memeorandum: McCain flashes temper at reporter (Libby Quaid/Associated Press)

11:50 PM ET, March 7, 2008

Top Items:

McCain Loses Cool With NY Times Reporter — ABC News' Bret Hovell Reports: Senator John McCain grew agitated Friday with a New York Times reporter who asked about his 2004 conversation with then-Democratic nominee John Kerry about McCain possibly running as Kerry's vice presidential nominee.

Discussion: The Caucus, Riehl World View, Macsmind, Salon, Sister Toldjah, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The Swamp and No More Mister Nice Blog

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Strike Two for the Times — Well, I know that people have waited for John McCain to blow his top on the campaign trail, but if this is what they wanted, I think those folks are in for some disappointment. The New York Times and other news agencies have passed this around the blogosphere …

Discussion: Power Line, JammieWearingFool and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Libby Quaid / Associated Press:

McCain flashes temper at reporter — NEW ORLEANS - Republican Sen. John McCain, showing a flash of the temper he is known for, repeatedly cut off a reporter Friday when asked whether he had spoken to Democratic Sen. John Kerry about being his vice president in 2004. “Everybody knows that I had a private conversation.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
MCCAIN GETS TESTY WITH THE PRESS

Discussion: MyDD, Althouse, DownWithTyranny!, The Carpetbagger Report, Hullabaloo, American Street and Shakesville

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
John McCain flies off the handle with NY Times Reporter over John Kerry VP question

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Comments from Left Field

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Power on Obama's Iraq plan: “best case scenario” — For all the chatter about Obama adviser Samantha Power's calling Clinton a “monster,” another set of remarks made on her book tour in the United Kingdom may be equally threatening to the Obama campaign: Comments in a BBC interview that express …

Discussion: The Page, The Caucus, The RBC, Confederate Yankee, Hillary Is 44, NO QUARTER, Gawker, Wake up America, Power Line, TPM Election Central, Redstate, QandO, Blue Crab Boulevard, The Campaign Spot, The Monkey Cage, Taylor Marsh, FP Passport and Commentary

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Obama Flips His Previous Flop On Iraq — Apparently Obama was for a firm timetable for Iraqi withdrawals before he was against it, and then for it. — This gets tricky, but stay with me - Samantha Power, “an unpaid foreign policy adviser and Harvard professor to the Obama campaign” …

Discussion: Political Punch and Political Radar

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Obama responds: “She doesn't have standing to question my position”

Discussion: Spin Cycle

Frank James / The Swamp:
Clinton skewers Obama on Samantha Power

Discussion: The Politico, TPM Election Central and Real Clear Politics

The Fact Hub:
Power Says Obama Iraq Plan Is Only A ‘Best Case Scenario’

Discussion: Salon, The Democratic Daily, Spin Cycle and The American Mind

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Power Resigns Over Hillary-Is-Monster Comment — Here's her statement, just sent out by the campaign: … In an interview with The Scotsman, Power called Hillary a “monster” and said other less-than-flattering things about her. Despite her prompt apology yesterday, the Hillary camp demanded her resignation this morning.

Discussion: The Confluence, CNN, Ohio Daily Blog, Liberal Values, toohotfortnr, NY Daily News, Sadly, No!, Spin Cycle, OxBlog and Megan McArdle

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Clark and Rubin attack “amateur hour”

Discussion: Cogitamus, toohotfortnr and No More Mister Nice Blog

Matthew Yglesias:
Power Outage — So thinking a bit more reflectively …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, TPM Election Central and Independent Liberal

Jason Horowitz / New York Observer:
Obama Adviser Brzezinski: Power Shouldn't Have Resigned

Discussion: Weekly Standard, A Tiny Revolution and The Huffington Post

Krooney / The Page:
Clinton: Power Remark Raises “Disturbing Questions” About Obama Camp

Discussion: The Trail, Political Radar, The Sleuth, The New Republic, NO QUARTER and Spin Cycle

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Go Already! — Hillary Clinton, fratricidal maniac.

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Taylor Marsh, Open Left, The Carpetbagger Report, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, The Daily Dish, Liberal Fascism and American Street

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

THANK YOU, MAY I HAVE ANOTHER? — Let me stipulate to one thing: if this were two Republicans squabbling, I'd be laughing my head off at the moment. And I can assure you a lot of them are. — The Clinton campaign has gotten so deep inside the Obama campaign's collective head it just ain't funny …

Discussion: Thought Theater, TalkLeft, Comments from Left Field and Cogitamus

David Corn / MoJoBlog:
In “Monster"-Gate, Clintonites Get Away with a Slur, While Respected …

Discussion: The Scotsman, BBC, Washington Post, The Politico, Hold Fast, Times of London, bustardblog, L.A. Times, Democracy in America, Obsidian Wings, Gothamist and skippy the bush kangaroo

Dafydd / Big Lizards:
Obama, Power, and Obama Power; Letters to a Blogger

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money and Power Line

Gary Hart / The Huffington Post:

Breaking the Final Rule — It will come as a surprise to many people that there are rules in politics. Most of those rules are unwritten and are based on common understandings, acceptable practices, and the best interest of the political party a candidate seeks to lead.

Discussion: The Daily Dish and culturekitchen

Canadian Press:

PMO: Officials only got briefing from Obama campaign — OTTAWA — Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton never gave Canada any secret assurances about the future of NAFTA such as those allegedly offered by Barack Obama's campaign, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office said Friday.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Taylor Marsh, NO QUARTER and Clive Crook

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo: CANADIAN PM'S OFFICE: HILLARY CAMP MADE NO SECRET ASSURANCES ON NAFTA

Justin Rood Reports / The Blotter:

Intel Adviser Breaks with Obama over FISA, Telecoms — Justin Rood Reports: — In a new interview with National Journal magazine, an intelligence adviser to Barack Obama's presidential campaign broke with his candidate's position opposing retroactive legal protection for telecommunications companies …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, American Street, Weekly Standard, The American Mind and The Campaign Spot

Sara Kugler / Associated Press:

Clinton lowers expectations in Wyo. — CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A day before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama were to compete for a small scattering of delegates in Wyoming, Clinton cast herself as the underdog and said the odds are not in her favor.

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and MyDD

Washington Wire:
Clinton, Obama Schedule Some Down Time

Discussion: Wake up America

George McGovern / Wall Street Journal:

Freedom Means Responsibility — Nearly 16 years ago in these very pages, I wrote that “'one-size-fits all' rules for business ignore the reality of the market place.” Today I'm watching some broad rules evolve on individual decisions that are even worse. — Under the guise of protecting us …

Discussion: Commentary, Outside The Beltway, Swords Crossed, The Sundries Shack, Hot Air and Reason Magazine

Libby Quaid / Associated Press:

McCain Rejects Anti-Catholic Views — NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday repudiated any views of a prominent televangelist who endorsed him last month “if they are anti-Catholic or offensive to Catholics.” — McCain has come under fire since …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Bill Moyers Journal and Matthew Yglesias

Chicago Tribune:

Clinton's experience claim under scrutiny — Hillary Clinton may have influenced foreign policy, but evidence is scant she played pivotal role — WASHINGTON - Surrounded by military leaders in a Cabinet-style setting, Hillary Clinton on Thursday said she has “crossed the threshold” …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Matthew Yglesias, Talking Points Memo, Liberal Values and The Swamp

Paul Kiel / TPMMuckraker:

House Dems Circulate Draft of Surveillance Compromise — Democratic House leaders have emerged from negotiations with their Senate counterparts on the new surveillance bill with a draft proposal, a senior House aide says. See update below. — The proposal, the contents of which the aide described to me …

Discussion: The Politico and Comments from Left Field

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Exclusive capitulation report: House Democratic leadership circulates FISA bill

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, Hold Fast and Think Progress

Rasmussen Reports:

42% Want McCain to Answer 3:00 a.m. Phone Call — Before Hillary Clinton was declared the winner in Texas, most American voters had read, seen, or heard about her 3:00 a.m. telephone commercial. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 43% had seen at least part of the commercial …

Discussion: FP Passport, Wake up America, Hot Air, American Power, Power Line, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Political Machine

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Clinton Rules — The new meme is that politics has returned to normal and that this election will now be run by Clinton rules. Many are relieved by this. You could sense the palpable discomfort among many in Washington that their world might actually shift a little next year.

Discussion: Hot Air and American Power