memeorandum: She Won't Back Down — Hillary plays hardball in her bid for the vice-presidency. (Fred Barnes/Weekly Standard)

3:00 PM ET, June 4, 2008

Top Items:

She's Still Here! — He thought a little thing like winning would stop her? — Oh, Bambi. — Whoever said that after denial comes acceptance hadn't met the Clintons. — If Hillary could not have an acceptance speech, she wasn't going to have acceptance.

Discussion: Wake up America, Real Clear Politics, New York Post, NY Daily News, New York Magazine, Jules Crittenden, Althouse, Blue Girl, Red State, LewRockwell.com Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Vox Popoli and Don Surber

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

In Defeat, Clinton Graciously Pretends to Win — NEW YORK “What does Hillary want?” — Hillary Clinton put the question to her supporters here Tuesday night, moments after her opponent, Barack Obama, clinched the Democratic presidential nomination. — What Hillary did not want to do was to concede defeat.

Discussion: New York Times, HillaryClinton.com, The Swamp, Gawker, Associated Press, The Carpetbagger Report, PSoTD, Outside The Beltway and Prairie Weather

Roger Simon / The Politico:

Obama's first test: Handling Hillary — Barack Obama would like to remind you of something: He won and she didn't. It's about him now and not her. He has made history, and she is history. — Not that Hillary Clinton admitted to any of that in her nonconcession concession speech Tuesday night …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Newsweek, TalkLeft, Commentary, MyDD, TIME.com and AMERICAblog

Michael Crowley / The Stump:

In the Clinton Bunker — How fitting that, on the night Barack Obama finally claimed the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton delivered her non-concession speech from a concrete bunker. To reach the Baruch College gymnasium where Hillary spoke with such surprising defiance her supporters …

Discussion: MSNBC, The Mahablog, marbury and The Washington Independent

David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:
Exit polls show challenge for Obama

Discussion: Clayton Cramer's BLOG

Jonathan Freedland / Guardian:

Carter tells Obama: don't pick Clinton — Barack Obama should not pick Hillary Clinton as his vice-presidential nominee, former president Jimmy Carter has told the Guardian. — “I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made,” said Carter. “That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates.”

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Raw Story, TalkLeft, Fox News, Truthdig, skippy the bush kangaroo, TIME.com and Gateway Pundit

Dan Balz / The Trail:

Clinton's Vice Presidential Campaign — Hillary Clinton is “absolutely ready” to discuss the vice presidency with Barack Obama and has authorized supporters to encourage Obama to pick her if he feels that will help unify the party and help Democrats win the White House, according to Robert Johnson …

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Political Punch and Media Blog

Dick Morris / Real Clear Politics:
No Ménage-à-trois for Obama

Discussion: Althouse

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
She Won't Back Down — Hillary plays hardball in her bid for the vice-presidency.

Discussion: Guardian Unlimited, Matthew Yglesias and Opinion L.A.

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs: Carter: Don't pick Hillary

HillBuzz:

What's on the Michelle Obama Rant Tape? — Here's what's known so far: — The Michelle Obama Rant Tape was filmed between June 26th - July 1st 2004 in Chicago, IL at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference at Trinity United Church: specifically the Women's Event.

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, NO QUARTER, The Strata-Sphere, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Volokh Conspiracy, Wake up America, CANNONFIRE, Confederate Yankee, Gateway Pundit, Flopping Aces, QandO, Stop The ACLU, EconoPundit and Pajamas Media

Wall Street Journal:
The Obama We Don't Know — With Barack Obama clinching …

Discussion: Commentary, Real Clear Politics, National Review and Gateway Pundit

The Campaign Spot:
It's Not a Tape, And Won't Be a Big Scandal, But It's Something

Discussion: Spin Cycle, TownHall Blog and Commentary

Daniel W. Reilly / The Crypt's Blogs:

Obama talks with Clinton, Lieberman — Outside the Capitol this morning, Sen. Barack Obama was asked by reporters if he was disappointed by the tone of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's non-concession speech last night. — His answer: “I thought Sen. Clinton, after a long-fought campaign …

Michael Powell / New York Times:

Barack Obama: Calm in the Swirl of History — He gives the appearance of a strikingly laid-back victor, this presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. — On the day before the night he made history, Barack Obama shot hoops at the Back Bay Club in Chicago, and called the odd superdelegate or two.

Discussion: The Swamp, Achenblog, TPMCafe, Balloon Juice and Philly.com

Washington Post:
Strategy Was Based On Winning Delegates, Not Battlegrounds

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, AMERICAblog, The Caucus and Eschaton

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Next on Agenda Is Clinton's Role

Discussion: Associated Press, MSNBC, Los Angeles Times, Politics Nation, The Caucus, Comments from Left Field, ABCNEWS, QandO, PoliGazette, Political Radar and AMERICAblog

Hilary Rosen / The Huffington Post:

I Am Not a Bargaining Chip, I Am a Democrat — Senator Clinton's speech last night was a justifiably proud recitation of her accomplishments over the course of this campaign, but it did not end right. She didn't do what she should have done. As hard and as painful as it might have been …

Discussion: AMERICAblog and Digg

Ann Althouse / Althouse:

I went to bed last night thinking there's no way Barack Obama should pick Hillary Clinton as his running mate. — But I woke up this morning, turned on the TV news to see a rerun of her speech from last night and thought: He must pick her! — 1. If she wants it, she's earned it. 18 million votes.

Discussion: PoliBlog (TM), Philly.com and MyDD

Marc Ambinder:

Clinton Supporters Offer To Help McCain — Matt Burns, the spokesman for the GOP convention in St. Paul e-mails to say that the RNC's convention office in St. Paul has received numerous telephone calls in the last few hours from people who identify themselves as Clinton supporters asking how they can help Sen. McCain.

Discussion: Wizbang, Hot Air and The Washington Independent

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

BREAKING NEWS: Dean, Pelosi, Reid set Friday deadline for superdelegates' choices, move to force end to Clinton bid — With the final primary concluded barely hours before, top Democratic Party leaders in Washington early this morning ratcheted up the pressure to force all remaining uncommitted superdelegates …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Wake up America, The Sundries Shack, Hot Air, Wizbang and Los Angeles Times

John B. Judis / The New Republic:

Is Obama Al Smith or John F. Kennedy? — America has elected a president from a once-marginalized social group before. But the country has rejected such a candidate, too. — Now that he has clinched the Democratic nomination, pundits will mostly gauge Barack Obama's prospects …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Donpedro / Economists for Obama:

Question for McCain: Food Prices — While waiting for the South Dakota polls to close and Obama to be declared the nominee, I'm watching McCain's speech. I don't think I realized before just how awful a speaker he is. It's hard to listen to what he's saying because his style of reading the teleprompter is so distracting.

Discussion: Salon, Swords Crossed and Angry Bear