memeorandum: Obama's Ayers — Ben Smith of Politico discusses the relationship … (John Podhoretz/Commentary)

2:45 PM ET, February 22, 2008

Top Items:

Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:

A Hole in McCain's Defense? — An apparent contradiction in his response to lobbyist story. — A sworn deposition that Sen. John McCain gave in a lawsuit more than five years ago appears to contradict one part of a sweeping denial that his campaign issued this week to rebut a New York Times story …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, On Deadline, Think Progress, MyDD, Hold Fast and Riehl World View

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: Washington Monthly, Horses Mouth, The Corner, JustOneMinute, Los Angeles Times, Think Progress, Don Surber, New York Post, Gothamist, Commentary, Poll Dancing, Hot Air, MSNBC, BuzzFlash.org, No More Mister Nice Blog and Hotline On Call

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: Los Angeles Times, The Jawa Report, Think Progress, Captain's Quarters, The Politico, Washington Wire, michellemalkin.com, Atlas Shrugs, Personal Democracy Forum, Hold Fast, The Moderate Voice, News Hounds, TIME: Swampland and Wake up America

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

OOPS ... I was wondering when we'd hear from Isikoff on this McCain business. (Remember, he was one of the other reporters in the hunt, one or more of whom seems to have prompted the Times to pull the trigger.) It seems that one of McCain's sweeping denials from that presser yesterday morning …

Discussion: RobertEmmet and American Street

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: The New Republic, Don Surber and Reason Magazine

Washington Post:
FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake, D-Day, The Seminal, TIME, DownWithTyranny!, The Caucus, Argghhh!, AMERICAblog, MSNBC, Outside The Beltway, Hot Air and The Raw Story

Stephen Singer / Associated Press:
Lieberman defends McCain from suggestion of improper relationship

Discussion: DownWithTyranny! and BuzzFlash.org

CNN: Ex-McCain aide: Times report ‘implausible’

Pete Abel / The Moderate Voice:
Fact, Fiction, Fickleness, and Fanaticism

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Washington Independent and Arizona Republic

Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:

Congressman Charged in Land Deal — WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Rick Renzi has been indicted for extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other charges related to a land deal in Arizona. — A 26-page federal indictment unsealed in Arizona accuses Renzi and two former business partners …

Discussion: Think Progress, RealClearPolitics and Emptywheel

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.

Discussion: Macsmind

Lara Jakes Jordan / Associated Press:
Congressman charged in land deal

Discussion: Muckraker and The Carpetbagger Report

Atrios / Eschaton:
Oh My — Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ) indicted.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE and War and Piece

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 and No More Mister Nice Blog

Gerard Baker / Times of London:

Obama: is America ready for this dangerous leftwinger? — Listen to the rhetoric of Barack Obama ... For most ordinary Americans, those not encumbered with an expensive education or infected by prolonged exposure to cosmopolitan heterodoxy, patriotism is a consequence of birth.

Blue Texan / Firedoglake: Peggy Noonan: The Obamas Are Unpatriotic Liberal Snobs

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: Reason Magazine, Hot Air, JustOneMinute, Redstate, culturekitchen, Dr. Sanity, Macsmind, Suburban Guerrilla, NO QUARTER and MSNBC

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: Shaking Hands With Terrorists

John Podhoretz / Commentary: Obama's Ayers — Ben Smith of Politico discusses the relationship …

CNN:

Clinton faces claims of borrowed language — (CNN) - Hillary Clinton - whose campaign has spent the past several days pointing to instances of borrowed language in the speeches of rival Barack Obama - is being accused of lifting words from one very familiar politician: her own husband, former President Bill Clinton.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish and KnoxViews

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
If Obama Went 0-for-10 . . .

Discussion: The Campaign Spot

Bill Schneider / CNN:
Debate analysis: Clinton didn't land knockout

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Boston Globe and After W

Stuart Koehl / Weekly Standard:

Obama Heard Wrong — There is a lot about Obama's story that makes no sense. Let us start with the opening line: … Well, captains command companies, not rifle platoons. A rifle platoon is normally commanded by a 2nd lieutenant, sometimes (if short handed) by a senior sergeant.

Discussion: Political Punch, The Corner, Hot Air, Flopping Aces, protein wisdom, Danger Room, The Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit, The Strata-Sphere and A Blog For All

Jim Forsyth / WOAI-TV:

Huckabee: A Deadlocked Convention is My Goal — Insurgent Republican giving up dream of winning in primaries — In an interview with 1200 WOAI news during his swing through Texas, longshot Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee outlined a strategy which has him not winning …

Discussion: All Spin Zone, Political Radar, Outside The Beltway, Hot Air and PoliPundit.com

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: National Review, TalkLeft, The Newshoggers, The Fix, The Opinionator, Firedoglake, About.com US Liberal Politics, Middle Earth Journal, The Garlic, Gateway Pundit, Dick Polman's American Debate, Jules Crittenden, Ben Smith's Blogs, Comments from Left Field, The Reaction, Charlie Foxtrot, Health Blog and UrbanGrounds

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

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Guardian Unlimited, New York Times, Washington Wire and The Moderate Voice

Abe Greenwald / Commentary:

Reuters' Sadr Story Vanishes — Reuters, the news agency with a policy forbidding the word “terrorist” from their stories and a penchant for printing doctored photos as evidence of Israeli aggression, has done it again. — Yesterday, Reuters posted a story entitled “Sadr Expected to End Truce” …

Discussion: Reuters