memeorandum: Morning in America (Mark Binelli/New York Magazine)

10:20 AM ET, July 15, 2008

Top Items:

James Gordon Meek / NY Daily News:

Obama purges Web critique of surge — WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's campaign scrubbed his presidential Web site over the weekend to remove criticism of the U.S. troop “surge” in Iraq, the Daily News has learned. — The presumed Democratic nominee replaced his Iraq issue Web page …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Hot Air, Power Line, MSNBC, Gateway Pundit, New York Post and Riehl World View

Washington Post:

Poll Finds Voters Split on Candidates' Iraq-Pullout Positions — A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds the country split down the middle between those backing Sen. Barack Obama's 16-month timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and those agreeing with Sen. John McCain's position that events …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias, The Swamp, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Marc Ambinder, TPM Election Central, Buck Naked Politics, Behind the Numbers, Patterico's Pontifications, Political Machine, On Deadline, Booman Tribune and democracyarsenal.org

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:

McCain Tops Obama in Commander-in-Chief Test; Stays Competitive on Iraq — Poll Finds 72 Percent of Americans Say McCain Would be Good Commander-in-Chief — Americans divide evenly between Barack Obama and John McCain's approaches to the war in Iraq, and rate McCain much more highly …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Commentary, NewsBusters.org, Political Radar, democracyarsenal.org, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Blogs of War and The Strata-Sphere

Hindrocket / Power Line:

OBAMA'S DISHONEST OP-ED — In this morning's New York Times, Barack Obama published an op-ed on Iraq that presumably previews his “major speech” on the subject tomorrow. Even by Obama's standards, the piece is breathtakingly dishonest. — Obama admits that he opposed the surge …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Weekly Standard Blog, TownHall Blog, VetVoice, Gateway Pundit, Corrente, TPM Election Central, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and PrestoPundit

Satyam / Think Progress:

O'Hanlon ‘livid’ over Obama's plan for withdrawal from Iraq. — O'Hanlon ‘livid’ over Obama's plan for withdrawal from Iraq. — Yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) published an op-ed in the New York Times outlining his strategy to get out of Iraq. The Washington Post reports …

Discussion: www.redstate.com and American Spectator

CNN:

Ventura: I'm not running for Senate — (CNN) — Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura has decided not to run for U.S. Senate in that state, he told CNN's “Larry King Live” Monday night. — Ventura, a former professional wrestler, had said last week he was weighing whether to run.

Discussion: Wonkette, Let Freedom Ring, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, Real Clear Politics, TIME.com, TPM Election Central, Blue Girl, Red State and The American Mind

Aaron Blake / The Hill: Ventura won't run for Senate

Associated Press:
Franken gets Democratic challenger in Senate race

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Weekly Standard Blog

Rasmussen Reports:
Election 2008: Minnesota Senate

Discussion: KCCW-TV, CNN, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, MyDD, The News Buckit, Talking Points Memo, Swing State Project and TPM Election Central

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Want Obama in a Punch Line? First, Find a Joke — What's so funny about Barack Obama? Apparently not very much, at least not yet. — On Monday, The New Yorker magazine tried dipping its toe into broad satire involving Senator Obama with a cover image depicting the presumptive Democratic …

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Politico, American Spectator, The Huffington Post, RobertEmmet, Althouse, Jon Swift, Booman Tribune, Tom Watson and Marc Ambinder

Richard A. Oppel Jr / New York Times:

Suicide Bombers Kill 35 Iraqi Recruits — BAGHDAD — Two suicide bombers posing as army recruits struck an Iraqi base just east of Baquba on Tuesday morning, killing at least 35 Iraqi recruits and wounding 63, according to the Iraqi police and medical officials in Diyala Province.

Discussion: TIME.com

Sebastian Abbot / Associated Press:
Police: Iraq suicide bombers kill 28 army recruits

Discussion: Firedoglake

Rose Garden / White House:

President Bush Discusses Outer Continental Shelf Exploration — Fact Sheet: Allowing Offshore Exploration to Help Address Rising Fuel Costs — THE PRESIDENT: Good afternoon. Across the country, Americans are concerned about the high price of gasoline. Every one of our citizens who drives to work …

Discussion: Don Surber, NewsBusters.org, Blog entry, Get Energy Smart!, Wonk Room, Wake up America and The Swamp

Maddy Sauer / ABCNEWS:

Tillman Investigation Hampered by ‘Near Universal Lack of Recall’ — Report Sought Answers on Who Knew About Friendly Fire Incident — White House officials interviewed as part of an investigation into the misleading information given to the public and the Tillman family in the weeks …

Discussion: Firedoglake and All Spin Zone

Nick Juliano / The Raw Story:
Report: Bush administration milked untruths about Tillman, Lynch during sour times

Discussion: VetVoice and Blue Girl, Red State

Ken Salazar / Washington Post:

Heedless Rush to Oil Shale — To hear Bush touting Western oil shale as the answer to $4 per gallon gasoline, as he did again yesterday in the Rose Garden, you would think it was 1908 . . . or 1920 . . . or 1945 . . . or 1974. Every couple of decades over the past century …

Discussion: Polimom Says, The Oil Drum, Blue Girl, Red State, Swampland and Washington Monthly

Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:

JAMIE GORELICK'S TIES TO FANNIE MAE AND WHAT SHE'S DOING NOW— In reading this article about Crony Capitalism at Fannie Mae (tip to Instapundit), I noticed that Jamie Gorelick was one of the Fannie executives who benefited from inflated bonuses based on Enron-style accounting.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com and Slate

Stephen Labaton / New York Times:
Scramble Led to Rescue Plan on Mortgages

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, Gawker, Paul Krugman and The Foundry

Quinnipiac University:

Women, Blacks Give Obama 9 - Point Lead Over McCain, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Men Are Split And Whites Tip To Republican — With commanding leads among women and young voters and near unanimous support from black voters, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has a 50 …

Discussion: Spin Cycle, Rasmussen Reports and Real Clear Politics

John Bresnahan / The Politico:

Hill Democrats miffed at Obama — After a brief bout of Obamamania, some Capitol Hill Democrats have begun to complain privately that Barack Obama's presidential campaign is insular, uncooperative and inattentive to their hopes for a broad Democratic victory in November.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, The Caucus and Corrente

Eli Lake / New York Sun:

McCain Will Call for a Surge of Troops to Afghanistan — WASHINGTON — Senator McCain will announce plans today for an Iraq-style “surge” of troops in Afghanistan. — An adviser to the campaign told The New York Sun that, in a speech to be delivered in Albuquerque, N.M. …

Discussion: Hot Air

Paul Kane / Washington Post:

A Challenge From the Obama Generation — A 21-year incumbent and an icon of the civil rights movement, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), is racing around his Atlanta district like a first-time candidate. — He has appeared at six or seven churches every Sunday, posed for cameras as he mowed …

Discussion: MSNBC, Associated Press and TIME.com

John R. Bolton / Wall Street Journal:

Israel, Iran and the Bomb — Iran's test salvo of ballistic missiles last week together with recent threatening rhetoric by commanders of the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards emphasizes how close the Middle East is to a fundamental, in fact an irreversible, turning point.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Israel Matzav and Atlas Shrugs