memeorandum: War Journal — My Five Years in Iraq — This Edition: Hardcover (Richard Engel/Simon & Schuster, Inc.)

5:25 PM ET, June 3, 2008

Top Items:

AP tally: Obama effectively clinches nomination … WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, The Sundries Shack, TownHall Blog, Trailhead, Lonewacko, Cliff Schecter, American Street, New York Magazine, The Democratic Daily, Macleans.ca Blog Central, Political Machine, Macsmind, Outside The Beltway, Blue Mass. Group, American Spectator and Sister Toldjah

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Superdelegates surge to Obama — A tsunami of superdelegates is poised to rush to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over the next 12 hours, giving him a mathematical lock on his party's presidential nomination. — The superdelegate surge is likely to swamp a few holdouts within the camp …

Discussion: Detroit Free Press, The Swamp, The Caucus, The Daily Dish, The Field, The Raw Story, Liberal Values, The Democratic Daily, Minnesota Monitor and Pajamas Media

CNN:

Lawmakers: Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton on Tuesday told New York lawmakers she is open to being the running mate of Sen. Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, two of the lawmakers told CNN.

Discussion: New York Times, MSNBC, MoJoBlog, Los Angeles Times, Wonkette, Shakesville, New York Magazine, Pam's House Blend, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and The Washington Independent

Associated Press:

Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP — WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton told colleagues Tuesday she would consider joining Barack Obama as his running mate, and advisers said she was withholding a formal departure from the race partly to use her remaining leverage to press for a spot on the ticket.

CNN:

Clinton backer Feinstein says it's time to end — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Major Hillary Clinton supporter Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday the final primaries mark a “moment of truth” for the New York senator, who should end her campaign. — The California senator also repeated her view …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, TPM Election Central, Top of the Ticket and TIME.com

Associated Press:

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. — WASHINGTON (AP)—Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Daimnation! and Maggie's Farm

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Clinton, pushed as VP, doesn't push back — In a call with the New York congressional delegation that just ended, Hillary Clinton heard calls that she become Barack Obama's running mate — and notably didn't tamp those voices down, two people familiar with the call's contents said.

Discussion: The Raw Story and Salon

Marc Ambinder:
RNC Memo: Dems In Chaos

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Reason Magazine

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Montana Governor, Senators Set To Jump Off Fence

Discussion: Open Left, Washington Wire, 2008 Democratic …, The Trail, The Field, TPM Election Central and Associated Press

Jerry Zremski / Buffalo News:
Clinton says she is willing to serve as Obama's running mate

Discussion: TIME.com, Salon and Commentary

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
On the AP count — It's a bit hard to know what to make of this …

Discussion: Time and The Carpetbagger Report

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
McAuliffe: If Obama Gets Magic Number, Hillary Will Concede

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Open Left, The RBC and Political Machine

Scott Helman / Boston Globe:
Trouble signs as Obama closes in

Discussion: The Fix, The Moderate Voice, Commentary, The Caucus, American Research Group, JammieWearingFool and Macsmind

Associated Press:
Obama picks up 2 Massachusetts superdelegates

Discussion: Associated Press and St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Washington Post:
Obama On Brink Of Historic Victory

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Reaction

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

A Campaign to Hate — Wherever I go — from glittering dinner party to glittering dinner party — the famous and powerful people I meet (for such is my life) tell me how lucky I am to be a journalist in this the greatest of all presidential contests. I tell them, for I am wont to please …

Discussion: marbury, Hot Air, Outside The Beltway, Redstate, Real Clear Politics, TownHall Blog and Shakesville

Cathleen Falsani / Chicago Sun Times:
‘This is a dangerous time in America . . . you have to whisper your thoughts’

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Daily Dish, michellemalkin.com and Betsy's Page

Bob Herbert / New York Times:
A Gift to the G.O.P. — Talk about self-inflicted wounds.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Real Clear Politics, Weekly Standard Blog and Commentary

Muckraker / Muckraked:

Bush: We'll Be in Iraq for 40 Years, Hamas Election Was “Good Thing” — When NBC News correspondent Richard Engel sat down with President Bush last year for an interview, he had little idea how much Bush would reveal about his true intentions and his real sentiments about the war on terror and America's allies and enemies.

Discussion: Think Progress and War and Piece

Richard Engel / Simon & Schuster, Inc.:
War Journal — My Five Years in Iraq — This Edition: Hardcover

Discussion: Cato-at-liberty

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:

Obama's comfort level at the non-existent Applebee's salad bar — For over eight years now, we've been hearing that Democrats have been losing presidential elections because people don't want to have a beer with the party's nominees. This always struck me as an odd formulation …

Discussion: Eunomia

David Brooks / New York Times:
Calling Dr. Doom — It took Christopher Columbus about 70 days …

Discussion: The Next Right, Connecting.the.Dots and TownHall Blog

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:

New Questions about Vice President Cheney's Role in CIA Leak — Chairman Waxman urges Attorney General Mukasey to turn over the FBI interviews of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, citing new information from the FBI interview of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and the recent disclosures by Scott McClellan.

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Nukes & Spooks and The Washington Independent

Faiz / Think Progress:
Waxman calls for release of FBI interviews with Bush and Cheney.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Emptywheel and Needlenose

Amz / Democracy Corps:

Another Congressional Wave Election — In the latest Democracy Corps battleground survey of 1,600 likely voters conducted May 19-26, 2008, we modified our sample design to include more hard-to-reach Republican-held districts. And even in this totally Republican battleground that Bush won …

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Raw Story, TPM Election Central and Naked Politics

Associated Press:

Former screen siren Bardot convicted in race case — PARIS - Brigitte Bardot was convicted Tuesday of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France. — A Paris court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner.

Discussion: Law Blog, Reason Magazine, Don Surber and The Volokh Conspiracy

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:

HALPERIN'S TAKE: What Obama And Clinton Underestimate — Obama underestimates: — 1. The intensely loyal feelings many of Clinton's supporters have about her - and the intensely negative feelings they have about him. — 2. That any delay in choosing a running mate will only bring rampant speculation …

Discussion: marbury

Alisyn Camerota / Alisyn in the Greenroom:

Beckel's Obama Bombshell — Were you watching at 6:25 when Democratic strategist Bob Beckel dropped a bomb on us? He said he'd heard through his political pipeline that a big shoe was about to drop on the Obama campaign. It has something to do with Michelle Obama.