Top Items:
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama 51%, Clinton 40% — Both Democratic candidates have 46% to 44% margins over McCain — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama is maintaining his lead over Hillary Clinton among Democrats nationally in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking, with a 51% to 40% margin in the April 12-14 average.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, TPM Election Central, Wonkette, The New Republic, The Daily Dish, Salon and Donklephant
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WCAU-TV:
Poll: If Primary Held Week Early, Clinton Would Win By Double-Digits — If the Pennsylvania primary to select a Democratic nominee for president were held Tuesday, a week before the actual primary, Hillary Rodham Clinton would defeat Barack Obama by double-digit figures, a new SurveyUSA poll found.
John B. Judis / The New Republic:
Woe Is He — Barack Obama's going to be the bitter one at the end of this. — Some liberal commentators have downplayed the effect of Barack Obama's fundraising speech at a San Francisco fundraiser last week. But that's wishful thinking. Along with the revelations about Obama's pastor Jeremiah Wright …
Reagan Union / Quinnipiac University:
Clinton Stalls Obama, Holds 6-Point Pennsylvania Lead, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Many Clinton Dems Would Back Mccain Over Obama — New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has stalled Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's drive in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary and holds a 50 …
Don Frederick / Top of the Ticket:
Upcoming: New L.A. Times/Bloomberg polls for Pennsylvania, N.C. and Indiana — Pollsters for the L.A. Times and Bloomberg have been in the field in the three states that will next shape the careening Democratic presidential race, and the results will be welcomed by the recently battered and bruised Barack Obama campaign.
John Fund / Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Flaws Multiply — Barack Obama's San Francisco-Democrat comment last week - about how alienated working-class voters “cling to guns or religion” - is already famous. But the fact that his aides tell reporters he is privately bewildered that anybody took offense is even more remarkable.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
“Bitter-gate”: Where Do We Go Now? — Critical mass has been reached.
“Bitter-gate”: Where Do We Go Now? — Critical mass has been reached.
Discussion:
Washington Post, MyDD, Sister Toldjah, Montana's News Station, No More Mister Nice Blog, Top of the Ticket and The Trail
John McCain 2008:
Remarks By John McCain On The Economy — ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain will deliver the following remarks as prepared for delivery at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA, today at 9:45 a.m. EDT: — Thank you. I appreciate the hospitality of the Allegheny Business Conference …
Discussion:
The Corner, TPMCafe, American Spectator, The Campaign Spot, democracyarsenal.org, Hot Air and Macsmind
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Ross Douthat:
What Obama Really Got Wrong — Timothy Noah, surveying the literature on the white working class and its voting behavior in the wake of Obama's San Francisco fiasco, tiptoes close to an important point about the roots of culture-war politics but doesn't quite get there.
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Bob Herbert / New York Times:
Some Perspective on ‘Bitter’ — Maybe Barack Obama felt he couldn't afford to give the correct answer. — He was asked at a fund-raiser in San Francisco about his campaign's experiences in the run-up to next week's Democratic primary in Pennsylvania. One of the main problems, of course …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Return of the pin — As a reader noticed, Obama was sporting the much-debated flag pin for his speech to veterans today. — UPDATE: The pin was given to Obama by a disabled vet at the event.
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CQ Politics:
Clinton Rates Slim Edge Over Obama in PA District Delegate Race — Is Barack Obama trailing Hillary Rodham Clinton in Pennsylvania by double digit percentages? Or has he closed the gap to single digits, as recent polls suggest? Could he even win the April 22 primary …
Discussion:
TalkLeft, New York Times, AMERICAblog, MSNBC, Balloon Juice, Booman Tribune, TPM Election Central, Cliff Schecter … and Taegan Goddard's …
Media Matters for America:
On MSNBC, Brzezinski and Novotny falsely asserted McCain's gas tax plan would eliminate “20 percent of the cost” … On the 9 a.m. ET hour of MSNBC Live, host Mika Brzezinski said that Sen. John McCain “will lay out a new plan to help Americans deal with high gas prices.
Discussion:
The New Republic
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Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
LOYALTIES IN PLAY....Compare and contrast. In the LA Times, Jerome Karabel reminds us that lifelong political loyalties tend to be cemented during your 20s, which means that Democrats are playing with fire if they don't nominate Barack Obama: … Next up is Amanda Fortini …
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Robert Creamer / The Huffington Post:
Why Hillary Clinton's Slash-and-Burn Politics May Hurt Her More Than Obama
Why Hillary Clinton's Slash-and-Burn Politics May Hurt Her More Than Obama
Discussion:
Middle Earth Journal
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
MORE PA POLLS — Yesterday we reported on the ARG poll showing a 20 point spread for Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania. Three more today so far. Quinnipiac gives Clinton a 6 point margin; SurveyUSA gives her a 14 point edge; and Rasmussen gives Clinton a 9 point margin.
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Michael Alison Chandler / Washington Post:
At McLean School, Playing Tag Turns Into Hot Potato — A playground pastime is getting a timeout this spring at a McLean elementary school. — Robyn Hooker, principal of Kent Gardens Elementary School, has told students they may no longer play tag during recess after determining that the game of chasing …
Discussion:
Cold Fury, michellemalkin.com, QandO, The Corner, Hot Air, Outside The Beltway and Unfogged
Refugees International:
Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq — Uprooted and Unstable: — Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq — Uprooted and Unstable: Meeting Urgent Humanitarian Needs in Iraq describes a vacuum of humanitarian assistance created by the failure of the Iraqi government …
Discussion:
Wonk Room, Attackerman, Matthew Yglesias, The American Conservative and Guardian Unlimited
New York Times:
Pope Arrives in U.S.; Expresses Shame Over Priest Scandal — Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday that he was “deeply ashamed” of the Roman Catholic Church's child sexual-abuse scandal in the United States, and that it was causing “great suffering” for the church and “me personally.”
The Politico:
Long-lost article by Obama's dad surfaces — Barack Obama's dad was such an important but absent figure in his life that he devoted his first book, Dreams From My Father, to the search for details about his father's life and how the quest helped forge a son's identity.
Z. Byron Wolf / ABCNEWS:
McCain, Military Oppose Expanding GI Bill — Presidential Hopeful Believes Legislation Would Hurt Military — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, seemed to give a thumbs down to bipartisan legislation that would greatly expand educational benefits …
Discussion:
Salon, DownWithTyranny!, Blue Girl, Red State, The Carpetbagger Report, Cliff Schecter … and Think Progress
The Huffington Post:
Wall Street Journal Parody — With A Topless Ann Coulter — Rankles Murdoch In Real Life And On YouTube — My Wall Street Journal, a parody of the Wall Street Journal on newsstands this week to mark the April 15 tax deadline, has rankled News Corp executives so much that they're trying to make sure no one sees it.
Agence France Presse:
Basra residents welcome Iraq army crackdown — BASRA, Iraq (AFP) — Three weeks after Iraqi troops swarmed into the southern city of Basra to take on armed militiamen who had overrun the streets, many residents say they feel safer and that their lives have improved.