memeorandum: Rendell: Wisconsin recall a ‘dumb political fight’ for labor to pick (Cameron Joseph/Ballot Box)

8:30 AM ET, June 7, 2012

Top Items:

Jesse Helfrich / The Hill:

Obama frets after ‘terrifying’ recall vote — President Obama will need to double down on his efforts to keep Wisconsin safely in his column after Gov. Scott Walker's (R) resounding victory in Tuesday's recall election. — Every Democratic presidential candidate since Walter Mondale in 1984 …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, BREITBART.COM, New York Times, Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, The Daily Beast, Jammie Wearing Fools, Hotline On Call and Campaign Stops

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:

Barney Frank: Dems, unions made ‘big mistake’ in pushing for Wisconsin recall — Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) slammed unions and liberal activists for pushing to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). — “I think the people on the Democratic side made a big mistake and the funding thing was a big deal …

Discussion: Politico, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, The Raw Story and Mish's Global Economic …

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:

We Are the 119% — MSNBC: My Schadenfreude Now Blankets Cable. — Last night we got home from a dinner and discovered something wonderful when we switched on the television. There's an entire cable network called MSNBC devoted to the entertainment of conservatives.

Discussion: Salon, The Angle, The Glittering Eye, NewsBusters.org blogs, Daily Kos, Politico, Ed Driscoll and PoliPundit.com

Kos / Daily Kos:

GOP outplaying its Wisconsin hand — Barack Obama touring Wisconsin back in February. (Jason Reed/Reuters) — I'm not going to sugarcoat it, losing the governor's race in Wisconsin sucked. While we'll crunch the numbers on turnout in a later post, the exit polls point to two major reasons …

Discussion: Democratic Strategist, Crooks and Liars, New York Times, The Reaction, Business Insider, Political Economy, Balloon Juice, Informed Comment, The Raw Story and Vodkapundit

Wall Street Journal:

Labor Faces New Challenge — Losses in Wisconsin, California Come as Ranks of Government Unions Decline — Barb Forgue, front, of Marshall, Wis., sings a union song in support of recalling Gov. Scott Walker on Tuesday. The governor defeated the bid. — Organized labor …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and RedState

Walter Russell Mead / Via Meadia:

The “People United” Go Down In Flames — The American left as we have come to know it suffered a devastating blow in Wisconsin last night. The organized heart of the left gave everything it had to the fight against Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker: heart, shoe leather, wallet and soul.

Discussion: The Conservatory, The Daily Dish, The Enterprise Blog, RedState, The Razor, The Daily Caller and Political Capital

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Rendell: Wisconsin recall a ‘dumb political fight’ for labor to pick

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, TheBlaze.com, Washington Post, The Caucus and American Prospect

Josh Kraushaar / 2012 Decoded:
Red Flags All Over for Obama in Wisconsin

Discussion: Pirate's Cove, The Daily Beast, Wall Street Journal, RealClearMarkets, Democracy in America, Washington Post, Washington Wire, National Review, Real Clear Politics, The Enterprise Blog, The Conservatory, ABCNEWS and The New Republic

Susan Jones / CNSNews:
38% of Voters from Union Households Voted for Walker

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, NewsBusters.org blogs, Guardian, The Daley Gator, No More Mister Nice Blog and New York Magazine

Michael Barone / AEI:
Exit poll: Wisconsin in play in November

Discussion: Wizbang, New York Times, The Enterprise Blog, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, CNN, RedState, The Daily Beast, The Spectacle Blog, GOP 12, msnbc.com and Campaign 2012

Jonah Goldberg / National Review: Notes on the Big Win

Fox News:
Wisconsin's Walker survives recall by wide margin

Discussion: NoisyRoom.net, Conservatives4Palin, Fox News Insider, Campaign 2012, Sister Toldjah, JSOnline, Examiner and Politico

Alec MacGillis / The New Republic:
Meet The Walker-Obama Voter

Discussion: Democratic Strategist, Campaign 2012, American Spectator, Hit & Run, Washington Post and BillMoyers.com

ABCNEWS:

Senator Asks DOJ to Investigate SWAT-ting Attacks on Conservative Bloggers — A number of conservative bloggers allege they have been targeted through the use of harassment tactics such as SWAT-ting (fooling 911 operators into sending emergency teams to their homes), in retaliation for posts …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Michelle Malkin, “The Lid”, American Power, Breitbart Unmasked, Nice Deb, The Lonely Conservative and Examiner

Saxby Chambliss, U.S. Senator for Georgia:

Chambliss Demands Inquiry Into Attacks Against Conservative Commentators — Sends letter to Attorney General Eric Holder about recent “SWAT-ting” incidents — Sends letter to Attorney General Eric Holder about recent “SWAT-ting” incidents — WASHINGTON - Today, U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss …

Discussion: Datechguy's Blog, Political Insider, American Power, RedState, The Other McCain, Mediaite, The Camp Of The Saints, Washington Times, The Daley Gator, The Lonely Conservative, UrbanGrounds, Riehl World View, Pirate's Cove and The Jawa Report

Michael Barbaro / New York Times:

The Candidate Next Door — ON Dunemere Drive, it seems as if just about everyone has a gripe against the owners of No. 311. — The elderly woman next door complains that her car is constantly boxed into her driveway. A few houses over, a gay couple grumbles that their beloved ocean views are in jeopardy.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Pirate's Cove, New York Magazine, Prairie Weather, GayPatriot, Hit & Run, The Rightnewz and TBogg

John Cook / Gawker:

Mitt Romney's Hotmail Hacker Would Like You to Know That He Is Very, Very Sorry — Yesterday, a tipster sent us a note indicating that he had successfully accessed Mitt Romney's Hotmail and DropBox accounts after guessing the answer to a security question—Romney's favorite pet.

Discussion: Mediaite, Truthdig, ABCNEWS, Indecision Forever, Politico, The Hill and Business Insider

Molly K. Hooper / The Hill:

Mitt Romney's campaign, GOP leaders ramp up coordination — Congressional Republicans and Mitt Romney's presidential campaign have stepped up their coordination in recent weeks through regular teleconference calls that highlight upcoming announcements and messaging strategies.

Discussion: Politico

James Kwak / The Atlantic Online:
The GOP's Bizarre, Disturbing Passion for Raising Taxes on the Poor

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Firedoglake and The Baseline Scenario

Paul Krugman:

Estonian Rhapsody — Since Estonia has suddenly become the poster child for austerity defenders — they're on the euro and they're booming! — I thought it might be useful to have a picture of what we're talking about. Here's real GDP, from Eurostat: — So, a terrible — Depression-level …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Hot Air, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler, FP Passport, World Now, The Raw Story and Campaign 2012

Michelle Obama / CNN:

Michelle Obama fires up crowd in Philly — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (CNN) - First lady Michelle Obama rallied supporters in this must-win state Wednesday, imploring the energetic crowd to help give her husband a “chance to finish what we started.” — Touting the passage of health care reform …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Conservatory

George W. Bush / CNN:
CNN Poll: George W. Bush only living ex-president under 50%

Discussion: Politico

CNN:
Romney predicts Wisconsin reverberates

Discussion: The Rightnewz, Harry's Place and Washington Post

Byron York / Campaign 2012:

Romney: Obama slowed recovery to push Obamacare — In an appearance in Texas Wednesday, Mitt Romney charged that President Obama “knowingly slowed down the recovery in this country...in order to put in place Obamacare.” The president's action, Romney said, “deserves a lot of explaining.”

Discussion: The Caucus, Hot Air, The Hill and Viking Pundit

Stanley Kurtz / National Review:
Obama's Third-Party History

Discussion: The Daley Gator and The PJ Tatler

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Big Obama Spending Fails To Move The Needle

Discussion: Campaign 2012

John Bates / NewsBusters.org blogs:

First Lady Requires Photo ID for Her Book Signings; Voter ID Law-hating Media Fail to Note Obama Hypocrisy — The Obama administration has done its best to oppose states from instituting new, stricter voter ID laws, complaining that many minority voters lack photo identification.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Power Line, The Lonely Conservative, The Hope For America and The PJ Tatler

TMZ.com:

14-Year-Old Talk Show Host — Homosexuality is ‘Perverted’ Choice — 14-YEAR-OLD TALK SHOW HOST — Gays Choose Perversion — No Matter What Gaga Says — You gotta laugh just a little watching a 14-year-old radio talk show host blast homosexuality as a choice people make — regardless of what Lady Gaga says.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ThinkProgress, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay and The New Civil Rights Movement

BuzzFeed:

Did President Obama Just Make A Blowjob Joke? — So says the pool report from his gay and lesbian fundraiser at L.A.'s Beverly Wilshire tonight. Incredibly awkward. — Obama speaks during a campaign event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills tonight. — (Getty Images / JEWEL SAMAD)

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, The Sundries Shack and Riehl World View

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:

Jeb: 2012 was “probably my time” — Sure, Jeb Bush talked about not taking VP in his appearance on CBS this morning, but he's said that a thousand times. — This exchange was far more interesting and pretty big — he says that 2012 was probably the best moment for him to have run for president, but questions whether he could've won.

Discussion: Mediaite and The Rightnewz