Top Items:
Mark Murray / msnbc.com:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S VOID — The GOP's leadership void... The hits keep on coming for Steele, though the RNC reported raising $11.4 million in March... But that is less than the $13 million-plus the DNC is reporting... Is Bart Stupak going to call it quits?... Obama heads to Prague this evening …
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Anne Schroeder Mullins / The Politico:
STORMY DANIELS SWITCHES TEAMS — Stormy Daniels, the former porn star who has been debating whether to run for Senate in Louisiana for what seems like decades, says she'll make her decision April 15. More important, she announced Tuesday that if she does run — because apparently …
Discussion:
The Note, CNN, Mediaite, Another Black Conservative, Big Government, The Gun Toting Liberal, Below The Beltway, Hotline On Call and Hot Air
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
On the edge: Clues to Steele's future — A week after revelations that the Republican National Committee reimbursed a fundraiser for expenses incurred at a sex-themed nightclub, the reverberations continue to shake the GOP. — The committee's chief of staff has been pushed …
Discussion:
CNN, The Moderate Voice, Guardian, The Daily Beast, The Page, Washington Monthly, The Note and Ben Smith's Blog
Alex Pappas / The Daily Caller:
Former RNC official: Steele struck a deal with Michigan GOP to increase fundraising numbers, possibly to circumvent federal funding limits — Into the RNC coffers, and back out again. — The Republican National Committee at the end of last year struck a deal with the Michigan Republican Party …
Discussion:
TPMDC, Ben Smith's Blog, Liberty Pundits dot net, Hot Air, MyDD, The Note and TPM LiveWire
Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Fear and loathing in the RNC — Among members and insiders at the Republican National Committee, the feelings about chairman Michael Steele boil down to this: Many would be delighted if Steele were to leave the committee and take his controversies with him, but no one, at least so far, is willing to call on Steele to step down.
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog
Washington Post:
McDonnell's Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders — RICHMOND — Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday …
Discussion:
Power Line, The Note, Think Progress, Guardian, Achenblog, PoliBlog, This Just In, NPR Topics and Wonkette
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Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Proud Of Being Ignorant — A lot of you have e-mailed me to note …
Proud Of Being Ignorant — A lot of you have e-mailed me to note …
Discussion:
Prairie Weather
Anita Kumar / Virginia Politics Blog:
Despite previous governors' refusals, McDonnell issues Confederate …
Despite previous governors' refusals, McDonnell issues Confederate …
Discussion:
Foreign Policy, Outside The Beltway, Matthew Yglesias, Political Byline, his vorpal sword, Jack & Jill Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Below The Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reality-Based Community, Grasping Reality …, The Reaction, News & Advance, Little Green Footballs, Think Progress, The Rachel Maddow Show, Balloon Juice and AMERICAblog News
Fox News:
Obama Bans Islam, Jihad From National Security Strategy Document — The change is a significant shift in the National Security Strategy, a document that previously outlined the Bush Doctrine of preventative war.
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Scott Shane / New York Times:
U.S. Approves Targeted Killing of American Cleric — WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks …
Discussion:
Guardian, Opinio Juris, The Washington Independent, ATTACKERMAN, Reuters, Slate, Commentary and ABCNEWS
CNN:
What really happens at Tea Party rallies — (CNN) — When it comes to the Tea Party movement, the stereotypes don't tell the whole story. — Here's what you often see in the coverage of Tea Party rallies: offensive posters blasting President Obama and Democratic leaders …
Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org:
Rudy Giuliani and Joe Scarborough Humiliate Arianna Huffington — Arianna Huffington stuck her foot in her mouth during Tuesday's “Morning Joe” on MSNBC, and ended up being totally humiliated by host Joe Scarborough and guests Rudy Giuliani and Mort Zuckerman.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Rubio's path — Marco Rubio's remarkable fundraising haul — $3.6 million this quarter, he just announced — is a reminder of the scale of his stardom inside the Republican Party, all of whose core constituencies seem to like the guy. — He's already hearing every day (and brushing it off) …
Nina Totenberg / NPR:
Supreme Court May Soon Lack Protestant Justices — text sizeAAA — With U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens talking openly about retirement, attention has focused on the “who” — as in who is on President Obama's short list of potential nominees.
Discussion:
SCOTUSblog, msnbc.com, Slate, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, The Hill and Prairie Weather
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Specter claims Reid deal for Judiciary chair
Valerie Bauman / Associated Press:
Black conservative tea party backers take heat — ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - They've been called Oreos, traitors and Uncle Toms, and are used to having to defend their values. Now black conservatives are really taking heat for their involvement in the mostly white tea party movement …
Reuters:
Volcker: Taxes likely to rise eventually to tame deficit — (Reuters) - The United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax, White House adviser Paul Volcker said on Tuesday.
Margaret Talev / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Health care overhaul spawns mass confusion for public — WASHINGTON — Two weeks after President Barack Obama signed the big health care overhaul into law, Americans are struggling to understand how — and when — the sweeping measure will affect them. — Questions reflecting confusion …
David Leonhardt / New York Times:
Economic Scene: To Cut Health Costs, U.S. Needs to Learn to Say No — How can we learn to say no? — The federal government is now starting to build the institutions that will try to reduce the soaring growth of health care costs. There will be a group to compare the effectiveness …
Mark Hosenball / Newsweek Blogs:
Obama's ‘Intelligence Czar’ Plugs a New Counterterrorism Catchphrase — Not long after President Obama took office, he unofficially put an end to a favorite phrase of his predecessor: the “global war on terror.” True, George W. Bush used it so much that GWOT, as it became known in Washington, had largely lost its impact.
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Quinnipiac University:
Specter Tops Sestak Among Pennsylvania Democrats, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Corbett Has Big Lead In GOP Governor's Primary — Sen. Arlen Specter has a 53 - 32 percent lead among likely Democratic primary voters over U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak in the Senate race, while in the Governor's race …
Sarah Palin / Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Palin to attend rally, benefit in Mpls. — The 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate will attend a rally and a high-bucks fundraiser for the Minnesota Republican Party Wednesday. — For Sarah Palin's Wednesday stop in Minneapolis, the masses will come first, to be followed by the moneyed.
Frank Phillips / Boston Globe:
Politically, Patrick's back in the game — Energized governor gains as 2 rivals spar — “People who write this guy off do so at their own peril. . . . He has started to do what he did before.” — Kevin Sowyrda, Republican media consultant, on Governor Deval Patrick.
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Updated with Video - Gibbs Calls CNN's Erick Erickson's Comments ‘Remarkably Crazy’ — At today's White House press briefing, liberal radio host Bill Press asked Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about recent comments by CNN's Erick Erickson. Specifically, he asked if Erickson's threat to “pull …
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Obama weighs new peace plan for the Middle East — Despite recent turbulence in U.S. relations with Israel, President Obama is “seriously considering” proposing an American peace plan to resolve the Palestinian conflict, according to two top administration officials.