Top Items:
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 …
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John Cole / Balloon Juice:
Obama takes The Lead — Last night, after I claimed Obama was the big winner for the Democrats, many of you dismissed me: … No. Obama was the big winner: … Obama won more states, won more delegates, improved his numbers with key groups, widened his lead among minority voters, and over-all, outperformed Hillary.
Discussion:
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Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: A DEM SPLIT DECISION — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** A split decision: The Clinton and Obama campaigns engaged in a furious game of spin before Super Tuesday, but Obama might have put it best when he said on TODAY and Morning Joe yesterday that it would end up being a split decision.
Harold Meyerson / Washington Post:
The Repudiation of Rove — John McCain had a surprising but pleasant evening last night — watching Mitt Romney go down to defeat in nearly every contest and encountering a newly victorious but ultimately unnominatable Mike Huckabee all across the Bible Belt.
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Charles Hurt / New York Post:
ONCE JOHN WINS, HE'LL MAKE A LEFT — RUNNING as a conserva tive, John McCain rolled up huge victories last night in New York, New Jersey and beyond. — But if history is any guide, the McCain we've seen of late on the campaign trail is the most conservative McCain we'll ever see.
Discussion:
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Mark R. Levin / The Corner:
One-Legged Stool — I wonder how many of us believe that if John McCain is the nominee, which is looking more likely, whether he will win New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California. This was the Giuliani strategy. He's losing the conservative vote in virtually every state other than New York and New Jersey.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Super Tuesday Winners and Losers — Twenty four states and the single-largest primary day in recent memory — now that's a SUPER Tuesday. — For Republicans, the clear winner was John McCain, claiming a number of big states — New York, New Jersey, California — to emerge with a strong delegate lead …
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Thomas B. Edsall / The Huffington Post:
Super Tuesday Fallout: Where The Race Goes From Here
Super Tuesday Fallout: Where The Race Goes From Here
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TalkLeft, New York Times, The New Republic, Tennessee Guerilla Women and Anne Schroeder's Blogs
Faiz / Think Progress:
Buchanan: John McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi’ — On the NBC Today Show, liberal radio host Rachel Maddow, conservative pundit Pat Buchanan, and Democratic strategist Paul Begala discussed the importance of “change” in the upcoming election. Voters want a “clean break from Bush,” argued Maddow.
Marc Ambinder:
Clinton Weighs A Self-Loan To Finance Campaign — As first floated by The Page, I can confirm that, according to advisers to the campaign, Sen. Hillary Clinton is weighing a self-loan in order to finance a competitive race against Barack Obama over the next few weeks.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, The New Republic, TownHall Blog, The Caucus, politburo diktat 2.0 and Donklephant
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:
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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 …
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
SUPERDELEGATES. — I really, really hope the Democratic primary doesn't come down to superdelegates — the privileged class of delegate that gets to vote however they want, and were created to ensure that party elites didn't lose too much control over the process.
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Jennifer Griffin / Fox News:
Al Qaeda Trains Young Boys as Terrorists, Tapes Show — WASHINGTON — Al Qaeda propaganda tapes released by Multinational Forces-Iraq reveal a possible new trend in the group's terror strategy in Iraq. — The tapes, obtained by FOX News and later released to the media …
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Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report:
Video: al Qaeda Trains 6 Year Old Children
Video: al Qaeda Trains 6 Year Old Children
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Sister Toldjah
Deacon / Power Line:
FOR THE REPUBLICANS, MOSTLY HAZARDS — In the post below, I suggested that, because they are deadlocked, the Dems may be able to produce a dream Clinton-Obama ticket. It's unlikely that, left to their own devices, the Clintons would share the spotlight with a rock star.
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Weekly Standard
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John Bresnahan / The Politico:
NRCC probe scares GOP — Top House Republicans were told in recent days that a former employee of their campaign committee may have forged an official audit during the contentious 2006 election cycle and that they should brace for the possibility that an unfolding investigation …
Discussion:
The Newshoggers, the albany project, Comments from Left Field, Greatscat! and RealClearPolitics
Julia Rosen / Crooks and Liars:
Count Every Vote in Los Angeles — full disclosure: I work for the Courage Campaign — The Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters decided in they could save a few bucks by creating a complicated ballot design for the presidential primary. In 2008, that decision has now lead to the disenfranchisement of countless voters.
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Talking Points Memo:
No One Will Listen To John Harris And Jim VandeHei — Why won't anyone at The Washington Post listen to former Post reporters John Harris and Jim VandeHei? The other day, the duo, who are now at The Politico, made an extraordinarily sane suggestion as to how we can all improve political coverage.
Cara DeGette / Colorado Confidential:
Ted Haggard Quits New Life ‘Restoration Team’ — Technically, it only took three weeks of intensive “restoration” a full year ago to make Ted Haggard a “complete heterosexual.” But on Tuesday night, the new pastor of the Colorado Springs megachurch that Haggard founded has announced …
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend, The Democratic Daily, PageOneQ.com Latest, Unqualified Offerings and Politics Plus
Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:
Kumbya Convo — Mary Matalin had some creative thinking for John McCain this morning, in conversation with NRO, based on the idea that “McCain still failing to win conservatives anywhere, even where he wins.” — A “trust but verify” strategy for McCain might include: