memeorandum: Scheunemann: Just Another Lobbyist On The Straight Talk Express (M. Duss/Wonk Room)

7:30 PM ET, April 30, 2008

Top Items:

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Dumb as We Wanna Be — It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain …

Discussion: American Prospect, The Carpetbagger Report, Firedoglake, Buck Naked Politics, Balloon Juice, Taylor Marsh, American Street, Energy Smart, Sadly, No!, All Spin Zone, Washington Monthly, Daimnation!, The Daily Dish and Matthew Yglesias

Jonathan Alter / Newsweek:

Political Pandering — Suspending the federal gas tax is a crass ploy for votes. Why Hillary Clinton and John McCain should know better. — NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE — Hillary Clinton has now joined John McCain in proposing the most irresponsible policy idea of the year—an idea that actually could aid the terrorists.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Oregonian, Middle Earth Journal, Jack and Jill Politics, American Street, Spin Cycle, Liberty Street and MoJoBlog

Steven Ginsberg / The Trail:

Clinton Exuding Confidence — South Bend, Ind. — As Hillary Clinton continues virtually nonstop campaigning between North Carolina and Indiana, the candidate and her team are showing signs of increased confidence. — After spending weeks blasting Barack Obama at any potential opening …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Commentary and Daily Kos

Human Events:

Outlook — Prospects have brightened a little for Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) against Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) for the Democratic presidential nomination. Following her big win in Pennsylvania, she benefited from an unexpected endorsement by Democratic North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley …

Discussion: The Corner and Hot Air

Steven Ginsberg / The Trail:
Clinton Pulls Even on the Air

Discussion: TPM Election Central

Alister Bull / Reuters:
Clinton-McCain gas tax holiday slammed as bad idea

Discussion: The Huffington Post, MyDD, Vanity Fair and Wonkette

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

FOX News Poll: Obama's Favorable Rating Drops — Nearly half of Democrats (48 percent) think Hillary Clinton has a better chance of beating John McCain in November — 10 percentage points higher than the 38 percent who think Barack Obama can win, according to a FOX News poll released Wednesday.

Discussion: MSNBC, The Caucus, TalkLeft, Weekly Standard Blog, Stop The ACLU, The American Mind, Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere and Don Surber

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Virtual Tie Persists in Democratic Race — Clinton 47%, Obama 46% in latest update — PRINCETON, NJ — National Democratic voters are essentially divided in their presidential nomination preferences between Hillary Clinton (47%) and Barack Obama (46%), according to April 27-29 Gallup Poll Daily tracking results.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder and MyDD

Marc Ambinder:

Obama's Name Now Toxic In Mississippi For One Democrat — Travis Childers, the Democratic congressional candidate who has the chance to flip Mississippi's first congressional district from Republican to Democrat, is so concerned with Mississippi voters falsely believing that he's been endorsed …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Patsy R. Brumfield / Tupelo Daily Journal:
1st District ads pour gasoline on burning fire

Discussion: The Page

Mark Morford / San Francisco Chronicle:

Hot! — Behold, the ideal Republican wife: Prim, sexless, nearly useless, lets the men do the real thinkin'. Hot! — I fondly recall, just before the tragic Bush/Kerry presidential election, an impassioned discussion I had with a family friend, a conservative Catholic mother of four …

Discussion: Stop The ACLU and The Other McCain

Michelle Malkin:

Laura Bush hatred at the SF Chronicle — Mark Morford of the San Francisco Chronicle's website is one of the MSM's most unhinged, hate-filled columnists. Today he earns his pay by railing against Laura Bush because she isn't an obnoxious, left-wing elite bigmouth like Teresa Heinz Kerry …

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Clinton blasts Bush for not stopping a project Bill OK'd — INDIANAPOLIS — It's a story Hillary Clinton loves to tell, about how the Chinese government bought a good American company in Indiana, laid off all its workers and moved its critical defense technology work to China.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Fact Hub, TPM Election Central, Flopping Aces, Outside The Beltway and The Swamp

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Hoosier Responsible? — Clinton Decries China's Acquisition of Indiana Company — Ignoring Her Husband's Role in the Sale — As she campaigns throughout Indiana, Sen. Hillary Clinton has been talking quite a bit about Magnequench, a Valparaiso, Ind., factory that moved to China.

Ed OKeefe / Political Radar:

Hillary Clinton: Wright Remarks ‘Offensive and Outrageous’ — ABC News' Eloise Harper Reports: In an “O'Reilly Factor” exclusive, Hillary Clinton rebuked Rev. Jeremiah Wright in her strongest language to-date. — Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y., speaking exclusively to FOX News, called Wright's comments …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Corrente and Wonkette

Jay Levine / WBBM-TV:
Pastor vs The Pol: Did Wright Mean To Hurt Obama?

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Hot Air

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Stupid Media Spin on Obama II: The WaPo Editorial Board

Discussion: Washington Post, Weekly Standard Blog, Los Angeles Times, protein wisdom and MSNBC

Sue Sturgis / Facing South:

FACING SOUTH EXCLUSIVE: D.C. nonprofit aimed at women voters behind deceptive N.C. robo-calls — Who's behind the mysterious “robo-calls” that have spread misleading voter information and sown confusion and frustration among North Carolina residents over the last week?

Discussion: AMERICAblog, Talking Points Memo, TPMMuckraker, Ben Smith's Blogs, Open Left, Threat Level, newsobserver.com projects, The RBC, Spin Cycle, Obsidian Wings, The Carpetbagger Report, Jack and Jill Politics, Pandagon, BlueNC and RaceWire

Page Gardner / The Huffington Post:
Confusion Surrounding Robo-Calls in North Carolina

Discussion: Open Left, Hullabaloo and Daily Kos

Nikki Finke / Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood Daily:

Tim Russert Blackballing Arianna At NBC? — UPDATE: Sources close to Arianna Huffington are claiming just that. Arianna Huffington is currently on book tour for her new political tome Right Is Wrong: How The Lunatic Fringe Hijacked America, Shredded The Constitution, And Made Us All Less Safe …

ZP Heller / Brave New Films blog:
Mighty Tim Russert Wields His Clout

Discussion: Nikki Finke's Deadline …

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Getting to Know John McCain — It came to me while I was having dinner with Doris Day. No, not that Doris Day. The Doris Day who is married to Col. Bud Day, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, fighter pilot, Vietnam POW and roommate of John McCain at the Hanoi Hilton.

Discussion: Don Surber, The New Republic, Commentary, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The Daily Dish, Democratic Strategist, The Campaign Spot and The Carpetbagger Report

Paul Kiel / TPMMuckraker:

Cheney's Office: (Do Not) Save The Whales — The latest contribution to good government from Vice President Dick Cheney: preventing the implementation of rules to protect the endangered right whale. — This comes from a letter House sleuth Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent to the White House today …

Discussion: The New Republic and Matthew Yglesias

Ali / Think Progress:
Perino Rewrites Banner: 'Mission Accomplished For These Sailors …

Discussion: The Caucus, Towleroad.com and The Carpetbagger Report

John Derbyshire / The Corner:

Science Equals Murder — In an interview with the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Ben Stein said the following amazing thing in an interview with Paul Crouch, Jr. … You can see the whole shameful thing here. It's a pity Crouch didn't invite the Rev. Jeremiah Wright into the studio for a three-way conversation.

Discussion: Instapundit.com, Hot Air, Dean's World and Chicago Boyz