memeorandum: Obama staffers seize on ‘Etch-a-Sketch’ quip (Byron Tau/Politico)

2:50 PM ET, March 21, 2012

Top Items:

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Top Romney Adviser Says Romney Can Change His Positions After The Primaries: 'It's Almost Like An Etch A Sketch' — Mitt Romney can't be held accountable for his extreme right-wing views, at least according to his campaign's senior adviser, who said the candidate should be given a …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, American Prospect, National Review, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Impolitic, Taylor Marsh, Wonkette, Balloon Juice, Indecision Forever, TBogg, Los Angeles Times and Daily Kos

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Top Romney adviser: Mitt will erase his conservative positions once he's the nominee — Think Progress flags an amazing exchange on CNN, in which Eric Fehrnstrom, a top adviser to Mitt Romney, seems to confirm that the conservative positions Romney has been forced to take during the primary …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, GOP 12, The PJ Tatler, Hot Air and Pundit & Pundette

Alfredo Rocha / ABCNEWS:

Jeb Bush Endorses Mitt Romney in GOP Primary — Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush endorsed Mitt Romney after Romney's lopsided win in Illinois Tuesday night. The former Florida Governor - a Republican heavyweight - called on members of the party to coalesce behind Romney.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, CBS News, Globe and Mail, The Hill, Orlando Sentinel, msnbc.com, Indecision Forever, Outside the Beltway, The Political Carnival and his vorpal sword

Alicia M. Cohn / Ballot Box:

Romney adviser says campaign can start fresh for general election, ‘like an Etch A Sketch’ — Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom on Wednesday dismissed concern that the nastiness of the GOP primary race could negatively affect the fight to replace President Obama.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and The Raw Story

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:

The Nominee — It is a mathematical improbability that Rick Santorum will get to the magic number of 1,144 — the number of delegates needed to be the Republican Presidential nominee. It is a political improbability that Rick Santorum will stop Mitt Romney from getting to 1,144.

Discussion: GOP 12

Byron Tau / Politico:

Obama staffers seize on ‘Etch-a-Sketch’ quip — Staffers for President Obama's reelection campaign are taking to Twitter to pile on Mitt Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom after he said on CNN Wednesday that the general election will be like an “Etch-A-Sketch.”

Ralph Z. Hallow / Washington Times:
Finally, Romney gets tea party support

Discussion: CNN, Chicago Tribune, Don Surber, Associated Press, Democracy in America, Guardian, ABCNEWS, The Hill, msnbc.com, The Hill, Ballot Box, GOP 12, CBS News and The Lonely Conservative

Jeb Bush / CNN:
Jeb Bush endorses Romney, calls on party to unite

Discussion: Washington Post, Wonkette and Daily Kos

Soledad O'Brien / CNN:
Romney advisor: ‘Big win in a big state;’ ‘you hit a reset button for the fall campaign’

Discussion: Washington Wire, Swampland and Human Rights Campaign

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Romney holds small lead nationally — PPP's newest national poll finds that Mitt Romney leads with 34% to 31% for Rick Santorum, 20% for Newt Gingrich, and 9% for Ron Paul. But if Gingrich dropped out Santorum would have a small lead with 41% to 40% for Romney and 11% for Paul.

Discussion: GOP 12 and Conservatives4Palin

New York Times:

Romney Wins by Wide Margin in Illinois Contest — CHICAGO — Mitt Romney swept to victory in the Illinois Republican primary on Tuesday, using the full force of his campaign and an argument that he has the best chance of defeating President Obama to overcome doubts among the more conservative voters at the heart of his party.

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
Jeb Bush Backs Romney and Urges End to G.O.P. Battle

Discussion: New York Times and Prairie Weather

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
G.O.P. Nomination Becoming a One-Man Race

Discussion: The Daily Dish, IMAO, Outside the Beltway, Polling Matters, Indecision Forever, Campaign 2012 and Washington Monthly

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard: Morning Jay: How Romney Won Illinois, and What it Means

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Beatdown — It wasn't particularly surprising, but Mitt …

Discussion: The New Republic and Firedoglake

BBC:

Raid on Toulouse shooting suspect — French police surrounded Mohammed Merah in Toulouse — Mohammed Merah, the man believed to be the gunman on a scooter who killed seven people in south-western France, is a 23-year-old French citizen of Algerian extraction.

Discussion: Guardian, The Agonist, Global Spin, The Jawa Report, Blogs of War, msnbc.com, Atlas Shrugs, Harry's Place and The Daily Caller

Murray Wardrop / Telegraph:
Toulouse siege: live

Discussion: TalkLeft, Sky News, Washington Post, Power Line, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Reuters, Hit & Run and Blazing Cat Fur

BBC:
France shootings: Police lay siege to Toulouse suspect

Discussion: National Post, CBS News, ThinkProgress, Telegraph, Global Spin, Wake up America, msnbc.com, Harry's Place and Newsy

Scott Sayare / New York Times:
French Police Say They Have Cornered Suspect in School Shooting

Discussion: The Lede, americanthinker.com and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

H. HooVer / Distriction:

Sign of the Times — Stephon stood just a few feet away from Barack Obama. The president, busy shaking hands, looked right at him. “It was like he was waiting for me to say something,” he said later. — So the 26-year-old Prince George's Community College student took his cue and spoke …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, Washington Post, Boing Boing and Angry Black Lady Chronicles

Ezra Klein:

Wonkbook: Why the Republican budgets make the poor pay — I don't think Paul Ryan intended to write a budget that concentrated its cuts on the poorest Americans. Similarly, I don't think Mitt Romney intended to write a budget that concentrated its cuts on the poorest Americans.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, Balloon Juice, The New Republic and The Maddow Blog

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
Romney-Ryan? — Mitt Romney is close to finishing off his rivals …

Discussion: Washington Post, Power Line, Swampland, Washington Times and Politico

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Paul Ryan, helping the poor by hurting them

Discussion: Ezra Klein, Washington Monthly, Slate and Daily Kos

Mj Lee / Politico:

Ron Paul: Secret Service is welfare — Ron Paul said Tuesday he doesn't want any Secret Service protection because it's “a form a welfare.” — “It's a form of welfare,” the presidential candidate told comedian Jay Leno Tuesday. “You know, you're having the taxpayers pay to take care …

Discussion: Washington Post, News Desk, Joe. My. God., The Other McCain and Jezebel

Claudia Rosett / PJ Media:
Mexico for Spring Break

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Taylor Marsh, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com and BuzzFeed

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Feelin' Blue — Looking back at the day's news, I must admit I'm having trouble maintaining my customary good cheer. — Watching Mitt Romney's victory speech in Illinois didn't reassure me about his chances against President Obama. (Watch it yourself to see if I'm being unfair.)

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, Lawyers, Guns & Money, GOP 12, Pundit & Pundette and Daily Kos

Steve Doughty / Daily Mail:

Gay marriage is not a ‘human right’: European ruling torpedoes Coalition stance — Same-sex marriages are not a human right, European judges have ruled. — Their decision shreds the claim by ministers that gay marriage is a universal human right and that same-sex couples have a right …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Joe. My. God.

Donna Bowater / Telegraph:
Gay marriage is not a human right, according to European ruling

Discussion: Guardian and Gay Politics

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Andrew Sullivan Is Frightened by Complexity — Somehow, in the midst of grappling with Andrew Sullivan's attack on me (in which he lied about what I have written, what I think, what I believe, and what I've reported, and shows no understanding, by the way, of reporting itself — but, hey, what are friends for?)

Discussion: Power Line, Bloomberg, The Daily Dish and Politico

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Obama will avoid healthcare defense during court review — President Obama will not mark the two-year anniversary of his signing of the healthcare law — which takes place days before the Supreme Court offers a decision on the constitutionality of his signature legislative achievement.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Hot Air and The Heritage Foundation

Mytheos Holt / TheBlaze.com:

UPDATED (STORY PULLED): U2 SINGER BONO GRILLED ON CAMERA OVER BAND'S MOVE TO AVOID TAXES — Editor's note: The original Breitbart.com story has been removed and the Jason Mattera videos have now been moved to “private” on YouTube. There is widespread discussion on Twitter …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Distriction, Balloon Juice, Angry Black Lady Chronicles and Wonkette

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

IRONY ALERT: Anti-Gay Group Complains About Out-Of-Staters ‘Buying’ Marriage Equality In New Hampshire — As lawmakers in New Hampshire prepare to repeal that state's same-sex marriage law, the National Organization for Marriage's (NOM) Brian Brown appeared on MSNBC with Thomas Roberts …

Discussion: Good As You and Towleroad News #gay

Josiah Ryan / The Hill:

GOP JOBS Act moves forward in Senate — The Senate on Wednesday voted to advance House Republicans' JOBS Act, a bill proponents say would create jobs by easing capital formation regulations for smaller companies. — The legislation, which soared through the House earlier in March by a 323-92 vote …

Discussion: Politico

Vince Coglianese / The Daily Caller:

Media Matters wants a fight, but can't take a punch — After facing down over a month of tough reporting, David Brock's Media Matters still has nothing to say for itself. The progressive messaging group has all but clammed up under a constant barrage of scrutiny from conservatives and liberals alike.

Discussion: TBogg and RedState