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 Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, skippy the bush kangaroo, Politics Daily, Firedoglake, Power Line, Facing South, The Huffington Post, Gawker, FiveThirtyEight, Hullabaloo, Yahoo! News, Commentary, Mother Jones, The Plum Line, Don Surber, Dennis the Peasant, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos, Associated Press, The Daily Beast, Althouse, Democracy in America, Scared Monkeys, Weekly Standard, AMERICAblog News, The Politico, Ballot Box, RedState, The Atlantic Online, Washington Wire, Hot Air, The Page, CNN, Raw Story, driftglass, Liberty Pundits Blog and Taylor Marsh
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:
Fox News, The Other McCain, Open Congress, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Liberty Pundits Blog, CNN, Big Brass Blog, NRSC and The BLT
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 …
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.
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
SEIU officials: Blanche Lincoln should forget about our support in general election — In a move that's likely to ratchet up already-white-hot post-Arkansas tensions between organized labor and the White House, officials with the labor powerhouse SEIU are confirming that they are all but certain …
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 …
Kos / Daily Kos:
AR-Sen: postscript — Jed already has a good take on the race …
AR-Sen: postscript — Jed already has a good take on the race …
Discussion:
Firedoglake
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Primaries — It's always dangerous to try to sum up a bunch …
Primaries — It's always dangerous to try to sum up a bunch …
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics
Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
The June 8 elections: A verdict on incumbents, unions, and Democrats
The June 8 elections: A verdict on incumbents, unions, and Democrats
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:
Neil MacFarquhar / New York Times:
U.N. Security Council Passes New Sanctions Against Iran — UNITED NATIONS — The United States, moving firmly away from the Obama administration's previous emphasis on wooing Iran, pushed through a new round of United Nations sanctions against the nation on Wednesday, taking aim at its military …
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:
Dorothy Rabinowitz / Wall Street Journal:
The Alien in the White House — The distance between the president and the people is beginning to be revealed. — The deepening notes of disenchantment with Barack Obama now issuing from commentators across the political spectrum were predictable. So, too, were the charges …
Perry Bacon Jr / Washington Post:
Looking ahead: Fiorina vs. Boxer — ANAHEIM, Calif. — U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and GOP candidate Carly Fiorina have already started sharply attacking each other and offering a preview of what could become one of the most compelling Senate races in the country this fall.
Discussion:
The Page
RELATED:
Jae C. Hong / Newsweek:
Sex Change — In an election season marked by voters' desire …
Sex Change — In an election season marked by voters' desire …
Discussion:
Daily Kos
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.
Mother Jones:
Who Is Alvin Greene? — An unemployed 32-year-old black Army veteran with no campaign funds, no signs, and no website shocked South Carolina on Tuesday night by winning the Democratic Senate primary to oppose Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC). Alvin Greene, who currently lives in his family's home …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Associated Press, TPMDC, Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Gawker and The Eye
RELATED:
David Weigel / Right Now:
Jim DeMint gets the kind of opponent candidates dream about
Jim DeMint gets the kind of opponent candidates dream about
Discussion:
National Review
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
This is the Sound of Hope Dying — Yesterday afternoon, Lindsay Graham confirmed that he's bailing from efforts to pass a climate change bill. The odds weren't looking good for this legislation, but now they're hard to distinguish from zero. And the news gets worse after the midterms.
RELATED:
James Craven / The New Britain Herald:
‘Lying face to face’ — NEW BRITAIN — A member of Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's staff, himself a former major and judge advocate in the U.S. Marines, is calling Blumenthal a liar and disgrace to the Marine Corps for representing himself repeatedly as having served in Vietnam.
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.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Nancy Pelosi, the liberal House speaker, is heckled by liberals — For 17 months, anger at President Obama and congressional Democrats has been pooling on the left. On Tuesday morning, it spilled onto the floor of an Omni Shoreham ballroom and splashed all over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Wonkette, news.firedoglake.com, Don Surber, Naked Politics, Betsy's Page, Balloon Juice and The Politico
Jon A. Krosnick / New York Times:
The Climate Majority — ON Thursday, the Senate will vote on a resolution proposed by Lisa Murkowski, Republican of Alaska, that would scuttle the Environmental Protection Agency's plans to limit emissions of greenhouse gases by American businesses. — Passing the resolution might seem to be exactly what Americans want.
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.
Rod Nordland / New York Times:
Afghanistan Strategy Focuses on Civilian Effort — KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The prospect of a robust military push in Kandahar Province, which had been widely expected to begin this month, has evolved into a strategy that puts civilian reconstruction efforts first and relegates military action to a supportive role.
RELATED: