memeorandum: C.I.A. Used a British Island to Transport Terrorism Suspects (John F. Burns/New York Times)

11:25 AM ET, February 22, 2008

Top Items:

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.

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: The Washington Note, The Opinionator, Marc Ambinder, Comments from Left Field, Classical Values, Spin Cycle, PoliBlog (TM), Blog of the Moderate Left and Daniel W. Drezner

Walter Shapiro / Salon:
Hillary Clinton's Texas-size moment

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Moderate Voice and The Carpetbagger Report

Washington Post:
Clinton Has Edge in Ohio; Race in Texas Deadlocked

Discussion: RealClearPolitics, The Caucus, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, Suburban Guerrilla, Flopping Aces, Hotline On Call, Wonkette and The Politico

Washington Post:
Obama-Clinton Debate Starts Warm, Heats Up

Discussion: INTEL DUMP, TIME, New York Times and The Caucus

Marc Ambinder:
First Take: The Debate Belongs To Obama, But The Best (And) …

Discussion: MSNBC, The Fix and The Reaction

Stephen Spruiell / National Review:
One-Candidate Debate — Austin, Tex. — Has Hillary caught Obama fever …

Discussion: Hot Air

Gateway Pundit:
Hillary Plays Texas Hold-Em— Obama Gets Nutty (Video)

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Argghhh!, Fausta's blog, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, USS Neverdock and CNN

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
An echo from Hillary — Several readers, and Obama's staff …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Captain's Quarters, Washington Times, Liberal Values and Gothamist

Senator Hillary Clinton / New York Times: Democratic Debate in Austin, Tex.

New York Times:

The McCain Article — A recent New York Times article examined a number of decisions by Senator John McCain that raised questions about his judgment over potential conflicts of interest. The article included reporting on Mr. McCain's relationship with a female lobbyist whose clients often …

Discussion: Horses Mouth, The Moderate Voice, JustOneMinute, Los Angeles Times, Commentary, Hotline On Call, No More Mister Nice Blog, Pajamas Media, The Reaction, The Page, alicublog and The Swamp

The Big Blog:

Why we didn't run the McCain story — I chose not to run the New York Times story on John McCain in Thursday's P-I, even though it was available to us on the New York Times News Service. I thought I'd take a shot at explaining why. — To me, the story had serious flaws.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, michellemalkin.com, The Swamp, BuzzFlash.org, Moonbattery, Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo and Romenesko

Washington Post:

FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending — The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Wall Street Journal, DownWithTyranny!, AMERICAblog, American Street, Outside The Beltway, MyDD, Right Wing News, Hot Air, New York Times and Election Law

David Brooks / New York Times:

The McCain World Rift — The staff of the McCain campaign had a rude awakening last Jan. 25th. They opened The Washington Post and found a front-page story linking McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, to the Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska. Who, some wondered, was feeding damaging information about Davis to the press?

Discussion: Don Surber and Reason Magazine

The Politico:
McCain turns tables on Times

Discussion: The Swamp, Captain's Quarters, Washington Post, Trailhead, MSNBC and Pat Dollard

Yahoo! News:

Exclusive: U.S. urges Pakistanis to keep Musharraf, despite election defeat — ISLAMABAD, Pakistan _The Bush administration is pressing the opposition leaders who defeated Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to allow the former general to retain his position, a move that Western diplomats …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Connecting.the.Dots, Firedoglake, Outside The Beltway and American Street

New York Times:
Pakistan Shift Could Curtail Drone Strikes

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and Early Warning

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Try a Little Tenderness — Barack Obama's biggest draw is not his eloquence. When you watch an Obama speech, you lean forward and listen and think, That's good. He's compelling, I like the way he speaks. And afterward all the commentators call him “impossibly eloquent” and say “he gave me thrills and chills.”

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Atrios / Eschaton:

Oh My — Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ) indicted. — “Conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, insurance fraud, criminal forfeiture.” (from CNN TV) — ...AP says it's about a land deal. — ...there were resignation rumors 10 months ago, though it didn't happen.

CNN:

Arizona GOP lawmaker indicted — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Rep. Rick Renzi was indicted Friday on multiple federal charges, law enforcement sources tell CNN. — In a 35-count indictment handed up by a grand jury in Arizona, Renzi is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering extortion and insurance fraud.

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Obama once visited '60s radicals — In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district's influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, JustOneMinute, Macsmind, NO QUARTER, MSNBC and Riehl World View

CBS News:

GOP Operative: Rove Sought To Smear Dem — 60 Minutes: Woman Says Top Bush Adviser Asked Her To Take Compromising Pictures Of Alabama Gov. Siegelman — (CBS) A Republican operative in Alabama says Karl Rove asked her to try to prove the state's Democratic governor was unfaithful to his wife …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Oliver Willis

Ben Evans / Associated Press:
Report: Rove Wanted Dirt on Alabama Gov.

Discussion: Think Progress and Harper's

Bob Owens / Pajamas Media:

OBAMA SHOOTING HIMSELF IN THE FOOT WITH ANTI-GUN STANCE — Barack Obama will have a big problem attracting the blue-collar white voters he needs to win the presidency, writes Bob Owens: they like guns and he wants to take their guns away. — Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Hot Air

New York Times:

Clinton Donors Worried by Campaign's Spending — Nearly $100,000 went for party platters and groceries before the Iowa caucuses, even though the partying mood evaporated quickly. Rooms at the Bellagio luxury hotel in Las Vegas consumed more than $25,000; the Four Seasons, another $5,000.

Discussion: New York Post, Pandagon, The Carpetbagger Report, Ankle Biting Pundits, Prairie Weather, JammieWearingFool, IntoxiNation and MyDD

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, The BRAD BLOG, Pam's House Blend, Political Machine, All Spin Zone, Bang the Drum, Booman Tribune, Macsmind and Wake up America

Michael / Discourse.net:
Look, We Worry About This Stuff

Discussion: Unfogged

Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:

Never mind Iraq. Just end the ‘war on terror.’ — Using bold rhetoric that often makes his followers rapturous, Barack Obama has declared over and over that he will be the president of “change.” But is Obama brave enough to bring about a really radical change?

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Dean's World, The Strata-Sphere and American Street