memeorandum: Fund-Raiser Convicted in Illinois Bribery Scheme (New York Times)

11:25 PM ET, June 4, 2008

Top Items:

Clinton Will Drop Out of Presidential Race — Barack Obama Captures Nomination After Intense Democratic Fight — It's over. — Sen. Hillary Clinton will drop out of the presidential race on Friday, ending her historic bid for the White House and ceding the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama, ABC News has learned.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Fox News, Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Political Machine, Comments from Left Field, Wizbang, The Democratic Daily, Hot Air, Tom Watson and MyDD

Adam Nagourney / The Caucus:

Clinton to Suspend Campaign, Endorse Obama — Updated | 10 p.m. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton will endorse Senator Barack Obama on Saturday, bringing a close to her campaign for the White House, aides said. Her decision came after Democrats urged her Wednesday to leave the race and allow the party to coalesce around Mr. Obama.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Crooks and Liars, Newshoggers.com, The Stump, Jack and Jill Politics, Taylor Marsh, The Field, NewsBusters.org, The Impolitic, PoliBlog (TM), Donklephant, JammieWearingFool and LiberalOasis

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: Ben Smith's Blogs, Political Machine, Top of the Ticket and American Street

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: The Caucus, The Democratic Daily, BlueOregon, Pam's House Blend, AMERICAblog and MyDD

Greg Wallace / Political Radar:

Rangel: Clinton should get on with it — ABC News' Kate Snow Reports: One of Hillary Clinton's most loyal backers on Capitol Hill is voicing frustration about the position she has put her supporters in. — In an interview with ABC News, Rep. Charles Rangel said he thinks it is time for Clinton …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Ed OKeefe / Political Radar:
Clinton Says Goodbye to Campaign Staffers

Discussion: TIME.com, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™ and Spin Cycle

Daniel W. Reilly / The Crypt's Blogs:
Obama talks with Clinton, Lieberman

Discussion: New York Times and The Swamp

Dan Balz / The Trail:
Clinton's Vice Presidential Campaign

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, AMERICAblog, TPM Election Central, Political Punch and Hot Air

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Congressional Clinton backers mull letter to Obama

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Tales from the Trail, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog

CNN:
Can Obama afford to say no to Clinton?

Discussion: TalkLeft

ABCNEWS:
Clinton to Concede Race to Obama Friday

Discussion: The Caucus and Swampland

The Raw Story:
IT'S OFFICIAL: CLINTON TO EXIT Will express support for Obama, party unity

Discussion: The Swamp, CNN, TalkLeft and Pam's House Blend

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Hillary Ally Says She Authorized Him To Launch Campaign To Make Her Veep

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and Balloon Juice

Chicago Tribune:

Rezko convicted of corruption — A federal jury today convicted developer Antoin “Tony” Rezko of corruption charges for trading on his clout as a top adviser and fundraiser to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. — Rezko's guilty verdict on 16 of 24 corruption counts could have broad repercussions for Blagojevich …

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Swamp, The Trail, Hot Air, TIME.com, michellemalkin.com, Rhymes With Right, Flopping Aces, The American Mind, Wake up America, On Deadline, Don Surber and Wonkette

Jeralyn / TalkLeft:
Rezko Guilty Verdict: The Relevance

Discussion: myfoxchicago.com and Rezko Watch

New York Times:
Fund-Raiser Convicted in Illinois Bribery Scheme

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Natasha Korecki / Chicago Sun Times:
Rezko found guilty on 16 charges, not guilty on 8

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, The Belmont Club and PrestoPundit

WBBM-TV:
Jury Finds Tony Rezko Guilty On 16 Of 24 Charges

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

HillBuzz:

What's on the Michelle Obama Rant Tape? — NOTE: Here's what's known so far. We will update this thread as new information comes in. As we have repeated several times, we have never seen the Michelle Obama Rant Tape ourselves — we started researching this about 4 weeks ago …

Discussion: NO QUARTER, Atlas Shrugs, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Campaign Spot, Confederate Yankee, No More Mister Nice Blog, American Power, Flopping Aces and Stop The ACLU

The Campaign Spot:
Latest Updates on Larry Johnson's Holy Grail, a.k.a., The Michelle Obama Tape

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, Rezko Watch, Gateway Pundit and HillBuzz

Steven Gray / Time:
The Unretirement of Reverend Wright

Discussion: Hot Air, protein wisdom and TIME.com

Hilary Bok / Washington Monthly:

HISTORY... I didn't support Barack Obama because of his race. I didn't need to: I just thought he was the best candidate by far, mostly for wonky reasons. (I started down the road to supporting Obama when I read this sentence from a Washington Monthly article: “On the campaign trail in 2004 …

Discussion: Eschaton

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

TPMTV: MCCAIN LEAVES FOX SPEECHLESS — If you were awful enough to delight in John McCain's prebuttal speech trainwreck last night, feast your eyes on the Fox News commentators trying to decide if it was just bad or downright terrible ... (Speaking personally, this episode is one you simply do not want to miss.)

Discussion: New York Magazine and skippy the bush kangaroo

Matt Lewis / TownHall Blog:

McCain's Blogger Call Gets Slightly Heated ... I just finished up a conference call with Sen. John McCain, which became heated at times. — When Quin Hillyer of The Examiner noted the perception that some conservatives believe McCain has been disrespectful to them in the past …

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, Hot Air, American Spectator, Whiskey Fire, Marc Ambinder and Lonewacko

David Alexander / Tales from the Trail:

Hamas unendorses Obama after speech to pro-Israel lobby — WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may have taken care of his Hamas problem onWednesday with a speech to the AIPAC pro-Israel lobby. — The Illinois senator was ridiculed, criticized and generally harassed …

Discussion: The Caucus, Ben Smith's Blogs, Hot Air, Sister Toldjah, Gateway Pundit, Liberal Values, Marc Ambinder, Capitol Briefing and Political Punch

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Obama Campaign Will Use Six Consulting ‘Teams’ — Less than 24 hours after securing the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama is putting in place six teams of campaign consultants that will handle advertising, polling and direct-mail efforts for the general election campaign.

Discussion: TIME.com and Oliver Willis

Jill Lawless / Associated Press:

Excitement about Obama spreads around the world — LONDON (AP) — Excitement about Barack Obama emerged as a global phenomenon Wednesday as commentators and citizens around the world welcomed the news that he had sealed the Democratic presidential nomination.

Discussion: Commentary and GINA COBB

Martin Kady II / The Crypt's Blogs:

Not that anyone's watching, but the Senate has shut down — Overshadowed by the hype of Barack Obama's victory lap on the Senate floor today is a simmering dispute between Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell over President Bush's remaining judicial nominees.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, The Next Right and Wonk Room