memeorandum: McCain, Obama Clash Over Iran's Al Qaeda Role (Eli Lake/New York Sun)

5:50 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: The Huffington Post, JustOneMinute, Washington Wire, Fox News, Boston Globe, StephenBainbridge.com, The Campaign Spot, The Page, Politics Blog, PrestoPundit, Sweetness & Light, Reason Magazine, Political Punch and Althouse

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, PittsburghLIVE.com, Power Line, Hot Air, TPM Election Central, The Opinionator, Political Machine, Wake up America, Riehl World View, Attytood, Outside The Beltway, PoliGazette, NO QUARTER and The Strata-Sphere

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

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

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

Discussion: TBogg

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

Discussion: Daimnation!

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, Taylor Marsh, Weekly Standard Blog, TalkLeft, Wonkette, Balloon Juice, JammieWearingFool, TPM Election Central and PrestoPundit

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, The Swamp, QandO, 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

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 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

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

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, 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 — A McCain campaign aide actively pushed an incendiary, racially-charged video that uses the controversial words of Barack Obama's pastor to tar Obama as unpatriotic — despite the fact that McCain himself has suggested …

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, CentreRight, Firedoglake, 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

Eli Lake / New York Sun:

McCain, Obama Clash Over Iran's Al Qaeda Role — WASHINGTON — Iran's support for Al Qaeda is flaring up as an issue in the American presidential campaign. — Senator Obama, in a speech marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War, criticized Senator McCain, saying the Republican presidential candidate …

Discussion: Your Right Hand Thief, Hot Air and Macsmind

Michael Dobbs / Fact Checker:
MCCAIN'S FOREIGN POLICY ‘GAFFE’

Discussion: Wonk Room and Think Progress

Faiz / Think Progress:
McCain baselessly asserted Iran/al Qaeda ties last month.

Discussion: Salon, Weekly Standard Blog, The Huffington Post, MyDD, Daily Kos, The Carpetbagger Report, Media Matters for America, All Spin Zone, The Reaction, Digg, Blue Girl, Red State, Talk To Action and Democratic National Committee

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: 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 …