memeorandum: A Smoke-Filled War Room (Thomas B. Edsall/New York Times)

8:45 PM ET, March 22, 2007

Top Items:

Edwards to Suspend Campaign — John Edwards is suspending his campaign for President, and may drop out completely, because his wife has suffered a recurrence of the cancer that sickened her in 2004, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, an Edwards friend told The Politico.

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Getting It Wrong — A single, confident source close to John Edwards told me this morning that Edwards was "suspending his campaign," and I posted it to the blog at 11:06 this morning. — My source, and I, were wrong. — The source, whose anonymity I agreed to respect …

Discussion: TAPPED, The Moderate Voice, Public Eye, Taylor Marsh, NewsBusters.org, FishBowlDC, All Spin Zone, Gallup Guru, On Deadline and The Daily Dish

MSNBC:

Wife's illness won't idle Edwards '08 campaign — 'Campaign goes on,' Democratic hopeful says despite return of wife's cancer — WASHINGTON - His wife's cancer has returned, but former North Carolina senator John Edwards says he'll continue his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Reaction, The Democratic Daily, Senate 2008 Guru, Balloon Juice, Donklephant, Liberty Street, The Mahablog, New York Times and Michael P.F. van der Galiën

Mike Baker / Associated Press:

Edwards will continue presidential run — CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - John Edwards said Thursday his wife's cancer has returned, but said he will continue his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. — "The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly," Edwards told reporters, his wife by his side.

Discussion: Simply Left Behind, Skeptical Brotha, GINA COBB, Little Green Footballs and Blue Crab Boulevard

New York Times:

Edwards to Continue '08 Bid Despite Wife's Cancer — John Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat, said today that his wife's cancer had returned, but that his bid for the presidency "goes on strongly." — "The campaign goes on, the campaign goes on strongly," he said, with his wife, Elizabeth, at his side.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Prairie Weather, Associated Press and Taylor Marsh

Jay Carney / Time:

Can Edwards' Campaign Just Go On? — "The campaign goes on. The campaign goes on strongly." The words from John Edwards were a shock, coming as they did after he and his wife Elizabeth had spent the opening minutes of their press conference in Chapel Hill, N.C., describing how her breast cancer …

Discussion: Firedoglake, GINA COBB and TIME: Swampland

CNN:
Edwards: Wife's cancer returns, campaign goes on

Discussion: Salon, Norwegianity, protein wisdom, PoliBlog (TM) and Washington Post

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
Best Wishes for Elizabeth Edwards

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, Crooked Timber and Off the Kuff

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Edwards Forges On — So, despite earlier reports, Edwards will not suspend his campaign.

Discussion: Shakespeare's Sister, The Caucus, Althouse and Power Line

Associated Press: Edwards to continue campaign despite return of wife's cancer

J-Walking:
Cancer is Not a Political Issue

Discussion: Wizbang

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Associated Press:

Senate panel OKs subpoenas for key aides — WASHINGTON - A Senate panel, following the House's lead, authorized subpoenas Thursday for White House political adviser Karl Rove and other top aides involved in the firing of federal prosecutors. — The Senate Judiciary Committee decided …

Discussion: The Impolitic, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, TIME: Swampland, CorrenteWire and All Spin Zone

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:

Oversight over the White House — Forgive the redundancy after having just mentioned this, but it's worth paying special attention to the new White House talking point. — Tony Snow on ABC: "The executive branch is under no compulsion to testify to Congress, because Congress in fact doesn't have oversight ability."

Discussion: White House Watch, Balkinization, Public Eye, Think Progress and Shakespeare's Sister

William Branigin / Washington Post:
Panel Authorizes Subpoenas for Administration Officials

Discussion: New York Times

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Senate Panel Backs Subpoenas of Bush Aides

Discussion: The Huffington Post

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:
Snow: Congress "Doesn't Have Oversight Ability"

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Susan Crabtree / The Hill:
E-mails on attorneys' firings could impact privilege case

Discussion: Washington Post

Patrick O'Connor / The Politico:

GOP Forces House Democrats To Pull DC Voting Bill — House Democrats pulled a bill to grant voting rights to Washington, D.C., after Republicans offered a motion that would repeal the gun ban for the District. — The move is a clear signal that Democrats have lost control of House floor …

Discussion: Flopping Aces, The Caucus, The Jawa Report, Don Surber, Redstate, Power Line and PunditGuy

Andres Martinez / Opinion L.A.:

Grazergate, the episode — David Hiller's decision to kill the Brian Grazer section this Sunday makes my continued tenure as Los Angeles Times editorial page editor untenable. The person in this job needs to have an unimpeachable integrity, and Hiller's decision amounts to a vote of no confidence in my continued leadership.

Discussion: Winds of Change.NET, LA Observed and Media Blog

Bill Boyarsky:

Investigate the tainted Times — To keep faith with its readers, the Los Angeles Times needs to put all its resources into an investigation of what's been going on in the Current section and the editorial pages, now tainted by the conduct of editor Andres Martinez.

Discussion: Political Animal, The Huffington Post, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Romenesko

Think Progress:

Gonzales: I'm Staying For The Kids — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced this morning: "I'm not going to resign. I'm going to stay focused on protecting our kids." Speaking before a Project Safe Childhood event, Gonzales told reporters he plans "to go up to the Congress …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Carpetbagger Report, Political Radar, The Impolitic and Shakespeare's Sister

Sidney Blumenthal / Salon:

What Bush is hiding — In the U.S. attorney scandal, Alberto Gonzales gave orders, but he also took them — from Karl Rove, who plotted to turn the federal criminal justice system into the Republican Holy Office of the Inquisition. — Alberto Gonzales, right, and Karl Rove at the Jan. 31 …

Discussion: Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather, Democratic Underground, Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, The Mahablog and The Moderate Voice

Thomas B. Edsall / New York Times:

A Smoke-Filled War Room — THE Democratic majority in the House is trying to set policy for the Iraq war by committee — a fractious and divided committee. — If the Democrats really want to play a role in the current Iraq debate, they should take a look at what John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are up to.

Discussion: Daily Kos, MyDD, JustOneMinute, The Daily Dish and TalkLeft

Ahmed Rashid / Washington Post:

Musharraf at the Exit — LAHORE, Pakistan — In the rapidly unfolding crisis in Pakistan, no matter what happens to President Pervez Musharraf — whether he survives politically or not — he is a lame duck. He is unable to rein in Talibanization in Pakistan or guide the country toward a more democratic future.

Discussion: Hot Air, democracyarsenal.org, Taylor Marsh, The Agonist, Secular Blasphemy and Michael P.F. van der Galiën