memeorandum: MCCAIN: PURIM = HALLOWEEN? (Mark Murray/MSNBC)

7:00 PM ET, March 20, 2008

Top Items:

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: TownHall Blog, The Corner, Blog P.I., Wake up America, Flopping Aces, Hot Air, All Spin Zone, Political Machine, The Caucus, The American Mind, Macsmind, Swampland, Pensito Review, The Page, Outside The Beltway, Real Clear Politics and Oliver Willis

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, Fox News, The Huffington Post, Washington Wire, The Opinionator, Riehl World View, Pat Dollard, Boston Globe, StephenBainbridge.com, PrestoPundit, The Campaign Spot, Reason Magazine, Politics Blog, The Page, Sweetness & Light, 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: Reuters, Weekly Standard Blog, Power Line, JustOneMinute, Hot Air, The Opinionator, Political Machine, TPM Election Central, Wake up America, Riehl World View, Outside The Beltway, PoliGazette and NO QUARTER

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: TalkLeft, The Trail, Political Machine, Daily Kos, Spin Cycle, The New Republic and Hot Air

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: PittsburghLIVE.com, American Power, Hot Air, Boston Globe, TPM Election Central and PunditGuy

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

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:

Clinton Doesn't Deny Campaign is Pushing Wright Story to Superdelegates — ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has strictly maintained a public position not to comment on Sen. Barack Obama's relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Discussion: The Caucus, Salon, AMERICAblog, The Daily Dish, TPM Election Central, Democratic Strategist, Comments from Left Field, The Carpetbagger Report and MSNBC

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

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

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, Right Wing News, Politics Blog, 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, Shakesville, The Campaign Spot, Ben Smith's Blogs, Political Punch, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit, Redstate, Taylor Marsh, The Confluence and NO QUARTER

Rasmussen Reports:
West Virginia Democratic Presidential Primary

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

Sam Wood / Philly.com:
Obama wows WIP sports jocks

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

Taylor Marsh / The Huffington Post:
Obama: Grandmother “Typical White Person”

Discussion: Wonkette

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
Obama racial issues may extend to Penn.

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

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, CentreRight, Hullabaloo, Think Progress, Brilliant at Breakfast, DownWithTyranny!, The Newshoggers 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 and Abovethelaw.com

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

Michael Meyers / Los Angeles Times:

Obama blew it — What the candidate should have said about race. — Tim Rutten's column, “Obama's Lincoln moment” and The Times editorial, “Obama on race” both miss the mark. — In my considered judgment as a race and civil rights specialist, I would say that Barack Obama's “momentous” …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Buck Naked Politics and Oliver Willis