memeorandum: Debate Alert! Hillary And Obama Campaigns Accept Invite To ABC Debate In Philly (Greg Sargent/TPM Election Central)

9:50 PM ET, March 13, 2008

Top Items:

Obama's Pastor: God Damn America, U.S. to Blame for 9/11 — Obama's Pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Has a History of What Even Obama's Campaign Aides Say Is ‘Inflammatory Rhetoric’ — Sen. Barack Obama's pastor says blacks should not sing “God Bless America” but “God damn America.”

The Campaign Spot:

13 Percent of Registered Voters Think Obama Is a Muslim — The latest Wall Street Journal/NBC poll asked respondents what Barack Obama's religion is. — Among registered voters, 37 percent said Protestant. Two percent said Catholic, two percent said “other,” two percent said “none.”

Discussion: DownWithTyranny! and The Sundries Shack

Victor Davis Hanson / The Corner:
Race and the Democrats — I recently listened to, and read from …

Discussion: TownHall Blog

Roger L. Simon:
Barack has some explaining to do

Discussion: URGENT AGENDA and The Opinionator

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Wright's committee — Jeremiah Wright, in the news today …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Shakesville, JustOneMinute, Trailhead, The Democratic Daily and Tennessee Guerilla Women

USA Today:

Clinton strategist says Obama 'can't win the general election' — Though the campaign later argued that he hadn't said it, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's chief campaign strategist told reporters this morning that Sen. Barack Obama “can't win the general election.”

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish, The Impolitic, AMERICAblog, National Post, Booman Tribune, Scripting News, TPM Election Central, TalkLeft, Don Surber, The Page and Political Punch

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

Making Obama Unelectable — Mark Penn declared today that Barack Obama “really can't win the general [election].” Of course, it's silly to say that Obama or Clinton “can't” win the general. There's not even good evidence to suggest that Obama is less likely than Clinton to win the general.

Marc Ambinder:

Obama Can't Win The General? — They let Mark Penn out to speak and... this happens. — The USA Today link includes two minutes worth of audio, so you can make up your mind about the context. — Of course Obama can win the general election; it's illogical to generalize from the vote totals alone, as I and others have pointed out.

Discussion: MyDD and Real Clear Politics

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Penn: Obama “really can't win the general”

Discussion: TPM Election Central

The Hill:

Hoyer agrees to closed FISA session — House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has agreed to a GOP request for a secret House session Thursday to discuss the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA). — House Republicans had been seeking the closed session to delay a vote …

Discussion: The Swamp, Think Progress, The Crypt's Blogs, Capitol Briefing and Hullabaloo

Daniel W. Reilly / The Politico:

House to hold rare closed session on FISA — The House will go into a rare closed session Thursday night to debate a controversial electronic surveillance measure. — It is the first closed session since 1983 and only the fifth in congressional history. — House Minority Whip Roy Blunt …

Discussion: The Swamp, New York Times, American Street, Right Voices and About US Politics

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Hoyer: Democratic Primary Could Damage Party

Discussion: Political Punch

White House:
President Bush Discusses FISA

Discussion: The Hill, Salon, Commentary, Daily Kos, Wake up America and The Crypt's Blogs

The Page:

Details of a possible delegate plan under discussion: —Michigan's 156 delegates would be split 50-50 between Clinton and Obama. —Florida's existing delegates would be seated at the Denver convention—but with half a vote each. That would give Clinton a net gain of about 19 elected delegates.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, The Reaction, TalkLeft, Wonkette, Pam's House Blend, Democratic Strategist, The New Republic, The Confluence, Back Alley Media and Donklephant

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

NRCC Treasurer Accused of Campaign Fraud — Ward Transferred Funds to Personal Accounts, Officials Say — The former treasurer for the National Republican Congressional Committee transferred as much as $1 million in committee funds into his personal and business accounts, officials announced today …

Discussion: The New Republic, Capitol Briefing, On Deadline and Oliver Willis

NRCC Press Releases:
NRCC Chairman Cole Releases Statement and Update on Apparent …

Discussion: Emptywheel, MyDD and Political Punch

Ruth Henderson / Pajamas Media:

I'VE SEEN MY SHARE OF SPITZERS: THE VIEW FROM AN ESCORT SERVICE — The disgraced former NY governor is not alone, writes “Ruth Henderson,” a former booking agent for high-priced Manhattan call girls. — Support Pajamas Media; Visit Our Advertisers — So New York Governor Eliot Spitzer resigned …

Discussion: Dealbreaker, Publius Pundit and TigerHawk

Warren P. Strobel / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Pentagon cancels release of controversial Iraq report — WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday canceled plans for broad public release of a study that found no pre-Iraq war link between late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the al Qaida terrorist network.

Discussion: The Republic of T. and Firedoglake

Nitya / Rapid Report:
Report Shows No Link Between Saddam and al Qaeda

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, The Lede, Wonkette, Big Brass Blog and TPMMuckraker

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

Good News for Obama: Hillary's Killing Him in Pennsylvania. (Seriously.) — I'd love to see the crosstabs for this Pennsylvania poll, but, just looking at the top-line numbers, it strikes me as pretty good news for Obama. It's not so much that he's down three points in a hypothetical match …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Dick Polman's American Debate and MyDD

Lynn Sweet:

Sweet scoop: Obama, after initial refusal, releases all earmark requests. Read them here. UPDATES — WASHINGTON—After refusing since June to make public earmark requests from 2005 and 2006, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is releasing Thursday all the earmark requests he has made since he entered the Senate in 2005.

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, Hot Air, Betsy's Page, Stumper, TownHall Blog, CNN, Riehl World View and Reason Magazine

Sudhir Venkatesh / Slate:

Skinflint — DID ELIOT SPITZER GET CAUGHT BECAUSE HE DIDN'T SPEND ENOUGH ON PROSTITUTES? — The first thing that grabs your attention about the sex scandal involving New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer is, of course, the client. But, there's another aspect to the story that should raise eyebrows: $4,300.

Discussion: MoJoBlog

Rich Noyes / NewsBusters.org:

Study: Networks Always Label GOPers With Sex Scandals — My colleague Brent Baker has painstakingly documented how the big three broadcast networks have gone out of their way to avoid labeling scandal-scarred New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as a “Democrat.”

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

New York Magazine:

David Paterson: ‘The Only Whores I Know Are Lobbyists’ — David Paterson just gave his first public address since Eliot Spitzer's resignation yesterday. He made noises about “getting back to work” and the budget, talked about being black and blind, indicated he wasn't planning any major changes …