memeorandum: Latest Clinton tactic: Fake news reports (John Riley/Spin Cycle)

5:30 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, Rachel Lucas, Shakespeare's Sister, NewsBusters.org, Riehl World View, Political Machine and No More Mister Nice Blog

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: 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 and Scared Monkeys

OPENERS:
GOP voters crossing over in large numbers

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and TPM Election Central

CNN:
Limbaugh urges listeners to vote for Clinton

Discussion: Washington Post, The Swamp, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Politico, Outside The Beltway, Below The Beltway, Prairie Weather and The Impolitic

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, The Swamp, MyDD, The Washington Independent, Hot Air, PoliBlog (TM), Political Machine, michellemalkin.com, The Moderate Voice, Southern Political Report, Wake up America, Prairie Weather, Political Insider, TalkLeft and PoliGazette

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 — The stage has been set for a Hillary Clinton comeback on Tuesday. — Nobody knows if she has the votes to do it, but the opportunity is ripe. — She not only is vigorously attacking Barack Obama but simultaneously portraying herself as a victim.

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

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

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
THE BIG STORY — Zogby has Clinton moving back ahead …

Discussion: TalkLeft

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: Weekly Standard, Chicago Sun Times, Washington Monthly, Below The Beltway, protein wisdom, Taylor Marsh, Wake up America, Flopping Aces, Political Radar, TalkLeft, Tennessee Guerilla Women and Truthdig

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

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

The Politico:
Five reasons Clinton could come back

Discussion: Donklephant

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Why did it take so long for the media to ask Obama hard questions?

Discussion: The Corner

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: Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Democratic Daily and Ohio Daily Blog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Clinton campaign: “irregularlties”; Obama aide: Clinton “may want to depress turnout” — The state directors of the two presidential campaigns in Ohio are exchanging heated charges, on thin evidence, of misbehavior on the part of the rival campaign. — Cinton's Ohio State director …

Discussion: Buckeye State Blog

Jerid / Buckeye State Blog:
More Counties Affected By Secretary of State Voting Order

Discussion: TalkLeft and Ohio Daily Blog

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, MOMocrats and NO QUARTER

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 and neo-neocon

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

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

Michael Crowley / The New Republic:

The Day After — Tonight's results will matter a lot, of course. But only up to a point. It seems quite likely that Hillary will win Ohio and at least come close in Texas, and perhaps win the primary there—but won't run up large margins. Under most of the likely scenarios …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Democracy in America and politburo diktat 2.0

Randyj / The Page:
Tom Brokaw Says Obama Has 50 More Superdelegates in His Back Pocket

Discussion: Trailhead

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 …

Discussion: Threat Level, Wonkette and Cliff Schecter

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 …

Discussion: Redstate, Sadly, No!, Rachel Lucas, TownHall Blog, Atlas Shrugs, Lawyers, Guns and Money, michellemalkin.com and Vox Popoli

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