memeorandum: Florida not a given for Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio (Adam C. Smith/Tampa Bay Times)

11:25 AM ET, April 4, 2015

Top Items:

Eric Ham / The Hill:

Clinton has inevitability, but Bush has the Electoral College — As the 2016 presidential field slowly takes shape, the race — even with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) announcing his candidacy — centers on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Gov. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.).

Discussion: Prairie Weather

David Atkins / Washington Monthly:

No, Jeb Bush Does Not Have an Electoral College Advantage — Eric Ham, author of The GOP Civil War, argues in The Hill that Jeb Bush has an advantage over Hillary Clinton in the electoral college: … His evidence for this theory is weak at best. His arguments are that 1) …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Adam C. Smith / Tampa Bay Times:

Florida not a given for Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio — Bad enough that Florida is by far the most populated state never to produce a president. This diverse, mega battleground most resembles America, but we haven't even produced a presidential nominee, despite the underdog campaigns of Reubin Askew in 1984 and Bob Graham in 2004.

Hugh Hewitt / The Hugh Hewitt Show:
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough On 2016, The Iran “Deal” And Hillary's Glass Jaw

Discussion: PoliticusUSA, Liberaland, TVNewser and Business Insider

New York Times:

Big Business's Critical Role on Anti-Gay Laws — Big corporations like Walmart, Apple, Salesforce.com and General Electric and their executives have done the right thing by calling on officials in Indiana and Arkansas to reject “religious freedom” laws designed to give businesses …

Discussion: Common Dreams, Hot Air, Advocate, Washington Post, Hit & Run, CNN and NPR

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Bigotry, the Bible and the Lessons of Indiana

Discussion: Public Religion Research …

Daily Mail:

Tea party groups win Round 1 in court as federal judge demands IRS's list of all 298 conservative nonprofits it targeted — Right-wing groups want court to let them sue the IRS in a class-action lawsuit for violating their constitutional right to equal treatment

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Jeffrey Frank / New Yorker:

The Lonely Clinton Campaign — Nearly eight years ago, Democrats held their first televised Presidential debate of the 2008 campaign, marking the debut of a cast of characters that ranged from the plausible to the preposterous. For two hours, the candidates, some of them now remembered …

Discussion: abc7news.com, ABC News and Daily Mail

Edith Honan / Reuters:

Somali militants vow to turn Kenyan cities ‘red with blood’ — (Reuters) - Somali militants vowed on Saturday to wage a long war against Kenya and run its cities “red with blood” after the group's fighters killed nearly 150 people during an assault on a Kenyan university.

Discussion: The Week

Carl Gibson / ThinkProgress:

This City Could Become The Next Detroit — Carl Gibson is an independent journalist and activist. He co-founded anti-austerity group US Uncut in 2011 and is featured in the Sundance-selected documentary “We're Not Broke.” He has been published in Salon, Washington Post, and Occupy.com.

Discussion: Baltimore Sun

Mike Nowatzki / INFORUM:

ND House kills bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation — BISMARCK - For the third time in six years, North Dakota lawmakers have killed legislation that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, despite warnings from some Democrats and Republicans that it could tarnish …

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA and JIMROMENESKO.COM

Aaron Burner / WDAY-TV:
ND House strikes down bill outlawing sexual orientation discrimination, supporters will push for bill next session

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Raw Story

Judith Miller / Wall Street Journal:

The Iraq War and Stubborn Myths — Officials didn't lie, and I wasn't fed a line, writes Judith Miller — I took America to war in Iraq. It was all me. — OK, I had some help from a duplicitous vice president, Dick Cheney. Then there was George W. Bush, a gullible president …

Discussion: Guardian, Mediaite and Politico

Yuval Levin / National Review:

The Church of the Left — Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act, like the federal one and those of other states, articulates its purpose in terms of the Free Exercise clause of the First Amendment (see especially sections 8, 9, and 10 of the statute).

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Ed Driscoll

Greg Bluestein / Political Insider blog:
Nathan Deal's advice for ‘religious liberty’ supporters next year

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Gayly, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Right Wing Watch

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Tom Cotton Is Not Mailing It In — Your last name is Cotton, and this interview was arranged by your communications director, Caroline Rabbitt. Who is your chief of staff, Beatrix Potter? If only. No, my chief of staff is Doug Coutts. — You were raised in rural Arkansas …

Discussion: Althouse, Bloomberg Business, Washington Post, Mediaite, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, NPR and The Week

Bradley Klapper / Associated Press:

AP Analysis: Holes, Questions Remain for Iran's Nuclear Deal — FILE - In this April 2, 2015 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. The framework nuclear deal sealed by world powers and Iran leaves major questions: Could Iran cheat? Possibly.

Discussion: The Hill, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and abc7news.com