Top Items:
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Obama fingers a ‘gotcha’ debate — Sen. Barack Obama was on the stump today in Raleigh, N.C., the day after his debate in Philadelphia with Sen. Hillary Clinton. Have a look at his body language when he spoke of the sort of debate it was — a “gotcha” fest — and about Clinton being “in her element.”
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David Brooks / New York Times:
How Obama Fell to Earth — Back in Iowa, Barack Obama promised to be something new — an unconventional leader who would confront unpleasant truths, embrace novel policies and unify the country. If he had knocked Hillary Clinton out in New Hampshire and entered general-election mode early …
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Byron York / The Hill:
Barack and the bomber — If we're judged by those with whom we associate, here's a question: — Would you rather be associated with a '60s radical who plotted to bomb the Pentagon and to this day believes, as he said a few years ago, “I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough …
Discussion:
The Corner, Betsy's Page, New York Times, The Volokh Conspiracy, The American Mind, alicublog and JustOneMinute
CNN:
Dean: I need a decision ‘now’ — (CNN)— An increasingly firm Howard Dean told CNN again Thursday that he needs superdelegates to say who they're for - and “I need them to say who they're for starting now.” — “We cannot give up two or three months of active campaigning and healing time …
Discussion:
Taylor Marsh, Donklephant, Comments from Left Field, Roger L. Simon, Corrente, AMERICAblog and Right Voices
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Democratic Operative Takes on McCain's Age
Democratic Operative Takes on McCain's Age
Discussion:
Weekly Standard Blog, Comments from Left Field, Sister Toldjah, Hot Air and Ben Smith's Blogs
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
George Stephanopoulos Responds To Obama, Defends Handling Of Debate — At some point amid the hailstorm of criticism that greeted ABC's handling of yesterday's Dem debate, moderator George Stephanopoulos received an email — one of the many, many missives about the debate he's received — from an Obama adviser.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Scared Monkeys, The Garlic, Jules Crittenden, The Campaign Spot, Too Sense, American Street, TPMCafe, The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, The Reaction, The Carpetbagger Report, Comments from Left Field, Booman Tribune, Daily Kos, Cold Fury, TalkLeft and Gateway Pundit
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The Huffington Post:
Joe Scarborough Walks Off MSNBC's “Race To The White House” After Exchange With Rachel Maddow — “Joe didn't walk off. He chose not to participate in the final couple of minutes of the discussion because he felt the conversation didn't fit his role as a political analyst.” — Previously:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
HMMMM — Remember that woman from the debate last night who the moderators showed videotape of asking whether Barack Obama “believes in the flag”? Her name is Nash McCabe. — I remember thinking it was sort of odd to have a couple one-off uses of ordinary voter questions when it didn't really seem like it was part of the format.
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Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report:
The Two Wars in Iraq & Mistaken Republican Support for Obama — [T]he root function of language is to control the universe by describing it. —James Baldwin. — Bush screwed the pooch in Iraq. There is a good argument to be made that we should not have invaded in the first place.
Zogby:
Newsmax/Zogby Poll: Clinton Edges Ahead in Pennsylvania — UTICA, New York - New York Democrat Hillary Clinton had a good day in the Newsmax/Zogby daily tracking poll ahead of Tuesday's Pennsylvania primary, following a strong debate performance in Philadelphia Wednesday night …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Michelle Malkin:
MoveOn's definition of “hurting the country” — Yes, it's true. The left-wing anti-patriots at MoveOn.org, who didn't think twice about handing jihadists potent ammunition the day before the sixth anniversary of 9/11 with their despicable attack on Gen. Petraeus, are now worried about actions that “hurt the country.”
Discussion:
Tales from the Trail
Jonathan Martin / Yahoo! News:
McCain readies unorthodox campaign — For reasons of financial necessity, personal preference and plain politics, John McCain is gearing up to run one of the least traditional presidential campaigns in recent history. — The problem is that even prominent strategists within McCain's own party wonder …
CNN:
Bloomberg: Next president will be ‘adult’ — NEW YORK (CNN) — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday that whoever wins the presidency in November, “at least we'll have an adult in office who can lead and accomplish something.” — During a question-and-answer session …
James Fallows:
This horrible “debate” — As mentioned earlier, family concerns (my father) have trumped other concerns for quite a while. Among various consequences, and in the cosmic sense a trivial one, is the list of items building up that I am looking for a chance to weigh in on …
Ryan Grim / The Politico:
Press secretary to the rescue — At 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon, Lee Pitts, the spokesman for Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), saw an unusual e-mail message pop up on the corner of his computer screen: “Please call 911 for me,” the subject line said. — Less than an hour earlier …
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Superdelegates Unswayed by Clinton's Attacks — Throughout their contentious debate on Wednesday, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton tried again and again to put Senator Barack Obama on the defensive in a pointed attempt, her advisers say, to raise doubts about his electability among a small …