memeorandum: McCain disavows comments about Obama (Liz Sidoti/Associated Press)

7:55 PM ET, February 26, 2008

Top Items:

Panetta's Lament: They Had No Plan — The argument that the constant carping about Hillary Clinton's campaign has been a function of an Obama-friendly, process-obsessed media is well and good. But how, then, to explain the deeply held dissatisfaction of an old Clinton loyalist like Leon Panetta?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Donklephant

Hillary Clinton / The Huffington Post:

Clinton Campaign Response To New York Times Rejected — The Clinton campaign is fighting back against a Sunday New York Times report by Patrick Healy that suggests her campaign is not only deteriorating, but that she is foreshadowing her exit through valedictory statements.

Discussion: New York Post, The New Republic, TalkLeft, Wake up America, Spin Cycle and Political Radar

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Team Clinton: Down, and Out of Touch

Frank James / The Swamp:

McCain apologizes for radio host's Obama attack — I think we can safely say Bill “Willie” Cunningham, a conservative radio talk show host in Cincinnati, won't be showing up at any more rallies for Sen. John McCain. — It's never a good idea for someone who's sole job is to fire up the crowd …

Discussion: Liberal Values and American Street

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:

McCain disavows comments about Obama — CINCINNATI - Republican John McCain quickly denounced the comments of a radio talk show host who while warming up a campaign crowd referred repeatedly to Barack Hussein Obama and called the Democratic presidential candidate a “hack, Chicago-style” politician.

Discussion: Commentary, Crooks and Liars and Daily Kos

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

MCCAIN SUPPORTER PLAYS UP ‘HUSSEIN’ — From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell — CINCINNATI, Ohio — One of the speakers before McCain took the stage used some noteworthy language this morning. — Bill Cunningham, who I am told is a radio host here, repeatedly referred to Obama as Barack Hussein Obama — at least three times.

Discussion: The Caucus, The New Republic, Trailhead, Political Radar, Reason Magazine, Newsweek Blogs, Stop The ACLU and Riehl World View

Amanda Marcotte / Pandagon:

Gah … Yes, there is. If you think abortion and other forms of contraceptive birth control should be legal—i.e. that women should have the legal right to decide when they have children—you are pro-choice. Even if you still reserve the right to judge them for it.

Discussion: Eschaton, Left in the West and Shakespeare's Sister

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

PRO-CHOICE....Via Atrios, I see that the once popular sport of Amy Sullivan bashing is back in vogue. Here's Amy, in an interview with Salon about her new book, The Party Faithful: … Amanda Marcotte responds: … Actually, I think Amy's point is precisely the opposite.

Discussion: Booman Tribune, TalkLeft and Done With Mirrors

Vincent Rossmeier / Salon:
How to turn white evangelicals into Democrats

Discussion: The Mahablog and New York Times

Rowan Scarborough / Washington Times:

Military fears ‘unknown quantity’ — Members of Washington's military and defense establishment are expressing trepidation about Sen. Barack Obama, as the Illinois senator comes closer to winning the Democratic presidential nomination and leads in national polls to become commander in chief.

Discussion: Horses Mouth, Think Progress, Wonkette, The Carpetbagger Report, Gateway Pundit, Say Anything and Angry Bear

ABCNEWS: Obama, Paul net most military workers' campaign donations

Abovethelaw.com:

Obama, BigLaw, and Taxes(Or: Obama = $34,000 Paycut) — [Ed. note: Today we bring you some “news you can use”: a practical look at how political choices might affect your personal finances. This post is by Ted Frank, who blogs at Overlawyered.com and PointofLaw.com, and who has guest edited ATL in the past.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Say Anything, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Campaign Spot and StephenBainbridge.com

Michael Asher / DailyTech:

Temperature Monitors Report Widescale Global Cooling — A twelve-month long drop in world temperatures erases global warming — Over the past year, anecdotal evidence for a cooling planet has exploded. China has its coldest winter in 100 years. Baghdad sees its first snow in all recorded history.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Corner, QandO, Wizbang, Daily Kos, The Sundries Shack, Doug Ross and Sister Toldjah

David M. Brown / PittsburghLIVE.com:

Film's casting call wants that ‘inbred’ look — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — A movie about to be filmed in Pittsburgh is casting Gothic characters — including an albino-like girl and deformed people — to depict West Virginia mountain people. — “'Regular-looking” children need not apply.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, No More Mister Nice Blog, LIBERTAS and Don Surber

Abbie Ruzicka / media.www.dailyfreepress.com:

To accommodate Muslim students, Harvard tries women-only gym hours — Harvard University has moved to make Muslim women more comfortable in the gym by instituting women-only access times six hours a week to accommodate religious customs that make it difficult for some students to work out in the presence of men.

Discussion: The Corner, Commentary and The Belmont Club

Chris Orr / The New Republic:

The “Native Clothing” Two-Step — 1) The Clinton campaign is accused of circulating a photo of Barack Obama wearing Somali garb on a visit to Africa, and declines to deny that someone on the campaign may have been responsible. — 2) The Clinton campaign says that, regardless …

Discussion: Spin Cycle, Ross Douthat and Donklephant

Jeffrey Ressner / The Politico:

Oscar winner targets Abramoff, McCain — The filmmaker who won an Academy Award Sunday night for best documentary is next turning his attention to the Jack Abramoff scandal, including GOP presidential candidate John McCain's role in investigating the affair.

Discussion: Think Progress

Sweetness & Light:

Another Photo Of Obama In Muslim Garb? — Here we go again. Maybe. — This is an undated and un-captioned photograph that appears on the (highly partisan) website “Freedom's Enemies”: … And, if it is real, it is once again from the Associated Press.

Discussion: Say Anything, A Blog For All and Hot Air

Stephen F. Hayes / Wall Street Journal:

Obama and the Power of Words — These are words that move and uplift, that give hope to the hopeless. These words inspired millions of voters nationwide to join the grand experiment called democracy, casting votes for their candidate, their country, their destiny:

Discussion: The Daily Dish, American Power, Real Clear Politics, Real Clear Politics, Commentary, The RBC, Dean's World, Say Anything, Newsweek Blogs, protein wisdom and Weekly Standard

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

The Audacity of Data — Barack Obama's surprisingly non-ideological policy shop. — As a young economics professor in the late 1970s, Richard Thaler began noticing small but nagging ways in which ordinary people defied the predictions of economic theory.

Discussion: Liberal Values, American Street, Daniel W. Drezner, Megan McArdle and Taylor Marsh