memeorandum: European Unemployment Rate Rises to Highest in Almost 15 Years (Fergal O'Brien/Bloomberg)

4:50 PM ET, May 2, 2012

Top Items:

Becoming Obama — When Barack Obama met Genevieve Cook in 1983 at a Christmas party in New York's East Village, it was the start of his most serious romance yet. But as the 22-year-old Columbia grad began to shape his future, he was also struggling with his identity: American or international?

Discussion: ABCNEWS, BuzzFeed, BREITBART.COM, Booman Tribune, Hot Air, Gawker, The Hill, Washington Wire, iOwnTheWorld.com, Washington Free Beacon, Guardian, Washington Post, Weasel Zippers, Wonkette, The Caucus and The Daily Caller

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Obama: ‘New York girlfriend’ was composite — One of the more mysterious characters from President Obama's 1995 autobiography Dreams From My Father is the so-called ‘New York girlfriend.’ Obama never referred to her by name, or even by psuedonym, but he describes her appearance, her voice, and her mannerisms in specific detail.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, BuzzFeed, The Jawa Report, Politicker, Stinque, TBogg, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Weasel Zippers, Althouse, Lynn Sweet, Gawker, Conservatives4Palin, Wonkette, Shot in the Dark and Jammie Wearing Fools

Pam Spaulding / Firedoglake:

Wife of NC State Senator: Amendment One Needed ‘To Protect the Caucasian Race’ — I don't even know where to begin to unpack this trash. Chad Nance who is a freelance journalist in Winston-Salem and is covering the election here in NC, recorded the wife of NC Sen. Peter Brunstetter confirming …

Discussion: Truth Wins Out, The Raw Story and Holy Bullies …

Jordan Green / The YES! Weekly Blog:

Racialized remark about marriage amendment attributed to state senator's wife — UPDATE: National media pickups at Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast and Daily Kos. Still no word from the Brunstetters. — ORIGINAL POST: Chad Nance, a Winston-Salem freelance journalist …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, www2.journalnow.com, Wonkette, Towleroad News #gay, The Daily Dish, Box Turtle Bulletin and Joe. My. God.

Dustin Ingalls / Public Policy Polling:
Amendment One still up 14 points in N.C.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay and Washington Post

Joel Siegel / Yahoo! News:

Newt Gingrich $4 Million in Debt; Staffers and Creditors Fume — Newt Gingrich ends his White House dream today with his political committee facing a mountain of debts — owing about $4 million to scores of businesses and campaign workers around the country who fear they will never get paid.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Wonkette, Taylor Marsh, HotAirPundit, US Politics, LewRockwell.com Blog, Outside the Beltway and National Review

Ginger Gibson / Politico:
Newt Gingrich drops out: ‘Truly wild ride’ is over

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Susan Page / USA Today:
USA TODAY interview: Gingrich ready to support Romney

Discussion: CBS News, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, ThinkProgress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Politico, New York Magazine, GOP 12, Towleroad News #gay, Sunlight Foundation … and Guardian

BuzzFeed:

New York Post Mocks Obama's Afghanistan Trip — Two schools of thought: Obama is at risk of being seen as politicizing national security. Or, any day spent talking about Osama Bin Laden, and not the economy, is a good one.

Mark McKinnon / The Daily Beast:
GOP Attacks on Obama's Bin Laden Ad Misguided

Discussion: Salon, The Hill, Liberal Values, Washington Wire and Outside the Beltway

Fred Lucas / CNSNews:
Obama in 2006: 'I've Had Enough of Using Terrorism As a Wedge Issue in Our Politics'

Discussion: protein wisdom, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Romney Confronts Power of the Presidency

Discussion: Althouse, The Moderate Voice, New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Boston Globe, Politico, ABCNEWS and Connecting.the.Dots

Frances Robles / MiamiHerald.com:

George Zimmerman's crude Myspace page from 2005 uncovered — While it includes photos of an ethnically diverse group of friends, the murder defendant's 2005 web presence includes disparaging remarks about Mexicans. — FROBLES@MIAMIHERALD.COM — SANFORD — Just as George Zimmerman's attorney pushes …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, The Political Carnival, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Colorlines

Nick R. Martin / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPMMuckraker — Unearthed: George Zimmerman's MySpace Page — This is George Zimmerman's MySpace page. Years before he stood at the center of an international storm over the killing of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin, the Florida man used his page to complain about “mexicans” and celebrate a victory in a criminal case against him.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Michelangelo Signorile / The Huffington Post:

The Richard Grenell Fiasco: How a Cynical Political Move Blew Up in Mitt Romney's Face … Elections 2012 , Richard Grenell , Richard Grenell Mitt Romney , Richard Grenell Resigns , Richard Grenell Romney , Gay Voices News — A week ago a Washington reporter contacted me to discuss Mitt Romney's hiring …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Towleroad News #gay, Truth Wins Out, p m carpenter's commentary, Ricochet Conversations Feed and BuzzFeed

Byron York / Campaign 2012:
The curious resignation of Richard Grenell

Discussion: GOP 12, American Prospect, The New Republic, Slate, Taylor Marsh, New York Times, NationalJournal.com, Washington Monthly, Poliglot, Washington Post, Hit & Run, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Reaction, Guardian, RedState, Datechguy's Blog and GayPatriot

Politico:
Richard Grenell quits Team Romney

Discussion: American Prospect and Daily Kos

Washington Post:

Chen Guangcheng leaves U.S. embassy; deal to guarantee his safety may be unraveling, friends say — BEIJING — Blind activist Chen Guangcheng, who fled de facto house arrest last month and sought refuge for six days at the U.S. Embassy, left the diplomatic compound on Wednesday …

Discussion: Associated Press, US Department of State, Channel 4, Swampland, ThinkProgress, The Agonist and The Page

Jane Perlez / New York Times:
Blind Chinese Dissident Leaves U.S. Embassy for Medical Treatment

Discussion: Foreign Policy, ThinkProgress, Xinhua News Agency, Power Line, IHT Rendezvous, Poynter, Outside the Beltway, Taylor Marsh and New York Magazine

Hillary Chabot / Boston Herald:

Warren: I used minority listing to make friends — Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, fending off questions about whether she used her Native American heritage to advance her career, said today she enrolled herself as a minority in law school directories for nearly a decade …

Discussion: Hot Air and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Howie Carr / Boston Herald:
White and wrong: On the reservation with Elizabeth Warren

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

A Paper Of Cowards — Drudge links to a Virginian-Pilot editorial piece about a beating in Norfolk, VA experienced by two of their own reporters two weeks ago, but he misses the Obama connection that may explain the delay in their reporting. — Per the Pilot a mob of “at least 100” …

Michelle Washington / HamptonRoads.com:
A beating at Church and Brambleton

Discussion: PJ Media, Fox News, Datechguy's Blog, LewRockwell.com Blog, Patterico's Pontifications and Weasel Zippers

Steve Kornacki / Salon:

It's starting to look over for Dick Lugar — Welcome to the permanent era of Tea Party politics — It sure doesn't look like Richard Lugar is long for the political world. The news that the major super PAC supporting his candidacy is bailing on him a week before the Republican primary reinforces …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight

Indianapolis Star:
Indiana senator: What is driving this race? It's all about Lugar, his missed chances

Discussion: msnbc.com

Ry Rivard / Associated Press:

Tomblin says he's uncertain whether he'll vote for Obama — CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Democrat Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said he - like Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. - does not know if he will vote for President Barack Obama or Republican Mitt Romney in the fall. — “I do not believe that either candidate …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Campaign 2012, Hotline On Call and Washington Free Beacon

CNN:
TRENDING: Second West Virginia Dem unsure about Obama

Discussion: HotAirPundit

Marquette Law School Poll:

Marquette Law School Poll shows Barrett leads Falk in recall primary; Walker and Barrett within single percentage point — Milwaukee, Wis. - With less than a week until the primary in the historic Wisconsin gubernatorial recall election, a new Marquette Law School Poll shows Tom Barrett …

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico and msnbc.com

Bill Clinton / New York Times:

‘The Passage of Power,’ Robert Caro's New L.B.J. Book — “The Passage of Power,” the fourth installment of Robert Caro's brilliant series on Lyndon Johnson, spans roughly five years, beginning shortly before the 1960 presidential contest, including the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis …

Discussion: The New Republic

Paul Elias / The Huffington Post:

John Yoo, Former Justice Department Lawyer, Protected From Torture Lawsuit, Rules Appeals Court … Torture , Video , Jose Padilla , OLC Memos , Enhanced Interrogation , John Yoo , John Yoo Torture , John Yoo Torture Memos , Torture Memos , Politics News — SAN FRANCISCO …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Bloomberg and emptywheel

Andrew Feinberg / The Hill:

Ethics watchdog asks FCC to revoke Fox's broadcast licenses — An ethics watchdog group is using the hacking scandal in the United Kingdom to call on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to cancel Fox's broadcast licenses. — The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Government …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Gateway Pundit, more at Mediagazer »