Top Items:
Doyle McManus / Los Angeles Times:
Obama holds 12-point lead over McCain, poll finds — A Times/Bloomberg Poll says that in a two-man contest, 49% of respondents favor Barack Obama, while 37% support John McCain. With Ralph Nader and Bob Barr added to the mix, Obama holds 15-point edge. — » Discuss Article WASHINGTON …
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WSJ.com:
With Clinton Out, More Boys on the Bus — Elizabeth Holmes reports on the McCain campaign. — In the decades since Timothy Crouse penned the famous campaign trail diary “Boys on the Bus,” the moniker has been amended to a more gender-friendly one. But on Monday in Phoenix the label was more than appropriate.
Discussion:
The Corner
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
McCain's Core Advantage — In politics, we're having a Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr kind of year. It was Karr, a French writer, who coined the phrase plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, which means, as Barack Obama has shown, that the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Digby / Hullabaloo:
They Like Him, They Really Like Him — Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present the Constitutional Sell-out of the year award (brought to you by The Politico and the good people from Depends): … . — What a guy. Clearly, those who demand that the party should hew closer to the positions …
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Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
FISA: Call Your Wobbly FISA Senator — It's no secret, the Senate is getting ready to follow the House's lead and screw us on FISA, letting telecom criminals off the hook. (For a real belly full of disgust, read this article on a preening Steny Hoyer in Politico. Did he write it himself?)
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Hoyer hails FISA bill as “a significant victory for the Democratic Party” — Just as Nancy Pelosi ran to Time to justify her support for the FISA bill, Steny Hoyer yesterday spouted his justifications to The Politico and said this: … In other words, Democrats achieved a “significant victory” …
Lynn Sweet:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says —"I'm a victim of sexism myself all the time." — WASHINGTON—"I'm a victim of sexism myself all the time," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) discussing Tuesday morning whether sexism played a significant role in the defeat of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Taylor Marsh, StephenBainbridge.com, Hot Air and TIME.com
David Brooks / New York Times:
The Bush Paradox — Let's go back and consider how the world looked in the winter of 2006-2007. Iraq was in free fall, with horrific massacres and ethnic cleansing that sent a steady stream of bad news across the world media. The American public delivered a stunning electoral judgment …
Discussion:
Washington Post, Matthew Yglesias, GINA COBB, Commentary, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Firedoglake, The Jawa Report, Gateway Pundit, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Martini Revolution, The New Republic, Balloon Juice, The Daily Dish, Daily Pundit, The Mahablog, protein wisdom, No More Mister Nice Blog, Betsy's Page, JustOneMinute and Connecting.the.Dots
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Joe Klein / Swampland:
Surge Protection — I think David Brooks has it essentially right here about Bush's stubborness—as opposed to his knowledge of strategy or tactics or the situation on the ground in Iraq—as the reason why he made the correct choice on Iraq in late 2006. But, as Brooks says, history is complicated …
Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:
Report Sees Illegal Hiring Practices at Justice Department — WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials …
Discussion:
CNN, ACSBlog, Law Blog, Think Progress, On Deadline, Firedoglake, The Crypt's Blogs, Big Brass Blog, The Carpetbagger Report, TalkLeft, Truthdig and ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES
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Pamela Heisey / MAPLight.org:
SPOTLIGHT: Telco PACs Gave $8K to Dems Who Changed Their Vote on FISA — For Immediate Release: — HOUSE DEMS WHO CHANGED THEIR VOTE TO SUPPORT FISA BILL, GIVING IMMUNITY TO TELCOS, RECEIVED, ON AVERAGE, $8,359 IN PAC CONTRIBUTIONS FROM VERIZON, AT&T, AND SPRINT
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Chris Frates / The Crypt's Blogs:
Dems who flipped on FISA immunity see more telecom cash
Dems who flipped on FISA immunity see more telecom cash
Discussion:
Hullabaloo
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
OBAMA/MCCAIN: ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL’ BENEFIT? — Yesterday, McCain admitted that his offshore drilling proposal would probably have mostly “psychological” benefits, NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy reports. At a town hall in Fresno that primarily focused on energy issues, McCain was asked a question …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Wonk Room, The Carpetbagger Report, The Jed Report, Comments from Left Field and Matthew Yglesias
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Alex Kingsbury / US News:
Seizing Laptops and Cameras Without Cause — A controversial customs practice creates a legal backlash — Returning from a brief vacation to Germany in February, Bill Hogan was selected for additional screening by customs officials at Dulles International Airport outside Washington …
Jerry Seinfeld / New York Times:
Dying Is Hard. Comedy Is Harder. — THE honest truth is, for a comedian, even death is just a premise to make jokes about. I know this because I was on the phone with George Carlin nine days ago and we were making some death jokes. We were talking about Tim Russert and Bo Diddley and George said: “I feel safe for a while.
Ryan Grim / The Politico:
Retiring GOP reps frustrate leadership — House Republican leaders might be forgiven for thinking that retiring rank-and-file Republicans would soften the blow caused by their departures by casting some cost-free votes down the party line. — But they would be mistaken.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Color Oregon blue? — A fairly stunning new ad from Oregon's Republican senator Gordon Smith leaves little doubt as to which way the wind is blowing there. — In the ad, Smith, running hard away from Bush, associates himself at length and explicitly with Obama.
Discussion:
TIME.com