memeorandum: Gates ousts Air Force leaders in historic shake-up (Robert Burns/Associated Press)

9:45 PM ET, June 5, 2008

Top Items:

Adam Nagourney / The Caucus:

Clinton Says V.P. Is Obama's Choice — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today disavowed a campaign by some of her supporters to pressure Senator Barack Obama into choosing her as a running-mate, saying they were acting on their own and the decision on who to pick was “Senator Obama's and his alone.”

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, TIME.com, City Room, Comments from Left Field and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Gets Slight Bounce With Clinton as VP — Slight majority of Democrats say Obama should choose Clinton — PRINCETON, NJ — A slight majority of Democrats say that Barack Obama should choose Hillary Clinton as his Democratic running mate for the fall election.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft and Donklephant

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Ferraro wants Obama to pay Clinton's debt — Geraldine Ferraro has a plan for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to recoup her sizable campaign debt: Have Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) fundraisers pick up the tab. — After a long primary season, the Clinton campaign's expenditures …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money and AMERICAblog

Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:
GOP fears Obama's money machine

Discussion: The Caucus, Fox News, The Washington Independent, The Swamp, TPM Election Central, The Plank, MoJoBlog, Democratic Strategist, MSNBC, The Seminal, The American Scene, TIME.com, Oliver Willis and Real Clear Politics

Justin M. Sizemore / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
HOW OBAMA DID IT — Big states, small states, caucuses and campaign strategy

Discussion: Ross Douthat, The Caucus and The Plank

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
An Early Gallup Road Map to the McCain-Obama Matchup

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Oliver Willis and American Power

Kelly Moeller / Political Punch:

Obama Confronts Lieberman On McCain Advocacy, Tone, on Senate Floor — Sen. Joe Lieberman, the self-described “Independent Democrat” who caucuses with the Democratic party in the Senate even though he has endorsed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, got some tough talk from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois …

Discussion: The Raw Story, Spin Cycle, The Field, The Carpetbagger Report, Salon, The Washington Independent, Daily Kos, Comments from Left Field, Corrente, The Moderate Voice, Political Radar, Sister Toldjah, Don Surber, TPM Election Central, Pottersville, Swampland and The Huffington Post

Matt / Think Progress:

DeLay On Obama: ‘Unless He Proves Me Wrong, He Is A Marxist’ — On right-winger Mike Gallagher's radio show today, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), who is currently facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, launched a fringe attack on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) by claiming that he is a Marxist.

Discussion: Political Punch

Andy Barr / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room: DeLay: ‘Unless Obama Proves Me Wrong, He Is a Marxist’

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Senate Panel Accuses Bush of Iraq Exaggerations — WASHINGTON — In a report long delayed by partisan squabbling, the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday accused President Bush and Vice President Cheney of taking the country to war in Iraq by exaggerating evidence of links between Saddam Hussein …

Discussion: Hot Air, Reuters, The Crypt's Blogs, Gateway Pundit, PERRspectives Blog, BlueOregon, RADAMISTO, The Gavel, TPMMuckraker, Macsmind and Liberal Values

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard Blog:
Jay Rockefeller's Amnesia; White House Weakness

Discussion: Attackerman

Joe Galloway / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Senate committee: Bush knew Iraq claims weren't true

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, The Carpetbagger Report and Hullabaloo

Satyam / Think Progress:
Iraq Report Undermines Bush's Claim That He Is A ‘Credible’ …

Discussion: U.S. Senate Select Committee …

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
PHASE II — The Senate intel committee's Phase II report …

Discussion: Think Progress, TPMMuckraker and The Poor Man Institute

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Obama denies a rumor and questions the question — Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday batted down rumors circulating on the Internet and mentioned on some cable news shows of the existence of a video of his wife using a derogatory term for white people, and criticized a reporter for asking him about the rumor …

Discussion: NO QUARTER, Gateway Pundit and Hot Air

David Weigel / Reason Magazine:
Everything's Gonna Be All White

Discussion: protein wisdom, American Spectator, Rezko Watch and RADAMISTO

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Obama And Dean Team Up To Recast The Political Map — Sixteen months after he launched his campaign for the White House, Sen. Barack Obama may, just now, be entering his campaign's most perilous stage. Facing a rift of sorts within the Democratic Party and concerns over the scope of his political base …

Discussion: protein wisdom, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™, Washington Monthly, TPM Election Central, Ben Smith's Blogs, Cliff Schecter, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Swamp, Outside The Beltway and MyDD

Associated Press:

Obama keeps Dean at DNC, bans lobbyist money — WASHINGTON - Barack Obama, now cast as the Democrats' standard-bearer, moved quickly to put his imprint on the national party Thursday, eager to reinforce its fundraising operation and pursue an aggressive general election campaign.

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, TPM Election Central, Buck Naked Politics, Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blogs, Washington Wire, Political Machine, D-Day, Yahoo! News, Salon and Donklephant

Robert Burns / Associated Press:

Gates ousts Air Force leaders in historic shake-up — WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force's top military and civilian leaders Thursday, holding them to account in a historic Pentagon shake-up after embarrassing nuclear mix-ups. — Gates announced at a news conference …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Argghhh!

Thom Shanker / New York Times:
2 Top Leaders of Air Force Pushed Out After Inquiry

Discussion: The Swamp, Crooks and Liars, The Crypt's Blogs, Matthew Yglesias and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Noah Shachtman / Danger Room:
Air Force Chief, Secretary Resign (Updated Yet Again)

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org, The Swamp, Argghhh! and Outside The Beltway

Staten Island Advance:

Son of GOP nominee throws hat into ring for Staten Island's seat — It could be father versus son in the race for Staten Island's seat in the House of Representatives. — An already topsy-turvy political year grew even more so today when Francis M. Powers, the son of GOP designee Francis H. Powers …

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Daily Kos, The Daily Gotham, Swing State Project, Spin Cycle and TPM Election Central

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Stay classy, Kos: Markos goes after McCain's ... teeth — Bookmark this post, and recall it every single time a progressive blogger accuses us of “distractions” and irrelevancies when it comes to criticizing Barack Obama. Today, Markos gives his readers a substantive reason to vote against John McCain — his yellowed teeth:

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NewsBusters.org, Sister Toldjah, Redstate and JammieWearingFool

Kos / Daily Kos:
McCain's teeth — Hunter already mocked John McCain's website today …

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Little Green Footballs

Glenn Thrush / Spin Cycle:

Most NY Reps to skip Hillary sendoff — Sorry Hillary, they've got other plans. — The vast majority of Hillary Rodham Clinton's congressional supporters in New York will be skipping her Saturday drop-out announcement in Washington - citing reasons ranging from town halls back in their districts …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket and Gateway Pundit

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:

HALPERIN'S TAKE: What John McCain Underestimates — 1. The astonishing enthusiasm that Obama inspires in his supporters — and how much it contrasts with the respect, but not passion, McCain enjoys from his own backers. (And the size of Obama's crowds...)

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Hot Air, Eunomia and The American Mind

Lenny Ben-David / JCPA Jerusalem Center …:

Robert Kennedy's 1948 Reports from Palestine — In April 1948, one month before Israel declared independence, Robert Kennedy, then 22, traveled to Palestine to report on the conflict for the Boston Post. His four dispatches from the scene were published in June 1948.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and The Belmont Club

Rasmussen Reports:

Election 2008: Missouri Presidential Election — Missouri: Obama 43% McCain 42% — The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Missouri shows that Barack Obama and John McCain are essentially even if the race for the Show-Me State's Electoral College votes.

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com and Daily Kos

Jackie Kucinich / The Hill:

McCain snubs President Bush's fundraising dinner — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will not attend President Bush's fundraising dinner for congressional candidates in another indication that the GOP nominee is distancing himself from the man he wants to replace.

Discussion: TPMMuckraker