memeorandum: Rendell: Early Questions In the Debate Weren't Real (Chris Bowers/Open Left)

2:20 PM ET, April 17, 2008

Top Items:

No Whining About the Media — Three quick points on the Democratic debate last night: — First, Democrats, and especially Obama supporters, are going to jump all over ABC for the choice of topics: too many gaffe questions, not enough policy questions. — I understand the complaints, but I thought the questions were excellent.

Discussion: TPMCafe, Macsmind, The Daily Dish, The Carpetbagger Report, Guardian Unlimited, Philly.com, Angry Bear, Indecision 2008, Daily Kos, TV Decoder, The Washington Independent, PSoTD, No More Mister Nice Blog, Sister Toldjah, Commentary and marbury

The Huffington Post:

ABC Hosts Heckled After Debate: “The Crowd Is Turning On Me” — Reflecting what seemed to be the main consensus of the night - that ABC botched this debate, big time - Charlie Gibson tells the crowd there will be one more, superfluous commercial break of the night and is subsequently jeered.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, skippy the bush kangaroo, culturekitchen, Top of the Ticket, Crooks and Liars, Mathew Gross, Fox News, The Daily Dish and Middle Earth Journal

Senator Hillary Clinton / New York Times:

Democratic Debate in Philadelphia — The following is a transcript of the Democratic debate in Philadelphia, as provided by the Federal News Service. — PARTICIPANTS: — SENATOR BARACK OBAMA — MODERATORS: — LOCATION: THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION CENTER, PHILADELPHIA

Discussion: protein wisdom, michellemalkin.com, Dick Polman's American Debate, TownHall Blog, Weekly Standard Blog, Salon, Hot Air, Cato-at-liberty, Daily Kos, American Prospect, FP Passport, The Carpetbagger Report, Stop The ACLU and The Daily Dish

Faiz / Think Progress:

AUDIO: Hannity Feeds Stephanopoulos Debate Question On Weather Underground — Last night's ABC News Democratic presidential candidates debate was co-moderated by George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson, but the unseen influence of Fox News' Sean Hannity was also on stage.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Spin Cycle, Brave New Films blog, Taylor Marsh, Democratic Strategist, Hot Air, AlterNet.org, NewsBusters.org, Political Machine and Daily Kos

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Brooks Celebrates The Freak Show — Whatever else you say about last night: don't blame ABC News: … So Lee Atwater wins by default? We are losing a war, we have destroyed our fiscal future, the planet is in distress, we have effectively quit the Geneva Conventions, the economy …

Discussion: Daily Kos

New York Times:

'60s Radicals Become Issue in Campaign of 2008 — On March 6, 1970, a bomb explosion destroyed a Greenwich Village town house, killing three members of the radical Weather Underground and driving other members of the group even deeper into hiding. On Wednesday night, those events emerged …

Discussion: Guardian Unlimited, TownHall Blog, New York Post, Commentary, Real Clear Politics, Guardian and Below The Beltway

Will Bunch / Philly.com:

An open letter to Charlie Gibson and George Stephanapoulos — Dear Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, — It's hard to know where to begin with this, less than an hour after you signed off from your Democratic presidential debate here in my hometown of Philadelphia …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Matthew Yglesias, The Opinionator, On Deadline, Lynn Sweet, Talking Points Memo and The Carpetbagger Report

Washington Post:
Obama Pressed in Pa. Debate

Discussion: Salon, Boston Globe, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, New York Times, Open Left, Telegraph, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Blue Crab Boulevard, Redstate, BuzzFlash.org and Below The Beltway

Greg Mitchell / The Huffington Post:
The Debate: A Shameful Night for the U.S. Media

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Caucus, The Daily Dish, Deadline USA, Liberal Values, Hot Air, Liberty Pundit, The Democratic Daily, Achenblog, National Review, KIKO'S HOUSE, Outside The Beltway, American Power, QandO, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Wonkette, Below The Beltway and Confederate Yankee

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Dem Debate: Obama's Waterloo

Discussion: MSNBC, Weekly Standard Blog, The Glittering Eye, AMERICAblog, Reason Magazine, Boston Globe and Gateway Pundit

Jason Linkins / The Huffington Post:
Worst. Debate. Ever.

Discussion: Associated Press and Firedoglake

Greg Mitchell / Editor and Publisher:
Clinton-Obama Debate: ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans …

Discussion: News Hounds, PERRspectives Blog and Crooks and Liars

Jason Linkins / The Huffington Post:
Hannity Spoonfed Left-Field Debate Question To Stephanopoulos

Discussion: Think Progress, The Huffington Post and Firedoglake

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Ayers in the news — Barack Obama took his first public grilling …

Discussion: factcheck.barackobama.com and TPM Election Central

Billary Redux / Daily Kos:
Keep turning up the HEAT on ABC... New Info

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Raw Story, NewsBusters.org, michellemalkin.com, The Daily Dish, Cold Fury, The Corner and News Hounds

Lynn Sweet:
Democratic Philadelphia debate. April 16, 2008. Transcript.

Discussion: TalkLeft

Byron York / The Corner:
Clinton, Obama, and Bill Ayers, Day Two

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Philly.com:

VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA — THE CHOICE in Tuesday's Democratic presidential primary is not only the one between a white woman and a black man. It's a choice between the past and the future. — More specifically, the nation must decide how to face the future racing toward us in the form …

Discussion: The Fix, The Page, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Spin Cycle, The Caucus, Ankle Biting Pundits and Balloon Juice

media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com:

Opinion Board — Pennsylvania Democrats are confronted with a tragedy of riches: two incredibly appealing candidates for their Party's nomination. — We want to believe that Sen. Barack Obama can accomplish all he promises. His soaring rhetoric and compelling vision have inspired us and many other students.

Discussion: The Swamp, Pennsylvania Ave. and HillaryClinton.com

Nikita R Stewart / D.C. Wire:

Breaking News: Thomas Backs Obama — You heard it here first. Council member and newly elected superdelegate Harry Thomas Jr., initially a supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, is announcing in minutes that he will cast his vote at the Democratic National Convention in Denver for Sen. Barack Obama.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder and Indecision 2008

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
SEIU Joins the Pa. Fray

Discussion: The Swamp and The Page

Martine Powers / Yale Daily News:

For senior, abortion a medium for art, political discourse — Art major Aliza Shvarts '08 wants to make a statement. — Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Ross Douthat, Gateway Pundit, TownHall Blog, Weekly Standard Blog, AMERICAN DIGEST, The Corner, Cassy Fiano and Hot Air

Zogby:

Newsmax/Zogby Poll: Deadlocked in Pennsylvania! — UTICA, New York—With just five days left before Democratic primary voters go to polls to decide who they want to be their presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois are locked in a battle that is too close to call …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft, MyDD and Public Policy Polling

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

Congress May Seek Criminal Probe of Altered Earmark — The Senate moved yesterday toward asking the Justice Department for a criminal investigation of a $10 million legislative earmark whose provisions were mysteriously altered after Congress gave final approval to a huge 2005 highway funding bill.

Discussion: The New Republic, Wizbang, TPMMuckraker, Balkinization and Hot Air

James Boyce / The Huffington Post:

Ben Stein: Yoko Ono On Line 1 — Before I discuss whether Ben Stein, Walt Ruloff, and everyone behind the movie Expelled are not only crooks but liars, they are, please allow me the opportunity to apologize again to Mrs. Lennon regarding the assumptions (since retracted) …

Ethan Smith / RichardDawkins.net: Yoko Ono, Filmmakers Caught in ‘Expelled’ Flap