memeorandum: Energy Dept. Funding Institutes with Iranian Ties (Matthew L. Wald/New York Times)

10:10 PM ET, February 6, 2008

Top Items:

Five reasons Hillary should be worried — Hillary Clinton survived a Super Tuesday scare. But there are five big reasons the former first lady should be spooked by the current trajectory of the campaign. — Longtime Clinton friends say she recognizes the peril in careening between near …

Discussion: Redstate, Marc Ambinder, The Rude Pundit, Prairie Weather, AMERICAblog, TIME and The Daily Dish

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Obama Directly Attacks Bill's Presidency, Blames It For Massive Dem Losses — In what may be Obama's most direct and aggressive criticism of Bill Clinton's presidency yet, the Obama campaign dropped a new mailer just before Super Tuesday that blasts “the Clintons” for wreaking massive losses …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, Cogitamus, Left in the West, TalkLeft, Comments from Left Field, The Newshoggers, Boston Globe, Associated Press, Oliver Willis, The Democratic Daily and Simply Left Behind

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Hillary Loaned Her Campaign $5 Million, Spokesperson Confirms — This morning, Mark Halperin floated an intriguing question: Are the Clintons financing Hillary's campaign with their own money? — Now the Clinton campaign has finally answered: Yes, they are. Hillary spokesperson Howard Wolfson sends over the following:

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Marc Ambinder, The Page, Moue Magazine, TalkLeft, Pam's House Blend, skippy the bush kangaroo, Reason Magazine, Firedoglake, Comments from Left Field, D-Day and The Blue State

Krooney / The Page:

Page Exclusive: Some Clinton Senior Staff Working Without Pay** — SOURCE: THEY HAVE “VOLUNTARILY CHOSEN TO WORK WITHOUT PAY THIS MONTH” AS PART OF CLINTON CASH CRUNCH AGAINST OBAMA MOOLA FACTORY. — Includes campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle.

Discussion: The New Republic, Los Angeles Times, MyDD, Daily Kos, race42008.com, Open Left and Hot Air

Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:

Obama on pace to raise $30 mil in Feb — Barack Obama's campaign is on track to raise another $30 million in February, sources close to the Illinois senator say, while Hillary Rodham Clinton's spokesman revealed Wednesday that she had loaned her campaign $5 million.

Discussion: MyDD, Political Radar, Political Machine, Spin Cycle, Blue Crab Boulevard and The Strata-Sphere

Hillary Clinton / CNN:

DNC chair: We may have to broker Clinton-Obama deal — (CNN) — As predictions of a convention floor fight from the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama continue to mount, Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean said the party would likely intervene to prevent that scenario.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and Hot Air

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million — Senator Hillary Clinton confirmed at a press conference in Virginia this afternoon that she'd loaned her campaign $5 million, and said, “The results last night proved the wisdom of my investment..” — Spokesman Howard Wolfson emailed with the news minutes earlier:

Discussion: The Corner, The Swamp, The Field, Attytood, Wonkette and The Washington Note

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Obama claims delegate lead — In a surprise twist after a chaotic Super Tuesday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) passed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in network tallies of the number of delegates the candidates racked up last night. — Clinton was portrayed in many news accounts …

Hillary Clinton / CNN:
Obama, Clinton separated by 0.4 percent on Super Tuesday

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, Washington Wire, The Newshoggers and Born at the Crest …

Marc Ambinder:
Clinton Weighs A Self-Loan To Finance Campaign

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Ben Smith's Blogs, Open Left, MyDD, Salon, Political Radar, The New Republic, Taegan Goddard's …, politburo diktat 2.0 and Donklephant

Joan Vennochi / Boston Globe:
A loss for Kennedy — HILLARY CLINTON didn't just beat Barack Obama in Massachusetts.

Discussion: The New Republic

Tim Tagaris / Open Left:
How far off is self-funding for Clinton? Are they already there?

Discussion: Eschaton

Hugh Hewitt / Townhall.com:

Seven Reasons To Support The GOP's Nominee — As of this morning, McCain has earned 615 delegates and 4,220,296 votes; Romney 268 delegates and 3,497,341 votes, and Huckabee 169 delegates and 2,232,530 votes. — Senator McCain has a clear path to the nomination, Romney a very uphill battle …

Discussion: Riehl World View, The Opinionator, Hot Air, Shakespeare's Sister, Wizbang, Right Wing Nut House, The Campaign Spot, Blue Crab Boulevard, Salon, Macsmind, Commentary, Middle Earth Journal and Fraters Libertas

Charles Hurt / New York Post:
ONCE JOHN WINS, HE'LL MAKE A LEFT

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Vox Popoli, Maggie's Farm, The Moderate Voice, Middle Earth Journal, Pajamas Media, protein wisdom, Gateway Pundit, Ross Douthat and Tapscott's Copy Desk

Hindrocket / Power Line:
TIME FOR A REALITY CHECK — I've long been dismayed by the fury …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Commentary, Pajamas Media, The Strata-Sphere, Classical Values and Roger L. Simon

Josiah Ryan / CNSNews:

McCain Sends ‘Chill Down Spine,’ Reid Cites Cochran — On the Spot (CNSNews.com) - Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the possibility of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) becoming president “sends a cold chill down my spine.” — Reid made his remarks Tuesday outside the Senate chambers …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Riehl World View, Hot Air and PunditGuy

Daniel W. Reilly / The Crypt's Blogs:
Bush ups the ante in nomination fight

Discussion: The Swamp

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
G.O.P. Senators Block Democrats' Stimulus Plan

Discussion: On Deadline

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008 — Based on daily polling from Feb. 3-5, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — The increase in support for Hillary Clinton at the national level that Gallup saw in interviewing conducted Sunday and Monday continued in interviewing Tuesday night.

Discussion: Spin Cycle, Ben Smith's Blogs, Wonkette and Donklephant

Cliff Kincaid / Accuracy in Media:
Talk Radio Fails Conservatives

Discussion: The Radio Equalizer, Think Progress, Media Blog and You Decide 08!

Digby / Hullabaloo:

High School Psychodrama — Watching the returns last night I was once again struck by the rank lack of professionalism and complete abdication of journalistic ethics on MSNBC. I noted in my early post last night that if you wanted to see what the early exit polls were saying all you had to do was watch that channel.

Discussion: Horses Mouth, TalkLeft, Tom Watson and Taylor Marsh

Felix Gillette / New York Observer:
Primary Scream — Chris Matthews, MSNBC's Manic Oracle …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

City Room:

‘Obama Girl’ Didn't Vote — So, did the ‘Obama Girl’ actually vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday? — Actually, no. — Last summer the amateur music video “I Got a Crush on Obama,” was a Web hit, splashing a seductive performance by a 26-year-old model named Amber Lee Ettinger across millions …

Discussion: A Blog For All, Political Machine, Don Surber, Threat Level, Wonkette and NY Daily News

Satyam / Think Progress:

White House: We ‘Definitely Want To Consider’ Using Waterboarding Again — In congressional testimony yesterday, CIA director Michael Hayden confirmed that his agency used waterboarding on three al Qaeda suspects. In 2006, Hayden banned the use of waterboarding in CIA interrogations.

Discussion: Time, Blue Girl, Red State, Crooks and Liars, Associated Press, Balkinization, Rants From The Rookery, The Carpetbagger Report, Wall Street Journal and Times of India

Associated Press:

Haggard exits restoration process early — Recommend — New Life Church said Tuesday that former pastor Ted Haggard has prematurely ended a “spiritual restoration” process begun when he was fired for sexual misconduct. — Haggard was fired from New Life Church and resigned as president …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

OVERTIME....Reuters reports (via email, no link) that the Obama campaign is predicting a dead-even delegate race when primary season is over: … OK, fine. But if they're going to accidentally attach internal projections to press releases, how about attaching the details too?

Discussion: The Newshoggers and TalkLeft