memeorandum: April 27: Howard Dean, political roundtable (MSNBC)

10:25 AM ET, April 30, 2008

Top Items:

All aboard the Jive Talk Express — My syndicated column today deconstructs Barack Obama's pitiful performance yesterday. Try as he might, he simply cannot disown the un-disownable preacher of hate. That press conference yesterday renders the Philadelphia speech from March null and void.

Noam Scheiber / The New Republic:

Why'd Obama Join Trinity in the First Place? — The question is worth revisiting now that his ex-pastor is threatening his entire campaign. — I've heard two basic theories since the Wright tapes first surfaced in March. The first is cynical: Obama was a black politician in Chicago …

Discussion: TalkLeft, protein wisdom, QandO and Top of the Ticket

Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:

REV-ENGE IS SWEET FOR ‘BETRAYED’ PASTOR — ALBANY - The Rev. Jeremiah Wright would be happy to see Barack Obama's presidential campaign derailed because the pastor is fuming that his former congregant has “betrayed” their 20-year relationship, — The Post has learned.

Discussion: Spin Cycle and JammieWearingFool

New York Times:

Mr. Obama and Rev. Wright — It took more time than it should have, but on Tuesday Barack Obama firmly rejected the racism and paranoia of his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., and he made it clear that the preacher does not represent him, his politics or his campaign.

Discussion: Hot Air, goodCRIMETHINK and AMERICAblog

New York Times:

Obama's Break With Ex-Pastor Sets Sharp Shift in Tone — WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Senator Barack Obama broke forcefully on Tuesday with his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., in an effort to curtail a drama of race, values, patriotism and betrayal that has enveloped his presidential candidacy at a critical juncture.

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Scared Monkeys, MSNBC, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Confluence, The Page, The Washington Independent, JustOneMinute and TalkLeft

Byron York / The Corner:
Why the Wright Problem Won't Go Away

Discussion: The Washington Independent and National Review

Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:
WAS REV. WRIGHT OBAMA'S SPIRITUAL MENTOR OR SPIRITUAL ADVISER?

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Weekly Standard Blog and TalkLeft

Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics:
The Anatomy of Wright's Disinvitation

Discussion: Too Sense, Betsy's Page, American Thinker, Trailhead and Slate

New York Times:
Obama's Remarks on Wright

MSNBC:

April 27: Howard Dean, political roundtable — MR. TIM RUSSERT: Our issues this Sunday: — SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY): I have received more votes by the people who have voted than anybody else. — SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL): If we've won the most delegates from the voters …

Discussion: Brendan Nyhan and Political Punch

FactCheck.org:

DNC vs. McCain — Two Democratic Party TV ads hit McCain on Iraq and the economy. We supply context and corrections. — The Democratic National Committee has produced two TV ads against McCain, hoping to soften him up while the party figures out who its own presidential nominee will be.

Discussion: Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report, QandO, Redstate, Flopping Aces, Marc Ambinder and Sister Toldjah

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

GOP gives Clinton the silent treatment — Hillary Clinton's decisive Pennsylvania primary win last week may have reinvigorated her campaign, but you wouldn't know it from listening to the Republican party. — The National Republican Congressional Committee has purchased $500,000 in anti-Barack …

Discussion: NY Daily News

The Politico:

Obama may win Hill superdelegate fight — Capitol Hill insiders say the battle for congressional superdelegates is over, and one Senate supporter of Barack Obama is hinting strongly that he has prevailed over Hillary Rodham Clinton. — While more than 80 Democrats in the House and Senate …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, The Page, Taegan Goddard's …, The Caucus and Spin Cycle

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: Firedoglake and DownWithTyranny!

Floyd Abrams / Wall Street Journal:

Foreign Law and the First Amendment — Late in 1941, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion which, for the first time in our history, starkly distinguished American protection of speech from that of England. — Two union members had been convicted of assaulting nonunion truck drivers.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, The Corner, The Volokh Conspiracy and Outside The Beltway

Amy Chozick / Wall Street Journal:

In Evoking Good of '90s, Clinton Risks Memories of the Bad — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Sen. Hillary Clinton is reminding economically hard-hit voters how much better they had it in the 1990s, but bringing up the past also risks taking them back to the scandals and partisan divides associated …

Discussion: The Swamp and The Page

Benjamin J. Romano / Seattle Times:

Microsoft device helps police pluck evidence from cyberscene of crime — Microsoft has developed a small plug-in device that investigators can use to quickly extract forensic data from computers that may have been used in crimes. — The COFEE, which stands for Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor …

Discussion: Digg and Engadget

Mary Beth Schneider / Indianapolis Star:

Clinton to Democrats: Don't switch sides — Candidate who wins nomination should get all Democrats' votes in November, senator says — Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday it would be “the height of political foolishness” for Democrats to back a Republican, or not vote at all …

Discussion: MSNBC and The Page

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Hillary's Interview With the Indianapolis Star

Discussion: Anglachel's Journal

Megan McArdle:

The health of a nation — Just got off the McCain campaign's conference call on its health care agenda. No earth shaking news, but it was interesting listening to the campaign defending its choices. — The plan's heart is mostly in the right place: break the link between employment and health care …

Discussion: Marginal Revolution, Hot Air, New York Times, The American Mind and TownHall Blog

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 and The Page