memeorandum: Sen. Clinton and the Campaign (New York Times)

1:20 PM ET, May 9, 2008

Top Items:

Obama Now Takes The Lead in Superdelegates Too — ABC News' Karen Travers Reports: For the first time this campaign season, Barack Obama has surpassed Hillary Clinton's support among superdelegates, according to the ABC News delegate estimate. — Sen. Obama, D-Ill., picked up two superdelegates …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Daily Dish, Political Machine, Comments from Left Field, Donklephant, American Street, Sister Toldjah and The Moderate Voice

Robert Schwaneberg / New Jersey Online:

Congressman Payne, NJ superdelegate, switches from Clinton to Obama — Rep. Donald Payne (D-10th Dist.), a New Jersey superdelegate who had been supporting Hillary Clinton for president, has switched his allegiance to Barack Obama. — “After careful consideration, I have reached the conclusion …

Discussion: Washington Wire, thedailyreview.com, Matthew Yglesias, Talking Points Memo, MSNBC, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Caucus, Donklephant, TPM Election Central and Real Clear Politics

Larry C. Johnson / The Huffington Post:

The Obama Democrats' Ostrich Moment — The full-court press to force Hillary from the presidential race ain't working. She will win the West Virginia, Kentucky, and Puerto Rico primaries. — But the screwed-up, patchwork system the Democrats are using to choose delegates has given small states …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Bang the Drum, The Campaign Spot and Washington Post

Jeff Mapes / Oregonian: DeFazio throws support to Obama

Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press:

Obama wins endorsement of government employees union — WASHINGTON (AP) — The American Federation of Government Employees endorsed Barack Obama Friday, giving the Illinois senator fresh momentum toward capturing the Democratic nomination for president. — “Our people, I think …

Discussion: The Politico, Associated Press, Spin Cycle, Liberal Values, Politicker MD, Donklephant and 2008 Democratic …

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Thinking About November — The fight for the Democratic nomination seems to be winding down. It's not completely over, but the odds now overwhelmingly favor Barack Obama. — Assuming that Mr. Obama is the nominee, he'll lead a party that, judging by the usual indicators …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, TalkLeft, Too Sense, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, Brendan Nyhan, MSNBC, Prairie Weather, RADAMISTO and Associated Press

New York Times:

Sen. Clinton and the Campaign — There is a lot of talk that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is now fated to lose the Democratic nomination and should pull out of the race. We believe it is her right to stay in the fight and challenge Senator Barack Obama as long as she has the desire and the means to do so.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and Los Angeles Times

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:
The Card Clinton Is Playing

Discussion: TalkLeft, Booman Tribune, Wake up America and Commentary

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Don't Expect Clinton to Quit Before Superdelegates Decide

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, MSNBC, The Page and MyDD

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Damsel of Distress — This is an amazing story. The Democratic Party has a winner. It has a nominee. You know this because he has the most votes and the most elected delegates, and there's no way, mathematically, his opponent can get past him. Even after the worst two weeks of his campaign …

Discussion: MSNBC, Connecting.the.Dots and BuzzFlash.org

Christopher / Back to Iraq:

All Hell Breaking Loose in Beirut — DUBAI — First of all, thanks to people for writing to check on me. The long radio silence has worried people, but there's a reason for it. My wife and I left for Dubai back in February, and there's not been much to write about from here.

Discussion: Attackerman, Blacksmiths of Lebanon and From Beirut to the Beltway

Spencer / Attackerman:
Sometimes I Feel This World Is An Evil Place

Discussion: Agence France Presse and Jules Crittenden

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Rahm Emanuel: Obama Is Our Presumptive Nominee — One of the most influential (and thus far subdued) voices in the Democratic primary all but declared the contest over on Friday morning. — “At this point, Barack is the presumptive nominee,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel during the New Yorker's magazine conference.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Marc Ambinder, Boston Globe, AMERICAblog and The Page

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

OIL PRICES AND DRIVING HABITS....So how much have Americans cut back on driving in the past few months? Here are a couple of data points. — First, on the right, is the weekly amount of motor gasoline produced in the United States as a percent of the amount produced in the same week last year.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Bellows

Think Progress:
ThinkFast: May 9, 2008 — As gas and crude oil costs jumped …

Discussion: Washington Post, Detroit News and UPI

USA Today: Gas prices rattle Americans

Krooney / The Page:

Did Edwards Tip His Hand? — Former presidential candidate appears on MSNBC, refuses to reveal who he voted for on Tuesday. — But says in passing- “I just voted for him on Tuesday.” Or was it “just voted for 'em?” Or something else? … Also says there's “a great likelihood” …

Discussion: Cliff Schecter …, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Raw Story and The Washington Independent

Julie Bosman / The Caucus:
Rewinding on Edwards: Did He Vote for ‘Him’?

Discussion: TalkLeft and Political Punch

New York Times:

NY Times, Washington Post Confirm Arianna's Story That McCain Did Not Vote For Bush — On Monday, Arianna reported that John McCain told her he had not voted for George W. Bush in 2000. Today, both The New York Times AND The Washington Post published articles with sources confirming John McCain …

Discussion: The Trail, Fox News and Political Machine

Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
McCain's Vote in 2000 Is Revived in a Ruckus

Discussion: Think Progress, The Daily Dish, TownHall Blog, Democracy in America, Real Clear Politics and AMERICAblog

Andrew G. Biggs / Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Faulty Tax Argument — As the presidential campaign heats up, a key issue is whether to extend the 2001 and 2003 income tax cuts, which expire in 2011. John McCain wants to make the tax cuts permanent. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to let the rates rise.

Discussion: Power Line, TownHall Blog and Chronicle of the Conspiracy

Amanda / Think Progress:

Republicans vote against Mother's Day. — On Wednesday, the House took up the seemingly uncontroversial H. Res. 1113, “Celebrating the role of mothers in the United States and supporting the goals and ideals of Mother's Day.” The resolution initially passed 412 to 0, until Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) rose in protest:

Discussion: Firedoglake, Examiner, The Carpetbagger Report, Mercury Rising and Shakesville

Economist:

Almost there — Barack Obama deserves the nomination. It is not yet clear whether he deserves the presidency — IN CARTOONS there is often a moment when a hapless character, having galloped over a cliff, is still unaware of the fact and hangs suspended in the air, legs pumping wildly …

Discussion: The Page

Jay Cost / HorseRaceBlog:
Not Quite Yet — Elite opinion on the Democratic race …

Discussion: race42008.com, Democratic Strategist, Corrente and Eunomia

National Journal Online:

Q&A: James Clyburn — The House Majority Whip On The State Of The Democratic Primary Campaign — Fri. — National Journal's Linda Douglass spoke with House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., for the May 9 edition of “National Journal On Air.” This is a transcript of their conversation.

Discussion: MSNBC, Hotline On Call, The Page, MOMocrats, Salon, Raw Story and the talking dog

Peggy O'Hare / Houston Chronicle:

3 accused of using corpse head to smoke pot — The Kingwood teenager's story of decapitating a corpse and using the head to smoke marijuana was so outlandish that at first Houston Police Department senior police officer Jim Adkins did not believe it. — Yet, Kevin Wade Jones Jr., 17 …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Wake up America and Vodkapundit