memeorandum: The Virtues of the Super PAC (Ross Douthat/Campaign Stops)

3:30 PM ET, April 4, 2012

Top Items:

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org:

Scarborough: ‘No One’ In GOP Establishment Thinks Romney Will Beat Obama — Unemployment stubbornly over 8%. His landmark piece of legislation in dire peril of being dumped by the Supreme Court. The “flexibility” moment with Putin's pawn. Does that sound like an invincible incumbent to you?

Discussion: American Prospect and Mediaite

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Obama doing better in Nevada — Nevada, more than any other state, symbolizes how much the Presidential race has changed over the last six months. — In October Barack Obama was unpopular there, with a 44/53 approval rating. That was the story in our Nevada polling through most of last year.

Discussion: GOP 12 and Taegan Goddard's …

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Is it Over? — It's over: CNN estimates that Barack Obama has won enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination for president in 2012. — Oh—the Republicans? OK, I'll concede that contest is getting close to over as well. Mitt Romney will almost certainly be the GOP nominee.

Discussion: Campaign 2012

Andrew Restuccia / Ballot Box:
Romney campaign blasts Obama ‘attack machine’ for ‘slinging mud’ in energy ad

Discussion: CNN and ABCNEWS

David R. Dow / The Daily Beast:

Impeach the Supreme Court Justices If They Overturn Health-Care Law — The Roberts Court's rulings appear to be a concerted effort to send us back to the Gilded Age. If they dump the Affordable Care Act, writes David Dow, we should dump them. — You think the idea is laughable?

Discussion: protein wisdom, Instapundit, The PJ Tatler, Power Line, The Jawa Report, The Volokh Conspiracy and Weasel Zippers

Nancy Pelosi / CNN:
Pelosi's specific Supreme Court health care prediction

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress and protein wisdom

Jennifer Granholm / Politico:
Being uninsured is a mandate, too

Discussion: Pirate's Cove

Mj Lee / Politico:

James Carville: Rick Santorum is headless chicken — James Carville chose these colorful words to describe Rick Santorum after Mitt Romney swept three Republican primaries Tuesday: “He was like a chicken with his head chopped off. The chicken is dead. The only person that don't know it is the chicken.”

Discussion: The Hill

msnbc.com:
First Thoughts: The writing is on the wall

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall.com, iOwnTheWorld.com, Booman Tribune and Patterico's Pontifications

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Romney's Michigan Win Stands as Climactic Moment in Campaign

Discussion: A plain blog about politics

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Romney's National Lead in GOP Contest Continues to Grow

Discussion: Firedoglake, Washington Wire, ABCNEWS, CBS News and Ezra Klein

Peter Hamby / CNN:
Five things we learned Tuesday

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Washington Monthly and Scared Monkeys

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

Anti-Evolution ‘Monkey Bill’ Poised To Become Law In Tennessee — Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) announced yesterday that he will “probably” sign a bill that attacks the teaching of “biological evolution, the chemical origins of life, global warming, and human cloning” …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Booman Tribune and Taylor Marsh

Nick Wing / The Huffington Post: Bill Haslam, Tennessee Governor, Will ‘Probably’ Sign Evolution Bill

Seung Min Kim / Politico:

Trayvon Martin resolution introduced — Several Congressional Black Caucus members have introduced a resolution that memorializes 17-year-old Trayvon Martin and calls for the repeal of controversial gun laws that allow shooters to claim self-defense. — The resolution states …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Wide Racial, Partisan Gaps in Reactions to Trayvon Martin Coverage

Discussion: JustOneMinute and Politico

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
NBC issues apology on Zimmerman tape screw-up

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, News Desk, americanthinker.com, Shot in the Dark, The Daily Caller, Orlando Sentinel, Fox News, Althouse, NewsBusters.org, Hollywood Reporter, Taylor Marsh, Sister Toldjah, Mediaite and Gawker, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Republicans Examine Alternatives to Obama Health Plan

Discussion: Daily Kos and The Incidental Economist

Andrew Koppelman / The New Republic:

The 1918 Case That May Have Foreshadowed Obamacare's Demise — It took decades for Congress to address the problem. When, at long last, federal legislation was passed, some people raised constitutional objections, but few took them seriously. The objections required the Supreme Court …

Discussion: American Prospect, Althouse, The Volokh Conspiracy and Balkinization

Fox News: Holder says ‘courts have final say’ in response to furor over Obama's health law comments

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Sarah Palin's ‘rogue’ pick for VP: Allen West — Sarah Palin says there's one name at the top of her list if the Republican Party wants to “go rogue” in its pick for the vice presidential nominee: Rep. Allen West. — The former vice presidential candidate told Fox News's Sean Hannity …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, Mediaite, CBS DC, Indecision Forever and Weasel Zippers

Mj Lee / Politico:
John McCain kids about Sarah Palin for VP again

Discussion: CBS Miami, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Wonkette

Investor's Business Daily:

Obama Alienates Canada And Mexico At Three Amigos — At the U.S.-Mexico-Canada summit, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, left, panned Obama for Fast and Furious, and Canadian PM Stephen... View Enlarged Image — Diplomacy: Most summits are mush-mouthed affairs full of pleasantries.

Discussion: Fausta's Blog

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Dumb Diplomacy Alienates Canada and Mexico, Costs Consumers

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Obama gets laughs and ‘amens’ at prayer breakfast — President Obama spoke strongly about his faith at an Easter Prayer Breakfast at the White House on Wednesday, at one point getting laughs while quoting Jesus as saying, “in this world you will have trouble.”

Discussion: CNN and Washington Free Beacon

Kim Hart / Politico:
Obama ties Easter to U.S. rebirth

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:

Mitt Romney Delivers Remarks to the Newspaper Association of America — Location — Mitt Romney today delivered remarks to the Newspaper Association of America in Washington, D.C. The following remarks were prepared for delivery: — Over the last ten months, I've come to know a good deal …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, American Prospect, New York Times, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Guardian

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Top Romney Surrogate Donald Trump Offers To Expose His ‘Very Very’ Impressive Genitals — Politico's Mike Allen reported last month that reality star/businessman/attention seeker Donald Trump is building his political stature as a top surrogate for Mitt Romney.

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Mitt's media lament — Speaking to the Associated Press luncheon that President Obama addressed Tuesday, Mitt Romney began with an extended riff on shortcomings of the political media: … Romney is hardly the first politician to bristle at his treatment at the hands of the press …

Discussion: Wonkette

Scott Wong / Politico:

Harry Reid loses procedural ruling on budget vote — The Senate's chief referee has issued a key ruling against Majority Leader Harry Reid, POLITICO has learned — a move expected to bring unwanted election-year pressure on the Nevada Democrat to act on politically dicey budget bills.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Hot Air, National Review and The PJ Tatler

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Top Romney Surrogate: In General Election, Women Will See Romney's ‘Real Views’ — Tonight on CNN, Robert Ehrlich, Mitt Romney's Maryland campaign chair, suggested that voters — particularly women — would not be exposed to Romney's “real views” until the general election.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Sam Anderson / New York Times:

Angry Birds, Farmville and Other Hyperaddictive ‘Stupid Games’ — In 1989, as communism was beginning to crumble across Eastern Europe, just a few months before protesters started pecking away at the Berlin Wall, the Japanese game-making giant Nintendo reached across the world to unleash upon America its own version of freedom.

Discussion: Poynter, Mediaite and AllThingsD, more at Mediagazer »

Paul Ryan / Facebook:

The President's Speech Distorts the Truth to Distract From His Failed Record — In today's disappointing speech, the President made a series of claims that are simply false. — The President's attacks began with an admission that his assumptions reflect White House spin, not our budget's substance …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, The Enterprise Blog and National Review

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

Mine union boss: Coal industry could suffer same fate as bin Laden — The coal industry will suffer the same fate as Osama bin Laden under new climate regulations proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, the head of the United Mine Workers of America said this week.

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Peter Finn / Washington Post:

Khalid Sheik Mohammed to face death penalty trial — A senior Pentagon official Wednesday approved the death penalty trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of Khalid Sheik Mohammed and four co-defendants who are accused of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, a step that restarts …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Michelle Malkin, ThinkProgress and ACLU