memeorandum: Obama Campaign Claims Clinton Has ‘Character Gap’ (ABCNEWS)

2:25 PM ET, March 21, 2008

Top Items:

Another Angry Black Preacher — Let's ask the hard question about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright: Is he as far outside the African American mainstream as many of us would like to think? — Because Barack Obama's speech on race in America was so candid about both the legitimacy of black and white grievances …

Discussion: Commentary, The Daily Dish, American Street, Firedoglake, No More Mister Nice Blog and Washington Wire

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The Speech: A Brilliant Fraud — The beauty of a speech is that you don't just give the answers, you provide your own questions. “Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes.” So said Barack Obama, in his Philadelphia speech about his pastor …

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Real Clear Politics, TPMCafe, Swampland, Too Sense, Sadly, No!, Dr. Sanity, Discriminations, Cold Fury and Real Clear Politics

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

NOT GONNA SAY IT. — As the Daily Show clip I posted last night suggested, Barack Obama's speech on race didn't so much open a conversation on race as it furthered chatter about the campaign. Which is a pity. But read EJ Dionne today for some of the commentary that we should be hearing.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

A Thinking Man's Speech — I thought Barack Obama's speech was strong, thoughtful and important. Rather beautifully, it was a speech to think to, not clap to. It was clear that's what he wanted, and this is rare. — It seemed to me as honest a speech as one in his position could give within the limits imposed by politics.

Discussion: Cheat Seeking Missiles, MSNBC and alicublog

Gary Reese / Southern Political Report:
New InsiderAdvantage Poll — Obama's speech meets unsympathetic ears with Americans

Discussion: The New Republic, Donklephant and MyDD

Hindrocket / Power Line: IT ISN'T ONLY JEREMIAH WRIGHT — The Barack Obama campaign …

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Can Clinton win popular vote, superdelegates? — The apparent collapse of planned new votes in Florida and Michigan could push victory on a key symbolic measure — the primary season popular vote — beyond Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's grasp. — Clinton's top supporters, including her husband …

Discussion: New York Times, TalkLeft, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, Power Line, Ben Smith's Blogs, The New Republic, Democratic Strategist, Prairie Weather and MSNBC

New York Times:

Richardson Plans Obama Endorsement — Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who sought to become the nation's first Hispanic president this year, plans to endorse Senator Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination on Friday at a campaign event in Oregon. — Mr. Richardson, a former congressman …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Caucus, Top of the Ticket, The New Republic, Matthew Yglesias, Breaking News Updates …, Guardian Unlimited, The Confluence, DownWithTyranny!, PoliPundit.com, ScrappleFace, American Spectator, Wonkette, Riehl World View and marbury

WSJ.com:

Clinton Aide Says Richardson's Endorsement Is Insignificant — Susan Davis reports on the presidential race. — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson finally made up his mind and endorsed Sen. Barack Obama today, but a senior adviser to Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign — which likewise spent months courting …

Discussion: Washington Wire, TPM Election Central, Hotline On Call and AMERICAblog

Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:

NM Gov. Bill Richardson endorses Obama — PORTLAND, Ore. - Bill Richardson, the nation's only Hispanic governor, threw his support behind Barack Obama for president Friday, delivering one of the most coveted and tightly held endorsements in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, Marc Ambinder, TownHall Blog, Firedoglake, Buck Naked Politics, Comments from Left Field, CNN, Pam's House Blend, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Liberal Values, Citizen Crain, Donklephant, PoliGazette, PoliBlog (TM) and Swampland

The Politico: Story behind the story: The Clinton myth

Washington Post:
Democrats in Stalemate — THE COLLAPSE of efforts to conduct …

Discussion: Prometheus 6

CNN:

All three candidates' passport files breached — (CNN) — The State Department said Friday that all three presidential candidates' passport files were breached. — The admission comes after it was revealed Sen. Barack Obama's files had been viewed three times by contractors.

Discussion: The Swamp, Think Progress, MSNBC, The Carpetbagger Report, Ars Technica, MyDD, Sister Toldjah, Attytood, The Huffington Post, Salon, Bang the Drum, Hotline On Call, The Gavel, AngryBlackBitch, Shakesville, Daily Kos, Oliver Willis and Balloon Juice

ABCNEWS:

Passport Security Breach on McCain, Clinton & Obama — State Department Contract Employees Fired, Another Disciplined for Looking at Passport File — An embarrassed State Department admitted today that the passport files of all three presidential candidates — Sens. John McCain …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, The Swamp, Fox News, The Jawa Report, Salon, Wonkette, Buck Naked Politics, Time, TalkLeft, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh and The Reaction

Desmond Butler / Associated Press:
Clinton Says Her Passport File Breached

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, This ain't Hell …, Blogs of War and Washington Times

Associated Press:
3 candidates' passport files breached

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Alternate Brain, Swampland and MSNBC

Michelle Malkin:
First, Obama's passport...now, Hillary's breached, too; 12:13pm …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Newshoggers and The American Mind

ABCNEWS:

Obama Campaign Claims Clinton Has ‘Character Gap’ — Campaign Promising ‘New Politics’ Assails Rival as Untrustworthy, Duplicitous — The campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., delivered one of its harshest, most negative attacks yet today, asserting that Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. …

Fred Lucas / CNSNews:
Poll: Divisive Dem Contest Could Boost McCain

Discussion: Commentary, rubber hose, Roger L. Simon, Sadly, No!, And Still I Persist, QandO, The Strata-Sphere and Don Surber

Michael Barone / US News: State by State, Obama and Clinton Stack Up Differently Against McCain

Jennifer Parker / Political Punch:
Keystone Democrats Set to Defect

Discussion: American Spectator

Think Progress:

Fox's Chris Wallace Takes Fox And Friends ‘To Task’ For ‘Two Hours Of Obama Bashing’ — On Fox and Friends this morning, hosts Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, and Gretchen Carlson spent multiple segments sensationalizing a comment Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) made yesterday, in which he referred …

Discussion: News Hounds, Taylor Marsh and TBogg

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

What I Got Wrong About Iraq — Slate asked me to reflect on my own failings of judgment on the fifth year of the war. Maybe the day we Christans are called to atonement is a good day for publishing it. It's cross-posted here. — I think I committed four cardinal sins. — Historical Narcissism.

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
War advocates like Anne-Marie Slaughter demand that you forget the past

Discussion: The Huffington Post, American Power, American Street, Politics Blog and The Glittering Eye

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Partying Like It's 1929 — If Ben Bernanke manages to save the financial system from collapse, he will — rightly — be praised for his heroic efforts. — But what we should be asking is: How did we get here? — Why does the financial system need salvation? — Why do mild-mannered economists have to become superheroes?

Discussion: American Spectator, DownWithTyranny!, The American Mind, The Agonist, The Confluence and The Glittering Eye

New York Times:

Socialized Compensation — How can one feel sorry for James Cayne? The potential losses of the chairman and former chief executive of Bear Stearns must rank up there with the biggest in modern history. The value of his stake in Bear Stearns collapsed from about $1 billion a year ago …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Prairie Weather, Brilliant at Breakfast, Your Right Hand Thief, Prometheus 6 and The Impolitic