memeorandum: THE BUBBA GAP....Apparently this week's issue of Newsweek was guest edited by Mark Penn. (Kevin Drum/Washington Monthly)

TRANSCRIPT: OBAMA ON ‘FNS’ — Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate from Illinois, sat for an interview Saturday in Indiana with Chris Wallace. The interview aired on “FOX News Sunday.” They touched on a wide range of topics including the marathon race to the Democratic nomination …

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Obama Doesn't “Take Fox On,” After All — The Fox News Sunday interview is over. And Obama didn't take on Fox at all in any meaningful sense. — On Friday, a senior Obama adviser responded to criticism of his decision to go on Fox with a bunch of tough talk, saying that Obama knew full …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, Open Left and Weekly Standard Blog

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Obama on Fox: I supported Roberts when I opposed him — Give Barack Obama this: he performed a lot better on Fox News Sunday today than he did in the debate on April 16th. He stammered less when challenged, allowed his considerable personal warmth to surface, and kept his annoyance and anger in check.

Discussion: PrestoPundit

Hindrocket / Power Line:

DON'T FEAR THE REAPER — Barack Obama has boycotted Fox News for the past two years. Obama's boycott ended today, as he was interviewed by Chris Wallace. The result suggests that Obama had nothing to fear from the ostensibly hostile crowd at Fox. — Obama showed, once again, that he is a rare political talent.

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Obama And Ayers Worked Together Once? (Johnson and Maguire Are Now?) — Politics makes strange bedfellows, and I do not refer exclusively to the odd pairing of Barack Obama and unrepentant Weatherman Bill Ayers. Larry Johnson, with whom I have had the occasional disagreement in the past …

Discussion: Global Labor … and Hot Air

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:

Late Night: Johnny Can't Read — I stopped by Larry Johnson's No Quarter and found his latest post on Barack Obama and Bill Ayers. We've both written about Ayers before, but we have different views of Ayers and his wife. As I've said many times, I admire the work the Ayers' have done …

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings

Jerome Armstrong / MyDD:

Obama on Fox transcript — The transcript of Obama on Fox is up. — As I mentioned, Obama is trying to separate himself from the most strident parts of his base, and he does this pretty effectively throughout the interview: … Obama mentions deregulation of industry, charter schools, a new variation of merit pay.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, NO QUARTER, Salon and TalkLeft

Los Angeles Times:

Obama donor received a state grant — His letter on behalf of a table tennis company preceded the funding. — WASHINGTON — After an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2000, Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama faced serious financial pressure: numerous debts, limited cash and a law practice he had neglected for a year.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Buck Naked Politics, Hot Air and The Page

Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:

How the South Won (This) Civil War — Southernism is taking over our national dialogue. Maybe it's time for the North to secede from the Union. — NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE — In the summer of 1863, Robert E. Lee led an ill-advised incursion into Pennsylvania.

Discussion: At-Largely, Dean's World, DownWithTyranny!, protein wisdom, The Volokh Conspiracy and Ed Driscoll.com

John Avlon / New York Post:

CLASH OF THE INDEPENDENTS — It's electability, stupid. — That's what Hillary Clinton and her surrogates have been spinning to super-delegates and anyone else who will listen since she lost her grip on once-inevitable nomination. — There's just one problem - when it comes to independent voters …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Liberal Values

NY Daily News: From Bubba to Flubba: Slew of gaffes makes pals wonder why Bill is losing it

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

THE BUBBA GAP....Apparently this week's issue of Newsweek was guest edited by Mark Penn. The cover story is blurbed like this: “Barack Obama is a Niebuhr-reading ESPN watcher. The origins of his troubles with the ‘other’ tag.” And the cover photo dramatizes this as arugula vs. beer. Cute!

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Jodi Kantor / New York Times:

Clinton Trumpets Her Blue-Collar Pitch in Indiana — FORT WAYNE, Ind. — All politicians talk about jobs, but these days Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton does it with tactile, almost sensuous detail. She began a rally here on Saturday morning with memories of her father's fabric-printing business …

Megan McArdle:

The nomination battle — Arnold Kling summarizes quite succinctly just how much the stars aligned to put Obama in the lead: … Arnold thinks that as soon as the dust has settled, the party will unite behind the nominee. — I would guess that this will be less true of a Hillary Clinton nomination than of a Barack Obama nomination.

Arnold Kling / EconLog:
Insiders, Outsiders, and Voting Behavior

Discussion: Liberal Values, Swords Crossed and Marginal Revolution

Jeremy Clarkson / Times of London:

Babies seized by Robert Mugabe's forces as Zimbabwe hounds voters — Thousands flee crackdown — Christina Lamb and John Makura in Harare — Scores of children and babies have been locked up in filthy prison cells in Harare as Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's president, sinks to new depths …

Austin Bay Blog:

North Korea's New Target Opportunity — Get this (via the Times OnLine, as in London Times, aka “The Times"): … Now, read the whole thing (RTWT in old blog lingo). — Note that the reporter, or editor, or perhaps the NoKo defector, or perhaps all three think that the Israeli strike …

Times of London:
Kim Jong-il builds ‘Thunderbirds’ runway for war in North Korea

Discussion: Samizdata.net