memeorandum: Team Of Rivals Gaining Traction? (Andrew Sullivan/The Daily Dish)

6:00 PM ET, May 23, 2008

Top Items:

HILLARY RAISES ASSASSINATION ISSUE — DEFENDS LONG-RUNNING CAMPAIGN — Hillary Clinton today brought up the assassination of Sen. Robert Kennedy while defending her decision to stay in the race against Barack Obama. — “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won …

Philly.com:

In most inclusive count, Clinton has the numbers — Lost in the excitement of Barack Obama's coronation this week was an inconvenient fact of Tuesday's results: Hillary Clinton netted approximately 150,000 votes and is now poised to finish the primary season as the popular-vote leader.

Discussion: MyDD, TalkLeft, protein wisdom, MSNBC, Top of the Ticket and The Caucus

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

FORMAL TALKS? — CNN is reporting this morning that the Obama and Clinton campaigns are in formal talks about ending her quest for the Democratic nomination and possibly giving her the VP slot. — These apparent talks are described by CNN as being in a “very preliminary” stage and as “difficult.”

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Bloomberg, Spin Cycle, Wake up America, American Prospect, Donklephant, The Field, The New Republic, The Carpetbagger Report, Salon, Washington Monthly and The Reaction

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

Hillary cites RFK assassination in explaining why she's still in race — Hillary Clinton today cited the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign to explain why she was remaining in the race despite long odds. — “We all remember Bobby Kennedy was assassinated …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Swamp

Devlin Barrett / Associated Press:

Clinton regrets Kennedy assassination remark — SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton quickly apologized Friday after citing the June 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as a reason to remain in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination despite increasingly long odds.

Discussion: GINA COBB, NO QUARTER and Agence France Presse

Hillary Clinton / CNN:

Sources: Clinton, Obama supporters discussing exit strategies — (CNN) — Several close friends and supporters of Hillary Clinton tell CNN they are pushing for a “graceful exit strategy” that would allow the Clinton and Obama camps to come together, and for the New York senator to save face …

Discussion: Argus Leader, Washington Wire, Talking Points Memo and The Carpetbagger Report

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Hillary's Top Fundraising Official Says There's “Risk” Of Obama Loss If She Isn't Invited To Be Veep — In a move that could foreshadow a public push from the Hillary forces to get Barack Obama to invite her on the ticket, Hillary's top campaign fundraising official said in an interview that there's a …

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Marc Ambinder, Balloon Juice, Swampland, Booman Tribune, AMERICAblog, Ben Smith's Blogs and Wonkette

Foon Rhee / Boston Globe:

Clinton mentions Kennedy assassination — Hillary Clinton appeared to raise the specter of assassination in defending her decision to stay in the Democratic race despite Barack Obama closing in on the delegate number to clinch. — In an interview with the editorial board of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader …

Discussion: Sadly, No! and Bob Cesca's Goddamn …

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
HILLARY INVOKES RFK ASSASSINATION

Discussion: The Corner and Swampland

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Clinton And Obama Camps: CNN Report Of “Talks” Between Campaigns Is 100% False

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Ben Smith's Blogs and Salon

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog:
IT'S CONFIRMED: Hillary invoked Bobby Kennedy's June assassination …

Discussion: Philly.com and Slog

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:
Clinton, Defending Nomination Battle, Cites R.F.K. Assassination

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Stumper and Political Punch

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Team Of Rivals Gaining Traction?

Discussion: James Poulos and Eunomia

John Hawkins / Right Wing News:

Why I Will No Longer Support John McCain For President — I've never been a fan of John McCain. Not only is he not a conservative, he may have done more damage to the conservative movement than any other Republican over the last few years. Look back at the Gang-of-14, global warming …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Campaign Spot, Outside The Beltway, michellemalkin.com, The Moderate Voice, PoliBlog (TM), The Sundries Shack, The Raw Story, Balloon Juice, Hot Air, American Spectator, Sister Toldjah, American Power and Riehl World View

littlegreenfootballs.com:

Mainstreaming Terrorism to Sell Donuts — I didn't believe this story when people first started emailing about it; but sure enough, its true. Dunkin Donuts, the venerable old fried dough seller, is the latest American firm to casually promote the symbol of Palestinian terrorism and the intifada …

Discussion: The Jawa Report

Michelle Malkin:
Of donuts and dumb celebrities

Discussion: Wonkette

TPMCafe:

Liberal Pundits Offer Unprecedented Apology — Alternate Universe Washington, DC (AUP)—An influential group of liberal pundits and political commentators has formed a new organization to apologize for their columns on Ned Lamont's 2006 challenge to Joe Lieberman (R - Forallintentsandpurposes) and to call for their own resignations.

Ali / Think Progress:

McCain: ‘I Recieved The Highest Award From Literally Every Veterans Organization In America’ — Yesterday, the Senate voted 75-22 to pass Sen. Jim Webb's (D-VA) 21st Century GI Bill, in a rebuke to President Bush, who opposes the measure. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) skipped the vote to hold …

Discussion: IAVA, Daily Oklahoman, The Carpetbagger Report, I Am TRex, Capitol Briefing and Brave New Films blog

Mark Kleiman / The RBC:
Bad day for John McCain, Part II: anger management

Discussion: AlterNet.org, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, TPM Election Central and Hullabaloo

Jeff Emanuel online:

Congressman admits Democrats “stretched the facts,” misled anti-war supporters about supposed plans for ending War — Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-PA) has been a fairly undistinguished member of the House of Representatives for nearly a quarter of a century.

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ, The American Mind, Wake up America, Wizbang, The Sundries Shack, The Jawa Report and Flopping Aces

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

THE VIDEO — Everybody's talking about Hillary's RFK remark. So before getting into what it means, we wanted to share the actual video with you, to draw your own conclusions ... Late Update: Here is Sen. Clinton's statement clarifying her earlier remarks a few hours later ...

Discussion: The New Republic

John Amato / Crooks and Liars:

In 2000, McCain admits he'd be too old to run in 2008 — As McCain gets ready to release his medical records in a very limited fashion today, I've come across a clip back on 08/01/2000. He's being interviewed by Jim Lehrer on News Hour and admits that he'd be too old to run in 2008. — Download |

Discussion: Think Progress, Weekly Standard Blog and The Political Carnival

Michael C. Bender / Palm Beach Post:

Obama's talk with The Palm Beach Post — BOCA RATON — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama spent time with The Palm Beach Post this morning, talking about the impact of the Florida's primary on his race with Hillary Clinton, whether to seat the state's convention delegates and what a national catastrophe fund should look like.

Discussion: TalkLeft and Taylor Marsh