Top Items:
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
White House official: ‘Organized labor just flushed $10 million down the toilet’ — A senior White House official just called me with a very pointed message for the administration's sometime allies in organized labor, who invested heavily in beating Blanche Lincoln, Obama's candidate, in Arkanas.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Hot Air, Washington Examiner, Firedoglake, Power Line, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Commentary, FiveThirtyEight, Dennis the Peasant, The Daily Caller, Althouse, The Politico, Ballot Box, Mother Jones, Weekly Standard, driftglass, Democracy in America, The Daily Beast, Taylor Marsh, RedState, Washington Wire, Raw Story, The Page, CNN and Liberty Pundits Blog
RELATED:
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Anti-Incumbent Rage Bypasses Arkansas — WASHINGTON — On a primary election night when the heralded anti-incumbency sentiment was expected to again demonstrate its strength, Senator Blanche Lincoln proved there were clear limits to its power. — Virtually written off as a likely victim …
Discussion:
Liberty Pundits Blog, The Other McCain, The Caucus, CNN, Open Congress, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Big Brass Blog and The BLT
Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:
The Meaning Of Arkansas, Regardless Of The Winner — It's a funny habit we political pundits have. If, say, 3,000 votes separate a winner from a loser, we forget that a small shift in some part of a state could have swung those votes the other way, and we tend to massively over-interpret the meaning of the tiniest of margins.
Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Whitman and Fiorina Win in California — WASHINGTON — Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman, who ascended to the top of the business world before turning to politics, prevailed on Tuesday in their respective battles for the Republican nominations for the United States Senate and governor in California …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
How Blanche Lincoln won — 1. Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln's Democratic runoff victory Tuesday night proved that conventional wisdom is often wrong. — Lincoln's political obituary was written in the days after she narrowly bested Lt. Gov. Bill Halter — 44.5 percent to 42.5 percent …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
AFL to White House: 'Labor isn't an arm of the Democratic Party' — The major labor federation AFL-CIO took sharp objection tonight to a White House official's assessment that they'd “flushed $10 million of their members' money down the toilet” in the “pointless exercise” …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Blanche Lincoln wins Arkansas Senate race; Nikki Haley in SC runoff — Arkansas Sen. Blanche Lincoln won renomination tonight, beating Lt. Gov. Bill Halter — and the national labor unions that had spent millions on his behalf — in a remarkable result that provided a counter-weight to the anti-incumbent trend nationally.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, PostPartisan, Right Now, Scared Monkeys, Guardian, Firedoglake, The Other McCain, Left Coast Rebel, The Atlantic Online and The Page
TPMDC:
Reid Opponent Embraces Patriot Group That Warns Of ‘Giant Concentration Camps’ — The peculiar ideology of Sharron Angle, the Republican nominee challenging Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada, is perhaps no better illustrated than by her embrace of the patriot group Oath Keepers …
RELATED:
Lee Smith / Tablet Magazine:
Indispensable — Michael Oren, a 55-year-old U.S.-born historian of the modern Middle East and the author of two best-selling books, one on the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and another on the United States' 200-year-old experience in the Middle East, renounced his U.S. citizenship at an emotional ceremony …
RELATED:
New York Times:
Turkey Goes From Pliable Ally to Thorn for U.S. — ANKARA, Turkey — For decades, Turkey was one of the United States' most pliable allies, a strategic border state on the edge of the Middle East that reliably followed American policy. But recently, it has asserted a new approach in the region …
Linda Rogers / PolitiCal:
Carly Fiorina wins GOP Senate nomination [Updated] — Former Hewlett-Packard Chief Executive Carly Fiorina will be the Republican Party nominee in the November race against Democratic incumbent U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer. — Fiorina was the top vote-getter in Tuesday's primary election …
RELATED:
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Palin's backing pays off for pals
Palin's backing pays off for pals
Discussion:
Newsweek, Washington Wire, Conservatives4Palin.com, Ben Smith's Blog and The Washington Independent
Ed Barnes / Fox News:
Reuters Admits Cropping Photos of Ship Clash, Denies Political Motive — On the left, the uncropped photo. On the right, Reuters' released photo. (Reuters) — The British-based Reuters news agency has been stung for the second time by charges that it edited politically sensitive photos in a way that casts Israel in a bad light.
kaus.sitebuilder.completecampaigns.com:
Concession Statement — Mickey Kaus claimed a form of victory Tuesday night after he apparently drew more than 5% of the Democratic primary vote against three-term incumbent Barbara Boxer: — STATEMENT OF MICKEY KAUS — I congratulate Senator Boxer on her primary victory.
The Hill:
Will anyone replace her? — In the end, Helen Thomas got the last laugh. Before anybody could throw her out of the White House briefing room, she denied them the pleasure by walking out on her own. — Thomas herself couldn't defend her latest comments about Israel — and she didn't try.
RELATED:
Susan Ferriss / Capitol Alert:
Parties talk about lawsuit challenging ‘open’ primary victory — Disgruntled California voters have blown up their election system by approving Proposition 14, which tosses out the current political party-based primary system in all but presidential races. — With 48 percent …
RELATED:
Torey Van Oot / Capitol Alert:
Bowen: ‘Army of lawyers’ at the ready if Prop 14 passes
Bowen: ‘Army of lawyers’ at the ready if Prop 14 passes
Discussion:
Ballot Access News
Eli Lake / Washington Times:
American Jewish community ends support of Turkish interests on Hill — In October 2000, the government of Turkey had a problem. — House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert had promised to bring a resolution commemorating the Armenian genocide to the floor for a vote, a move that Ankara said would be a slap in the face to a NATO ally.
CNN:
Incumbent congressman headed for runoff — Inglis must now face a runoff. — (CNN) - Rep. Bob Inglis, R-South Carolina, failed to win Tuesday's primary and now must compete in the June 22nd runoff, the Associated Press projects. — With 96 percent of the precincts reporting …
Discussion:
The Politico
RELATED:
David Seifman / NY Post:
Bill Clinton calls La. senator ‘sinner’ in fundraising letter — Former President Clinton has sent out a fundraising letter on behalf of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee under his own name warning that Republicans are trying to “derail' President Obama's agenda. — Not much unexpected there.
RELATED:
David Kocieniewski / New York Times:
Legacy for One Billionaire: Death, but No Taxes — A Texas pipeline tycoon who died two months ago may become the first American billionaire allowed to pass his fortune to his children and grandchildren tax-free. — Dan L. Duncan, a soft-spoken farm boy who started with $10,000 and two propane trucks …
Rod Nordland / New York Times:
NATO Helicopter Shot Down in Helmand Province — KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban insurgents shot down a NATO helicopter in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing four United States soldiers on board, according to Afghan and NATO officials. — The helicopter was shot down while it was providing support …
Discussion:
NPR Blogs