Top Items:
Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Obama's Lead in Delegates Shifts Focus of Campaign — WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama emerged from Tuesday's primaries leading Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by more than 100 delegates, a small but significant advantage that Democrats said would be difficult for Mrs. Clinton …
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Wall Street Journal:
Clinton Team Seeks to Calm Turmoil — MCALLEN, Texas — With Spanish music blaring, Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigned across South Texas yesterday with a more populist message, as her new campaign manager sought to reshape a campaign that has lost eight straight primaries in a week.
New York Times:
Knocked Off Balance, Clinton Campaign Tries to Regain Its Stride — SAN ANTONIO — The Texas and Ohio presidential primaries, on March 4, have become must-win contests for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, her advisers say. So why is she just opening campaign field offices across those states?
Discussion:
MSNBC, Washington Post, The Corner, Commentary, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Nation, TIME and State of the Day
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
McCain: Against Torture, But — I'm heartbroken. Torture is illegal and immoral whether it is conducted by the military or the CIA. That was McCain's original position. It appears it is no longer. Marty Lederman homes in on the key point: … This is why the focus on waterboarding has been necessary but distracting.
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Balloon Juice
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Rasmussen Reports:
Wisconsin Democratic Presidential Primary — Wisconsin: Obama 47% Clinton 43% — The Democratic Presidential Primary in Wisconsin may be the most competitive contest between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton since Super Tuesday. — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows Obama …
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Hillary Clinton / CNN:
Aloha: Chelsea to campaign in Hawaii — (CNN) — As part of the Clinton campaign's declared effort to fight for every delegate in every state, Chelsea Clinton is heading to Hawaii, Barack Obama's home turf, according to a Clinton campaign source. She'll spend three days, including this weekend, campaigning in Oahu and Honolulu.
Discussion:
Spin Cycle
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Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
CLINTON TO FIGHT FOR EVERY DELEGATE — From NBC's Domenico Montanaro — The Clinton campaign is not about to give up anything without a fight. — Strategists said in a conference call with reporters the campaign will go after delegates wherever they can be found — including in Michigan and Florida.
Discussion:
Oliver Willis, Matthew Yglesias, Hold Fast, Political Machine, Brendan Nyhan, The Democratic Daily, MyDD and Left in the West
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Dem leaders shower pork on freshmen — Democratic leaders have sent tens of millions of dollars to freshman lawmakers' districts in hope of protecting the party's newfound majority come November. — A new study of December's omnibus spending package shows that the party in power …
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Weekly Standard
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Robert Pear / New York Times:
Lawmakers Put Out New Call for Earmarks
Lawmakers Put Out New Call for Earmarks
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Sunlight Foundation blogs
New York Times:
Making (Some) Progress in Iraq — Good news is rare in Iraq. But after months of bitter feuding, Iraq's Parliament has finally approved a budget, outlined the scope of provincial powers, set an Oct. 1 date for provincial elections and voted a general amnesty for detainees.
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
Hardbrawl — Last fall, as network executives, members of Congress and other hotshots gathered beneath a massive tent at Washington's Decatur House to celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Hardball,” Chris Matthews began to address the crowd.
Talal Al-Khatib / Political Radar:
McCain Adviser Won't Fight Obama — ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: On Wednesday, a top adviser to John McCain said more definitively than he has in the past that he will step down from the Arizona senator's presidential campaign if the presumed GOP nominee faces Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., in the general election.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Firedoglake, Sister Toldjah, The Fix, Jules Crittenden, Outside The Beltway, The RBC, Comments from Left Field, NPR, The Swamp, PoliPundit.com and Truthdig
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Sara Robinson / Orcinus:
The Cult of Obama — Every political news outlet, from the networks to the blogs, is abuzz today with the question: Is the Obama phenomenon a cult? — People — particularly Hillary partisans — are eagerly putting this idea out there. I want to make it very clear before I get started …
Discussion:
Oliver Willis, Liberal Values, A Blog For All, Middle Earth Journal, Outside The Beltway, PSoTD and Booman Tribune
Daniel Henninger / Real Clear Politics:
Obama at the Top — Hillary Clinton probably didn't watch the stem-winder speech that Barack Obama delivered Tuesday night after cleaning her clock in the Potomac primaries. If not, she should. — It was tiresome. — The speech was classic Obama. Beautifully written and beautifully delivered …
Discussion:
Slog
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
10 MYTHS ABOUT CANDIAN HEALTH CARE. — Sara Robinson does us all a nice service with an article detonating various myths about Canadian health care. It's a good piece, and fair, too. She doesn't deny that there are some long waits (and she adds an interesting twist to the situation …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
Angela K. Brown / Associated Press:
Texas Ban on Sex Toy Sales Is Overturned — FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A federal appeals court has overturned a statute outlawing sex toy sales in Texas, one of the last states — all in the South — to retain such a ban. — The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Texas law making …
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Comments from Left Field