Top Items:
Mark Mooney / Political Radar:
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:
Political Machine, Donklephant, American Street, Comments from Left Field and The Moderate Voice
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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 …
Jesse J. Holland / Los Angeles Times:
Obama wins endorsement of government employees union — WASHINGTON — 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:
Spin Cycle, Political Machine, Liberal Values, The Page, Donklephant and 2008 Democratic …
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
Jeff Mapes / Oregonian:
DeFazio throws support to Obama — On Thursday night, Rep. Peter DeFazio became Oregon's third Democratic congressman to endorse Sen.Barack Obama, putting the Illinois politician one delegate closer to the presidential nomination. — DeFazio said that Obama, who will begin a two-day campaign trip …
Peter Nicholas / Los Angeles Times:
For Hillary Clinton, no ‘clear path to victory’ — nor to an exit
For Hillary Clinton, no ‘clear path to victory’ — nor to an exit
Discussion:
The Politico, The Caucus, Democracy in America, Patterico's Pontifications, TalkLeft and Political Radar
New York Times:
Shiite Militias Seize Beirut Neighborhoods — BEIRUT, Lebanon — Shiite militia fighters commandeered the television station and newspaper and political offices of the Sunni parliamentary majority leader, Saad Hariri, on Friday and took control of several Beirut neighborhoods.
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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 …
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The Page
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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 …
Marc Ambinder:
Salter: Obama Attacked McCain's Age — John McCain's senior adviser, Mark Salter, writing in a measured high dudgeon, accuses Barack Obama of playing the Age card and defends the McCain campaign's practice of pointing out Hamas's “endorsement” of Obama:
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CNN:
Obama: McCain is ‘losing his bearings’
Obama: McCain is ‘losing his bearings’
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Redstate, The Swamp, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™, The Carpetbagger Report, The Corner, Hot Air, The RBC, Comments from Left Field, AMERICAblog, Ben Smith's Blogs, Commentary, New York Post, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Macsmind, The Page, Nitpicker, The Sundries Shack, The Jed Report, Boston Globe, PoliGazette, Wake up America, Gateway Pundit and TownHall Blog
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.
CNN:
Al Qaeda in Iraq leader not captured - U.S. — BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) — Abu Ayyub al-Masri, the head of al Qaeda in Iraq, has not been captured, a senior U.S. military official told CNN on Friday. — Iraqi authorities said Thursday that al-Masri had been captured in Mosul.
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:
Too Sense, MSNBC, Brendan Nyhan, No More Mister Nice Blog, Prairie Weather and RADAMISTO
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 …
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
McCain's Vote in 2000 Is Revived in a Ruckus — WASHINGTON — Did Senator John McCain not vote for George W. Bush in 2000? — That question has kicked up a minor ruckus in political circles this week as Arianna Huffington and the McCain campaign have traded he-said, she-said barbs.
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:
Vodkapundit
Eric Schmitt / New York Times:
Pentagon Drops Post in Pakistan for Top General — WASHINGTON — When the Pentagon announced in March that Maj. Gen. Jay W. Hood would become the senior American officer based in Pakistan, it reflected the military's aim to put a crisis-tested veteran in a critical job at a pivotal …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Newshoggers.com, the talking dog, michellemalkin.com and Outside The Beltway