memeorandum: Say It Ain't So, Joe — It's not news that Sen. Joe Lieberman … (Michael Scherer/Swampland)

12:25 AM ET, March 31, 2008

Top Items:

Gallup Daily: Obama Now at 52% to Clinton's 42% — McCain still has slight advantage over both Democratic opponents — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has extended his lead over Hillary Clinton among Democrats nationally to 52% to 42%, the third consecutive Gallup Poll Daily tracking report …

Discussion: The Swamp, The New Republic, American Street and Balloon Juice

Jackie Calmes / Wall Street Journal:

New Backing for Obama As Party Seeks Unity — WASHINGTON — Slowly but steadily, a string of Democratic Party figures is taking Barack Obama's side in the presidential nominating race and raising the pressure on Hillary Clinton to give up. — Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota is expected …

Discussion: The Jed Report, Oliver Willis, The Page, TPM Election Central and Shakesville

Newsweek:

How to Win in a Knife Fight — The Democratic race could well come down to the first contested convention in years. Lessons on how to prevail. — After the last Democratic primary is held in early June, neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama will have enough votes from delegates elected …

Discussion: Dean's World

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

BRAZILE EXPLAINS CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE — Donna Brazile was on This Week this morning and explained how the credentials committee works. If she's right, and I'm sure Brazile knows this stuff like the back of her hand, it's even worse for Clinton than I thought.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Balloon Juice and Donklephant

Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:

Obama To Blame If The Dem Contest Goes To The Convention — Obama supporter Josh Marshall: … (Emphasis supplied.) What did Clinton actually say? … (Emphasis mine.) Josh's reaction to this? … (Emphasis supplied.) Excuse me? Not even Barack Obama says MI and FL is resolved.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Toby Harnden / Telegraph: Hillary Clinton portrays calls to quit as chauvinism

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
CLINTON: ALL THE WAY TO DENVER

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Scripting News, Brendan Nyhan, The Mahablog, The Carpetbagger Report and CNN

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Cordesman on what's really going on in Basra — Excellent work as usual from a guy who's never shied from telling either side what it doesn't want to hear. I cringe every time I write about Basra since it's impossible anymore to tell who's allied with whom and why: Maliki, Sadr, the JAM …

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Commentary, Flopping Aces, Dean's World and RADAMISTO

Aqeel Hussein / Telegraph:

Iraqi army forces defect to Moqtada al-Sadr — With gunfire and explosions echoing round him, Lt Hamid Abbas of the Iraqi Army was letting no car pass unchallenged at his makeshift roadblock on the outskirts of a Basra slum. — His closest scrutiny, however, was reserved …

Erica Goode / New York Times:

Sadr Offers Deal for Truce as Fighting Persists in Iraq — BAGHDAD — The Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr on Sunday took a step toward ending six days of intense combat between his militia allies and Iraqi and American forces in Basra and Baghdad, saying in a statement that his followers …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Reuters, Time, Matthew Yglesias, Gorilla's Guides and Associated Press

CNN:
Al-Sadr calls off fighting, orders compliance with Iraqi security

Discussion: Donklephant and Danger Room

Bill Roggio / The Long War Journal:
Sadr orders followers to end fighting

Discussion: Power Line, Instapundit.com, Big Lizards and TigerHawk

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Remind me again — who's losing in Basra?

Discussion: Redstate, Los Angeles Times, Roads to Iraq, Middle Earth Journal, rubber hose, Liberty Street, PoliGazette and NewsBusters.org

Anthony H. Cordesman / New York Times:
A Civil War Iraq Can't Win

Discussion: The Glittering Eye

MSNBC:
Iraq's al-Sadr orders fighters to stop

Discussion: Informed Comment, Reuters, Associated Press, Taylor Marsh, Gateway Pundit, Babylon & Beyond, Jules Crittenden, American Power, Buck Naked Politics, The Seminal, American Street, Donklephant, Winds of Change.NET and Times of London

New York Times:
In This Shiite Battle, a Marked Shift From the Past

Discussion: The American Scene, Commentary and The Left Coaster

Sholnn Freeman / Washington Post:
Shiite Cleric Sadr Offers Conditions for Cease-Fire

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Middle Earth Journal and McClatchy Washington Bureau

Bill Roggio / The Long War Journal:
Mahdi Army taking significant casualties in Baghdad, South

Discussion: McClatchy Washington Bureau, The Strata-Sphere, American Power, Wake up America, Big Lizards and Flopping Aces

MSNBC:
March 30: Gen. Michael Hayden, political roundtable

Discussion: alicublog and democracyarsenal.org

Think Progress:

Bush booed loudly while throwing out first pitch in Nationals home opener. — President Bush delivered the first pitch tonight at the new Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. to a resounding chorus of boos. After being announced, Bush was showered by boos as he strode to the mound.

Discussion: Associated Press, Crooks and Liars, Buck Naked Politics, Oliver Willis, The Seminal, Matthew Yglesias and Blue Girl, Red State

Michael Scherer / Swampland:

Say It Ain't So, Joe — It's not news that Sen. Joe Lieberman, the onetime Democratic VP candidate, is backing John McCain for President. Nor is it news that Lieberman takes a different view of the Iraq War than most Democrats. But what he said this morning on ABC's “This Week” is certainly news.

Discussion: Examining Presidential …, Gateway Pundit, Weekly Standard Blog and StephenBainbridge.com

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Lieberman makes the Zell Miller transition final: ‘...the Democratic Party changed’

Discussion: Shakesville and American Power

Cincinnati.com:

Maupin's remains found in Iraq — digg us! del.icio.us! — Sgt. Matt Maupin is dead, the parents of the missing Clermont County soldier said today. — Maupin's remain were found in Iraq, nearly four years after he was captured by insurgents, his parents said.

Michelle Malkin:

Staff Sgt. Maupin's remains found in Iraq — Keep the Maupin family in your thoughts and prayers tonight: … The Maupin family website is here. — They adopted a saying: … R.I.P. — Let's hope our troops find the animals who murdered Maupin and deliver justice.

Discussion: BLACKFIVE

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Cash-strapped Clinton fails to pay bills — Hillary Rodham Clinton's cash-strapped presidential campaign has been putting off paying hundreds of bills for months — freeing up cash for critical media buys but also earning the campaign a reputation as something of a deadbeat in some small-business circles.

Washington Post:
Don't Stop Campaigning — THE GROWING chorus among some Democrats …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, Hillary Is 44, Open Left, Booman Tribune, The Washington Note, The Carpetbagger Report, The Crypt's Blogs, NO QUARTER and The Newshoggers

Deborah Howell / Washington Post:

Public Death, Private Life — What should a newspaper print about a person's most private life in a story after his death? — The Post ran a story March 22 about the burial at Arlington National Cemetery of Army Maj. Alan G. Rogers, a decorated war hero killed in an explosion in Baghdad.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Box Turtle Bulletin, The Bilerico Project and Political Punch

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:

No, John McCain Can't Just Quit — Susan Milligan, writing in the Boston Globe, takes an all-too-rare foray into John McCain's campaign finance hypocrisy. But this bit, straight out of the McCain's disinformation machine, simply isn't true: … McCain took the money all right …

Susan Milligan / Boston Globe:
McCain's commitment to public financing questioned

Discussion: DownWithTyranny! and Hold Fast