memeorandum: On Tim Russert , Hitchens said to Sullivan: “Oh, well don't be such a lesbian. (Media Matters for America)

11:40 PM ET, April 7, 2008

Top Items:

Penn: Never Out, Still In — Demoted Hillary Clinton strategist Mark Penn may no longer have the coveted title of chief strategist, but he remains a key member of the campaign's senior staff. — Mr. Penn took part on the campaign's morning message call this morning, as usual.

Discussion: The Page, AlterNet.org, The Nation, Agence France Presse, Ben Smith's Blogs, MSNBC, Buck Naked Politics, The Raw Story, Newshoggers.com, Truthdig and Donklephant

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Mark Penn Speaks (In Private): Will Still Advise Clintons, Calms Nervous Aides — Mark Penn, who resigned over the weekend as the Clinton campaign's chief strategist, went into full damage control mode on Monday, hosting a conference call with Burson Marsteller's managing directors to persuade …

Discussion: Washington Wire, On the Campaign Trail and Swampland

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
CHIEF GOOF — TPM Reader JM laments how Penn destroyed Hillary's campaign ...

Discussion: Eschaton and Matthew Yglesias

Eamon Javers / The Politico:
HRC Colombia ties don't stop with Penn

Discussion: Spin Cycle

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times: Clinton Campaign Regroups After Shakeup at Top

Anne E. Kornblut / The Trail:

Clinton Told True Tale of Woe, Says Kin — The aunt of a young pregnant woman who died after a hospital told her she needed to pay $100 up front for care said in an interview on Monday that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has been telling the story accurately on the campaign trail …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Daily Kos, NO QUARTER, Taylor Marsh, Swampland, The Confluence and Political Punch

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Storylines — Andrea Mitchell said today that Clinton has a “growing credibility gap” because she repeated a story on the stump about a woman who was denied health care and died. (I believe this is based on a bizarre and very badly written article which appeared over the week-end in the New York Times.)

Discussion: Associated Press and TalkLeft

The Raw Story:

Exclusive: Book reveals McCain's expletive-laden spat with wife

Discussion: Firedoglake, Jesus' General, Emptywheel, Cliff Schecter …, Matthew Yglesias, MyDD, Air America Radio blogs, Pandagon, Taylor Marsh, The Impolitic, Wonkette, AMERICAblog, American Street, Blue Girl, Red State, Macsmind, Crooks and Liars and The Republic of T.

Media Matters for America:

On Tim Russert , Hitchens said to Sullivan: “Oh, well don't be such a lesbian. Get on with it” — On the April 5 edition of MSNBC's Tim Russert, Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Hitchens debated the significance for Sen. Barack Obama of comments made by his former pastor Jeremiah Wright …

Discussion: Pandagon

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Moves to 9-point Lead Over Clinton — McCain, Obama remain tied in general election trial heat — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has gained support in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report for April 4-6, and now leads Hillary Clinton by a statistically significant margin, 52% to 43%.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Washington Wire, Comments from Left Field, The Moderate Voice, TPM Election Central, iPol and Donklephant

Leslie Wayne / The Caucus:
Obama's S.E.I.U. Boost in Pennsylvania

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Steve Coll / New Yorker:

MILITARY CONFLICT … General Richard A. Cody graduated from West Point in 1972, flew helicopters, ascended to command the storied 101st Airborne Division, and then, toward the end of his career, settled into management; now, at fifty-seven, he wears four stars as the Army Vice-Chief of Staff.

Discussion: IPS Inter Press Service and War in Context

CNN:
Transcript: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Iraq

Discussion: Redstate, The Strata-Sphere and Wake up America

Wall Street Journal:
Iraq and Its Costs — When Gen. David Petraeus testifies …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Think Progress, Associated Press, Liberty Street, Wonk Room, Reuters and Examining Presidential …

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

The non-political elite view of McCain — A GOP fundraiser who hasn't, to put it mildly, been the biggest McCain booster in the world makes a smart point to me in explaining his success so far in raising coin for the GOP nominee from money types outside the Washington crowd.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog and The Other McCain

Redstate:

A List of Reporters Who Need To Be Set Straight: Let's Call Them — The media, now inching into campaign mode against the Republican, are willingly giving Barack Obama a free pass on his “100 years” lie about John McCain. — As we've noted before, Obama has repeatedly said things along the lines of this from a Hardball appearance:

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Hullabaloo, The Talk and The Huffington Post

Ross Douthat:

The Worst President Ever? — An unscientific survey of 109 professional historians, conducted by the doubtless-unbiased author of Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion In America, reports that sixty-one percent of its sample considers George W. Bush's Presidency the “worst ever.”

Discussion: Done With Mirrors, Eunomia, Balloon Juice and skippy the bush kangaroo

Matthew Yglesias:
Worst President Ever

Discussion: The New Republic, American Power, Hullabaloo, History News Network, Truthdig and democracyarsenal.org

Chicago Tribune:

Representative tries to put the fear of God in atheist — Did you hear about the state legislator who last week blasted a Lutheran minister during a committee hearing for spewing dangerous religious superstitions, and then attempted to order the minister out of the witness chair on the grounds …

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics and Done With Mirrors

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:

2 Suburban Philadelphia Counties Flip to Democratic Party — History is being made in the suburbs of Philadelphia. — The four suburban counties have long been Republican strongholds, with more Republican voters than Democratic ones. The last time there were more Democrats than Republicans seems lost in the mist of time.

Discussion: THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Newsweek

Marc Ambinder:

McCain Raises $15M In March — Sen. John McCain's fundraising is picking up, relatively speaking. — In March, officials said he raised about $15M, his best month since early 2007 and well above his $2M-per-month pace in late 2007. The final number is still being tallied.

Discussion: MyDD, The American Mind, Comments from Left Field, Hot Air, The Other McCain, Open Left, Wonkette, Oliver Willis, MSNBC, Donklephant and The Page

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Video: Murtha can't get enough of the sweet, sweet pork — Via InstaGlenn. Not one blessed thing in the clip will surprise you if you're a right-wing blog reader of any duration. His staggering gluttony in this area has made him a target of even left-wing outfits like CREW …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Instapundit.com and TownHall Blog

David Freddoso / The Corner:
Murtha's Earmarks — This CBS News report ran on Friday regarding …

Discussion: My Man Mitt.com

Rob Lowe / The Huffington Post:

Household Betrayal — Harassment in the workplace, sexual or otherwise, is something I take very seriously. In my home and on the set, I have been surrounded for years by hardworking women (and men) whom I respect and whose rights are to be protected. But when people make false claims …