memeorandum: After String of Losses, Republicans Face Crisis (Washington Post)

10:40 AM ET, May 15, 2008

Top Items:

NH Edwards delegate announces he's supporting Obama — PORTSMOUTH, N.H.—A New Hampshire Democratic Party delegate who had supported John Edwards says he will support Barack Obama, now that Edwards has endorsed his former political rival for the party's presidential nominee.

Discussion: Reason Magazine, Daily Kos, Spin Cycle and TPM Election Central

New York Times:

John Edwards Endorses Barack Obama — At a rally in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday evening, John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama, who was on the stage with him, to be the Democratic nominee for president. — Sounding a theme of a nation divided into parts by walls, Mr. Edwards said …

Washington Post / The Trail:

NARAL Affiliates Question Obama Endorsement — NARAL Pro-Choice America affiliates in key swing and primary states are openly distancing themselves from the decision by NARAL Pro-Choice America to endorse Illinois Sen. Barack Obama over Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to be the Democratic nominee for president.

Discussion: TPM Election Central and Salon

Peter Slevin / Washington Post:
Edwards Throws Support to Obama

Discussion: New York Times, NY Daily News, The Caucus, New York Post, MSNBC, Gawker and Electoral-vote.com

Taegan Goddard / Political Insider:
The Case for Edwards as Obama's Running Mate

Discussion: The Jed Report, TalkLeft and No More Mister Nice Blog

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Ex-Rival Edwards Throws His Support to Obama

Discussion: Progress Illinois, TalkLeft, Air America Radio blogs, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, BAGnewsNotes, TPM Election Central, The Page, The New Republic and The Washington Independent

New York Times:

Republican Election Losses Stir Fall Fears — WASHINGTON — The Republican defeat in a special Congressional contest in Mississippi sent waves of apprehension across an already troubled party Wednesday, with some senior Republicans urging Congressional candidates to distance themselves …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, TPM Election Central, Eschaton, DownWithTyranny!, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Page, PoliGazette, Cotton Mouth, BAGnewsNotes, The Swamp and The Smirking Chimp

Jim Tankersley / The Swamp:

Alarm bells for House GOP — They said the first was an outlier. The second, a fluke. But after losing their third seat this year in a special election, House Republicans faced the possibility on Wednesday that if they don't repair their image with voters, they could be in for another rough November.

Discussion: Liberty Street, The Other McCain and Comments from Left Field

The Politico:

GOP cancer: Party could lose 20 more seats — For the past 18 months, ever since the 2006 elections, congressional Republicans have been like a hospital patient trying to convince visitors that he is not really all that sick: a bit under the weather; actually feel better than I sound; should be up and about any day; thanks for asking.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, MyDD, Hot Air and MSNBC

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

The GOP Must Stand for Something — Tuesday's election results highlighted challenges for both Democrats and Republicans. — Republicans received a hard shot in Mississippi. Greg Davis (for whom I campaigned and who was a well-qualified candidate) narrowly lost a special congressional election …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, GregsOpinion.com and Redstate

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Agitated? Irritable? Hostile? Aggressive? Impulsive? Restless?

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Bluestem Prairie

Washington Post:
After String of Losses, Republicans Face Crisis

Discussion: AMERICAblog

CNN:

Bush suggests Obama wants ‘appeasement’ of terrorists — JERUSALEM (CNN) - In a particularly sharp blast from halfway around the world, President Bush suggested Thursday that Sen. Barack Obama and other Democrats are in favor of “appeasement” of terrorists in the same way U.S. leaders appeased Nazis in the run-up to World War II.

Discussion: Think Progress, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blogs, Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report, Spin Cycle, The Plank, The Page, TPM Election Central and Balloon Juice

Mike Carney / On Deadline: Bush equates talking to terrorists with appeasing Nazis

Keith Olbermann / MSNBC:

Olbermann: Mr. President, the war isn't about you — Olbermann: Bush's claim he gave up game to honor dead GIs is ludicrous — SPECIAL COMMENT — President Bush has resorted anew to the sleaziest fear-mongering and mass manipulation of an administration and public life dedicated to realizing the lowest of our expectations.

Discussion: The Other McCain, Macsmind, NewsBusters.org, Liberal Values and The Jed Report

SilentPatriot / Crooks and Liars:

Countdown Special Comment to President Bush: “Shut the hell up.” — In an astoundingly ignorant interview with The Politico's Mike Allen Tuesday, President Bush insinuated that electing a Democrat in November would lead to another attack on America, and revealed that he made the ultimate sacrifice …

Discussion: Flopping Aces, Pam's House Blend, Intel Dump, Swampland and AMERICAblog

Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
Bush's Idea of Sacrifice

Discussion: Associated Press, Wonkette, Obsidian Wings, AMERICAblog, American Street and Think Progress

Cinque Henderson / The New Republic:

Maybe We Can't — The black case for Obama-skepticism. — Ninety percent of black Democrats support Barack Obama. So that might leave an observer wondering: What the hell is up with that other 10 percent? Are they stupid? Do they hate their own race? Do they not understand the historical import of the moment?

Discussion: Oliver Willis, Sister Toldjah, TownHall Blog, Commentary, Stumper and neo-neocon

WXYZ-TV:

Obama Apologizes to WXYZ Reporter — UPDATE: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama has apologized to WXYZ reporter Peggy Agar for calling her “sweetie” during a campaign stop Wednesday in Sterling Heights. — Obama apologized in a voicemail he left on Agar's cell phone at 3:16 p.m:

Jason L. Riley / Wall Street Journal:

Keep the Immigrants, Deport the Multiculturalists — So, whatever happened to immigration as a presidential campaign issue? — In the early caucus and primary states - Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina - the media assured us that immigration was foremost on the minds of voters.

Discussion: The Corner and The Volokh Conspiracy

Mark Steyn / The Corner:

Re: Common Sense from Samuelson — Mark, Robert Samuelson's argument is so self-evident no politician can ever state it. A couple of weeks back, Statistics Canada reported that, after adjustment for inflation, Canadian wage-earners are earning less than in 1980.