memeorandum: Dirty Tricks in Texas and Ohio? (Jeralyn/TalkLeft)

5:55 PM ET, March 4, 2008

Top Items:

Limbaugh Caller Says Obama Reminds Daughter of Cartoon Monkey — ABC News' Tahman Bradley Reports: Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh issued an on-air apology to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., today after a caller said her daughter thought the Democratic presidential frontrunner looked …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The New Republic, protein wisdom, CANNONFIRE, Shakespeare's Sister, Pam's House Blend, Rachel Lucas, NewsBusters.org, Riehl World View, Political Machine, No More Mister Nice Blog and Pandagon

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama 45%, Clinton 45% — Based on polling conducted March 1-3, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Poll Daily tracking finds Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tied once again, with 45% of Democratic voters nationwide preferring each as the party's 2008 presidential nominee.

Discussion: MyDD, Riehl World View and Donklephant

Fox News:

Rush Limbaugh Explains Why He's Urging Republicans in Texas and Ohio to Vote for Hillary Clinton on Super Tuesday 2 — This is a rush transcript from “The O'Reilly Factor,” February 29, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. — Watch “The O'Reilly Factor” …

Discussion: American Spectator, Political Machine, Scared Monkeys and The Gun Toting Liberal™

OPENERS:
GOP voters crossing over in large numbers

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, TPM Election Central and Ohio Daily Blog

Marc Ambinder:

Ohio Secretary Of State's Office Rebukes Obama Campaign — Ohio's Secretary of State, an office held by a Democrat, has rebuked Sen. Barack Obama's campaign for trying to staff precincts with poll workers who presented insufficient credentials. — Obama's campaign calls this charge “wrong.”

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, About.com US Politics, Commentary, Ohio Daily Blog and The Page

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Clinton campaign: “irregularlties”; Obama aide: Clinton “may want …

Discussion: Buckeye State Blog

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Dirty Tricks in Texas and Ohio?

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, NO QUARTER and The Democratic Daily

Laura Heinauer / Postcards:
Democratic Party warns against caucus shenanigans

Discussion: The New Editor

Zogby:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Houston Chronicle Poll: Clinton Rebounds as Closing Campaign Boosts Her Barely Ahead of Obama in Texas - Tied in Ohio! — Republican McCain leads in Texas and Ohio — UTICA, New York - On the strength of some strong campaigning in Ohio and Texas, Democrat Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, This Is London, The New Republic, Buck Naked Politics, The Swamp, MyDD, The Washington Independent, Hot Air, PoliBlog (TM), Political Machine, michellemalkin.com, The Moderate Voice and Wake up America

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

As Four States Vote, Clinton Talks About a Long Battle — As voters in Ohio, Rhode Island, Vermont and Texas headed to the polls potentially to decide the Democratic nomination for the presidency, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday urged voters to settle in for a nomination fight that could roll on for months to come.

Discussion: Below The Beltway

Roger Simon / The Politico:
Clinton plays victim and victimizer

Discussion: The Swamp, National Review, New York Times, TownHall Blog, NY Daily News, Achenblog, Daily Kos and Wonkette

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
8 Questions That Today's Primaries Could Answer

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, The Newshoggers, Los Angeles Times, The Carpetbagger Report, Real Clear Politics and TownHall Blog

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Ask Tough Questions? Yes, They Can! — SAN ANTONIO It took many months and the mockery of “Saturday Night Live” to make it happen, but the lumbering beast that is the press corps finally roused itself from its slumber Monday and greeted Barack Obama with a menacing growl.

Discussion: Althouse, The Corner, Pajamas Media, Weekly Standard, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Monthly, Below The Beltway, protein wisdom, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, Flopping Aces, Political Radar and TalkLeft

The Politico:

Five reasons Clinton could come back — For weeks, the widespread expectation among most campaign journalists has been that the race for the Democratic nomination will, for all practical purposes, come to an end Tuesday night with a victory for Barack Obama.

Discussion: Salon and Donklephant

Michael Saul / NY Daily News:
Angry Barack's Bam-barded by media

Discussion: Boston Globe, Centerfield, Political Machine, Hillary Is 44, Washington Post and NO QUARTER

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:

Why is Obama's skin blacker than normal in Hillary's new attack ad? — DailyKos has the original scoop. I went and got the original footage from the Clinton ad, and then compared it to 3 different video clips of the same debate from 3 different sources. I did this so as to take into account …

Fox News:
Questions Raised Whether Hillary Ad Darkened Obama

Discussion: QandO

Jthomascronin / Daily Kos:
Is the Clinton Campaign Now Engaged in Intentional Race-Baiting?

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Hot Air, Threat Level, Political Punch, Wonkette and Cliff Schecter

Jonathan Alter / Newsweek:

Hillary's Math Problem — Forget tonight. She could win 16 straight and still lose. — NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE — Hillary Clinton may be poised for a big night tonight, with wins in Ohio, Texas and Rhode Island. Clinton aides say this will be the beginning of her comeback against Barack Obama.

Discussion: Clive Crook, Talking Points Memo and Below The Beltway

John Riley / Spin Cycle:

Latest Clinton tactic: Fake news reports — The Clinton campaign's latest tactic in Ohio is, apparently, a radio ad that tries to make listeners think it's a news report until the very end. — Stuff like this, if it succeeds in fooling voters, fairly seriously pollutes the information environment …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Newshoggers and Buckeye State Blog

Mark Halperin / The Page:
Script of Clinton Radio Ad Provided by Obama Campaign

Discussion: Fact Checker, NO QUARTER and MOMocrats

Abe Greenwald / Commentary:

An Iraqi Sea Change — Question: What is the most extraordinary thing about the following extraordinary sentence? … Answer: It is the lead of a story in today's New York Times. The paper of record, which for the past few years could accurately be described as a body count with a styles section …

Discussion: BLACKFIVE

Sabrina Tavernise / New York Times:
Violence Leaves Young Iraqis Doubting Clerics

Discussion: The Daily Dish, IraqPundit, The Newshoggers, American Spectator, The New Republic, Jihad Watch, The Strata-Sphere, The Huffington Post, Dean's World, Wake up America, Hot Air and Neptunus Lex

Andrew Malcolm / Los Angeles Times:

Hillary Clinton puts the media in its place — the men's room — In an obvious bid for the Ron Paul media conspiracy vote, Sen. Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign dumped the traveling press corps exactly where many voters believe they belong today — in the men's room of the Burger Activity Center.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Newshoggers, GINA COBB and Wake up America

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

Blogging While Female: 5 Conservative Women Bloggers Talk About Gender Issues And The Blogosphere — Every so often in the blogosphere, on the Left and the Right, hostile debates over gender seem to rise up to the surface like a leviathan from the depths. Some male bloggers tend to think women …