memeorandum: Rotten Way to Pick a President (James Joyner/Outside The Beltway)

12:30 PM ET, February 17, 2008

Top Items:

Barack Obama, Leftist? — Two foreign newspapers introduce the notion of Barack Obama as a Leftist. The Times of London reports that Republicans intend on painting him as such in the general election, based on his voting record in the Senate and in the Illinios state legislature.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway

Sarah Baxter / Times of London:

Right slams Obama as ‘shady Chicago socialist’ — Republicans are out to crush Barack by painting him as a leftwinger with dubious support — LEADING Republicans believe they can trounce Barack Obama in the presidential election by tarring him as a shady Chicago socialist.

Discussion: Althouse, Fausta's blog, Shakespeare's Sister, Liberal Values, Booman Tribune, American Power, Gateway Pundit, Oliver Willis, Middle Earth Journal, The Ruckus, Real Clear Politics, protein wisdom, Buck Naked Politics, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh and Jules Crittenden

Robin Koerner / The Moderate Voice: Change and Barack, America's First Leftist President?

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Obama as the Next McGovern?

Discussion: progressive involvement

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Steadfast McCain ally sparks veep talk — Even through the McCain campaign's darkest days in 2007, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty remained a steadfast ally to the Arizona senator in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. — As a result, with John McCain as the clear GOP frontrunner …

Discussion: The Ruckus

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

Pawlenty As Veep? — For over a year, Tim Pawlenty has supported John McCain through thick and a whole lot of thin. The two-term Minnesota governor became one of John McCain's first major endorsers in January 2007, and even at the time speculation began that Pawlenty could make a good running mate for McCain.

Times of London:

Israel kills terror chief with headrest bomb — Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv, Hala Jaber in Beirut and Jon Swain — NOTHING seemed very remarkable about the short, bearded man who mingled with other guests on Tuesday evening at a reception in Damascus, the Syrian capital …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, BLACKFIVE, Jules Crittenden, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

Kate Zernike / New York Times:

The Charisma Mandate — TAKING office in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt confronted a country in crisis. Four in 10 working-age Americans were jobless. Banks were collapsing. There were long lines outside tellers' windows as people rushed to withdraw their savings.

Discussion: The Reaction and PoliGazette

Jeralyn / TalkLeft: NY Times on “The Cult of Personality”

Tyler Cowen / New York Times:

It's an Election, Not a Revolution — IT has become common wisdom that the battle for the presidency is all about the economy. Voters are being told that the country's economic health depends on pulling the right lever in the polling booth. — This election is certainly important.

Discussion: Swords Crossed, Economist's View, American Street and Marginal Revolution

Ian Traynor / Guardian:

'I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star — Geert Wilders, the popular MP whose film on Islam has fuelled the debate on race in Holland, wants an end to mosque building and Muslim immigration. Ian Traynor met him in The Hague

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

The World's Worst Panderer — Even for those of us who shudder at many of John McCain's positions, there is something refreshing about a man who wins so many votes despite a major political shortcoming: he is abysmal at pandering. — What sets Senator McCain apart isn't so much his physical courage …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Carpetbagger Report and The RBC

Allauddin Khan / Associated Press:

80 die in bombing at Afghan dog fight — KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A suicide bombing at an outdoor dog fighting competition killed 80 people and wounded scores on Sunday, an Afghan governor said. It appeared to be the deadliest terror attack in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, On Deadline, VetVoice and JammieWearingFool

Taimoor Shah / New York Times: At Least 80 Killed in Afghan Bombing

James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:

Rotten Way to Pick a President — Sean Wilentz and Julian Zelizer argue that the current system of primaries and caucuses is “A Rotten Way to Pick a President.” … Actually, experts and pundits have been pointing out the flaws of the system for as long as I can remember.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, protein wisdom and Washington Post

Associated Press:

Kosovo Declares Independence From Serbia — PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo declared itself a nation on Sunday, mounting a historic bid to become an “independent and democratic state” backed by the U.S. and key European allies but bitterly contested by Serbia and Russia.

Discussion: MSNBC, War and Piece, Publius Pundit and Vodkapundit

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:

Sunday Morning Election News — Here's some early morning news items: — A new Alabama poll shows McCain would sweep the state in November by double digits, and it might happen throughout the deep south. — Alabama has voted for the Republican nominee every year since 1980.

Discussion: al.com and presstv.ir

Sean Lengell / Washington Times:

Analysts say FISA will suffice — Many intelligence scholars and analysts outside the government say that today's expiration of certain temporary domestic wiretapping laws will have little effect on national security, despite warnings to the contrary by the White House and Capitol Hill Republican leaders.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Middle Earth Journal, Balloon Juice and White House