memeorandum: Rob Portman tops veepstakes (Maggie Haberman/Politico)

2:50 PM ET, April 6, 2012

Top Items:

James Pethokoukis / The Enterprise Blog:

The big March jobs miss — and why the real unemployment rate sure ain't 8.2% — Swing and a miss. A big miss. A really big miss. U.S. employers added just 120,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. That's the smallest increase since October.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Patterico's Pontifications and Conservatives4Palin

CNBC:

US Adds 120,000 Jobs; Unemployment Falls to 8.2% — U.S. payrolls rose far less than expected in March, keeping the door open for further monetary policy support from the Federal Reserve, even as the unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 8.2 percent.

Discussion: Vodkapundit, White House.gov Blog, Michelle Malkin, HotAirPundit and US Politics

Free exchange:

Alternative jobs-report summary — TODAY, the Bureau of Labour Statistics released its March employment report. There is a 90% chance that employment rose by between 20,000 and 220,000 jobs. The change in the number of unemployed from February to March was probably between (roughly) …

Discussion: Ezra Klein, FT Alphaville, Jared Bernstein, Hot Air, Economist's View, Univision News Tumblr, The New Republic, Felix Salmon, Firedoglake, Calculated Risk, Swampland and The Daily Dish

Annalyn Censky / CNNMoney.com:
March jobs report: Hiring slows, Unemployment falls

Discussion: Fortune, Outside the Beltway and nation.foxnews.com

Tyler Durden / zerohedge.com/fullrss2.xml:
NFP Big Miss: 120K, Expectations 205K, Unemployment 8.2%, “Not In Labor Force” At New All Time High

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Wake up America and The PJ Tatler

Dean Baker / CEPR:
Job Growth Slows Sharply In March, Unemployment Edges Down to 8.2 Percent

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Enterprise Blog, Guardian and ThinkProgress

Michael A. Fletcher / Washington Post:
U.S. hiring slowed sharply in March; unemployment fell to 8.2%

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Hit & Run and neo-neocon

Z. Byron Wolf / ABCNEWS:

Bella Santorum Admitted to Hospital — Bella Santorum, the youngest daughter of Rick Santorum, has returned to the hospital. — “Rick and his wife Karen have taken their daughter Bella to the hospital,” Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said in a written statement.

Discussion: Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
Rick Santorum's Daughter Bella Hospitalized Again

Discussion: Hot Air and GOP 12

Rick Santorum / CNN: Santorum's daughter, ‘Bella,’ hospitalized again

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Santorum daughter Isabella hospitalized Friday

Discussion: HotAirPundit

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:

David Brooks to the Rescue! — Last year, the New York Times' David Brooks was one of the pundits who declared Paul Ryan “brave” and “serious” for his proposal to pillage the social safety net and direct the spoils to rich people. Since then—and in particular, the debt ceiling showdown …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

David Brooks / New York Times:

That Other Obama — President Obama is an intelligent, judicious man who can see all sides of an issue. But every once in a while he tries to get politically cute, and he puts on his Keith Olbermann mask. — I suppose it's to his credit that he's most inept when he tries to take the low road.

Discussion: Washington Post, msnbc.com, No More Mister Nice Blog and Politico

Nicholas Confessore / New York Times:

Republican Committee Makes Big Turnaround on Fund-Raising — Once teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and irrelevance, the Republican National Committee has raised more than $110 million over the past 15 months and retired more than half its debt, accumulating large cash reserves …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Don Surber, Prairie Weather and Ballot Box

Justin Sink / The Hill:
President Obama raises nearly $1.5 million in 3 hours

Discussion: Politico and Weasel Zippers

Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:
Obama's War On Women

Discussion: Washington Post, nation.foxnews.com, Pirate's Cove, Washington Wire, Hot Air, TBogg, Weasel Zippers, Ed Driscoll, Fire Andrea Mitchell!, The Lonely Conservative and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:

Noonan: Oh, for Some Kennedyesque Grace — Obama makes his campaign strategy clear. It's divide and conquer. — These are things we know after President Obama's speech Tuesday, in Washington, to a luncheon sponsored by the Associated Press: — The coming election fully occupies his mind.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Betsy's Page

Rachel West / WAVY-TV:

Navy F-18 crashes in Va. Beach — I-264 shut down in both directions at Laskin — VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) - The Navy confirms to WAVY.com that an F-18 jet has crashed in Virginia Beach Friday afternoon. — Grazia Moyers, spokeswoman for the Virginia Beach Police Department …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, msnbc.com and HotAirPundit

Investor's Business Daily:

Is Obama ‘Dangerously Close To Totalitarianism’? — Power: Given the president's end-runs around Congress, his shredding of the Constitution and his assault on the authority of the courts, a second term free of electoral restraints may be a frightening prospect.

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com and Cold Fury

Mary E. O'Leary / The New Haven Register:

Sparks fly over Israel during Connecticut Democrats' U.S. Senate debate — moleary@nhregister.com / Twitter: @nhrmoleary — WEST HARTFORD — It was a new tone and a new day in the race for the U.S. Senate race among Democrats, when Lee Whitnum called one of the contenders “a whore” in his support for Israel and another “ignorant.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Pirate's Cove

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box: Murphy called ‘whore’ in Dem debate

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Rob Portman tops veepstakes — If he wins the GOP presidential nomination, Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick will ultimately come down to two basic choices: whether he wants a running mate who helps him govern or one who helps him politically. — Which imperative reigns won't be clear until …

Discussion: Hot Air, Wall Street Journal, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and National Review

Reuters:

NBC probe centers on staffer in shooting story error — (Reuters) - An internal NBC News probe has determined a “seasoned” producer was to blame for a misleading clip of a 911 call that the network broadcast during its coverage of the Trayvon Martin shooting, according to two sources at the network.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, neo-neocon, Weasel Zippers and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Clarence Thomas scolds colleagues for talking too much at oral arguments — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas defended his silence during the oral arguments last week on President Obama's healthcare law and scolded his colleagues for talking too much. — “I don't see where that advances anything …

Tom Hamburger / Washington Post:

Romney using ethics exception to limit disclosure of Bain holdings — Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, whose wealth has become a central issue in the 2012 campaign, has taken advantage of an obscure exception in federal ethics laws to avoid disclosing the nature and extent of his holdings.

Discussion: The Caucus, CNN, Ballot Box, Capital New York, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, Mediaite, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, Politico, Connecting.the.Dots, Barack Obama and The Maddow Blog

Chuck Lindell / Austin American-Statesman:

Effort would change Texas primary to winner take all, benefit Santorum — Updated at 5:20 p.m. to include comments from the RNC throwing cold water on the winner-take-all effort: — A spokesman for the Republican National Committee said Texas would need — but not receive — a waiver from the national party to change its primary.

Discussion: Washington Post, GOP 12, The Page and CNN

Rick Santorum for President:
The Media's Delegate Math is Wrong

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and The Right Scoop

The Post and Courier:

Schlafly says contraception issue contrived — Photo by Leroy Burnell/staffCitadel cadet Spencer Mellon (left) holds the door for Colleen Holmes, executive director the Eagle Forum (center), and Phyllis Schlafly. The famous political activist delivered a lecture in a new course being offered …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, BuzzFeed, Dependable Renegade, The Raw Story and Wonkette

Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:

Democrats give special interests a role at convention — Organizers have found ways to skirt their own rules and give corporations and lobbyists a presence at the national event in September. The situation reflects President Obama's difficulties in delivering on a vow to limit the influence of money in politics.

Discussion: Questions and Observations

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Not Enough Inflation — A few days ago, Alan Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, spoke out in defense of his successor. Attacks on Ben Bernanke by Republicans, he told The Financial Times, are “wholly inappropriate and destructive.” He's right about that …

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin and Daily Kos

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Blacks, Nonblacks Hold Sharply Different Views of Martin Case — Blacks more likely to believe race is a major factor — PRINCETON, NJ — Black Americans' views differ dramatically from those of nonblacks regarding the circumstances involved in the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., on Feb. 26.

Discussion: Politico, Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit