Top Items:
The Politico:
The GOP's special failure — All the evidence pointing to monster Republican House gains this fall—the Scott Brown upset win in Massachusetts, the scary polling numbers in once-safely Democratic districts, the ever-rising number of Democratic seats thought to be in jeopardy—was contradicted Tuesday.
Discussion:
National Review, Reuters, New York Times, PostPartisan, American Power, American Spectator, The Fix, The Other McCain, Hot Air, The Hill, Right Now, Balloon Juice, Conservatives4Palin.com, msnbc.com, skippy the bush kangaroo, First Draft, The Monkey Cage, Townhall.com, Liberal Values, No More Mister Nice Blog, Jules Crittenden, Daily Kos, NY Daily News, Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, Riehl World View, The Eye, Taylor Marsh, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Plain Dealer, Think Progress, Gothamist, Outside The Beltway, AMERICAblog News, Maggie's Farm, The Corner on National …, Ballot Box and ABCNEWS
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
‘WHERE IS THE WAVE?’.... Arguably the most important election yesterday wasn't a primary race, but rather, the congressional special election in Pennsylvania's 12th — a contest to fill the vacancy left by the late Rep. Jack Murtha (D). — Observers in both parties considered the race something of a bellwether.
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Reflecting on PA-12 — My biggest takeaway from the surprising outcome in PA-12 last night, besides the fact that Mark Critz and the DCCC did an amazing job? There's a limit to just how unpopular Republicans can be and still hope to make gains everywhere this fall.
Daniel Larison / Eunomia:
PA-12 and The Single Greatest Pushback in American History
PA-12 and The Single Greatest Pushback in American History
Discussion:
Beltway Confidential, Weekly Standard, Swing State Project, Right Now, The Daily Dish and Balloon Juice
Jay Cost / HorseRaceBlog:
Is PA-12 a Bellwether? — Politico's Jonathan Martin …
Is PA-12 a Bellwether? — Politico's Jonathan Martin …
Discussion:
The Corner on National …, Eunomia, No More Mister Nice Blog, Real Clear Politics and FiveThirtyEight
Michael Barone / Beltway Confidential:
Republican lesson from Pennsylvania 12 special
Republican lesson from Pennsylvania 12 special
Discussion:
Riehl World View
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
What Tuesday Really Meant — There were five races that we were tracking closely over the course of the evening — and I've already seen analysts drawing flimsy conclusions from each of them. — Pennsylvania — Democratic Senate primary — The results: Joe Sestak defeats Arlen Specter, 54-46.
Discussion:
msnbc.com, Associated Press, blogs.alternet.org, The Politico, Christian Science Monitor, FrumForum, Philly.com, About.com US Liberal Politics, The New Republic, Crooks and Liars, A plain blog about politics, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, BuzzFlash.org, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Dish, The Monkey Cage and Confederate Yankee
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
More on Rand Paul — So is Rand Paul, on a personal level, just a deeply unlikeable guy? One of the weird things about his acceptance speech last night was that he held it at the local country club — to what looked uncannily like a members only crowd. This morning he defended the venue …
Glen Bolger / Public Opinion Strategies:
The Death Of Independence — Analysts are pointing toward last night's primary results (the defeat of Arlen Specter, Trey Grayson, and the run-off for Blanche Lincoln) as - when combined with Bob Bennett and Alan Mollohan's defeats - proof of anti-incumbency and anti-Washington establishment.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, Time, Ballot Box, Ben Smith's Blog, DISSENTING JUSTICE, The Fix and Outside The Beltway
Martina Stewart / CNN:
Come to Kentucky, Rand Paul tells Obama — (CNN) - Fresh off his win in Kentucky's Republican Senate primary, Dr. Rand Paul is welcoming the attention from national Democrats that his insurgent, Tea Party-backed candidacy is generating. — Tim Kaine, chairman of the Democratic National Committee …
Discussion:
The Politico, The Note, Opinionator, New York Times, Hendrik Hertzberg and Below The Beltway
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Rand Paul — It is quite an understatement to say that I am …
Rand Paul — It is quite an understatement to say that I am …
Discussion:
FrumForum, DownWithTyranny!, George's Bottom Line, TPMDC, Hullabaloo, The Atlantic Online and Public Policy Polling
The Note:
Sen. Harry Reid Suggests Sen. Scott Brown Lied — ABC's Jonathan Karl reports: Did Harry Reid just call Scott Brown a liar? — Basically, yes. — Here's the story: The Senate just rejected Reid's effort to move to a vote on the Wall Street reform bill, 57-42 (60 votes were needed).
Discussion:
TPMDC
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Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
The New York Times has some explaining to do — This Associated Press report about the controversy surrounding Richard Blumenthal's description of his military service raises some questions about the New York Times' handling of the story: … So why didn't the Times include Blumenthal …
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Andy Barr / The Politico:
Dean: N.Y. Times story a ‘hatchet job’ — Howard Dean on Wednesday took the New York Times to task for running a “hatchet job” story on Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal misstating his service in Vietnam without acknowledging that the information came from a GOP campaign.
Discussion:
The Plum Line, Swing State Project, TPMDC, Commentary, Taylor Marsh, Jules Crittenden and National Review
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Times defends posting of clipped Blumenthal video
Times defends posting of clipped Blumenthal video
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Peter Baker / The Caucus:
Obama Turns His Back On the Press — At a ceremony to sign a bill promoting press freedom around the world on Monday, President Obama refused to take questions from the reporters in attendance. “I'm not doing a press conference today,” he told Chip Reid of CBS News, “but we'll be seeing you guys during the course of the week.”
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George F. Will / Washington Post:
Slow learners at the 9th Circuit — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a stimulus package for the Supreme Court, which would rather not have one. The 9th Circuit, often in error but never in doubt, provides the Supreme Court with steady work: Over the past half-century …
RELATED:
Wall Street Journal:
Kagan Criticized the Warren Court in Thesis
Kagan Criticized the Warren Court in Thesis
Discussion:
CNN, National Review, SCOTUSblog, Law Blog, Lynn Sweet, The Politico, The New Republic, Main Justice, New York Times, Liveshots, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balkinization and The BLT
Karen Travers / Political Punch:
Immigration Hits Home for Young Girl and First Lady Michelle Obama — ABC News' Karen Travers reports: During First Lady Michelle Obama's visit to an elementary school in Silver Spring, Md., Wednesday, a second grade female student brought up immigration reform in a very personal way.
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NBC Los Angeles:
Power Play Over Immigration Law — LA's boycott resolution sparks a threat over power the city receives from Arizona — An Arizona utility commissioner said he's willing to pull the plug on Los Angeles if the city goes through with a boycott of his state.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Crooks and Liars, Truthdig, Tammy Bruce, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Moonbattery and Philly.com
RELATED:
CBS News:
Heavy Sludge Oozes into Marshes of Louisiana — Governor Bobby Jindal Flew over Site and Reported “Heavy Oil;” CBS Cameras Turned Away by BP, Coast Guard — (CBS/AP) It may be the most disturbing site yet: the first heavy sludge now oozing into the marshes of Louisiana as the slick continues to grow in size out in the gulf.
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Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Who woulda thunk it: Fact-checking is popular! — Has anyone else noticed that the Associated Press has been doing some strong fact-checking work lately, aggressively debunking all kinds of nonsense, in an authoritative way, without any of the usual he-said-she-said crap that often mars political reporting?
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WHY JOURNALISTS ‘GOT IN THE BUSINESS’.... Perhaps no problem …
WHY JOURNALISTS ‘GOT IN THE BUSINESS’.... Perhaps no problem …
Discussion:
Eschaton
Karoli / Crooks and Liars:
Florida mosque bombed; FBI calls for help; national media mute — On May 10th, a middle-aged man carried a can of gasoline and a pipe bomb into the Jacksonville Islamic Center of Northeast Florida during evening prayers and detonated it. Fortunately, there were no injuries to people, though the bomb did damage property.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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Simon McGregor-Wood / ABCNEWS:
Rahm's Son's Bar Mitzvah Irks Some in Israel — Israeli Activists Say They Will ‘Blow Up,’ Figuratively, Zach Emanuel's Bar Mitzvah — White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's plan to take his son, Zach, to Jerusalem's famous Western Wall for his Jewish coming-of-age ritual appeared to have run into serious trouble.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Why Are Incumbents Faltering? Check Out The Election Night FinReg Massacre — Yesterday's results in the election showed what has now become conventional wisdom: an “anti-incumbent mood,” something the media will parrot from now to November. Have they explored why?
Gene J. Koprowski / Fox News:
Global Cooling Is Coming — and Beware the Big Chill, Scientist Warns — Contrary to the commonly held scientific conclusion that the Earth is getting warmer, a scientist who has written more than 150 peer-reviewed papers has unveiled evidence for his prediction that global cooling is coming soon.
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, JammieWearingFool, Liberty Pundits Blog, Econbrowser and AmSpecBlog
Robin Wauters / TechCrunch:
Attorney General Tom Corbett Subpoenaes Twitter To Identify Anonymous Critics — Tom Corbett, current Attorney General of the state of Pennsylvania and Gubernatorial Candidate, has subpoenaed Twitter to appear as a Grand Jury witness to “testify and give evidence regarding alleged violations of the laws of Pennsylvania”.
Discussion:
The Volokh Conspiracy, Outside The Beltway, Ben Smith's Blog, Daily Kos, pa2010.com and The Eye