memeorandum: The Impact of Pastor Wright and THE SPEECH on Election 2008 (Rasmussen Reports)

3:55 PM ET, March 20, 2008

Top Items:

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: Power Line, The Opinionator, Political Machine, TPM Election Central, Outside The Beltway, Attytood, PoliGazette, Hot Air, NO QUARTER, The Strata-Sphere, The Campaign Spot and Taylor Marsh

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, Politics Blog, The Campaign Spot, Reason Magazine, PrestoPundit, Sweetness & Light, Political Punch and Althouse

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: The Swamp, QandO and No More Mister Nice Blog

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: Taylor Marsh, Weekly Standard Blog, Wonkette, The Carpetbagger Report, Balloon Juice, JammieWearingFool, TPM Election Central, PrestoPundit, MyDD and Buck Naked Politics

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: Washington Monthly, NewsBusters.org, Hot Air and Swampland

David Brown / PittsburghLIVE.com:

Clinton leads by 16 points in statewide poll — TRIBUNE-REVIEW — Sen. Hillary Clinton has extended her lead over Sen. Barack Obama among registered Democrats likely to vote in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22, a poll released today shows. — Clinton of New York leads Obama of Illinois …

Discussion: MSNBC, Hot Air, Shakesville, The Campaign Spot, Riehl World View, The Page, TPM Election Central and HillaryClinton.com

Reuters:
Clinton takes lead over Obama in Gallup poll

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Washington Note, The BRAD BLOG, Pensito Review and Ed Driscoll.com

David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:
Clinton doubles lead in Pennsylvania

Discussion: TalkLeft, Pat Dollard and Wake up America

Dean Barnett / Weekly Standard Blog: Obama Approval Rating Soars - From 47% to 48%!

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: Firedoglake, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Newshoggers, Think Progress, MoJoBlog and Dependable Renegade

Matthew Yglesias:

Maybe He Should Have Briefings — More ignorance from John McCain: … Admittedly this falls more in the “haha he doesn't know what he's talking about” category than in the “holy s**t he doesn't know what he's talking about” category where the Iran/al-Qaeda confusion belongs.

Discussion: Commentary and Weekly Standard Blog

Tim Montgomerie / CentreRight:
McCain visits Brown and Cameron

Discussion: The Daily Dish

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

WNBC:
Former Cheney Aide Libby Disbarred

Discussion: Firedoglake

Confederate Yankee:

ANOTHER Pastor Problem for Obama? PLUS: A Reporter in the Tank — When it rains, it pours: … Here's what I believe is a copy of the original CBS News story, which contains Meeks' language. — What is striking about this story, apart from the Wright-like, racially-divisive language …

Discussion: Macsmind

Mike Flannery / WBBM-TV:
Obama Camp Rejects Supporter's Past Use Of N Word

Discussion: Too Sense, Lonewacko, BizzyBlog and Real Clear Politics

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

Dan Gross / PhillyGossip:
Obama on WIP: My grandmother's a “typical white person”

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Ben Smith's Blogs, Taylor Marsh, NO QUARTER, The Confluence and Political Punch

Faiz / Think Progress:

McCain baselessly asserted Iran/al Qaeda ties last month. — Speaking at the Baker Institute for Public Policy in Houston, TX, last month (Feb. 28th), McCain stated the following: … Watch it: — This is at least the fourth time that McCain has asserted a direct Iran/al Qaeda connection.

Discussion: Wonk Room, Fact Checker, MyDD, Daily Kos, Your Right Hand Thief, Media Matters for America, Blue Girl, Red State, Talk To Action, Digg, Democratic National Committee and Washington Wire

Matt / Think Progress:
‘Astonished’ McCain Ignores His Multiple Al Qaeda/Iran Gaffes …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report and VetVoice

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The media's special relationship with John McCain

Discussion: VetVoice, DownWithTyranny!, Washington Post, All Spin Zone, Middle Earth Journal, The Reaction, American Street and Firedoglake

Hilzoy / Obsidian Wings:

Double Standards — Obama gave a very good interview to Nightline about his speech on race and the Wright controversy. Here's one excerpt: … In a similar fashion: if a white candidate is affiliated in some fashion with a white religious figure who preaches incendiary sermons …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:
Obama and Race — Barack Obama this week gave the best political …

Discussion: Preemptive Karma, Achenblog, Prairie Weather and Firedoglake

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

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Lessons not learned — (updated below) — Slate is publishing a series of articles from so-called “liberal hawks” who supported the invasion of Iraq, asking them to reflect on “why they got it wrong.” Most of the pseudo-regretful war advocates oh-so-nobly blame others …

Discussion: The American Scene and INTEL DUMP

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: TPM Election Central, Daily Kos, Political Machine and Oliver Willis