memeorandum: How White Will the Electorate Be? — Probably not quite this white. (Jonathan Chait/New York Magazine)

11:25 PM ET, May 18, 2012

Top Items:

Nick R. Martin / tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com:

TPMMuckraker — Arizona Goes Birther: Secretary Of State Says It's ‘Possible’ Obama Won't Be On Ballot — The man in charge of running Arizona's elections has gone to the birthers. Secretary of State Ken Bennett now says he's not convinced Barack Obama was really born in the United States …

Discussion: his vorpal sword, The Maddow Blog, Hit & Run, Mediaite, American Prospect, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Reaction, ThinkProgress, Indecision Forever, Business Insider, Daily Kos, Wonkette, New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice and Balloon Juice

Felicia Sonmez / Washington Post:
‘Birther’ controversy: Arizona election official says it's ‘possible’ Obama might not make ballot

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Valley Fever and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Mike Broomhead / www.kfyi.com:
Obama's Name On Ballot In Arizona In Jeopardy?

Discussion: White House Dossier

Meenal Vamburkar / Mediaite:
AZ Sect. Of State Threatens To Remove Obama From Ballot Without Birth Certificate Verification From Hawaii

Discussion: Valley Fever and Wake up America

Alex Pareene / Salon:

The National Review's fake plagiarism scoop — Updated: After falsely accusing Elizabeth Warren of plagiarism, the conservative magazine apologizes — The National Review says Elizabeth Warren is guilty of the gravest crime a writer can commit: Plagiarism.

Discussion: Politicker

Katrina Trinko / National Review:

CORRECTION — UPDATE: I took down my earlier post on Elizabeth Warren plagiarizing from the book Getting On the Money Track. On Amazon.com, the Warren book All Your Worth is listed as having been published January 9, 2006. As it turns out, that is the paperback publication date; the hardback book was published in March 2005.

Discussion: Hot Air and Media Decoder

Matt Negrin / ABCNEWS:

Bush and Romney Talk After Elevator Endorsement — George W. Bush and Mitt Romney have connected. — Romney called Bush after the former president offered his fleeting support for the Republican candidate in an elevator this week, a person on Romney's campaign tells ABC News.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Hill, Lippmann's Ghost, Daily Kos, CNN and GOP 12

Tom Benning / Trail Blazers Blog:

George W. Bush to return to White House this month to be honored by President Obama with official portrait — Bush spokesman Freddy Ford said, “The Bushes are looking forward to being back in Washington and seeing some of their friends. They appreciate the Obamas' hospitality in hosting the portrait hanging.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hill

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

How White Will the Electorate Be? — Probably not quite this white. — Last month, Emory University political scientist Alan Abramowitz noticed something unusual. Most of the polling about the presidential race found President Obama leading Mitt Romney, by mid-to-high single digits.

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Prairie Weather

Michael Patrick Leahy / BREITBART.COM:

DID ELIZABETH WARREN PLAGIARIZE HER ‘POW WOW CHOW’ RECIPES? — The credibility of Massachusetts Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren took another hit today as Boston radio talk show host Howie Carr released evidence that appears to confirm Ms. Warren may have plagiarized at least three …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, BuzzFeed, Weasel Zippers, RedState, Ed Driscoll, Pundit & Pundette, The PJ Tatler and Hot Air

TMZ.com:

Will Smith ATTACKS Affectionate Reporter — ATTACKS Kissy Reporter — Will Smith just slapped a Ukrainian reporter across the face at the Moscow premiere of “Men in Black 3” — and it was all caught on tape. — The Ukrainian reporter tries to kiss Will on the lips on the red carpet …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay, msnbc.com and Mediaite

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Behind the Scenes at MSNBC — We wrote here about MSNBC's disgraceful attacks on Charles and David Koch and Koch Industries in connection with the Trayvon Martin shooting. Guest host Karen Finney said: … A few days later, Van Jones, a guest on MSNBC, said:

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

AUDIO: Witness Says George Zimmerman Repeatedly Bullied Him At Work, Targeted Him With Racist Jokes — Among the evidence in the Trayvon Martin case released by the Florida state prosecutor yesterday was a 15-minute interview with a former work collegue of George Zimmerman.

Discussion: The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Shakesville, Orlando Sentinel and USA Today

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
The WaPo On The Zimmerman Evidence - Are They Kidding?

Discussion: Power Line, The Smoking Gun, The PJ Tatler, Wake up America and Washington Post

Yahoo! News:

Advice to would-be Romney running mates: Run for the hills — Nothing is easier to mock in politics right now than the apparent reluctance of leading Republicans to sign on as Mitt Romney's second banana. A few weeks ago, Jon Stewart summarized the way that Rob Portman was plugging …

Adam Serwer / Mother Jones:

House GOP Kills Proposal to Block Indefinite Detention of US Citizens — At least it's on the record: Most House Republicans support the indefinite detention without trial of American citizens. — During Thursday's floor debate over the latest national defense authorization act …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Firedoglake, Associated Press and emptywheel

Jeremy Herb / The Hill:
Lawmakers back indefinite detention for terror suspects in US

Discussion: Politico, Firedoglake, Outside the Beltway, ThinkProgress and Mother Jones

Wall Street Journal:

Facebook Falls Back to IPO Price — Underwriters Stepped In to Support Social Network's Shares at Offering Price — Facebook Inc.'s public debut had plenty of buzz but not much pop. The shares opened 11% higher, but struggled to stay above their $38 offering price and ended the day up just 23 cents.

Discussion: Felix Salmon, msnbc.com, Rush Limbaugh, Dealbreaker and AllThingsD

John Mercure / Local:

Mayor Barrett was meeting with union organizers when he missed police memorial — MILWAUKEE - It turns out, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was in Oshkosh talking with union organizers when he missed an event in Milwaukee honoring law enforcement in southeast Wisconsin, including Milwaukee Police officers.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, RedState and Washington Free Beacon

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Obama's North Carolina math problem — Raleigh, North Carolina (CNN) — The state Democratic Party here is consumed with an ongoing sexual harassment scandal. The embattled governor is so unpopular she decided not to run for a second term. And supporters of same-sex marriage were dealt a crushing defeat at the ballot box last week.

Discussion: Washington Post, Campaign 2012, American Prospect, BuzzFeed, Hot Air, The PJ Tatler and GOP 12

The Gallup Organization / Gallup:

Stay-at-Home Moms Report More Depression, Sadness, Anger — But low-income stay-at-home moms struggle the most — WASHINGTON, D.C. — The degree of difficulty of being a stay-at-home parent is evident in a new Gallup analysis of more than 60,000 U.S. women interviewed in 2012.

Discussion: Economix, Hot Air and Reuters

The Reliable Source / Washington Post:

Al Gore has a girlfriend: California donor and activist Elizabeth Keadle — Al Gore has been seriously dating Elizabeth Keadle, right, of California. (Joe Kohen/Getty; Jon Clark/Rancho Santa Fe Review) — It's never easy to re-enter the dating pool after years away …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Lippmann's Ghost, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Age of Innocence — The people who pioneered democracy in Europe and the United States had a low but pretty accurate view of human nature. They knew that if we get the chance, most of us will try to get something for nothing. They knew that people generally prize short-term goodies over long-term prosperity.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Booman Tribune, the daily howler, No More Mister Nice Blog and Seeing the Forest

Jake Sherman / Politico:

John Boehner adds to pressure on Eric Holder — There's about to be a lot more pressure on Eric Holder from Capitol Hill about the Fast and Furious investigation. — Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Whip Kevin McCarthy joined with Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Hot Air

Washington Post:

Americans Elect and the death of the third party movement — It ended with a whimper, not a bang. — Late Thursday night, Americans Elect, a much-ballyhooed group dedicated to securing ballot access for a serious third-party presidential candidate in 2012, issued a statement acknowledging failure.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Firedoglake, msnbc.com, Salon, The Huffington Post, Online NewsHour, CNN, Outside the Beltway, americanselect.org and Gallup

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Romney's Smart, Unsentimental Strategy — Presidential campaigns often delude themselves about what forces control the fate of the campaign. They believe that the charisma of the candidate, or the force of his ideas, or the tactical brilliance of his advisers hold the key to victory.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Swampland

Rick Hasen / Election Law Blog:

Breaking News: Divided D.C. Circuit Panel Upholds Constitutionality of Voting Rights Act, Teeing Up Issue for Supreme Court — The Shelby County opinion is here. Judge Williams dissented. The court also issued a unanimous opinion in the related LaRoque case, finding the issue mooted …

Discussion: ACS Blog

Akiva Novick / Ynetnews:

Medics attacked by Palestinians near Jerusalem — Emergency crew responding on scene of accident find themselves the target of violent mob — An emergency medical crew narrowly escaped being lynched this week while responding on the scene of an injurious car accident near Jerusalem, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and iOwnTheWorld.com

The Office of Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer:

House Democrats Introduce Voter Empowerment Act — SHARE: EMAIL PRINT FACEBOOK TWITTER — Today, House Democrats introduced the Voter Empowerment Act, comprehensive voting rights legislation to modernize our voter registration system, ensure equal access to the ballot box …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, The Democratic Daily and Colorlines

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Biden on W. Va. felon vote: 'I don't blame people, they're frustrated, they're angry' — Here's a clip from Vice President Joe Biden's interview with WTOV-TV in West Virginia yesterday, the latest stop he's made this week, where he was asked about what he made of out-of-state incarcerated …

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, ABCNEWS, Michelle Malkin, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Wire

The Age:

Wong's affirmation of gay families ‘a watershed’ — The exchange between Penny Wong and Joe Hockey on Q&A this week about gay parents is only about two and half minutes long. — Prompted by an audience question about why the shadow treasurer thinks he and his wife make better parents …

Discussion: Advocate, ThinkProgress, Towleroad News #gay and The Daily Dish

NME:

U2's Bono to become the world's richest musician tomorrow (May 18) — Singer will leapfrog Paul McCartney when Facebook hits the stock exchange — U2 frontman Bono will become the richest musician in the world tomorrow (May 18), overtaking Paul McCartney.