memeorandum: Republicans have become the credibility-free party (Glenn Greenwald/Salon)

3:55 PM ET, February 4, 2008

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, AMERICAblog, TownHall Blog, Los Angeles Times, Political Radar, Hot Air, The New Republic, PERRspectives Blog, Liberal Values, Commentary, Wonkette, The Carpetbagger Report, Salon, TIME: Swampland, Sister Toldjah and PunditGuy

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:

Poll: Obama erases Clinton's lead — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton is losing ground to Sen. Barack Obama in a national CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released on the eve of critical Super Tuesday presidential primaries and caucuses. — The two are virtually tied …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Outside The Beltway, The Moderate Voice, Spin Cycle, The Campaign Spot, Wake up America, The Carpetbagger Report, The Strata-Sphere, Firedoglake, Shakespeare's Sister, Talking Points Memo and CBS News

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: Wonkette

Zogby:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: McCain on a Roll; Clinton, Obama Neck-and-Neck in Key Super Tuesday States — Pollster John Zogby: “The Mac Attack appears ready to launch on Super Tuesday. McCain's leads are commanding, except for in California where Romney leads in Southern California and among women, investors, and voters over 50.

Discussion: Reuters, Raising Kaine, TalkLeft and Buck Naked Politics

Matt Stearns / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Clinton's ‘35 years of change’ omits most of her career

Discussion: Donklephant, Political Machine, UrbanGrounds and The Raw Story

Zogby:
Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: Ahead of Super Tuesday, McCain Dominates …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Los Angeles Times, SFGate, The Raw Story, Redstate, Captain's Quarters, Commentary, Pajamas Media, Booman Tribune, Raising Kaine, Pensito Review and Truthdig

John Whitesides / Reuters:
Obama expands lead on Clinton in California

Discussion: Boston Globe, Time, michellemalkin.com, The Trail, DownWithTyranny!, Hot Air, Captain's Quarters, The Daily Dish, Open Left, Power Line, Vodkapundit, Donklephant and Gateway Pundit

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:
Toss-up between Clinton and Obama, Romney leads among Massachusetts …

Discussion: The Campaign Spot

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
It Will All Begin In Tears — A make-or-break primary date …

Discussion: Wizbang

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.

Discussion: The Field, Salon and Don Surber

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

PULLING THE LEVER....So who am I going to vote for tomorrow? Answer: Barack Obama. — I've got some good reasons and some bad reasons for changing my mind. The good reasons include (a) the ugliness coming out of the Clinton camp over the past couple of weeks, which has turned me off …

Discussion: American Prospect, The Agonist, culturekitchen, HillaryClinton.com, Corrente and The RBC

Michael J. Totten:

The Final Mission, Part II — FALLUJAH - The United States military plans to formally hand over Anbar Province to the Iraqis this spring because the insurgency truly is finished in that part of the country. Most Americans have heard about the success in this province by now …

Discussion: INDCJournal

Wall Street Journal:

McCain and the Supreme Court — The conservative movement has made enormous gains over the past three decades in restoring constitutional government. The Roberts Supreme Court shows every sign of building on these gains. — Yet the gulf between Democratic and Republican approaches …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, The Swamp, Rachel Lucas, Hot Air, Boston Globe, Balkinization and The American Mind

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: Talking Points Memo, Pollster.com and Needlenose

Erica Jong / Washington Post:

Hillary vs. the Patriarchy — “Look, the only people for Hillary Clinton are the Democratic establishment and white women,” said Bill Kristol yesterday on Fox News Sunday, one of the many “news” outlets to expose Kristol's reliable sexism. “The Democratic establishment would be crazy …

Discussion: NO QUARTER, Don Surber, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh, Norwegianity, Greatscat!, Shakespeare's Sister and protein wisdom

Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:

Official GOP Spokesperson Ann Coulter Snubbed By CPAC — Ann Coulter speaks for the base of the GOP, but apparently organizers of the Conservative Political Action Committee have decided not to invite her to speak at this years convention. She was quite the hit last year with her derogatory comment …

Discussion: The Satirical Political Report, The Other McCain and Fausta's blog

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Republicans have become the credibility-free party — (updated below) — Substantial attention has been paid to the historic unpopularity of the Bush presidency, but relatively little attention has been paid to the accompanying collapse of the Republican Party's credibility.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, PoliGazette and LiberalLand

Jaketapper / Political Punch:

Obama & Romney Misfire on Guns — Perhaps no other issue causes politicians to shift to the right as they enter the national arena more so than guns... And perhaps no other issue so explicitly causes politicians attempting such a leap to shoot themselves in the foot.

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, American Spectator, BLACKFIVE and Cold Fury

Matt / Think Progress:

McCain's stand up comedy routine. — During a campaign stop in Boston this morning, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) elicited very little laughter from his audience with a series of awkward jokes about his age, southern accents, and lawyers. Watch it: — What shouldn't be funny to this guys is the …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The RBC

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: The New Republic and Wonkette