memeorandum: Ron Paul, Karl Rove in Rochester for state GOP convention (Matthew Stolle/Post Bulletin)

2:35 PM ET, June 1, 2008

Top Items:

Todd S. Purdum / Vanity Fair:

The Comeback Id — Old friends and longtime aides are wringing their hands over Bill Clinton's post-White House escapades, from the dubious (and secretive) business associations to the media blowups that have bruised his wife's campaign, to the private-jetting around with a skirt-chasing, scandal-tinged posse.

Discussion: Fox News, Booman Tribune and Sister Toldjah

Tim Shipman / Telegraph:

Hillary Clinton to be offered dignified exit — Hillary Clinton will be offered a dignified exit from the presidential race and the prospect of a place in Barack Obama's cabinet under plans for a “negotiated surrender” of her White House ambitions being drawn up by Senator Obama's aides.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Sister Toldjah, NO QUARTER, Hot Air, Fox News, DownWithTyranny!, protein wisdom, Wake up America, Stubborn Facts, Too Sense and Vox Popoli

Zzaki / Political Radar:

Obama Won't Wait for Clinton Concession — ABC News' Teddy Davis and Karen Travers Report: The Obama campaign is not worried about the tempest that erupted at a Washington, D.C., hotel on Saturday when top Clinton adviser Harold Ickes threatened to take the fight over Michigan's delegates all the way to the convention.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, The Jed Report, Tennessee Guerilla Women, TIME.com and The Caucus

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Leaving His Church — Obama on Trinity:

Discussion: Prairie Weather, TalkLeft, Pam's House Blend, The Moderate Voice, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™ and Baltimore Sun

Mark Steyn / The Corner:

Pews you can lose — As one of the early trailblazers for the Rev Wright put it, greater love hath no man than to lay down his friends for his life. In among all the usual presidential ditching of inconvenient associations, I can't think of anything to compare with Obama's dumping of Trinity.

Discussion: Flopping Aces

Dave Newbart / Chicago Sun Times:

Rev. Pfleger: 'They want to kill me...it's been ugly' — The Rev. Michael Pfleger, who helped reignite Barack Obama's pastor problems by mocking Hillary Clinton, said this evening he's received “thousands of hate threats” since his videotaped pulpit rant. — “They want to kill me,” …

Discussion: Associated Press, Gateway Pundit, Lynn Sweet, JammieWearingFool and TIME.com

Dan Gilgoff / God-o-Meter:
Obama's Church Resignation: Not a Rebuke

Discussion: Monroe Anderson

Michael Powell / New York Times:
After Criticism, Obama Quits His Church

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Carpetbagger Report, The Swamp, TPM Election Central, Liberal Values, Redstate and Sweetness & Light

Tom Raum / Associated Press:
Obama quits Chicago church after long controversy

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Hindrocket / Power Line:
Bye-Bye Trinity — Barack Obama announced tonight …

Discussion: Wizbang, GINA COBB, The Democratic Daily and NO QUARTER

Washington Post:

The Iraqi Upturn — THERE'S BEEN a relative lull in news coverage and debate about Iraq in recent weeks — which is odd, because May could turn out to have been one of the most important months of the war. While Washington's attention has been fixed elsewhere, military analysts have watched …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Democracy Project, African American …, Flopping Aces, NewsBusters.org, MSNBC, The Strata-Sphere, Hot Air, The Long War Journal, Commentary and Redstate

Alexandra Zavis / Los Angeles Times:
In Iraq, month ends with lowest U.S. death toll yet

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Neptunus Lex, Attackerman, Weekly Standard, Commentary, Gateway Pundit and missing links

Walter Shapiro / Salon:

The new math in Florida and Michigan — After a day of wrangling in Washington, the magic number for the Democratic presidential nomination is now 2,118, and Hillary Clinton nets 24 largely symbolic votes. — Democratic National Committee Rules and Bylaws Committee members, from left …

Discussion: Firedoglake and MyDD

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
OBAMA HAD THE VOTES FOR 50-50 MI SPLIT

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com, The Seminal, Buck Naked Politics, The Carpetbagger Report, The Corner, Spin Cycle, The Political Carnival, The Daily Dish, Associated Press, Daily Kos, Liberal Values and Marc Ambinder

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Clinton Supporter Ejected From Rules Meeting, “McCain Will Be Our Next President”

Discussion: Don Surber, Buck Naked Politics, The Mahablog, The Reaction, The Jed Report, The Huffington Post, Wake up America and Stop The ACLU

New York Times:
Democrats Approve Deal on Michigan and Florida

Discussion: TalkLeft, Democratic Strategist, Los Angeles Times, The Caucus, Tom Watson, The Swamp, AMERICAblog, Tennessee Guerilla Women, Prairie Weather, rochesterturning.com, BAGnewsNotes, Althouse, Election Law, The Democratic Daily, The Reaction and Ben Smith's Blogs

Beth Reinhard / Naked Politics:
Hastings boycotting Democratic convention

Discussion: the talking dog, The Field, Roger Ailes, Stubborn Facts and TalkLeft

Associated Press:
Officials say Fla., Mich. delegates will get half-votes

Discussion: Washington Post, Fausta's blog, The News Buckit, NY Daily News, Ben Smith's Blogs, AMERICAblog, Redstate, Jules Crittenden, TRAIL BLAZERS, Perez Hilton, Pam's House Blend, The Carpetbagger Report and skippy the bush kangaroo

Stephen Ohlemacher / Associated Press:
Obama used party rules to foil Clinton

Discussion: Salon and New York Times

CNN:
Florida, Michigan: All the delegates, half the votes

Discussion: Commentary, Blue Mass. Group, Uppity Wisconsin, TRAIL BLAZERS and The Caucus

Clark Hoyt / New York Times:

Entitled to Their Opinions, Yes. But Their Facts? — ON May 12, The Times published an Op-Ed article by Edward N. Luttwak, a military historian, who argued that any hopes that a President Barack Obama might improve relations with the Muslim world were unrealistic because Muslims would be …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Ben Smith's Blogs, TPMCafe and Yourish.com

Amanda / Think Progress:

McClellan promises to donate portion of book profits to Iraq veterans. — Yesterday, MoveOn launched a petition calling on former White House press secretary Scott McClellan to donate the proceeds from his new book to veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and The Carpetbagger Report

Ben Feller / Associated Press:

McClellan: Bush should have fired Rove after leak — WASHINGTON - President Bush broke his promise to the country by refusing to fire aide Karl Rove for leaking a CIA agent's identity, said Scott McClellan, the president's chief spokesman for almost three years.

Discussion: Think Progress, The Carpetbagger Report and Roger L. Simon

Frank Rich / New York Times:
McCain's McClellan Nightmare

Discussion: The Sideshow and NewsBusters.org

Kathleen Hennessey / AOL News:

Obama picks up Nevada superdelegate — LAS VEGAS (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has picked up the support of Nevada superdelegate Yvonne Gates, nudging him closer to the nomination. — The former Clark County Commissioner and member of the national party's Rules Committee told …

Discussion: TIME.com