memeorandum: More on Clinton, Obama, and the OODA loop (James Fallows)

4:00 PM ET, March 5, 2008

Top Items:

CHILL OUT....The hot topic of conversation right now is the proposition that a long, drawn-out Democratic primary runs the risk of destroying the party and putting John McCain in the White House. So for the good of the country, Hillary should withdraw. — Now, this might be true.

Discussion: Megan McArdle, JustOneMinute, The Corner, The New Republic, Lawyers, Guns and Money, democracyarsenal.org and Brendan Nyhan

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

Clinton Says Her Campaign Has ‘Turned a Corner’ — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated Senator Barack Obama in the Ohio and Texas primaries on Tuesday, ending a string of defeats and allowing her to soldier on in a Democratic presidential nomination race that now seems unlikely to end any time soon.

Discussion: Washington Post, The Swamp, DownWithTyranny!, USA Today, The Politico, Fact Checker, NY Daily News, The Moderate Voice, John McCain 2008, Boston Globe, Balloon Juice, The Carpetbagger Report, Simply Left Behind, Below The Beltway, Buck Naked Politics, Brendan Nyhan and MSNBC

WCBS-TV:

Clinton Hints At Sharing Ticket With Obama — NEW YORK (CBS) ― Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton hinted at the possibility of a Democratic “dream ticket” with Sen. Barack Obama. — Speaking on “The Early Show” on CBS, Clinton said “that may be where this is headed, but of course we have to decide who is on the top of the ticket.”

Discussion: Donklephant, michellemalkin.com, culturekitchen, Wake up America, Taylor Marsh, Connecting.the.Dots, Macsmind, Vox Popoli and Vodkapundit

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Obama: ‘Premature’ to talk joint ticket — Speaking to reporters on his plane before leaving San Antonio for Chicago, Sen. Barack Obama hinted at taking a tougher line against Clinton in the coming weeks, telling reporters that she must back up her experience argument with details, my colleague Carrie Budoff Brown reports.

Discussion: The Page, The Carpetbagger Report, Political Machine, The Debatable Land and Hot Air

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Clinton sees ticket with Obama — The morning after reviving her candidacy with two big primary wins, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) hinted Wednesday that she and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) may wind up as ticket mates. — “That may, you know, be where this is headed …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Preemptive Karma, Wonkette, Wake up America, PunditGuy and Below The Beltway

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Clinton's lesson: Attacking Obama works — A few weeks ago, though it feels like months, exhausted campaign staffers and reporters amused themselves with gallows humor about the Pennsylvania Scenario — a wildly improbable convergence of circumstances that would extend a race that was supposed …

Discussion: Slate, The Garlic, Spin Cycle, FP Passport, Northman's Fury, The Page, Associated Press, The Democratic Daily, The Nose On Your Face and TPM Election Central

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
When you get hit with a kitchen sink, it hurts

Discussion: Hot Air, Los Angeles Times, JammieWearingFool, Left in the West, The Politico and The Impolitic

Matthew Yglesias:
Party Destruction — Does the prospect of a long …

Discussion: The New Republic

Jill Zuckman / The Swamp:
A little soft shoe for McCain as Bush cools his heels

Discussion: Think Progress and Firedoglake

Jonathan Martin / The Politico: Bush endorses John McCain

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft: Working the SNL Refs

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press:
Bush endorses John McCain for president

Discussion: Donklephant, Wonkette, Associated Press, All Spin Zone and NY Daily News

David Weigel / Reason Magazine:

It's Rush Wot Won It — In the days running up to these last primaries, Rush Limbaugh told his national audience of conservatives to vote in the Democratic race. … It turned into a pretty hot meme in Texas, and on Monday, while Rush was out, guest host Mark Davis scored an interview with Bill Clinton.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Matthew Yglesias, Outside The Beltway, The Impolitic, Wake up America, Houston Chronicle and Minnesota Monitor

Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics:

Was It Rush? — I've been doing a number of radio interview this morning and the question keeps popping up: did Rush Limbaugh put Hillary over the top in Texas? Some quick, back-of-the-envelope math based on the exits shows: — Republicans represented 9% of the electorate in Texas.

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, Washington Post, The Radio Equalizer, alicublog, Below The Beltway and Don Surber

Digby / Hullabaloo:

The Warrior King — Bush just endorsed McCain and sounded like he's on a meth bender. He couldn't let McCain have the spotlight. — If I were McCain I'd be hoping that's the last time I have to appear with Junior during this campaign. He's a reminder of everything people loathe about Republicans.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Swampland

Satyam / Think Progress:
Bush: McCain ‘Is Not Going To Change’ My Foreign Policy

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and The Seminal

Think Progress:
Bush And McCain: Photo-Op Friends Forever

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Trail and MSNBC

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

FINAL THOUGHTS — The big headlines tonight are now in focus. Hillary takes three of four primaries, and the two big states. Yet the delegate spread didn't budge. The possibilities seem to range from a high-single digit pick up for Hillary to the possibility of a net pick up for Obama.

Discussion: TalkLeft, OxBlog, Comments from Left Field, Althouse, Outside The Beltway, Angry Bear, Brilliant at Breakfast and The Debatable Land

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Paths To Victory — Josh Marshall on what Obama needs to do now:

Discussion: Spin Cycle

Gateway Pundit:

CAPTURED FARC COMPUTERS NAME BARACK OBAMA (Updated) — Captured FARC computers name Obama — Dead terrorist Raul Reyes had information that FARC was meeting “gringos” about Obama. — The computers captured this past weekend by Colombian soldiers at the campsite of FARC #2 Raul Reyes contained loads …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Fausta's blog, The Huffington Post, Atlas Shrugs, The Campaign Spot and Counterterrorism Blog

Atrios / Eschaton:

Nasty — Sadly, I agree with Chris that this is going to get nastier. The campaigns and candidates themselves may not get nasty, but I get the sense that supporters of the various candidates are getting angrier at the other camp. Sure a lot of this is just relatively harmless virtual …

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Chris Bowers / Open Left:
Post-Election Thoughts — Latest results before bed:

Discussion: Blogometer, Ben Smith's Blogs, Corrente, Hold Fast, Democratic Strategist and The Huffington Post

Chicago Sun Times:

Sen. Obama, time to call us about Rezko: (312) 321-2417 — Jury selection began Monday in the trial of political influence peddler Tony Rezko. This would be the time — before a single witness takes the stand — for Barack Obama to finally share every detail of his relationship with Rezko.

Discussion: Times of London, Hot Air, Macsmind, Below The Beltway and NO QUARTER

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Sparring on disclosure — The rancor is starting early …

Discussion: TPM Election Central and Donklephant

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Here's A First Look At Third-Party Group's Ad Against McCain — We've just obtained a copy of the new ad that the 501c4 issue-advocacy group Campaign to Defend America is running against John McCain in Ohio and Pennsylvania. — It says that McCain offers more of the “McSame as Bush,” …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Ben Smith's Blogs, Think Progress, Gateway Pundit, Lonewacko, Cliff Schecter and Hold Fast

James Fallows:

More on Clinton, Obama, and the OODA loop — Updated, below: — About two weeks ago I mentioned Chuck Spinney's analysis of the Clinton-Obama race, from the perspective of “Fourth Generation Warfare” and the famous John Boyd “OODA Loop.” (Details on those concepts in the original post.)

Discussion: Prairie Weather, The Carpetbagger Report and Washington Monthly

CNN:

Pelosi: Democrats will have a nominee before the convention — WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday now is not the time for superdelegates to wade into the fight over the Democratic presidential nomination. “I think the electoral process has to work its way,” the California Democrat told reporters.

Discussion: TPM Election Central

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Clinton 48%, Obama 44% — Based on polling conducted March 2-4, 2008 — PRINCETON, NJ — Hillary Clinton has moved ahead of Barack Obama in national Democratic nomination preferences, 48% to 44%, in polling conducted Sunday through Tuesday.

Discussion: MyDD, Open Left and TPM Election Central

John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:

Sentiment on Iraq Is Changing — WASHINGTON — The perception that the U.S. troop surge in Iraq has succeeded is changing some public views of the war, potentially blunting Democrats' political edge on the issue. — Americans continue to judge the nearly five-year-old U.S. invasion of Iraq as a mistake …

Discussion: The Hill, Weekly Standard, Real Clear Politics, Early Warning, Sister Toldjah and Dean's World