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:
Beltway Confidential, Reuters, National Review, PostPartisan, The Fix, American Spectator, Hot Air, Right Now, Balloon Juice, Conservatives4Palin.com, msnbc.com, The Hill, The Other McCain, skippy the bush kangaroo, Liberal Values, First Draft, The Monkey Cage, Townhall.com, Jules Crittenden, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, Riehl World View, Taylor Marsh, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Think Progress, Outside The Beltway, Gothamist, AMERICAblog News, Maggie's Farm, The Corner on National …, Ballot Box and ABCNEWS
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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.
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.
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, The Daily Dish and Balloon Juice
New York Times:
Specter Defeat Signals a Wave Against Incumbents
Specter Defeat Signals a Wave Against Incumbents
Discussion:
Opinionator, Associated Press, Washington Post, The Field on the Narcosphere, The Note, CNN, Hendrik Hertzberg, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, A plain blog about politics, Time, PostPartisan, Philly.com, Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, The Caucus, The BLT, The Faster Times, Firedoglake, Main Justice, Felix Salmon, The Huffington Post, Kentucky Politics, USA Today, The New Republic, NY Daily News, Politics Daily, pa2010.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside The Beltway, The Swamp, The Politico, The Atlantic Online, DISSENTING JUSTICE, msnbc.com, Shakesville, Plain Dealer, Slate, ABCNEWS, The Fix, FrumForum, Left Coast Rebel, Breitbart.tv, Newsweek Blogs, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, NBC Philadelphia, Another Black Conservative, Hit & Run and BBC
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, blogs.alternet.org, The Politico, About.com US Liberal Politics, FrumForum, Christian Science Monitor, Philly.com, The New Republic, The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, BuzzFlash.org, The Daily Dish, The Monkey Cage, The Caucus 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.
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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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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Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama shuns U.S. outlets at news conference — President Barack Obama did not call on any U.S. news outlets at his Wednesday press conference with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, possibily to avoid any questions on Tuesday's primary elections. — In the White House Rose Garden …
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:
Swing State Project, The Plum Line, Commentary, TPMDC, 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
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, New York Times, The Politico, Lynn Sweet, Main Justice, The New Republic, 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:
Judson Berger / Fox News:
Arizona Official Threatens to Cut Off Los Angeles Power as Payback for Boycott
Arizona Official Threatens to Cut Off Los Angeles Power as Payback for Boycott
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
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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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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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
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
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?