memeorandum: Senator Clinton's First Lady Schedules to Drop Tomorrow (Josh Gerstein/Latest Politics)

6:25 PM ET, March 18, 2008

Top Items:

OBAMA SPEECH IN FULL: A MORE PERFECT UNION — “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union.” — Two hundred and twenty one years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy.

Discussion: The Corner, michellemalkin.com, Power Line, Weekly Standard Blog, Washington Post, CNN, The Moderate Voice, TPM Election Central, Marc Ambinder, Hot Air, Balloon Juice, Clive Crook, The New Republic, TalkLeft, Rocky Mountain News, Commentary, The Washington Independent, Althouse, Little Green Footballs, Redstate, The Sundries Shack, NYCweboy, American Power, The Daily Dish, Ross Douthat, Will Wilkinson, The Strata-Sphere, Taylor Marsh, Patterico's Pontifications, Lean Left, TownHall Blog, Donklephant, The Reaction, Macsmind, Examining Presidential …, Pajamas Media, Right Wing Nut House, Confederate Yankee, Don Surber, Fox News, MyDD, Sweetness & Light, The Caucus, Dick Polman's American Debate, Crooks and Liars, This ain't Hell …, NO QUARTER, Pam's House Blend, Left in the West, PoliBlog (TM), American Princess, Riehl World View, Pandagon, The Huffington Post, Fausta's blog, Brave New Films blog, Lynn Sweet, QandO, Outside The Beltway, The Carpetbagger Report, A Blog For All, Wake up America and Joe. My. God.

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

The Speech — Alas, I cannot give a more considered response right now as I have to get on the road. But I do want to say that this searing, nuanced, gut-wrenching, loyal, and deeply, deeply Christian speech is the most honest speech on race in America in my adult lifetime.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Taegan Goddard's …, OxBlog, The Opinionator, Don Surber, Hot Air, MSNBC, Ben Smith's Blogs, Hotline On Call, Tom Watson, Brilliant at Breakfast and NYCweboy

Charles Murray / The Corner:

Have I missed the competition? — I read the various posts here on “The Corner,” mostly pretty ho-hum or critical about Obama's speech. Then I figured I'd better read the text (I tried to find a video of it, but couldn't). I've just finished. Has any other major American politician ever …

Discussion: Ross Douthat and StephenBainbridge.com

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

FIRST THOUGHTS: OBAMA'S BIG SPEECH — From Chuck Todd and Mark Murray — *** Obama's big speech: The last time a top presidential candidate gave an important speech on a sensitive topic was last December, when Mitt Romney talked about American faith. His speech drew favorable reviews …

Discussion: MyDD and Trailhead

John Derbyshire / The Corner:

Obama's Lies — Not so much lies as a sort of slippery sleight-of-mouth. I'm starting to really dislike Obama. … Segregation was not “the law of the land” in the 1950s. It was the law in a minority of states. … If, as Obama seems to be claiming, those are the sentiments …

Discussion: The New Republic and Reason Magazine

Shelby Steele / Wall Street Journal:

The Obama Bargain — Geraldine Ferraro may have had sinister motives when she said that Barack Obama would not be “in his position” as a frontrunner but for his race. Possibly she was acting as Hillary Clinton's surrogate. Or maybe she was simply befuddled by this new reality …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Daily Dish, The Root and No More Mister Nice Blog

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:

Full Text Of Obama's Big Race Speech: A Big Break With Political Precedent — We have a full transcript of Obama's big race speech for you after the jump. He's set to deliver it in Philadelphia within moments. — Reading it, you can't escape the fact that in various ways it represents …

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics, Open Left, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, Talking Points Memo, American Street, Booman Tribune and Democratic Strategist

The New Republic:

John McWhorter Reviews Obama's Speech — We reached out to several friends of the magazine to respond to Obama's big speech in Philadelphia today. Here's what John McWhorter, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, had to say. — In his speech in Philadelphia this morning …

Discussion: The Corner and Eunomia

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:

CHECKING IN WITH THE OTHER SIDE....I thing we can safely assume that Barack Obama's supporters will all swoon over his speech today. And why not? It was, as usual for him, a helluva good address: intelligent, sane, sympathetic, and broadly appealing. He didn't, however …

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Hullabaloo and The Carpetbagger Report

Stanley Kurtz / The Corner: MoveOn Move In — Obama's speech was thoughtful, powerful …

The New Republic:
Todd Gitlin Reviews Obama's Speech

Discussion: The Corner

Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner: Re: Closer to Wright?

Ben Smith / The Politico:
The speech — He hasn't started speaking yet here in Philly …

Discussion: Shakesville, The Confluence and Reason Magazine

David Corn / MoJoBlog: “Black and More Than Black”: Obama's Daring and Unique Speech on Race

The New Republic: Alan Wolfe Reviews Obama's Speech

Charlotte Hays / The Corner:
The Politics of Grievance — Obama is no longer a post-racial candidate.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and The Moderate Voice

Karl / protein wisdom:
Does Barack Obama's religion matter?

Discussion: ABCNEWS and The Caucus

Jay Rosen / PressThink:
Obama tells the Best Political Team on Television: You Have a Choice

Discussion: Swampland and The Corner

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Assessing Race in America, Obama Calls Pastor Divisive

Discussion: Guardian Unlimited, Trailhead and FREEDOM EDEN

Michael Crowley / The New Republic:
Obama's Speech Was Brilliant, But

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, 2008Central.net, Guardian Unlimited and Ben Smith's Blogs

Marc Ambinder:
Reflections On Obama's Speech

Discussion: THE LIBERAL JOURNAL and Bluey Blog

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
The Politics of Obama's Speech

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

The Politico:
Obama heard controversial comments

Discussion: The Campaign Spot and National Review

Confederate Yankee:
Barack's “Race” Speech

Discussion: ABCNEWS and Hot Air

Deacon / Power Line:
OBAMA'S COURAGEOUS SPEECH

Discussion: The Caucus and StephenBainbridge.com

Washington Post:

A McCain Gaffe in Jordan — AMMAN, Jordan — Sen. John McCain, traveling in the Middle East to promote his foreign policy expertise, misidentified in remarks Tuesday which broad category of Iraqi extremists are allegedly receiving support from Iran. — He said several times that Iran …

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:

Obama's New Radio Ads — PHILADELPHIA — Senator Hillary Clinton may be ahead in the polls here in Pennsylvania, but Senator Barack Obama is the first one up on the air, with two radio spots starting today. They are the first ads in advance of the state's primary, April 22.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and The Page

Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Poll: McCain against Clinton or Obama a dead heat

Discussion: My Left Wing

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
Clinton widens leads over Obama in Pa., poll finds

Discussion: MyDD

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:

U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to strike down D.C. handgun ban — Several justices indicate they believe the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution protects individual rights. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court justices, hearing a historic argument on the meaning of the 2nd Amendment …

Discussion: CNN, The Volokh Conspiracy, Legalities and A Blog For All

Robert Barnes / Washington Post:
Supreme Court Majority Appears To Back Gun Rights

Discussion: Reason Magazine, Capitol Briefing, The Volokh Conspiracy, Law Blog and Election Law

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For immediate release — The Federal Open Market Committee decided today to lower its target for the federal funds rate 75 basis points to 2-1/4 percent. — Recent information indicates that the outlook for economic activity has weakened further. Growth in consumer spending has slowed and labor markets have softened.