memeorandum: Sex and Lobbyists — Last week, Shaun Mullen attempted … (Pete Abel/The Moderate Voice)

8:35 PM ET, February 24, 2008

Top Items:

‘Meet the Press’ transcript for Feb. 24, 2008 — Ralph Nader, David Brooks, Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michele Norris, Chuck Todd — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: Many Democrats accuse this man of draining votes from Al Gore, which helped elect George W. Bush in 2000.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Caucus, Political Radar, The Garlic, Don Surber, Los Angeles Times, Reason Magazine, Redstate and The Page

Reuters:

Consumer advocate Nader starts presidential bid — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer advocate Ralph Nader said on Sunday that he is launching another long shot independent campaign for president of the United States. — Nader, who will turn 74 this week, announced his presidential bid on NBC's …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Dyre Portents, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Taylor Marsh, American Street, WORLDMEETS.US, The Mahatma X Files, Sister Toldjah, Yahoo! News, the talking dog, TBogg, The Seminal, The Carpetbagger Report, The Political Inquirer, Wake up America, Macsmind and A Blog For All

The Politico:

Nader enters in boon to GOP — Ralph Nader announced on NBC's “Meet the Press” that he'll run as a third-party, anti-corporate candidate for president this fall, which would be likely to drain votes from the Democratic nominee and provide a huge boon to Republicans.

Discussion: The Swamp, Comments from Left Field, The Democratic Daily and American Power

Hope Yen / Associated Press:
Nader announces run for president

Discussion: Open Left, Guardian Unlimited, Matthew Yglesias, MyDD, Pandagon, Middle Earth Journal, Boston Globe, Unqualified Offerings, Blue Crab Boulevard and Secular Blasphemy

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:
Ralph Nader Will Run For President Again But Faces Different Political Landscape

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, American Spectator, Politics Plus, Commentary and skippy the bush kangaroo

James Fallows:
Ralph Nader: tragedy to farce

Discussion: MoJoBlog, 23/6, PoliGazette and Roger Ailes

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
Nader An Oh-Eighter — Barack Obama can now point to someone running …

Discussion: BBC and AMERICAblog

Associated Press:
Nader running for president

Discussion: TVNewser and Gothamist

Ralph Nader / You Decide 08!:
NADER ANNOUNCES HE WILL RUN FOR PRESIDENT

Discussion: Political Radar

CNN:
Ralph Nader enters presidential race

Discussion: Making Light, Through the Magnifying Glass, Balkinization and MSNBC

ABCNEWS: Ralph Nader Running for President — Again

Sweetness & Light:

Obama Wore Muslim Garb During Kenya Trip — [Note: please see the update posted below. The photograph is authentic.] — A poster named “Bannie” at Free Republic has noted a photo that appeared in the February 4, 2008 edition of the notoriously unreliable supermarket tabloid, the National Examiner:

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Right Wing Nut House, Atlas Shrugs, Gateway Pundit, Wake up America and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN EMBRACES OBAMA HOAX EMAIL — Overtime, and pretty quickly now, it'll make sense to keep a list of stuff like this. On Friday night's Bill Maher show, Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA) claimed that Barack Obama refuses to say the pledge of allegiance to the American flag.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, Oliver Willis, The Newshoggers, PoliGazette and The Huffington Post

John Cole / Balloon Juice:
Lapel Pin Patriotism, Round Two

Discussion: RADAMISTO

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
GOING TO THE EXPERTS — Does Obama have a patriotism problem?

Discussion: Salon, The Carpetbagger Report, Associated Press and RADAMISTO

The Huffington Post:

Hillary Clinton Mocks Barack Obama During Campaign Rally — Hillary Clinton's campaign is on its last legs after suffering a string of defeats to her rival Barack Obama. Clinton made the decision to go negative in an effort to halt Obama's rising momentum.

Discussion: The RBC, TalkLeft, Oliver Willis and skippy the bush kangaroo

Brooks Jackson / FactCheck.org:

Obama Mailings ‘False’? — Clinton says Democrats should be “outraged.” You be the judge. — Clinton said “every Democrat should be outraged” at two “false” mailers that Obama sent to voters in Ohio. — We find that a mailer criticizing her position on trade is indeed misleading.

Discussion: Pensito Review, The Fact Hub, Political Radar, Political Punch, The Trail, Classical Values and PoliGazette

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Clintons' Last Stand — Watching senator Clinton attempt to regain some lift as she paraglides into history is almost enough to evoke pity. Almost. The Clintons come with their own boundless reserves of self-pity so further reinforcements seem unnecessary to me.

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

EXPERIENCE....Riffing off Scott Lemieux, Matt Yglesias takes a pot shot at Hillary Clinton's claim to be the “experienced” candidate: … This obviously gets into the realm of pure spin since “experience” is such an amorphous quality, but I really think that Obama partisans are missing the point here.

Discussion: TalkLeft, American Street and NO QUARTER

Matthew Yglesias:

Are You Experienced? — Scott Lemieux further elaborates on the trouble with the Hillary Clinton experience argument: … I think the point in the parenthesis is key. If you win a primary on an “experience” argument, then you'd damn well better be more experienced than your general election opponent.

Discussion: Liberal Values, The Democratic Daily, Donklephant and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Jonathan Singer / MyDD:

DNC to File FEC Complaint Against McCain Campaign — John McCain's attempted politically motivated gaming of the public financing system is already drawing the attention of the Federal Elections Commisssion, with the chairman of the FEC firing off a letter to McCain's presidential campaign asking …

Discussion: Corrente, Hold Fast and DownWithTyranny!

Josh Meyer / Los Angeles Times:

White House backtracks on claims of lost intelligence — Hours after chiding Congress for not finishing a wiretapping bill and leaving the nation ‘vulnerable to terrorist attack,’ officials acknowledge all requested information is being received. — WASHINGTON — A day after warning …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Corner and American Street

Faiz / Think Progress:

Kristol: ‘I Recommend The Politics Of Fear’ — This morning on Fox News Sunday, New York Times columnist Bill Kristol recommended that Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) employ the “politics of fear” to attack Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL): … Kristol explained that his fear-mongering political strategy would focus on Iran.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Carpetbagger Report

Pete Abel / The Moderate Voice:

Sex and Lobbyists — Last week, Shaun Mullen attempted to remind us that the McCain-NYT flap was less about sex, more about lobbyists and hypocrisy. Separately, Patrick Appel (filling in for Andrew Sullivan) noted: “... the sex scandal, if real, would sink [McCain].

Discussion: protein wisdom