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, Firedoglake, Power Line, Hullabaloo, Politics Daily, FiveThirtyEight, Commentary, Weasel Zippers, Yahoo! News, The Plum Line, Dennis the Peasant, The Caucus, The Daily Caller, Althouse, AMERICAblog News, The Politico, Mother Jones, Weekly Standard, Ballot Box, Daily Kos, Democracy in America, The Daily Beast, Taylor Marsh, driftglass, Hot Air, RedState, Washington Wire, The Page, Raw Story, CNN and Liberty Pundits Blog
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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, Open Congress, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Big Brass Blog, CNN 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.
First Read / msnbc.com:
First thoughts: Lincoln's surprise — A jubilant Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) celebrates her surprise primary victory last night. … From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg — *** Lincoln's surprise: So what was the most surprising story of the night …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
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 …
Discussion:
Wonk Room, The Caucus, Ben Smith's Blog, Guardian, The Reaction, The Confluence, The Politico and The Washington Independent
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” …
The Huffington Post:
WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — The loss of Lt. Gov. Bill Halter in the Arkansas Senate Democratic primary runoff election resulted in a rare outburst of intense, sometimes nasty, griping between the White House and the organized labor community on Tuesday night. — Shortly after Sen. Blanche Lincoln …
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Blanche Lincoln wins Arkansas Senate race; Nikki Haley in SC runoff
Blanche Lincoln wins Arkansas Senate race; Nikki Haley in SC runoff
Discussion:
Ezra Klein, PostPartisan, Right Now, Scared Monkeys, Guardian, Firedoglake, The Other McCain, Left Coast Rebel, The Atlantic Online and The Page
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 …
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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 …
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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.
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David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Obama seeks to reshape intel operations with choice of Clapper
Obama seeks to reshape intel operations with choice of Clapper
Discussion:
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.
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 …
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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.
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.
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 …
Discussion:
Samizdata.net
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 …
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NPR Blogs
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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.
Discussion:
Townhall.com
Devlin Barrett / Washington Wire:
‘Birther’ Advocate Orly Taitz Loses Bid in California — Among the most curious what-if scenarios in Tuesday night's primary was the possibility that Orly Taitz, widely known as the Birther Queen, might win the Republican primary for secretary of state in California. — It wasn't even close.
Discussion:
The Awl
New York Times:
Keeping Politics Safe for the Rich — In a burst of judicial activism, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upended the gubernatorial race in Arizona, cutting off matching funds to candidates participating in the state's public campaign finance system. Suddenly, three candidates, including Gov. Jan Brewer …
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 …
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.