memeorandum: First Take: The Debate Belongs To Obama, But The Best (And) … (Marc Ambinder)

7:15 AM ET, February 22, 2008

Top Items:

The CNN Democratic presidential debate in Texas — This is the transcript of the debate between Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama on February 21, 2008 at the University of Texas in Austin. — CNN's CAMPBELL BROWN: And the candidates have taken their seats.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money, TalkLeft, michellemalkin.com, Lonewacko, michael linn jones, Buck Naked Politics, Reproductive Health, The Democratic Daily, culturekitchen, Charlie Foxtrot, The New Republic, Redstate, PoliGazette, protein wisdom and Fraters Libertas

Marc Ambinder:

First Take: The Debate Belongs To Obama, But The Best (And) Last Moment Belongs To Hillary — Talk about a final answer. … Almost wistful ... acknowledging reality... but forcefully asserting her humanity ... extremely, seemingly, genuine. — And at the right time... at the end …

Discussion: National Review, MSNBC, The New Republic, The Reaction, The Moderate Voice and THE LIBERAL JOURNAL

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

THAT LINE — I mentioned at the end of my debate blog that the pivot of Hillary's powerful concluding remarks came from Bill Clinton's 92 campaign. Clinton had various permutations to it back then. But TPM Reader CG found one example in this November 1992 article by Anna Quindlen ...

Discussion: The Washington Note, Blog of the Moderate Left, Spin Cycle and Bill's Big Diamond Blog

Marc Ambinder:

A Final Thought On Tonight's Debate — This was the night where we all learned that Hillary Clinton understands the moment in history we are in, and that she is smart enough and gracious enough to realize that her party is more important than personal vanity, that there are things she just cannot …

Discussion: The Huffington Post and The Fix

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

An echo from Hillary — Several readers, and Obama's staff, heard an echo in Clinton's closing line, that the candidates on stage would be “fine.” — Clinton Tonight: ? … Edwards the December 13 debate: … Some borrowing is fairly normal. What's been striking about the two Obama moments is that they were almost verbatim.

Discussion: Daniel W. Drezner and Liberal Values

Taylor Marsh:
Clinton Owns Debate Close

Discussion: Washington Times and NO QUARTER

Washington Post:

Clinton Has Edge in Ohio; Race in Texas Deadlocked — AUSTIN, Feb. 21 — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, facing a pair of big Democratic primary tests on March 4 that could determine the fate of her presidential candidacy, is deadlocked with Sen. Barack Obama here in Texas and holds a slender lead …

Discussion: TalkLeft, Flopping Aces, Suburban Guerrilla, Wonkette, The Huffington Post, Political Machine, CNN, The Politico, Associated Press, Matthew Yglesias, Hotline On Call, The Reaction and AMERICAblog

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:

POLL: Clinton Up in Ohio, Dead Heat in Texas — Obama Leads in Electability in Primaries Critical to Democratic Race — Trailing in perceived electability, Hillary Clinton is running in a dead heat with Barack Obama in the Texas Democratic primary and holds a single-digit lead in Ohio …

Discussion: KXAN-TV, Political Radar, Washington Wire, Marc Ambinder, MyDD, Political Machine, THE LIBERAL JOURNAL and Boston Globe

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
An Actual Debate! — Note: Please upgrade your Flash plug …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and I Am TRex

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters:
The Xerox Candidate — I'm not watching the Democratic debate …

Discussion: Hot Air and Comments from Left Field

Katharine Q. Seelye / The Caucus:
Live Blogging the Texas Showdown

Discussion: The Fix and ABCNEWS

Washington Post:

FEC Warns McCain on Campaign Spending — The nation's top federal election official told Sen. John McCain yesterday that he cannot immediately withdraw from the presidential public financing system as he had requested, a decision that threatens to dramatically restrict his spending until …

Discussion: Right Wing News, Outside The Beltway, MyDD, Election Law and Crooks and Liars

NationalJournal.com:
Transcript: Howard Dean On John McCain And The Republican ‘Culture Of Corruption’

Discussion: The Caucus, American Street, D-Day, Hullabaloo, alicublog, Hot Air, DownWithTyranny!, The Reaction, Macsmind, Guardian Unlimited, The Huffington Post, Hold Fast, Slate, Rox Populi, The Fix, Salon and Political Radar

The Politico:
McCain turns tables on Times

Discussion: Pat Dollard

Frank James / The Swamp:
McCain denial was believable, says focus group

Discussion: New York Times and Pajamas Media

Josephine Hearn / The Politico: Ex-McCain aide says he's still loyal

Jack Douglas Jr / Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

Police concerned about order to stop screening — DALLAS — Security details at Barack Obama's rally Wednesday stopped screening people for weapons at the front gates more than an hour before the Democratic presidential candidate took the stage at Reunion Arena.

Discussion: Discourse.net, Pandagon, The BRAD BLOG, Booman Tribune, Wake up America, Mercury Rising and Bang the Drum

Margery Eagan / Boston Herald:

When backing Barack feels like joining a cult — I'm an Obama girl and my man throttled Hillary Clinton, again, Tuesday night. — Suddenly, the impossible is real. — Suddenly, I'm nervous. Very nervous, actually. — I'm nervous because an otherwise normal grownup told …

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Sister Toldjah, TalkLeft and Patterico's Pontifications

Margaret Carlson / Bloomberg:
Media Start Falling Out of Love With Obama: Margaret Carlson

Discussion: Associated Press, Commentary and PoliGazette

Markus Becker / Spiegel Online:

Iran Could Have Enough Uranium for a Bomb by Year's End — New simulations carried out by European Union experts come to an alarming conclusion: Iran could have enough highly enriched uranium to build an atomic bomb by the end of this year. — Could Iran be building an atomic bomb?

Discussion: Hot Air

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Obama once visited '60s ‘Terrorists’ — In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district's influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

Discussion: NO QUARTER and Riehl World View

Michael Kinsley / Washington Post:

Defining Victory Downward — Why was President Bush's decision more than a year ago to send another 30,000 troops to Iraq called “the surge”? I don't know who invented this label, but the word “surge” evokes images of the sea: a wave that sweeps in, and then sweeps back out again.

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org, Pressing Issues and Sadly, No!

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

Try a Little Tenderness — Barack Obama's biggest draw is not his eloquence. When you watch an Obama speech, you lean forward and listen and think, That's good. He's compelling, I like the way he speaks. And afterward all the commentators call him “impossibly eloquent” and say “he gave me thrills and chills.”

Michael Hirsh / Newsweek:

Never mind Iraq. Just end the ‘war on terror.’ — Using bold rhetoric that often makes his followers rapturous, Barack Obama has declared over and over that he will be the president of “change.” But is Obama brave enough to bring about a really radical change?

Discussion: Dean's World, The Strata-Sphere and Weasel Zippers