memeorandum: Pragmatic Politics, Forged on the South Side (New York Times)

8:45 PM ET, May 10, 2008

Top Items:

West Virginia could spell trouble for Obama — Scant support among white working-class Democrats, especially men, could dog him into November. — MOOREFIELD, W.VA. — In Hardy County, Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2 to 1. But there is little enthusiasm for Barack …

Discussion: Jules Crittenden, The Caucus, Wake up America, The Politico, Liberal Values, TalkLeft, The Democratic Daily, The Other McCain, Political Punch, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Page, Riehl World View, Oliver Willis, Taylor Marsh and New York Times

Jerome Armstrong / MyDD:

Deal with defeat — I'd humbly suggest, to all the Obama supporters that join us here on this blog, that if you can't stand the heat of the West Virginia primary, you stay out of the kitchen. While I'm at it, I also suggest that you refrain from accusations against West Virginians as being racist …

Discussion: PoliGazette, Don Surber, The Confluence, TalkLeft and Taylor Marsh

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Quote For The Day — “They're convinced [Obama] is a Muslim, a terrorist, a guy who's coming to take away their guns. It's just sad,” - an Obama supporter in West Virginia. — The paranoia and delusions of some parts of white America are no less irrational than the paranoia and delusions of some parts of black America.

Discussion: Eunomia and The New Editor

Robert Novak / Real Clear Politics:

Michelle Vetoes Hillary — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Close-in supporters of Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign are convinced he never will offer the vice presidential nomination to Sen. Hillary Clinton for one overriding reason: Michelle Obama. — The Democratic front-runner's wife …

Discussion: Eunomia, Althouse, TalkLeft, Top of the Ticket and Patterico's Pontifications

Michael Isikoff / Newsweek:

A Convention Quandary — John McCain's choice to manage the GOP convention this summer is lobbyist Doug Goodyear, whose firm once represented Burma's repressive regime. — Rick Gershon / Getty Images — Questions of Perception: Some McCain allies worry about his convention manager choice

Discussion: New York Times, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The Caucus, Daily Kos, The Jed Report, Eunomia and Obsidian Wings

John Kass / Chicago Tribune:

Obama unstained by Chicago Way — Will Barack Obama's presidential candidacy serve his state and city by finally drawing national attention to the sleazy and corrupt politics of Illinois and Chicago? — It is all about context. The presumptive Democratic presidential candidate's politics were born in Chicago.

Discussion: The New Editor and NO QUARTER

New York Times:

Pragmatic Politics, Forged on the South Side — LESSONS LEARNED Barack Obama campaigning for the Illinois State Senate in 1996, a race he easily won. A look at Mr. Obama's tough test in the primaries. Week in Review. — In August 1999, Barack Obama strolled amid the floats and bands making …

Discussion: Corrente, TalkLeft, Prairie Weather and The Page

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

History re-written: Obama never said he would meet personally with Iran without precondition, says advisor; Update: Website excerpt added — LGF nails them to the wall, but the Times's complicity in this whitewash is actually even worse than Charles suggests. From today's story:

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Weekly Standard Blog and Gateway Pundit

Larry Rohter / New York Times:
On McCain, Obama and a Hamas Link

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, American Power, BuzzFlash.org, Commentary, Patterico's Pontifications and CNN

Glenn Kessler / The Trail:
Obama Adviser Tied to Hamas Meetings Resigns

Discussion: NO QUARTER and TalkLeft

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2008: Oregon Senate — Oregon Senate: Smith Still Below 50% in Re-election Bid — Gordon Smith, United States Senator from Oregon, remains below the 50% level of support for the third straight month in Rasmussen Reports polling. Any incumbent who polls below 50% …

Discussion: MyDD, BlueOregon, Daily Kos, Preemptive Karma and TPM Election Central

Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2008: Oregon Presidential Election

Discussion: TalkLeft and FiveThirtyEight.com

Stanley Kurtz / Weekly Standard:

Jeremiah Wright's ‘Trumpet’ — The content of the magazine produced by Barack Obama's pastor reveals the content of his character. — To the question of the moment—What did Barack Obama know and when did he know it? —I answer, Obama knew everything, and he's known it for ages.

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Atlas Shrugs and Roger L. Simon

Bob Herbert / New York Times:

Seeds of Destruction — The Clintons have never understood how to exit the stage gracefully. — Their repertoire has always been deficient in grace and class. So there was Hillary Clinton cold-bloodedly asserting to USA Today that she was the candidate favored by “hard-working Americans …

Discussion: Balloon Juice, Newshoggers.com, AMERICAblog, Prairie Weather, The Reaction, American Street and marbury

Romesh Ratnesar / Time:

Is It Time to Invade Burma? — The disaster in Burma presents the world with perhaps its most serious humanitarian crisis since the 2004 Asian tsunami. By most reliable estimates, close to 100,000 people are dead. Delays in delivering relief to the victims, the inaccessibility …

Discussion: American Power, The American Mind, New York Times, The News Buckit, Commentary and War in Context

Wall Street Journal:

Kick Burma Out of the U.N. — The United Nations this week said the refusal of Burma's government to allow workers into the country's devastated agricultural region was unprecedented in the history of humanitarian relief. The human catastrophe produced by Burma's refusal to permit aid …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, Telegraph, SWJ Blog, Commentary and New York Times

Associated Press:
Myanmar junta hands out aid boxes with generals' names

Discussion: QandO, The Sundries Shack, D-Day and Sweetness & Light

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

How the military analyst program controlled news coverage: in the Pentagon's own words — (updated below) — On the question of whether the Pentagon maintained an illegal covert domestic propaganda program — and on the broader question of whether the American media's political coverage …

Discussion: The Road to Surfdom, American Street and Pharyngula

From Beirut to the Beltway:

Obama: time to engage in diplomacy — Guess what time it is? It's time for Obama's “diplomatic efforts” to come save the day. … Oh the time we wasted by fighting Hizbullah all those years with rockets, invasions of their homes and shutting down their media outlets.

Discussion: Hot Air, Commentary, Gateway Pundit, Blacksmiths of Lebanon, American Street and Los Angeles Times

Walid Phares / American Thinker:
Hezbollah's Beirut Blitz

Discussion: American Power, AMERICAN DIGEST, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Babylon & Beyond

Mustapha / The Beirut Spring, a Lebanese Blog:
Support Free Speech In Lebanon

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Atlas Shrugs and Blacksmiths of Lebanon

Ellen R. Malcolm / Washington Post:

Quitters Never Win — When I was growing up in the 1960s, I wanted to play basketball. In those days, the rules said girls could dribble only three steps and then had to pass the ball. To make sure we didn't overexert ourselves, we weren't allowed to cross the half-court line.