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Gabriel Sherman / The New Republic:
The Long Run-Up — Behind the Bombshell in ‘The New York Times.’ — RELATED CONTENT — 'Charlie's Horse,' by S.V. Date (2/6/08) — Last night, around dinnertime, The New York Times posted on its website a 3,000-word investigation detailing Senator John McCain's connections to a telecommunications lobbyist named Vicki Iseman.
Discussion:
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NationalJournal.com:
Transcript: Howard Dean On John McCain And The Republican ‘Culture Of Corruption’ — Q: I want to welcome Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Welcome, Chairman Dean. … Q: So there is big news about John McCain — the story that is in the New York Times …
RADAR:
THE ‘NEW YORK TIMES’ AND THE JOHN MCCAIN SEX SCANDAL STORY — The New York Times began reporting its story about John McCain's relationship with Vicki Iseman after two sources told its reporters that McCain had had an affair with the lobbyist for many months, and that McCain's wife had become aware of the relationship.
Discussion:
Comments from Left Field
Washington Post:
Clinton Has Edge in Ohio; Race in Texas Deadlocked — AUSTIN, Feb. 21 — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, facing a pair of big Democratic primary tests on March 4 that could determine the fate of her presidential candidacy, is deadlocked with Sen. Barack Obama here in Texas and holds a slender lead …
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Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
POLL: Clinton Up in Ohio, Dead Heat in Texas — Obama Leads in Electability in Primaries Critical to Democratic Race — Trailing in perceived electability, Hillary Clinton is running in a dead heat with Barack Obama in the Texas Democratic primary and holds a single-digit lead in Ohio …
Discussion:
MyDD, The Caucus, Washington Wire, American Power, Political Radar, Marc Ambinder and Political Machine
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
An Actual Debate! — Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug-in to view our enhanced content. — Just when it looked like the debate between Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton would go quietly, the issue of plagiarism brought the two candidates out of their slumber.
CNN:
The CNN Democratic presidential debate in Texas — This is the transcript of the debate between Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on February 21, 2008 at the University of Texas in Austin. — CNN's CAMPBELL BROWN: And the candidates have taken their seats.
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, michellemalkin.com, Megan McArdle, Reproductive Health, The Democratic Daily, Redstate, NO QUARTER and Fraters Libertas
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CNN:
Clinton, Obama agree to disagree — AUSTIN, Texas (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton, needing a win in Texas to derail Sen. Barack Obama in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, sought Thursday to contrast her opponent's rhetorical skills with what she called her superior ability to govern.
Jack Douglas Jr / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
Police concerned about order to stop screening — DALLAS — Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.
Discussion:
Pandagon, Discourse.net, The BRAD BLOG, Booman Tribune, Wake up America and Mercury Rising
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
An echo from Hillary — Several readers, and Obama's staff, heard an echo in Clinton's closing line, that the candidates on stage would be “fine.” — Clinton Tonight: ? … Edwards the December 13 debate: … Some borrowing is fairly normal. What's been striking about the two Obama moments is that they were almost verbatim.
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
THAT LINE — I mentioned at the end of my debate blog that the pivot of Hillary's powerful concluding remarks came from Bill Clinton's 92 campaign. Clinton had various permutations to it back then. But TPM Reader CG found one example in this November 1992 article by Anna Quindlen ...
Discussion:
Daniel W. Drezner
Marc Ambinder:
First Take: The Debate Belongs To Obama, But The Best (And) Last Moment Belongs To Hillary — Talk about a final answer. … Almost wistful ... acknowledging reality... but forcefully asserting her humanity ... extremely, seemingly, genuine. — And at the right time... at the end …
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Tracking Election 2008 — Based on polling conducted Feb. 18-20, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are now tied in national Democratic presidential preferences, based on Feb. 18-20 Gallup Poll Daily tracking. — The latest three-day average finds Clinton favored …
Tim Cocks / Reuters:
Iraq's Sadr expected to extend ceasefire — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Powerful Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr is widely expected to extend a ceasefire by his Mehdi Army militia on Friday, a decision Washington says is important to maintain security gains. — U.S. officials say the ceasefire …
Discussion:
The Belmont Club
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Joshua Molina / CNN:
Utah students hide guns, head to class — CNNU campus correspondent Joshua Molina is a senior at Brigham Young University. CNNU is a feature that provides student perspectives on news and trends from colleges across the United States. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of CNN …
Discussion:
MoJoBlog
Margery Eagan / Boston Herald:
When backing Barack feels like joining a cult — I'm an Obama girl and my man throttled Hillary Clinton, again, Tuesday night. — Suddenly, the impossible is real. — Suddenly, I'm nervous. Very nervous, actually. — I'm nervous because an otherwise normal grownup told …