memeorandum: DISCOVERING BLACK CHURCHES....I had to disappear to write my piece … (Amy Sullivan/Washington Monthly)

6:00 PM ET, March 20, 2008

Top Items:

Gene Maddaus / Daily Breeze:

Geraldine Ferraro resents being lumped in with the Rev. Wright in Obama speech — » See and hear the speech — Former vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro said today that she objected to the comparison Sen. Barack Obama drew between her and his former pastor in his speech on race relations Tuesday.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, The Opinionator, Washington Wire, Boston Globe, Fox News, StephenBainbridge.com, The Campaign Spot, PrestoPundit, Politics Blog, The Page, Sweetness & Light, Reason Magazine, Althouse and Political Punch

Rasmussen Reports:

The Impact of Pastor Wright and THE SPEECH on Election 2008 — Two days after Barack Obama gave the most important speech of his life, it remains unclear what impact the controversy over Pastor Jeremiah Wright will have on the race for the Democratic Presidential Nomination.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Power Line, PittsburghLIVE.com, Hot Air, TPM Election Central, The Opinionator, Political Machine, Wake up America, Riehl World View, Attytood, Outside The Beltway, PoliGazette, NO QUARTER, The Strata-Sphere, The Campaign Spot and Taylor Marsh

Time:

The Origin of Obama's Pastor Problem — Long before the sermons of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright became instant hits on YouTube and talk-show fodder for the cable news channels, Barack Obama knew he had a preacher problem. On the eve of launching his campaign for the White House in February 2007 …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org and Swampland

Amy Sullivan / Washington Monthly:

DISCOVERING BLACK CHURCHES....I had to disappear to write my piece for this week's TIME on Obama and Jeremiah Wright—and now I have to run to the Hill for a live-on-CSPAN 2p.m. panel with E.J. Dionne and Michael Gerson on whether the religious right is dead (my short answer: no).

Discussion: Oliver Willis and TBogg

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

FOX News Poll: More Than Half Believe Obama Doesn't Share Views of Pastor Wright — Fifty-seven percent of Americans do not believe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama shares the controversial views of his former spiritual mentor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, while about one in four …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Hot Air and PunditGuy

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Geraldine Ferraro: Wright a “racist bigot”

Discussion: Daimnation!

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Obama: Uproar over Wright sermons has ‘shaken me up’

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Politics Blog, Right Wing News, Commentary, Comments from Left Field and TPM Election Central

Hindrocket / Power Line:

A “TYPICAL WHITE PERSON”?! — I've expressed admiration for Barack Obama's political skills, but maybe, in a time of stress, his inexperience is beginning to show. In an interview earlier today, he referred to his grandmother—the one he slandered in his speech on Tuesday—as a “typical white person.”

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Commentary and PoliGazette

Dan Gross / PhillyGossip:

Obama on WIP: My grandmother's a “typical white person” — We thought we heard this, but we wanted to go back and listen to the clip of Sen. Barack Obama on 610 WIP this morning to be sure. — 610 WIP host Angelo Cataldi asked Obama about his Tuesday morning speech on race …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, Shakesville, The Campaign Spot, Ben Smith's Blogs, Political Punch, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, Redstate, Taylor Marsh, The Confluence and NO QUARTER

Sam Wood / Philly.com:

Obama wows WIP sports jocks — Sen. Barack Obama called into sports radio 610 WIP this morning, charming the usually rambuctious morning talk show hosts and winning their endorsements. — “People are really swept up [by this candidate],” said host Al Morganti. “It's almost like teenaged girls at a concert.

Discussion: The New Republic, NewsBusters.org and Ben Smith's Blogs

Rasmussen Reports:

West Virginia Democratic Presidential Primary — West Virginia: Clinton 55% Obama 27% — Looking down the road to May 13, Senator Hillary Clinton holds a huge lead over Senator Barack Obama in the West Virginia Presidential Primary. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, The Politico, Weekly Standard Blog, Taylor Marsh, TalkLeft, Wonkette, Balloon Juice, JammieWearingFool, TPM Election Central, PrestoPundit and MyDD

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Clinton Holds Onto Lead Over Obama — McCain has slim advantage in general election preferences — PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking shows Hillary Clinton with a five percentage point lead over Barack Obama in national Democratic voters' nomination preferences, 48% to 43%.

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Obama racial issues may extend to Penn. — PHILADELPHIA — Stephanie Gill, a bartender in a white working class neighborhood in this Rust Belt city, noticed the shift immediately. — A week ago, her customers at Rauchut's Tavern in Tacony didn't have much to say about Barack Obama.

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, QandO, The Swamp, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Page

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
Clinton Doesn't Deny Campaign is Pushing Wright Story to Superdelegates

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Daily Dish, The Caucus, Salon and AMERICAblog

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

McCain aide circulates Obama/Wright video, is suspended — An aide to John McCain was suspended from the campaign today for blasting out an inflammatory video that raises questions about Barack Obama's patriotism. — Soren Dayton, who works in McCain's political department …

Discussion: The Corner, Blog P.I., The Caucus, Political Machine, The American Mind, Macsmind, Pensito Review, Swampland, Real Clear Politics, Outside The Beltway, Oliver Willis and Hot Air

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
McCain Aide Suspended For Pushing Racially-Charged Obama-Wright Video

Discussion: Political Machine, Daily Kos, Spin Cycle, The New Republic and Firedoglake

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

MCCAIN: PURIM = HALLOWEEN? — When McCain made a foreign policy gaffe in Jordan on Tuesday, it was Sen. Joe Lieberman who quietly pointed out the mistake, giving McCain an opportunity to correct himself in front of the international press corps. In Israel yesterday, NBC's Lauren Appelbaum reports …

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast, Firedoglake, CentreRight, The Newshoggers, Think Progress, DownWithTyranny! and MoJoBlog

Matthew Yglesias:
Maybe He Should Have Briefings — More ignorance from John McCain:

Discussion: Commentary and Weekly Standard Blog

CNN:

Cheney's former chief of staff disbarred — WASHINGTON (CNN) — I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was disbarred from practicing law in the nation's capital on Thursday. — The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted last year of lying to a grand jury and federal agents probing …

Discussion: Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, Cliff Schecter, Abovethelaw.com and At-Largely

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Cheney Ex-Aide ‘Scooter’ Libby Disbarred

Discussion: All Spin Zone, Blue Girl, Red State and The Page

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:

Obama's NCAA Bracket — CHARLESTON, W.V. - Even on the campaign trail, it's basketball time. Yesterday, Senator Barack Obama played a morning round of hoops with soldiers from Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Today, as he arrived here for a campaign event, he completed his NCAA Final Four bracket.

Discussion: Sports Radio 850 the Buzz, The New Republic and The Washington Independent

White House:

Press Briefing by Dana Perino — MS. PERINO: It's one of those days I have nothing to start with. — Q So? (Laughter.) — MS. PERINO: It's one of those days, I had a feeling. — Q China sent more troops into Tibet to crack down on the demonstrators. The United States have any reaction to that?

Discussion: Think Progress, First Draft and US Presidential race 2008 real …