memeorandum: Poll: GOP presidential race wide open; Hillary Clinton leads Jeb Bush in theoretical matchup (Washington Post)

10:00 PM ET, April 30, 2014

Top Items:

Eyewitness account: A minute-by-minute look at what happened during Clayton Lockett's execution … Well, it's a Lockett's execution didn't go well. I lay the blame on the bleeding heart liberals who blocked Oklahoma's access to the execution drugs we've used in the past.

Discussion: Democracy in America, Los Angeles Times, Guardian and Sentencing Law and Policy

Helen Pow / Associated Press:
Killer dies of heart attack after FORTY MINUTES writhing in agony and sitting up to say …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Washington Post, The PJ Tatler and The Jawa Report

Dustin Volz / NationalJournal.com:
The ‘Recipe for Failure’ That Led to Oklahoma's Botched Execution

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Guardian, Business Insider and Daily Kos

ThinkProgress:
The Cruel And Unusual History That Led To Oklahoma's Cruel And Unusual Execution

Discussion: fox59.com, The Week UK, CBS News and Hullabaloo

Ben Crair / The New Republic:
How Oklahoma Botched an Execution

Discussion: New York Times, Guardian, NPR, Mashable, Liberaland, Washington Post, UK Blog on The Huffington Post, CNN, Mother Jones, The Verge, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, The Dish and Althouse

Josh Kraushaar / NationalJournal.com:

Betting Against Nate Silver — Number-crunching Senate prediction models are fun to follow but are not very useful. — Nate Silver's presidential projections are more accurate than his Senate picks. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images) — I'm a numbers guy.

Discussion: New York Times

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

Feelin' a Wave — As we have all observed, Nate Silver and other purveyors of “data journalism” have gotten a lot of flak early in this election cycle, some of it warranted, but much of it the kind of taunting schoolyard kingpins typically inflict on tyros they instinctively understand will be rich and powerful someday.

Discussion: Bloomberg View, Talking Points Memo and Democratic Strategist

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Senate Republicans Filibuster Minimum Wage Hike — As expected, Senate Republicans voted on Wednesday to block debate on legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour. — The procedural motion to begin debate received 54 votes for, and 42 against — short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster.

Discussion: Shakesville

Malia Mattoch / Reuters:
Hawaii lawmakers vote to increase hourly minimum wage to $10.10

Discussion: Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:
Tim Pawlenty: Republican Party must back wage hike

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Talking Points Memo and The Huffington Post

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Democrats Assail G.O.P. After Filibuster of Proposal to Raise Minimum Wage

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Outside the Beltway

CNN:

Rep. Thompson doubles down on racial remarks in interview with CNN's Dana Bash — (CNN) - In an exclusive interview with CNN Chief Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash, Rep. Bennie Thompson doubled down on controversial remarks he made about race over the weekend.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, NewsBusters, TruthRevolt.org, OnPolitics, Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Rush Limbaugh, Washington Post, National Review, CBS DC, The PJ Tatler, Booman Tribune, BuzzFeed and Hinterland Gazette

Jennifer Kabbany / The College Fix:

Meet the Poster Child for ‘White Privilege’ - Then Have Your Mind Blown — He's 20, he's white, and he's a freshman at Princeton University. — According to the ethnic and feminist studies college students and professors who frequently and vehemently complain that this country is steeped …

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Justice Scalia Makes Epic Blunder In Supreme Court Opinion — It's not often that a Supreme Court justice makes a factual blunder in a formal opinion. — Legal experts say Justice Antonin Scalia erred in his dissent in the 6-2 decision Tuesday to uphold the Environmental Protection Agency's authority …

Discussion: Legal Planet, Josh Blackman's Blog, The Raw Story and Off the Kuff

Elias Alias / Oath Keepers:

Bundy Ranch Advisory for April 29 2014 — This advisory will be an encapsulation of a much larger story with numerous feature or peak points to reveal in coming weeks and months. The Bundy Ranch Revolution against federal land management within the several States is positively huge.

Discussion: Right Wing Watch, Las Vegas Sun News, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos and The Raw Story

Miranda Blue / Right Wing Watch:
Bundy Ranch Speaker Warns Of ‘Civil War On A Vast Scale,’ Promises Harry Reid Will Have His ‘Balls Ripped Off’

Discussion: The Raw Story, Mediaite, The Daily Banter and Talking Points Memo

Toronto Sun:

Mayor Rob Ford ‘ready to take a break’ — Toronto Mayor Rob Ford (Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun) — TORONTO - — Mayor Rob Ford tells the Toronto Sun that he is “ready to take a break” from the mayoral election campaign to “go get help.” — The decision to immediately step away from the campaign …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mediaite and Mashable

Salon:

GOP's white Southern men problem: Why they can't hold Democrats down any longer — In a very famous (and possibly apocryphal) quote, Lyndon Johnson said upon signing the 1964 Civil Rights Act that the Democrats had lost the South for a generation. And there's little doubt that the Republicans immediately saw a path to a new majority.

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Senate Democrats plan vote to reverse Citizens United decision — Senate Democrats will schedule a vote this year on a constitutional amendment to reform campaign finance as they face tens of millions of dollars worth of attack ads from conservative groups.

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, CNN, Hot Air and Booman Tribune

Benjamin Goad / The Hill:
John Paul Stevens: ‘Money is not speech’

Discussion: National Review, Josh Blackman's Blog, Washington Post, Politico and Viking Pundit

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Jay Carney Lies About the Benghazi Email — Yesterday I wrote about the most significant email that the Obama administration produced in response to a FOIA request by Judicial Watch. It was sent by White House political operative Ben Rhodes to a variety of administration officials whose duties related to PR, not policy.

Discussion: The Hugh Hewitt Show

Sharyl Attkisson / SharylAttkisson-Home:
White House Directed Incorrect Benghazi Narrative

Discussion: Slate, The Daily Caller, Rush Limbaugh, PoliticusUSA, National Review, San Diego Jewish World, his vorpal sword, Outside the Beltway, Allen B. West, Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Banter, NewsBusters, Politico, USA Today, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Scared Monkeys and Power Line

Nathan Fenno / Los Angeles Times:

Court documents show controversy involving Donald Sterling's wife — Rochelle Sterling, wife of Clippers owner Donald Sterling, watches the Clippers play the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Western Conference quarterfinals Sunday. (Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images / April 27, 2014)

Discussion: ESPN, Talking Points Memo, KTLA 5, Business Insider, The Raw Story, New York Magazine and ThinkProgress

Marcus Thompson II:
Warriors Had the Blueprint For a Dramatic Boycott Ready to Go

Kelly Gray / WSET-TV:

BREAKING NEWS: Train Has Derailed in Lynchburg — Lynchburg, Va - Lynchburg emergency officials have confirmed that a train has gone off the tracks in downtown Lynchburg. It happened around 1:45 Wednesday afternoon. — Between 12 and 14 CSX tankers carrying crude oil were involved …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, DeSmogBlog, ABC News and Politico

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:

Here's What Happens When the GOP Takes Over the Senate — From abortion bans to Obamacare cuts to, maybe, an empty Supreme Court chair, the Republicans already know exactly what they'll do if they get control of both houses of Congress. — Passing a federal law banning almost all abortions after 20 weeks.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Washington Post:

Poll: GOP presidential race wide open; Hillary Clinton leads Jeb Bush in theoretical matchup — The 2016 Republican presidential nominating battle is shaping up as the most wide-open in a generation, with a new Washington Post-ABC News poll showing five prospective candidates within four percentage points …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, News Desk, Trail Blazers Blog, CNN and TPNN

Manu Raju / Politico:

Rand Paul to plunge into North Carolina Senate race — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is making an 11th hour plunge into the North Carolina Senate race, aiming to boost his preferred candidate and block the GOP establishment's favorite, state House Speaker Thom Tillis, from scoring a clean win in Tuesday's primary.

Discussion: CNN, Raleigh News & Observer, WRAL-TV, Washington Monthly, National Review, Public Policy Polling and The Hill

Energy & Commerce Committee:

Committee Learns Who's Paid for Obamacare: As of April 15, Only 67 Percent of Enrollees in Federal Marketplace Had Paid First Month's Premium — Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to Hold Hearing NEXT WEEK with Insurance Companies to Discuss Detailed Enrollment Data

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Hot Air

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:

The Supreme Court tries to reconcile the Fourth Amendment with the realities of our tech age. — What we know for sure on April 29, 2014: Approximately 90 percent of Americans have cellphones, including Justice Stephen Breyer. Twelve million people are arrested every year, the great majority of them for minor offenses.