Top Items:
Ariel Leve / Times of London:
Protocol is abandoned as Michelle Obama cosies up to Queen — Protocol seems to be dispensed with when the Obamas come to town. — When the President and his wife, Michelle, attended a reception at Buckingham Palace, the First Lady and the Queen slipped their arms around each other towards the end of the evening.
Discussion:
The Swamp, BBC, Power Line, On Deadline, Jules Crittenden, Washington Post, Political Punch, Fox News, The Corner, Gateway Pundit and Toby Harnden's blog listings
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Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Michelle Obama's Favorable Rating Eclipses Her Husband's — Both president and first lady are quite popular — USA - Favorability - Government and Politics - Presidential Ratings - The Presidency - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have very positive impressions …
Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
The media's giftgate — I know, my head hurts, too, reading the ‘coverage.’ (I'm waiting for some reporter to combine the gift ‘story’ with a detailed description of what Michelle Obama was wearing when she gave the Queen of England the gift.) — Aside from the fact that key facts …
Howard Chua-Eoan / Time:
The Queen and Mrs. Obama: Did the First Lady Break Protocol? — Michelle Obama with Queen Elizabeth II during an audience at Buckingham Palace — The rules are set in stone and so the eagerly watching British media sputtered when the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Michelle's recovery — The newest Gallup numbers show Michelle Obama as more popular even than her husband, with a 72% favorable rating to his 69%. — Her transformation in the public eye is one of David Axelrod's great successes, and really a remarkable thing.
Discussion:
marbury
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
The President Is ‘Keeping Score’ — Chicago politics has moved into the White House. — “Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.” That's what President Barack Obama said to Rep. Peter DeFazio in a closed-door meeting of the House Democratic Caucus last week, according to the Associated Press.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Wake up America, RedState, Commentary, Don Surber, Gateway Pundit and No More Mister Nice Blog
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Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: DIPLOMATIC DECATHLON — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** Diplomatic decathlon: In just a few hours yesterday, President Obama completed the equivalent of a diplomatic decathlon — from pledging nuclear disarmament with the Russians …
Victoria McGrane / The Politico:
Former AIG chief says bailout ‘failed’ — Former AIG CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg says the bailout has “failed” and he's proposing a 10-point alternative focused on saving, not breaking apart, the mega-insurer. — Greenberg will reveal his plan during a hearing before the House Oversight …
Discussion:
TIME.com
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Ted Barrett / CNN:
Senate rejects controversial fast-track budget procedure — WASHINGTON (CNN) - The Senate overwhelmingly voted Wednesday not to use a fast-track budget procedure to pass President Obama's “cap and trade” plan to combat global warming. — The vote was a victory for Republicans …
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Quinnipiac University:
Dodd Falls Way Behind As Approval Drops To Lowest Ever, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Are Angry At AIG Bonuses And Blame Dodd — Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd trails former U.S. Rep. Rob Simmons, a possible Republican challenger, 50 - 34 percent in the 2010 Senate race …
Reid Wilson / The Hill:
Romney breaks with GOP on the issue of deregulation — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said Wednesday that his party needs to take a fresh approach to government regulations in the wake of the economic crisis that has rattled the U.S. and world economies.
Discussion:
Anne Schroeder's Blog
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Aaron Blake / The Hill:
Romney: Don't root for Obama to fail — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) said Wednesday that Republicans shouldn't oppose President Obama as a reflex and should praise him when he succeeds. — Speaking at the National Republican Senatorial Committee's (NRSC) spring dinner …
Discussion:
The Politico
Glenn Thrush / The Politico:
Cantor: Dems ‘overreacting’ to crisis — GOP Whip Eric Cantor thinks his party can retake the House in next year's midterm elections — and accused Democrats of “overreacting” to the economic crisis by embarking on a federal spending spree. — UPDATED: I cleaned up the transcript and transcribed his full quote from the tape.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, The Plum Line, AMERICAblog News, TPMDC and Ben Smith's Blog
Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
Sen. Stevens ‘got screwed’ by Justice — The Justice Department's stunning decision to drop all charges against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) had GOP senators hailing the news as a vindication while government watchdogs fretted over the impact on other corruption cases against public officials.
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The New Republic:
How to Fight a Smear — Dahlia Lithwick has a really good piece lamenting the fact that the mainstream media has failed to take on the right-wing smear campaign against Yale Law prof—and Obama's nominee to serve as the State Department's top lawyer—Harold Koh:
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Mike Mount / CNN:
North Korea is fueling rocket, U.S. military says — CNN Senior Pentagon Producer — WASHINGTON (CNN) — North Korea has begun fueling its long-range rocket, according to a senior U.S. military official. — The fueling signals that the country could be in the final stages of what North Korea …
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Manu Raju / The Politico:
Franken puts Pawlenty in a jam — The legal fight between Al Franken and Norm Coleman is headed to the desk of Gov. Tim Pawlenty — a no-win predicament for a Minnesota Republican with his eye on a White House run in 2012. — Franken won big Tuesday when a three-judge panel allowed …
New York Times:
G-20 Pact Tries to Bridge Gaps on Stimulus and Bank Rules — LONDON — Attempting to bridge deep divides in policy and financial philosophy, the leaders of nearly two dozen of the world's largest economies agreed Thursday to a broad array of new fiscal and regulatory steps, in a desperate effort to revive the paralyzed global economy.
Discussion:
BBC, Green Inc., Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Washington Post, Guardian, TIME.com and FP Passport
Peter Baker / New York Times:
The Words Have Changed, but Have the Policies? — WASHINGTON — When President Obama briefed Congressional leaders at the White House last week on his plans to send more troops to Afghanistan, Senator Harry Reid offered some advice: Whatever you do, he told the president, don't call it a “surge.”
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
New York Times:
Earmarks of Scandal — Speaker Nancy Pelosi should listen to the wise Democrats who are pushing for an ethics inquiry into the far-too-cozy relationship between lawmakers and the PMA Group of superlobbyists. — The Justice Department is investigating whether PMA used illegal straw donors …
The New Republic:
Educating George Will — George F. Will today again displays his unbelievable ignorance about global warming : … First of all, nobody says that reducing carbon emissions will “reverse” global warming. The point is merely to slow the process. This is pretty fundamental.
Peter Hamby / CNN:
Gingrich warns of third party in 2012 — (CNN) — Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is warning of a third party mutiny in 2012 if Republicans don't figure out a way to shape up. — “If the Republicans can't break out of being the right wing party of big government, then I think you would …
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE RIGHT WON'T LET THE TAX FAIRY GO.... The National Review's Andy McCarthy had an item yesterday, which was not an April Fools' joke, and which served as a helpful reminder of why discussing tax policy with conservative activists tends to be frustrating.