memeorandum: Down $900 Million or More, the Chairman of Bear Sells (Landon Thomas Jr/New York Times)

12:25 PM ET, March 28, 2008

Top Items:

Thomas Fitzgerald / Philly.com:

Bob Casey to endorse Obama, join bus tour — Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey plans to endorse Sen. Barack Obama for president today in Pittsburgh, sending a message both to the state's primary voters and to undecided superdelegates who might decide the close race for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Mike Allen / Ben Smith's Blogs:

BREAKING: Dean wants closure by July 1 — A potential game-changer from CBS News and “The Early Show.” Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean says he wants superdelegates to make a decision by JULY 1 — the most specific he has been in his effort to prod the party …

Discussion: Reuters, The Swamp, Associated Press, The New Republic, Daily Kos, 2008 Democratic …, Pam's House Blend and TPM Election Central

Erik Schelzig / Associated Press:

Gore thinks Dem nomination will be set before convention — MURFREESBORO - Former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday that he expects the Democratic nomination fight will “resolve itself” before the party's convention in late August. — Gore told The Associated Press that he sees no urgency in endorsing a presidential candidate.

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Pennsylvania voters feeling ‘neglected’ — PITTSBURGH - After envisioning Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama stumping from one end of the state to the other, dipping into diners and delis, all but taking up residence here in the run-up to the state's critical April 22 primary …

Discussion: The Page and PSoTD

Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Obama to Begin Push in Pennsylvania in Hope of Offsetting Clinton Advantages

Discussion: Associated Press and The Page

Erica Goode / New York Times:

U.S. Planes Attack Militia Strongholds in Basra Fighting — BAGHDAD —American military forces for the first time conducted air strikes on targets in Basra late Thursday, joining Iraqi security forces in trying to oust Shiite militias in the southern port city.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Who Is IOZ?

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

THE PITIFUL AL MALIKI — As you've probably heard, our local boss in Iraq, Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki, sternly set forth a 72 hour deadline for members of the Mahdi Army to surrender their weapons or his government forces would take them by force, attack, whatever.

Washington Post:
U.S. Armor Forces Join Offensive In Baghdad Against Sadr Militia

James Hider / Times of London:
Iraqi police in Basra shed their uniforms, kept their rifles and switched sides

Discussion: Angry Bear, Balloon Juice, Washington Monthly, The Newshoggers, The Carpetbagger Report, Outside The Beltway, Jules Crittenden, Time, Last of the Few, Middle Earth Journal, American Street and Washington Post

Fred Kaplan / Slate:
Warlord vs. Warlord — WHAT ARE THEY FIGHTING ABOUT IN BASRA?

Discussion: Swampland, Talking Points Memo, Outside The Beltway, White House and In Depth with The Post …

Mike Allen / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Obama now says he might have left church — In appearance taped for airing this morning on “The View,” Senator Obama makes news by saying he might have left Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ if the Rev. Jeremiah Wright had not retired. — In a clip posted by ABC, Obama says …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Strata-Sphere, Spin Cycle and The Trail

Associated Press:
Obama would have left if Wright stayed

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Confederate Yankee, Right Wing Nut House, Hot Air, MyDD, JustOneMinute, Don Surber, Gateway Pundit, Taylor Marsh, Redstate, The Caucus, Daimnation! and Sweetness & Light

Karl / protein wisdom:
Dems 2008: Can Obama disown Rev. Wright? Yes, he can!

Discussion: Don Surber, BitsBlog and Fox News

Ben / Think Progress:

Rice Concedes She Didn't Think Iraq ‘Would Be This Tough,’ Blames Iraqis For Continued Violence — Rice Concedes She Didn't Think Iraq ‘Would Be This Tough,’ Blames Iraqis For Continued Violence — Speaking to a group of journalists yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted …

Discussion: Middle East Times and Eschaton

Nicholas Kralev / Washington Times:
Rice hits U.S. ‘birth defect’

Discussion: Neptunus Lex and The Trail

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Loans and Leadership — When George W. Bush first ran for the White House, political reporters assured us that he came across as a reasonable, moderate guy. — Yet those of us who looked at his policy proposals — big tax cuts for the rich and Social Security privatization — had a very different impression.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Trail, HillaryClinton.com and Corrente

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Getting Mrs. Clinton — I think we've reached a signal point in the campaign. This is the point where, with Hillary Clinton, either you get it or you don't. There's no dodging now. You either understand the problem with her candidacy, or you don't. You either understand who she is, or not.

Discussion: Transterrestrial Musings and NewsBusters.org

Tahman Bradley / Political Radar:

Bill Clinton: Caucuses ‘Killing Us’ — ABC News' Teddy Davis, Sarah Amos, and Talal Al-Khatib Report: While speaking by phone Thursday to his wife's Texas supporters, former President Bill Clinton downplayed the importance of caucuses and argued that his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y. …

Discussion: Oliver Willis, American Street, Political Punch, The Reaction and Donklephant

Maggie Haberman / New York Post:

GIULIANI WEIGHING ‘SPECIAL’ RUN FOR GOV — In the latest twist in New York politics, Rudy Giuliani is eyeing a run for governor in a special election this fall should Gov. Paterson be forced to resign, sources say. — A top adviser to the former mayor, who pulled the plug on his presidential bid …

Discussion: Hot Air