memeorandum: Rescues for Homeowners in Debt Weighed (New York Times)

12:55 AM ET, February 22, 2008

Top Items:

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.

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 …

Discussion: Election Law, Hot Air, The Reaction, DownWithTyranny!, The Huffington Post, Salon, Washington Wire, Think Progress, Rox Populi and Macsmind

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 and skippy the bush kangaroo

The Politico:
Rush, right rally to McCain

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Washington Times, New York Times, The Fix, MSNBC, CNN, RushLimbaugh.com, NewsBusters.org, Attytood, Guardian Unlimited, The Radio Equalizer, American Power, Marc Ambinder, Think Progress and No More Mister Nice Blog

Ed OKeefe / Political Radar:
Romney Camp Laments

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Neptunus Lex, Hot Air and Hullabaloo

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
John Weaver Speaks

Discussion: Power Line, The Politico and unbossed.com

Greg Sargent / Horses Mouth:
About That Times Story On McCain's Relationship

Discussion: The Swamp, Captain's Quarters, AlterNet, The Huffington Post, Think Progress, Hold Fast, NewsBusters.org, PoliBlog (TM), Firedoglake, Outside The Beltway and Political Machine

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 …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Wonkette and The Politico

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, Washington Wire, 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.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, Flopping Aces, MSNBC and I Am TRex

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:

The Xerox Candidate — I'm not watching the Democratic debate, but I've followed the commentary at The Corner and at The Fix with Chris Cillizza. I hadn't anticipated putting up any commentary until after the transcript got published by CNN, but one point at The Fix made me laugh out loud.

Discussion: Comments from Left Field and Hot Air

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:
Live Blogging the Texas Showdown

Discussion: American Power and The Fix

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: michellemalkin.com, protein wisdom, michael linn jones, Redstate, Megan McArdle, Reproductive Health, The Democratic Daily and Fraters Libertas

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 …

Discussion: MSNBC, The New Republic, Spin Cycle and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

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.

Discussion: Gothamist, The Nation, Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldjah and Reason Magazine

Taylor Marsh:
Clinton Owns Debate Close

Discussion: NO QUARTER

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Clinton, Obama set for Texas showdown

Discussion: Associated Press, TalkLeft, The Reaction and Political Machine

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

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.

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: Discourse.net, Pandagon, The BRAD BLOG, Booman Tribune, Wake up America and Mercury Rising

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Consultant spending saps Clinton campaign — Hillary Rodham Clinton started the year flush with cash, but by the beginning of this month, she'd blazed through most of it — spending $11 million on ads, $3.8 million on messaging guru Mark Penn and $1,300 at Dunkin' Donuts …

Discussion: MyDD, protein wisdom and Los Angeles Times

New York Times: Spending by Clinton Campaign Worries Supporters

New York Times:

Rescues for Homeowners in Debt Weighed — WASHINGTON — Prodded in part by some of the nation's biggest banks, the Bush administration and Congress are considering costly new proposals for the government to rescue hundreds of thousands of homeowners whose mortgages are higher than the value of their houses.

Discussion: Ankle Biting Pundits and Calculated Risk

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 …

Discussion: Hotline On Call, MyDD, Taylor Marsh, Wonkette and Comments from Left Field