) John McCain has another good night. — Democrats: — 1) It will be a draw between Hillary and Barack, deciding little.

Discussion: The Swamp, The Crypt's Blogs and Middle Earth Journal

Marc Ambinder:

Feb 5 Projections: Revised — According to campaign sources, polling and stealing off other analysts, Hillary Clinton has an edge in New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arkansas. — Obama has an edge in Idaho, Colorado, Minnesota, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia, North Dakota and Illinois.

Discussion: Spin Cycle and AMERICAblog