memeorandum: Will President McCain enforce or expand McCain-Feingold regulation … (Tapscott's Copy Desk)

3:50 PM ET, February 9, 2008

Top Items:

Ariel Alexovich / The Caucus:

Paul Concedes Race, Sort Of — In a message to supporters sent just before 11 p.m. Friday night, Representative Ron Paul, a long-shot G.O.P. candidate from Texas, basically conceded that he's not going to win the party's nomination. — That said, he's scaling back his campaign — but not entirely.

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, Wake up America, PoliBlog (TM), A Blog For All and Don Surber

Ron Paul 2008:

Message from Ron — Whoa! What a year this has been. And what achievements we have had. If I may quote Trotsky of all people, this Revolution is permanent. It will not end at the Republican convention. It will not end in November. It will not end until we have won the great battle on which we have embarked.

Discussion: L.A. Times, You Decide 08!, Donklephant, Gateway Pundit and Reason Magazine

Jonathan Martin / The Politico: Ron Paul appears to have Kucinich moment

Jc Reindl / Toledo Blade:

Mayor to Marines: Leave downtown — He says urban exercises scare people — A company of Marine Corps Reservists received a cold send-off from downtown Toledo yesterday by order of Mayor Carty Finkbeiner. — The 200 members of Company A, 1st Battalion, 24th Marines, based in Grand Rapids …

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, The Jawa Report, Wizbang, BLACKFIVE, NewsBusters.org, Atlas Shrugs, The Strata-Sphere, Little Green Footballs and Instapundit.com

Pajamas Media:
Toledo to Marines: Drop dead

Discussion: The Corner

Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:

Chelsea Remark Earns MSNBC Correspondent A Suspension — In case there was any doubt, using a prostitution metaphor for the daughter of a presidential candidate is not a good career move. — MSNBC suspended correspondent David Shuster yesterday for an undetermined period for making a disparaging on-air remark about Chelsea Clinton.

Discussion: The Impolitic, Shakespeare's Sister, Outside The Beltway, PERRspectives Blog, The Gun Toting Liberal™, Captain's Quarters, The Radio Equalizer, Taylor Marsh, Political Punch, The Politico, Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters.org, The Democratic Daily and Associated Press

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

NBC wimped out over “pimped out.” — David Shuster said — about Chelsea Clinton — “Doesn't it seem like she's being pimped out in some weird sort of way?” — Now, MSNBC has suspended him, after pressure from the Clinton campaign: … Really, how bad is it to say “pimped out”?

Discussion: The Politico, The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
HE'S OUTTA HERE — We now know that MSNBC's David Shuster …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Lawyers, Guns and Money, MyDD and Eschaton

Serge F. Kovaleski / New York Times:

Friends Say Drugs Played Only Bit Part for Obama — Nearly three decades ago, Barack Obama stood out on the small campus of Occidental College in Los Angeles for his eloquence, intellect and activism against apartheid in South Africa. But Mr. Obama, then known as Barry, also joined in the party scene.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Obsidian Wings, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Carpetbagger Report, the talking dog, The Reaction, Outside The Beltway, MSNBC and Reason Magazine

Chris Bowers / Open Left:

How I Could Quit The Democratic Party — I am a Democrat. I am my own local precinct captain, and I hold a seat on the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee. Over the past four years, I have helped raise millions of dollars for Democrats. I believe in the primary process …

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, The Strata-Sphere, Booman Tribune and ABCNEWS

Jill Miller Zimon / The Moderate Voice:

Superdelegate Issue Produces Threats of Quitting Democratic Party — Donna Brazile was quoted as saying, “If 795 of my colleagues decide this election, I will quit the Democratic Party. I feel very strongly about this,” Brazile said. — And Chris Bowers of Open Left wrote this post …

Discussion: Redstate, QandO and CNN

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Sanctioned States Put Democrats in Quandary — The clever people in Michigan who decided to get into a game of chicken with New Hampshire last fall over the timing of their Democratic primary should be having second thoughts this weekend. — Had Michigan Democrats not engaged in gamesmanship …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Jules Crittenden, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wake up America, Captain's Quarters, Blue Crab Boulevard, You Decide 08! and Right Voices

Brian Braiker / Newsweek:

McCain romps while the Dems divide in the NEWSWEEK poll. — Mr. Electable? McCain is the man to beat on the GOP side — Sen. John McCain, whose campaign to win the Republican Party's presidential nomination was all but declared dead last summer, has cemented a commanding lead …

Discussion: Pajamas Media and Liberal Values

Mona Charen / The Corner:

Discordant Note — This is the most graceless stunt I've seen a while. Leon Fleisher, the conductor and pianist, received a Kennedy Center honor. As part of the weekend of festivities associated with this prestigious award, Fleisher was invited to attend a White House reception along …

Discussion: Roger Ailes

Leon Fleisher / Washington Post: My White House Dilemma

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

At CPAC, Huck embraces new role — Mike Huckabee is the master of the metaphor, and he seized on one this morning that captures his new role in the GOP primary: sparring partner. — “No boxer is prepared to go into the ring if he's never sparred,” Huckabee said at a press conference after his speech at CPAC.

Discussion: The Page

Mark Silva / The Swamp: Huckabee-McCain: A ticket made in marriage

Amanda Carpenter / Townhall.com:

Coulter Speaks to CPAC — Best-selling author and columnist Ann Coulter elaborated to Conservative Political Action Conference participants why she said she would campaign for Democrat Hillary Clinton for president over Republican John McCain. — “She won't want to be the first girl President …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

Hillary May Have the Edge in Maine — A lot of us in the press, including me, have looked at Maine on the primary calendar, noticed it was a caucus state, and basically put it in the Obama column as a result. — Now it's true that caucus states tend to reward the extensive organization that Obama excels at.

Discussion: MyDD

Libby Spencer / The Newshoggers:

When — not if — martial law is declared — I've taken a lot of criticism over the last year about my speculation that our government is preparing to declare martial law. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll get the last laugh, only it's no laughing matter and it's a lot bigger than just Blackwater.

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Good News for Conservatives — We have a great opportunity in 2008. — What a moment! Having learned nothing from the left's Bush Derangement Syndrome, the conservative movement's big talkers spent the days before Super Tuesday indulging in a fiery display of McCain Derangement Syndrome.

Discussion: The Corner

Robert Burns / Associated Press:

Gates Optimistic on Talks With Russians — MUNICH, Germany (AP) - Without forecasting any breakthroughs, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Saturday he believes Russia wants to resolve sensitive security disputes with the United States, including proposed missile defenses in central Europe.

Discussion: The Newshoggers and Telegraph