memeorandum: Israel prepares for assault on Gaza (Herb Keinon/Jerusalem Post)

12:55 PM ET, February 29, 2008

Top Items:

Clinton Goes Nuclear; Obama Camp Fires Back — ABC News' David Wright, Sunlen Miller, Andy Fies & Nitya Venkataraman Report: Closing in on the March 4 contests, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., debuted a campaign ad on Friday with ominous undertones. — “It's 3:00am and your children are asleep,” a voice over says in the ad.

Discussion: The Fix, The Moderate Voice, The Campaign Spot, Pam's House Blend, Salon, The Carpetbagger Report, Gateway Pundit, MSNBC, Don Surber, The Page, Liberal Values and Suburban Guerrilla

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Mondale: ‘Red Phone’

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Marc Ambinder: 3:00 a.m: Roy Spence's Redux

Steve Kornacki / New York Observer:
Hillary as Mondale, Again

Discussion: Spin Cycle, MSNBC and Ben Smith's Blogs

Jay Root / Houston Chronicle:

State Democrats say Clinton camp may sue — Legal action could disrupt or delay caucuses, party says — AUSTIN — The Texas Democratic Party warned Thursday that election night caucuses scheduled for Tuesday could be delayed or disrupted after aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton threatened …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Prairie Weather, Burnt Orange Report, Wake up America, Comments from Left Field, Daily Kos, Cliff Schecter and Balloon Juice

Alex Johnson / MSNBC:

Some Texas Republicans to vote for Obama — True support combines with stop-Clinton sentiment in next week's primary — One of Sen. Barack Obama's surest applause lines comes about halfway into his standard stump speech. It goes like this: — “They whisper to me.

Discussion: Washington Wire, PoliBlog (TM), Tennessee Guerilla Women, American Power, Froth Slosh B'Gosh, Cliff Schecter and The Politico

Ben Smith / The Politico:

New Clinton ad is the scariest of cycle — Clinton is up with the scariest ad of the cycle, one that echoes, in a soft-focus way, some of President Bush's 2004 campaign spots. — It features a child sleeping in bed and an unnamed emergency ringing the White House phone …

Discussion: American Power, Commentary, democracyarsenal.org, Taegan Goddard's …, NYT and Cliff Schecter

Marc Ambinder:

Clinton's “Red Phone” — Perhaps the most provocative ad Hillary Clinton has run this cycle. It's bound to evoke comparisons to LBJ's “Daisy” ad and Walter Mondale's “Red Phone” ads — asking the essential question: if the White House phone rings at 3:00 am and there's a crisis brewing, who do you want on the other end of the line?

Discussion: Ohio Daily Blog, Cliff Schecter, FP Passport and Towleroad

Frank James / The Swamp:
Clinton ad: Who should take 3 am crisis call?

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Shaun Mullen / The Moderate Voice:
Texas: End of the Road For Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Comments from Left Field

CTV.ca:

Opponents slam Obama after CTV story on NAFTA — Allegations of double talk on NAFTA from the Obama and Clinton campaigns dominated the U.S. political landscape on Thursday. — On Wednesday, CTV reported that a senior member of Barack Obama's campaign called the Canadian embassy within …

Discussion: Redstate, Taylor Marsh, protein wisdom, ABCNEWS, Right Voices, NO QUARTER, The Campaign Spot, Middle Earth Journal, Political Punch, Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, ShopFloor.org, The RBC, Ben Smith's Blogs and TPM Election Central

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S DISADVANTAGES

Discussion: Blog P.I., The Moderate Voice, New York Times, AMERICAblog, The Caucus and No More Mister Nice Blog

Herb Keinon / Jerusalem Post:

Israel prepares for assault on Gaza — As Hamas drew Ashkelon into the circle of communities coming under heavy rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Ministry on Thursday began preparing both Israeli and world opinion for the possibility of a large-scale incursion into Gaza.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Spectator and Atlas Shrugs

Guardian:
Israeli minister warns of Palestinian ‘holocaust’

Discussion: The Raw Story and Media Blog

Alon Bernstein / Associated Press:
Israel warns Gaza invasion impending

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

TRIBES RAGE AT HILL — KENYAN BIGS: COME CLEAN IN PIX SMEAR — Angry tribal elders in Kenya are calling on Hillary Rodham Clinton to “clear her name” over any involvement in publication of photos of Barack Obama wearing a turban and African garb on a trip to his ancestral homeland.

Discussion: Sweetness & Light

Noor Ali / Reuters:
Kenyan elders want U.S. apology over Obama photo

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Jihad Watch

Zogby:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Houston Chronicle Poll: Obama Builds Lead Over Clinton in Texas, But Dem Race Too Close To Call in Ohio... Zogby News Releases

Discussion: MyDD, Taegan Goddard's …, Ohio Daily Blog and Buckeye State Blog

Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:

Clinton seeks to regain the spotlight — There was a time not long ago when Hillary Clinton dominated the discourse in both parties' presidential contests. — Now, she's struggling to get her message out and remain part of the campaign conversation as the media and her remaining rivals …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Hot Air and ABCNEWS

IraqPundit: Obama's Incoherence — What did Barack Obama mean Tuesday …

Economist:

Hope and fear — Democratic economic policy sounds worryingly populist — FOR a man who has placed “hope” at the centre of his campaign, Barack Obama can sound pretty darned depressing. As the battle for the Democratic nomination reaches a climax in Texas and Ohio …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Opinionator, Redstate, The Glittering Eye and Right Voices

Zogby:

Roosevelt Holds Top Ranking on Presidential Greatness Scale — Annual Zogby International poll shows President Bush's ranking moves up, even though he sinks below Nixon on below average/failure rating — Franklin D. Roosevelt has retained his top ranking among the greatest presidents of the modern era …

Shaun Mullen / The Moderate Voice: John McCain's Achilles Heel

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Did ‘SNL’ Go Beyond the Pale With Fauxbama? — Lorne Michaels Defends Casting Of Non-Black Man in Sketch — When Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president last year, some observers questioned whether the senator from Illinois was “black enough” to embody the hopes and aspirations of African Americans.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Don Surber, Althouse, NewsBusters.org, Riehl World View and politburo diktat 2.0

CNN:

Police: Deadly toxin found at Las Vegas hotel — (CNN) — Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, are investigating the discovery of what they said is the deadly poison ricin in a hotel room. — Authorities were called to an Extended Stay America hotel around 3 p.m. PT Thursday after a man brought …

Discussion: The Lede and Hot Air

Nancy / nancynall.com:

Copycat. — I feel bad about what I'm going to do here. — I've had a lot of fun at Tim Goeglein's expense over the last few months. Mean-spirited fun, certainly, but my problem with him has always been one of personal taste. In his columns for The News-Sentinel, my old newspaper …

Discussion: News-Sentinel.com, The Moderate Voice and Romenesko

Linda Chavez / Townhall.com:

William F. Buckley, RIP — Conservatism lost one of its most influential voices this week. William F. Buckley Jr. — author, editor, television host, and one of America's most important public intellectuals — died in his home Wednesday at 82. Buckley shaped the modern conservative movement …