Top Items:
Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
DNC chairman under Bill Clinton: Unite behind Obama — WASHINGTON (AP) — A leader of the Democratic Party under Bill Clinton has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama and is encouraging fellow Democrats to “heal the rift in our party” and unite behind the Illinois senator.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Political Punch, The Caucus, MyDD, Donklephant, Open Left and The Jed Report
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Southern Political Report:
InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Survey: North Carolina Democratic Primary: Hillary Clinton Takes Lead Over Obama — A survey of 571 registered likely voters in North Carolina's May 6 Democratic primary shows Sen. Hillary Clinton having moved from a double digit deficit in an InsiderAdvantage poll taken …
Mark Pazniokas / Capitol Watch:
Hillary To Pick Up A Super-delegate — John Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO and a super-delegate, is expected to announce Thursday his support for Hillary Rodham Clinton. — His announcement follows a commitment to Clinton by Bill George, the president of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, who also is a super-delegate.
WRAL-TV:
Poll: Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama in tight race for N.C. votes — RALEIGH, N.C. — It is an exciting time for North Carolina voters. For the first time in decades, they have a say in the Democratic primary for president. — A WRAL news poll released Wednesday shows Barack Obama's double-digit lead …
New York Times:
Loss and Furor Take Toll on Obama, Poll Finds — WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama's aura of inevitability in the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination has diminished after his loss in the Pennsylvania primary and amid the furor over his former pastor, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: MCCAIN'S BUSH PROBLEM — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** McCain's Bush problem: Yes, Jeremiah Wright could be a huge liability for Obama if he becomes the nominee. Sure, questions about Clinton's honesty and trustworthiness could also hurt …
Discussion:
The Swamp
New York Times:
A Strained Wright-Obama Bond Finally Snaps — Late Monday night, in the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, N.C., Barack Obama's long, slow fuse burned to an end. Earlier that day he had thumbed through his BlackBerry, reading accounts of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.'s latest explosive comments on race and America.
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Jason Linkins / The Huffington Post:
Kerry Rips MSNBC On Wright: ‘You People Need To Let Go Of This’ — Today, John Kerry officially became the 87,436th person to receive one of the three or four versions of the same Reverend Wright question MSNBC has been asking everyone it comes in contact with, including their plants and pets.
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
While Clinton Focuses, Obama Is Distracted — LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Pumped up and focused, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is putting in 16-hour days in Indiana this week as if she — and not her embattled rival, Senator Barack Obama — needs a campaign-changing moment in Tuesday's primary here.
Washington Post:
Clinton Gas-Tax Proposal Criticized — A growing chorus — including a top congressional Democrat — labeled Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's proposal for suspending the federal gasoline tax ineffective and shortsighted yesterday, even as she continued to paint Sen. Barack Obama as insensitive to drivers' woes for not endorsing the plan.
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Chris Good / The Hill:
Veterans to Unfurl Replica ‘Mission Accomplished’ Banner at White House — Along with Iraq war veterans and concerned citizens, Iraq Campaign 2008 says it will unfurl a 50-foot replica “Mission Accomplished” banner at the White House tomorrow, marking the five-year anniversary of President Bush's now-infamous speech.
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Qassim Abdul-Zahra / Associated Press:
Official: Iraqi delegation goes to Iran to discuss militias — BAGHDAD - An Iraqi delegation traveled to Iran with evidence that proves the Islamic republic is arming and training of Shiite militias in Iraq, an official said Thursday. — Five Shiite politicians left Wednesday carrying documents …
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Daniel Henninger / Wall Street Journal:
Where Were Obama's Friends? — It's tough being Everyman. — Way back when, before the angry and antic prophet Jeremiah rose to smite him, Barack Obama appeared before us as an open presidential vessel, into which many poured their political dreams. — Foremost were black Americans.
Spencer / Attackerman:
Hell No, No Premonition Coulda Seen This! — Seven months of declined U.S. casualties in Iraq are over — as even Bob Gates is acknowledging — with 48 fallen soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors taken from us in April. McClatchy reports that two soldiers were killed in Anbar last month …
The Big Trunk / Power Line:
Wright's wrong — Barack Obama gave his “More Perfect Union” speech in Philadelphia on March 18 to tamp down the furor caused by the release of videos excerpts of his pastor's sermons. Obama himself had proclaimed the importance of his pastor to his life over the past twenty years in books and interviews.
Discussion:
TownHall Blog
New York Times:
Qaeda Chief in Somalia Killed by U.S. Airstike — NAIROBI, Kenya — Aden Hashi Ayro, one of Al Qaeda's top operatives in East Africa and the leader of the Islamist comeback in Somalia, was killed Thursday morning by an American airstrike, according to American and Somali officials.
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway