memeorandum: Vitter on ‘D.C. Madam’ witness list (Tim Grieve/The Crypt's Blogs)

1:30 PM ET, April 7, 2008

Top Items:

Obama May Not Have Fully Contained Damage From Ex-Pastor — Sen. Barack Obama's Philadelphia speech on race relations last month seemed to put the controversial remarks of his former pastor behind him. But three weeks later, there is evidence of lingering damage.

Discussion: Hot Air, PoliGazette, GINA COBB, Real Clear Politics, Macsmind, TalkLeft and The Page

William Kristol / New York Times:

The Shape of the Race to Come — I've spent a fair amount of time the last couple of weeks with conservatives of all ages and leanings. Call it my very own listening tour. — It began with a series of conversations with a group of Weekly Standard subscribers.

Discussion: Soccer Dad, The Campaign Spot, Booman Tribune, Outside The Beltway, Hoffmania!, TBogg, Connecting.the.Dots and Prometheus 6

John Kass / Chicago Tribune:
Dialogue on race could begin on hallowed ground

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Commentary and protein wisdom

Marc Ambinder:

Ex-Clinton Insider Launches Unity Ticket Drive — Hillary/Obama '08 becomes official today. In a way. — A Clinton insider who served as ex campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle's executive assistant for several years has set up a new website, http://www.voteboth.com/ and plans to register with the Federal Election Commission today.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Political Machine, Comments from Left Field, The Field, Balloon Juice, Spin Cycle, Liberal Values, MyDD, Political Punch and Boston Globe

Frank James / Baltimore Sun:

CLINTON MAN'S OBAMA MOMENT — Was Terry McAuliffe, chairman of Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, engaging in his own sort of hedging strategy at a recent meeting of Washington State Democrats? Or was the former Democratic National Committee chair engaging in a kumbayah, all-us-Democrats-are-in-this- together moment?

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Swamp and The Moderate Voice

Washington Post:
Clinton's Chief Strategist Steps Down

Discussion: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, NY Daily News, Spin Cycle, MSNBC, Dick Polman's American Debate, 1115.org, Sister Toldjah, Prairie Weather, CNN, Editor and Publisher, protein wisdom, The Reaction, PoliGazette, The Huffington Post, The Page, Ben Smith's Blogs and New York Times

Wall Street Journal:

Iraq and Its Costs — When Gen. David Petraeus testifies before Congress tomorrow, he will step into an American political landscape dramatically different from the one he faced when he last spoke on Capitol Hill seven months ago. — This time Gen. Petraeus returns to Washington having led …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report, American Street and Examining Presidential …

Articles by the Investigative Project on Terrorism:
For the Record: Seriously, What is the FBI Doing?

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Little Green Footballs

Sudarsan Raghavan / Washington Post:
Between Iraqi Shiites, a Deepening Animosity

Discussion: New York Times, Firedoglake, Informed Comment, Hot Air and The Washington Independent

USA Today:

Radio host Ed Schultz: 'I'm sorry ... John McCain is a warmonger' — “I'm sorry, John, the label sticks. John McCain is a warmonger,” liberal radio host Ed Schultz said a few minutes ago on CNN's American Morning. — Schultz called McCain a “warmonger” on Friday as he was warming …

Discussion: Air America Radio blogs, Real Clear Politics, FOX Embeds, Sister Toldjah, Redstate, Say Anything and TPM Election Central

Zachary A. Goldfarb / The Talk:
McCain: Obama ‘Absolutely’ Qualified to Be President

Discussion: The Jed Report and Donklephant

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
The Next Campaign Stop: Iraq Hearings

Discussion: Capitol Briefing, The Caucus, Stumper, TalkLeft, Betsy's Page, Politics Nation, AMERICAblog, American Power and The Page

Sean Wilentz / Salon:

If the system made sense, Clinton would be far ahead — Under a winner-take-all primary system, Hillary Clinton would have a wide lead over Barack Obama — and enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination by June. — Hillary Clinton celebrates with supporters …

Discussion: The Jed Report, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Confluence, Outside The Beltway, Taylor Marsh, Obsidian Wings, The Huffington Post and Associated Press

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

No Really, You Should Go — Wretched rationalizations for Hillary Clinton's kamikaze campaign. — Last week, Senator Pat Leahy suggested that Hillary Clinton ought to quit the presidential race. How insensitive! How boorish! Pundits gasped, Clinton took umbrage …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Reason Magazine and Salon

New York Post:

RICE BIDS TO BE VP: GOPER — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been “campaigning” to be John McCain's running mate, a former Bush administration aide said yesterday. — Rice has been courting the Republican elite, Dan Senor, a political strategist and former foreign-policy adviser to President Bush, said on ABC's “This Week.”

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM) and The Glittering Eye

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
Rice Eyeing Ticket? That's News to McCain

Discussion: City Pages, The Sleuth, No More Mister Nice Blog and Political Radar

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

WHITE HOUSE: SURGE'S ‘GREAT SUCCESS’ — President Bush is pressing Congress today for approval of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and the White House says it doesn't believe it has had any dealings on this with Democrat Mark Penn, the former chief strategist for Hillary Clinton's campaign …

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, TPMCafe and The Carpetbagger Report

Mark Halperin / Time:
Exit the Clinton Strategist

Discussion: The Current, New York Times, Washington Wire, The Field, Political Punch, Truthdig and Comments from Left Field

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
FULL FIRING? OR JUST GELDED?

Discussion: Pollster.com, Trailhead, MSNBC, Guardian, Shakesville, The Mahablog, The Politico, Marc Ambinder, Corrente and Political Machine

CNN:

Olympic torch extinguished during Paris leg — (CNN) — The Olympic torch relay was disrupted Monday by protesters in Paris demonstrating against the Chinese government, causing authorities to extinguish the flame three times and put the torch on a bus, according to The Associated Press.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Right Wing Nut House, Hot Air, Donklephant and Time

Logan Hill / New York Magazine:

How I Made It: Spike Lee on ‘Do the Right Thing’ — Several people have surprised me by saying that one of the movie's biggest legacies is the impact you had on diversifying New York film crews. — Do the Right Thing was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Grains Gone Wild — These days you hear a lot about the world financial crisis. But there's another world crisis under way — and it's hurting a lot more people. — I'm talking about the food crisis. Over the past few years the prices of wheat, corn, rice and other basic foodstuffs …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, American Street, Prairie Weather and Paul Krugman

The Raw Story:

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

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Wonkette and Pam's House Blend

Alison Bashford / Sydney Morning Herald:

Population lost in the global debate — The world population is 6.6 billion. This far exceeds early 20th-century predictions that it would reach about 3.9 billion by 2009. And yet overpopulation barely registers now as a public issue. Not even as part of climate change discussion …

Discussion: The Corner and Tim Blair