memeorandum: Obama's paid staff dwarfing McCain's (Brian C. Mooney/Boston Globe)

3:00 PM ET, July 20, 2008

Top Items:

Political leverage in the 51st state — It's almost a convention of politics that when a politician says he was misquoted, but doesn't detail the misquote or offer an alternative, he's really saying he wishes he hadn't said what he did, or that he needs to issue a pro-forma denial to please someone.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Carpetbagger Report

Spiegel Online:

Iraqi Leader Stirs up US Campaign — Obama is pleased, but McCain certainly is not. In an interview with SPIEGEL, Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki expressed support for Obama's troop withdrawal plans. Despite a half-hearted retraction, the comments have stirred up the US presidential campaign.

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Matthew Yglesias, The Strata-Sphere, Taylor Marsh, The Impolitic, The Political Carnival and Political Punch

Tarek Al-Issawi / Bloomberg:

Maliki Doesn't Endorse Obama Troop Withdrawal Plan — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki hasn't endorsed any specific plan for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, a government spokesman said, a day after a magazine report that he backed Barack Obama's proposal.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, The Caucus, TIME.com, The Raw Story, Democrats.com, Wake up America and The Nation

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

NICE TRY — Der Spiegel is standing by its story, its translation of what Maliki said. — And as Ben Smith aptly puts it, “It's almost a convention of politics that when a politician says he was misquoted, but doesn't detail the misquote or offer an alternative, he's really saying he wishes …

Discussion: Eschaton

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

DID MALIKI ENDORSE OBAMA'S PLAN? — From NBC's Mark Murray — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel has set off political shockwaves here in the United States. Here is their conversation... SPIEGEL: Germany, after World War II …

Discussion: The Trail and The Jed Report

Spiegel Online:
‘The Tenure of Coalition Troops in Iraq Should Be Limited’

Discussion: MSNBC, The Trail, The Huffington Post and Reuters

Matthew Yglesias:
The Walkback — I think you had to regard some effort at walking …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, Hot Air, The Democratic Daily and The Jed Report

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
PRETTY WEAK — The McCain campaign has just come out with …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Buck Naked Politics, The Daily Dish, Blue Girl, Red State, Gateway Pundit and Israel Matzav

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
OBAMA, THE PRESS, AND IRAQ....The big story on Saturday …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Macsmind, Gun Toting Liberal Blog, The Sideshow, Althouse, The Jed Report, Hullabaloo, The Huffington Post, The Caucus, RADAMISTO and The RBC

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Rendering public opinion irrelevant — One of the most striking aspects of our political discourse, particularly during election time, is how efficiently certain views that deviate from the elite consensus are banished from sight — simply prohibited — even when those views are held by the vast majority of citizens.

New York Times:

Closed Mouths, but Open Tryouts to Make the Team — For all the lengths Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have gone to in keeping their hunt for a vice president under wraps, their deliberations are in some ways being conducted in plain sight. — There was Mr. McCain appearing yet again …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, TPM Election Central, The Carpetbagger Report, TIME.com, Brendan Nyhan and The Other McCain

Brian C. Mooney / Boston Globe:

Obama's paid staff dwarfing McCain's — Democrat targets 50 states as rival focuses on tossups — John McCain is sending smaller staffs to some states but spending more on TV ads than his rival, Barack Obama. (Carolyn Kaster/associated Press) — Behind the headlines about the unprecedented success …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and TIME.com

Gretchen Morgenson / New York Times:

Given a Shovel, Americans Dig Deeper Into Debt — The collection agencies call at least 20 times a day. For a little quiet, Diane McLeod stashes her phone in the dishwasher. — But right up until she hit the wall financially, Ms. McLeod was a dream customer for lenders.

Discussion: Don Surber, CL&P Blog and The Big Picture

Lee Siegel / New York Times:

We're Not Laughing at You, or With You — Enough of the labyrinthine Iraq war, the interminable mortgage crisis and the plummeting economy. Let's talk about the bloody crossroads where satire goes searching for its target. — Last week, in the aftermath of The New Yorker's …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and NewsBusters.org

Eleanor Clift / Newsweek:
A Perception Problem — What will keep The New Yorker's image from sticking?

Discussion: Commentary and Don Surber

CNN:

Obama: Situation in Afghanistan is ‘urgent’ — KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday that United States needs to focus on Afghanistan in its battle against terrorism. — “The Afghan government needs to do more. But we have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan.

Discussion: American Street, Commentary, TIME.com, The Glittering Eye, Gateway Pundit and Connecting.the.Dots

Washington Post:
Obama Gets Look At Afghan War Zone

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Commentary, Informed Comment, New York Times, Top of the Ticket, Guardian, Los Angeles Times and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
Obama's Visit Renews Focus on Afghanistan

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Jim Tankersley / The Swamp:

Inauguration tix selling fast in Illinois — Like Cubs or White Sox fans booking their World Series seats at the All-Star Break, Illinois residents are snapping up tickets to celebrate Barack Obama's potential inauguration in Washington next year. — Never mind that native-son Obama …

Hindrocket / Power Line:

BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON GLOBAL WARMING — David Evans was a consultant to the “Australian Greenhouse Office” from 1999 to 2005. He is a former global warming alarmist; however, he is also a scientist who goes where the evidence leads him. In this important article in The Australian …

Discussion: Maggie's Farm

John P. Avlon / The Politico:

Obama's steady centrism — Throughout the left-wing blogosphere, the cry has come: Barack Obama is moving away from them, and to the center. “Moving to the middle is for losers,” cried the politically ambidextrous Arianna Huffington. He's “betraying his claims of being a new kind of politician …

Discussion: TalkLeft and The Next Right