memeorandum: Expectations Memo: Clinton (Marc Ambinder)

6:10 PM ET, April 22, 2008

Top Items:

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

BILL: 'I'M NOT GOING TO PLAY YOUR GAMES' — From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli and NBC's Mark Murray — At the Jewish Community Center in Pittsburgh this morning, Bill Clinton took questions from local press after shaking a lot of hands. NBC/NJ asked him about the WHYY radio interview …

Discussion: The Page, TownHall Blog, Washington Wire, The New Republic, MyDD, Hot Air, michellemalkin.com, TPM Election Central, Liberal Values, Political Machine, Spin Cycle, Y-Decide 2008 and Commentary

Fox News:

Bill Clinton Bristles Anew Over Questions About ‘Race Card’ — Former President Bill Clinton had a testy encounter Tuesday with reporters who questioned his remarks in a radio interview in which he accused Barack Obama's campaign of unfairly playing the race card on him.

Discussion: The Swamp and Patterico's Pontifications

Dan Pohlig / Y-Decide 2008:
President Bill Clinton says the Obama campaign “played the race card” on him

Discussion: TownHall Blog, The Swamp, MSNBC, Political Radar, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, Perfunction, Salon, Political Punch, The Daily Whim, Ben Smith's Blogs, Real Clear Politics, QandO and Hotline On Call

CNN:
Bill Clinton: Obama camp ‘played the race card on me’

Discussion: The Swamp, The New Republic, PrezVid, Shakesville, AngryBlackBitch, Truthdig and Ben Smith's Blogs

New York Times:

Voter Turnout High at End of Long Battle in Pennsylvania — PHILADELPHIA — For the first time in six weeks, the Democratic presidential nominating contest returned to the ballot box as voters across Pennsylvania turned out in record numbers on Tuesday to cast their judgment on Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Discussion: The Caucus, The BRAD BLOG, Why Tuesday?, Truthdig, Prairie Weather and Althouse

Julie Bosman / The Caucus:

Heavy Turnout in Pa. — Pennsylvania is on its way to the record turnout that election officials have been predicting for weeks, according to poll workers from across the state. — Election officials were reporting extremely heavy voter activity in many of the state's 67 counties throughout the morning …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

CBS News:

Clinton, Obama Down To The Wire In Pa. — Exit Polls: 23 Percent Decided Within Last Week; Polls Close At 8 P.M. ET As 6-Week Battle Comes To A Close — (CBS/AP) Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama collided Tuesday in the Pennsylvania primary, the last of the big-state contests …

Discussion: Wizbang Blue

Marc Ambinder:

Exit Polls: Change And Polarization — From the folks at CBS News, a look at the early exit polls: — The exit polls show a smaller percentage of late deciders — 23% — than in previous states. The economy mattered most to 54% of voters. (TV news reports say that Clinton won these folks.)

Discussion: Associated Press and Hot Air

The Politico:
Five things to watch in Pennsylvania

Discussion: Suffolk University, bizjournals, protein wisdom, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, The Field, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, Wonkette, MyDD, CNN, TownHall Blog, Press Association, Macsmind, GINA COBB and New York Times

USA Today:

Disapproval of Bush breaks record — WASHINGTON — President Bush has set a record he'd presumably prefer to avoid: the highest disapproval rating of any president in the 70-year history of the Gallup Poll. — In a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Friday through Sunday, 28% of Americans approve of the job Bush is doing; 69% disapprove.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, Hullabaloo, Eschaton, Buck Naked Politics, HorsesAss.Org, MyDD, Think Progress, James Wolcott's Blog, Roger L. Simon, Liberal Values, Open Left, Shakesville, The Washington Independent, AMERICAblog and Democrats.com

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Maintains National Lead — McCain competitive with both Democrats in general election — PRINCETON, NJ — As Democratic voters in Pennsylvania cast their presidential ballots today, the latest nationwide Gallup Poll Daily tracking results show Barack Obama with a 10 percentage point lead over Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Donklephant

Mark Halperin / The Page:

Obama Campaign Memo on Clinton's Pennsylvania Expectations — RE: The Bar for Clinton in Pennsylvania and Beyond — With all eyes on today's contest, one thing is clear: Pennsylvania is considered a state tailor-made for Hillary Clinton, and by rights she should win big.

Discussion: TalkLeft

Saira Anees / Political Punch:
Why Can't Obama Win Pennsylvania? *

Discussion: The Hill's Pundits Blog

Marc Ambinder:
Expectations Memo: Clinton

Discussion: MyDD

Mark Blumenthal / Pollster.com:

PENNSYLVANIA WRAP UP — We have been busy here over the last day or two, including links to 8 new polls that interviewed through Sunday night, so I am going to try use this post to wrap things up a bit. All but one of the late surveys shows Clinton leading by margins of 5 to 13 points …

Discussion: The New Republic, JustOneMinute, MyDD, Talking Points Memo, The Talent Show, Daily Kos, Open Left, The Numbers, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Top of the Ticket, Marc Ambinder, Zogby and FiveThirtyEight.com

Marc Ambinder:

Why Shouldn't Superdelegates Wait? — Tad Devine and other Dem poo-bahs tell Dan Balz that regardless of the results tonight, superdelegates are likely to swing to Obama fairly soon after voting ends on June 3. — Gallup's national survey today shows that Democrats prefer Barack Obama …

Discussion: The New Republic, American Spectator and Gallup

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
8 Questions About The Pennsylvania Primary

Discussion: Salon, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, The Carpetbagger Report, The Page, MSNBC and The Moderate Voice

Sonny Bunch / Weekly Standard Blog:

Mugged by Reality... The New York Times featured an intriguing profile of Robert Downey Jr. this Sunday. Star of the upcoming Iron Man, Downey is best known as the most-wasted talent of his generation (both literally and figuratively). His drug problems became so bad that he even spent …

Discussion: Galley Slaves

Michael Scherer / Time:

A Willie Horton Hit on Obama? — An old right-wing attack dog has returned with a new target: Barack Obama. — Starting Tuesday, a group of conservative activists led by Floyd Brown, author of the famous Willie Horton ad used so effectively against Michael Dukakis in 1988 …

Discussion: Salon and Hot Air

White House:

President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with President Calderon of Mexico and Prime Minister Harper of Canada — Joint Statement by President Bush, President Calderon, Prime Minister Harper — In Focus: North American Leaders' Summit — PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you all.

Discussion: Think Progress and First Draft

Lowell / Badlands Blue:

George McGovern takes a “dig” at John McCain — The following is transcribed from Sen. McGovern's speech Saturday night at the McGovern Day dinner in Sioux Falls.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Campaign Spot, TownHall Blog and Redstate