memeorandum: Mitt Romney Exclusive: Former GOP presidential candidate talks Clintons and facing off against Evander Holyfield (Yahoo! News)

3:40 PM ET, March 19, 2015

Top Items:

Amanda Becker / Reuters:

Democratic support for Hillary Clinton softens: Reuters/Ipsos poll — (Reuters) - Democratic support for Hillary Clinton's expected presidential campaign is softening amid controversy over her use of personal email when secretary of state, but most Democrats are for now sticking by their party's presumed candidate.

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon and The PJ Tatler

A.B. Stoddard / The Hill:

Nothing new from Clinton — As Hillary Clinton hides behind lame tweets, furiously planning the launch of her new and different presidential campaign, Democrats wonder if they can find a 3-D printer that could produce a new Candidate Hillary. Hillary 2.0 would have the same resume …

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

How Hillary can win big — While Hillary Clinton is under attack from taxpayer-subsidized partisan inquisitions by Republicans in a Congress that is disapproved of by nearly 73 percent of Americans, according to Real Clear Politics, 57 percent of Americans would be proud to have her as our president …

Seth Lipsky / New York Post:
Why doesn't Obama just pardon Hillary?

Discussion: Hot Air

Matea Gold / Washington Post:
A mighty fundraising operation awaits Clinton, as well as financial hurdles

Discussion: Political Wire and Progress Pond

Michael Crowley / Politico:

Israel's shield no more? — Officials say they are revisiting the U.S. stance in light of Netanyahu rolling back his support of a Palestinian state. — In the wake of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decisive re-election, the Obama administration is revisiting longtime assumptions …

Yousef Munayyer / New York Times:
Netanyahu's Win Is Good for Palestine

Discussion: Reuters, New York Magazine, Common Dreams and Mondoweiss

Jodi Rudoren / New York Times:
Israel's Netanyahu, Softening Pre-Election Statement, Reopens Door to Palestinian State

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, ThinkProgress, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Washington Post

Foreign Policy:
From Tel Aviv to Turtle Bay

Discussion: Weekly Standard, New York Times, CNN, Fox News Insider, Fox News, New Atlanticist, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Monthly and Bloomberg View

Los Angeles Times:
U.S. support for Israel at the U.N. is in jeopardy, White House says

Discussion: neo-neocon, The Times of Israel, Newsmax, Reuters, National Review, The Daily Caller, Fox News and Center for Security Policy

Dylan Byers / Politico:

As ratings plunge, MSNBC faces shakeup — Insiders say to expect more news, less bombast and, fresh voices. — It would be hard to imagine a news event better tailored to MSNBC's Venn diagram of “lean forward” liberals and “place for politics” political junkies.

Discussion: Adweek, Hot Air, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, National Review, Washington Free Beacon, Taylor Marsh, Poynter and FishbowlDC, more at Mediagazer »

Holly Yan / CNN:

Obama: Maybe it's time for mandatory voting — Story highlights — (CNN)How do we offset the influence of big money in politics while fixing the country's abysmal voter turnout rate? — President Barack Obama suggests it might be time to make voting a requirement.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, NPR, Mediaite, Hot Air, The Jawa Report, The Daily Caller, The Week and VodkaPundit

Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Obama suggests mandatory voting might be a good idea

Discussion: Washington Post, Hit & Run, CBS DC and Democratic Strategist

Jeremiah Horrigan / Times Herald-Record:

Arabic version of Pledge of Allegiance at Pine Bush High School ignites furor — What began as an effort to celebrate national Foreign Language Week at Pine Bush High School has imploded into a raging controversy that has divided the school into angry factions. — » RELATED CONTENT

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and FOX31 Denver

Katie J.M. Baker / BuzzFeed:

College Professor Bans Student From Class For His Views On Rape — A 19-year-old was banned from the discussion portion of a humanities class at Reed College after students complained that his opinions on sexual assault made them feel uncomfortable. He doesn't want to keep quiet.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Shakesville

abc7.com:

Police arrest former nurse aide in Craigslist unborn baby stabbing — Police say the suspect in a baby snatching case, Dynel Lane, held a Colorado nurses' aide license — Police have arrested 34-year-old Dynel Catrece Lane in the stabbing of a pregnant woman who lost her baby.

Discussion: ABC News and abc7chicago.com

abc7.com: Police: Baby cut from womb of pregnant woman responding to Craigslist

David Mitchell / FOX31 Denver:
Pregnant woman's baby cut from womb after answering Craigslist ad; suspect ID'd, 911 tape released

Discussion: WTKR-TV and BuzzFeed

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

The Huge Boehner-Pelosi Deal That Could Change Medicare Forever — WASHINGTON — The House's top two leaders are on the verge of securing a sweeping deal to permanently fix a gaping hole in Medicare that has haunted Congress for more than a decade while also securing significant long-term savings in the program.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Hit & Run and Political Wire

Gdrosenblum / CBS San Francisco:

Napolitano Says 'We Don't Have To Listen To This Crap' As Half-Naked Students Protest Potential UC Tuition Hikes — SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - University of California President Janet Napolitano remarked to a fellow regent that they “didn't have to listen to this crap” as underwear-clad …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Caller and Althouse

Ray Long / Chicago Tribune:

Lobbyist sues to regain big pension he got from 1 day as substitute teacher — A union lobbyist who qualified for a teacher pension windfall by subbing at a school for one day is now suing a state retirement board because his benefits were scaled back once his sweet deal was exposed.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Fox News and Hot Air

kff.org:

Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: March 2015 — Bianca DiJulio, Jamie Firth, and Mollyann Brodie … Opinion Of ACA Five Years After Passage — The health care law has been politically divisive since its passage in March 2010. However, the gap between favorable and unfavorable opinions …

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg Business, Washington Post, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, The Mahablog, The Week and Prairie Weather

Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Iran limited to 6K centrifuges in draft accord — 6 photos — LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — A draft nuclear accord now being negotiated between the United States and Iran would force Iran to cut the amount of hardware it could use to make an atomic bomb by about 40 percent …

Discussion: Power Line, Bloomberg Business, “The Lid”, The Tower, American Spectator, Hot Air and The Week

Tracy Walsh / Talking Points Memo:

White Parents On Fox News Condemn School's Black History Month Event — A segment on Thursday morning during the Fox News program “Fox & Friends” featured an all-white panel demanding an “apology” from a school district in Virginia for a Black History Month event about police brutality.

Discussion: Mediaite

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

A recently hired adviser to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R-TX) campaign-in-waiting made waves in the 2012 presidential race when he suggested it isn't God's will to have a female president. — On Wednesday, Perry's political action committee, RickPAC, announced that Jamie Johnson had joined as senior director.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, BuzzFeed, Des Moines Register and Fox News

Michael Kruse / Politico:

Jeb Bush's forgotten father-in-law — Bush says his Mexican father-in-law abandoned his family to work in the U.S. That's not how his other relatives remember it. — Aides to Jeb Bush have said that his wife Columba's father left her family in Mexico when he immigrated to America.

Discussion: Hot Air

Washington Post:

Hillary Clinton starts running — against the Republican Congress — Hillary Rodham Clinton is already running her presidential campaign — against the Republican Congress. And the GOP is only happy to oblige. — The presumptive Democratic nominee is seeking to use the priorities …