memeorandum: Party Unity Tops Agenda For Democrats (Washington Post)

10:30 AM ET, August 25, 2008

Top Items:

William Kristol / New York Times:

A Joe of His Own? — The anguished cries of Hillary supporters pierced the midday calm here on Saturday, as Barack Obama confirmed that his vice presidential choice was not Clinton, who got about 18 million votes this year running against him, but rather Joe Biden, who gained the support …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Commentary, MSNBC, www.redstate.com, Daily Kos, TBogg, Connecting.the.Dots, TPMCafe, Firedoglake, Real Clear Politics and The Politico

CNN:

CNN poll: Post-Biden poll shows dead heat — DENVER, Colorado (CNN) — It's a dead heat in the race for the White House. The first national poll conducted entirely after Barack Obama publicly named Joe Biden as his running mate suggests that battle for the presidency between the Illinois senator …

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The Moderate Voice, The Swamp, TalkLeft, Real Clear Politics, Achenblog, Jules Crittenden, The Strata-Sphere, www.redstate.com, American Street, Hot Air, Outside The Beltway, FiveThirtyEight.com, JammieWearingFool, Truthdig, American Power, Don Surber and TIME.com

Monica Langley / Wall Street Journal:

Biden Camp Pressed Hard For a Slot on the Ticket — Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate reached a pivotal point in a secret meeting on the night of Aug. 6. Sen. Biden was whisked into a Minneapolis hotel room through …

Discussion: TIME.com

Fred Barnes / Wall Street Journal:

The Democrats Field a Liberal Dream Team — Democratic Sen. Joe Biden, Barack Obama's choice as his vice presidential running mate, may be the most well-liked person in Washington. He's affable and gregarious and nice to everybody, including the press and Republicans.

Discussion: Brendan Nyhan, Political Byline, Commentary, Outside The Beltway and Angry Bear

Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:

Praise of McCain could haunt Biden — Within three hours of the announcement that Joe Biden would be Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate, their Republican rival John McCain was up with a striking ad highlighting Biden's praise for McCain. — And there's plenty more where that came from.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, The Next Right, PoliBlog (TM), Pajamas Media, Associated Press, TIME.com, Bloomberg, Reuters and Agence France Presse

Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:

Experience Is Double-Edged Sword for The Ticket — A week after a young state senator named Barack Obama stood in Chicago's Daley Plaza and denounced the move toward a “dumb war,” Joseph R. Biden Jr. took to the well of the U.S. Senate to make a much more nuanced argument …

Discussion: Commentary

MSNBC:
Aug. 24: Caroline Kennedy, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi …

Discussion: Commentary, The Foundry, TownHall Blog, Patterico's Pontifications and Connecting.the.Dots

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Maybe Biden was angry in the debate?

Discussion: Power Line

Chris Wallace / Fox News:
Transcript: Tim Kaine and Bill Ritter on ‘FOX News Sunday’

Discussion: The Huffington Post

The Politico:

Exclusive: Obama- Clinton feud reignites — DENVER — As Democrats arrived here Sunday for a convention intended to promote party unity, mistrust and resentments continued to boil among top associates of presumptive nominee Barack Obama and his defeated rival, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Sean Wilentz / Newsweek:

A Liberal's Lament — To win, Obama must convince the country that he is a man of substance, not just style. History suggests this won't be easy. — A Bold Agenda: Kennedy, at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1960, outlined the framework of his New Deal update, the New Frontier, to a standing ovation

Discussion: American Prospect, Weekly Standard Blog and NO QUARTER

CNN:
Clinton to release her delegates to Obama

Discussion: Political Machine, NewsBusters.org and The Other McCain

Amy Chozick / Wall Street Journal:
Tensions Linger as Some Clinton Supporters Are Left Frustrated

Discussion: The Caucus

Washington Post:
Party Unity Tops Agenda For Democrats

Discussion: MSNBC

Susan Page / USA Today:
Poll: More than half of Clinton backers still not sold on Obama

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Comments from Left Field, Real Clear Politics, Daily Kos and Reason Magazine

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
Anxious Party Hopes to Show Strong Obama

Discussion: On Deadline and TIME.com

Stephen Ohlemacher / Associated Press:
Dems give Michigan and Florida full voting rights

Discussion: Reuters

James F. Smith / Boston Globe:

Kennedy plans to address DNC — In a development that is sure to bring the house down, US Senator Edward M. Kennedy is expected to attend the Democratic National Convention, most likely to deliver a speech tomorrow night. — Kennedy is battling brain cancer, and his doctors are said to be worried …

Discussion: Think Progress, The Caucus, TIME.com, Brilliant at Breakfast, AMERICAblog News and The Democratic Daily

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

I'm a Brilliant, Original, and Idiosyncratic Thinker But Don't Ever Disagree With Me — Much like Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen, I write for a living. Primarily about U.S. politics and public policy. I write about these things because I think they're important.

Discussion: Eschaton and Brendan Nyhan

The New Republic:

McCain Campaign Tries the Chicken Prank — I almost feel like a dupe writing about the second pro-Hillary ad McCain released today at 6am: It's a stunt, a trick meant to keep him in the press during the Democratic convention and gin up more Hillary-Obama-tension media storylines. Message: neener neener neener.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

New York Times:

Obama Aides Defend Bank's Pay to Biden Son — During the years that Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. was helping the credit card industry win passage of a law making it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection, his son had a consulting agreement that lasted five years …

Discussion: The Corner, MSNBC and Betsy's Page

Michael Calderone / The Politico:

Rendell: Obama coverage was embarrassing — Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell was supposed to give “closing remarks” during this afternoon's Shorenstein Center-sponsored panel discussion with all three Sunday show moderators — NBC's Tom Brokaw, ABC's George Stephanopoulous and CBS's Bob Schieffer …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Don Surber, Scared Monkeys, TVNewser, TIME.com, NewsBusters.org, DownWithTyranny! and Pennsylvania Ave.

Maggie Hendricks / Yahoo! Sports:

Openly gay diver wins gold — Diver Matthew Mitcham, the only openly gay male athlete in the Beijing Olympics, won gold in the 10m platform. He beat Chinese favorite Zhou Luxin by 4.8 points, preventing China from sweeping gold in diving events. Mitcham is the first Aussie to win diving gold since 1924 …