memeorandum: State GOP asks ‘60 Minutes’ for evidence or retraction (Kim Chandler/al.com)

6:45 PM ET, February 28, 2008

Top Items:

Ickes: Blame Penn — Harold Ickes definitely doesn't buy the argument that Mark Penn isn't responsible for everything that has happened to the Hillary Clinton campaign. — “Mark Penn has run this campaign,” said Ickes in a brief phone interview this morning.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Wonkette, The New Republic, QandO, Real Clear Politics and Crooked Timber

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

WARMS MY HEART — Ickes: Seen any missteps in the Clinton primary race? Talk to Penn. — Late Update: So, so sad. Now even Shrum's piling on about Penn's incompetence. Now that's gotta hurt ... Late Udpate: Now Arianna decides to slap Penn around a bit.

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org

Arianna Huffington / The Huffington Post:

Microtrends vs Macrotrends: Why Obama is Winning — CHICAGO — Should Barack Obama end up winning his party's nomination, he will give his acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on August 28 — 45 years to the day Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

CTV.ca:

Obama staffer gave warning of NAFTA rhetoric — Barack Obama has ratcheted up his attacks on NAFTA, but a senior member of his campaign team told a Canadian official not to take his criticisms seriously, CTV News has learned. — Both Obama and Hillary Clinton have been critical …

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Canadians deny Obama call — A spokesman for the Canadian Embassy to the United States, Tristan Landry, flatly denied the CTV report that a senior Obama aide had told the Canadian ambassador not to take seriously Obama's denunciations of Nafta. — “None of the presidential campaigns …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Fact Check, Pajamas Media, American Street, The Sundries Shack, Buck Naked Politics and Below The Beltway

Taylor Marsh:
CTV Stands by NAFTA Story

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, NO QUARTER and The Campaign Spot

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Clinton raises $35 million in February — Hillary Clinton's camapign is set to announce later today that she's on track to raise roughly $35 million in the month of February, a huge month by any standard measure of political fundraising and her best of the campaign.

Discussion: The Swamp, MyDD and Suburban Guerrilla

Marc Ambinder:

Obama Outraises Clinton In February — Hillary Clinton's campaign will report raising approximately $35m in February, a record sum for the campaign. — But though Barack Obama's campaign is keeping mum, you can bet that somewhere in Chicago, David Plouffe is cracking a smile.

Discussion: Salon

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs: Obama raises “considerably more” than $35 million

Elisabeth Bumiller / The Caucus:

McCain Keeps Up Attack on Obama — DALLAS — Senator John McCain accused Senator Barack Obama for the second day in a row of a willingness to hand over Iraq to Al Qaeda, a preview of the Republican national security strategy in the fall election. — At a news conference on Thursday …

Discussion: Roger L. Simon

ABCNEWS:
McCain: Obama Represents Politics of the Past

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Matthew Yglesias, democracyarsenal.org, The Daily Dish and Political Radar

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
The Fading Jihadists — Politicians who talk about the terrorism …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Middle Earth Journal, Jihad Watch, Swampland, Total Information Awareness, FP Passport and James Fallows

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Obama's Open Letter To Gay Americans — Money quote: … The full thing after the jump:

Discussion: Lean Left, Comments from Left Field and The Newshoggers

The Bilerico Project:
Open Letter from Barack Obama to the LGBT Community

Discussion: AMERICAblog and DownWithTyranny!

Pew Research Center:

Obama Has The Lead, But Potential Problems Too — Increasing Optimism About Iraq — Summary of Findings — Barack Obama is riding high as the March 4 primaries approach. Obama has moved out to a broad-based advantage over Hillary Clinton in the national Democratic primary contest …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Bob Geldof / Time:

Geldof and Bush: Diary From the Road — I gave the president my book. He raised an eyebrow. “Who wrote this for ya, Geldof?” he said without looking up from the cover. Very dry. “Who will you get to read it for you, Mr. President?” I replied. No response.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Captain's Quarters, Don Surber and Brutally Honest

Kim Chandler / al.com:

State GOP asks ‘60 Minutes’ for evidence or retraction — MONTGOMERY - The chairman of the Alabama Republican Party sent a letter to “60 Minutes” producers asking for a retraction unless they could provide evidence backing up a segment on former Gov. Don Siegelman's prosecution.

Discussion: At-Largely and Redstate

Wired News:

Disturbing New Photos From Abu Ghraib — NSFW: VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. As an expert witness in the defense of an Abu Ghraib guard who was court-martialed, psychologist Philip Zimbardo had access to many of the images of abuse that were taken by the guards themselves.

Discussion: American Power, The Reaction, MoJoBlog, Gawker, Guardian Unlimited and The Mahatma X Files

White House:

Press Conference of the President — THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Laura and I, as you know, recently came back from Africa, where we saw firsthand how the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is saving lives. I had a chance to go to the — speak to the Sullivan Foundation the other day about our trip …

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, On Deadline, The Rachel Maddow Show, NewsBusters.org, Democracy in America, The Carpetbagger Report and Salon

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Bush: Obama ‘better stay focused’ on Clinton

Discussion: The Politico

Paul Kiel / Muckraker:

Today's Must Read — You can understand their exasperation. The administration and Congressional Republicans have done everything in their power to protect the telecoms. They used every legislative tactic at the ready, made every speech or public pronouncement possible …

Discussion: Tapscott's Copy Desk, Obsidian Wings and toohotfortnr

Paul Blumenthal / Sunlight Foundation blogs:
Republicans Demand Campaign Cash for Votes

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Emptywheel and The Carpetbagger Report

Office of the Speaker / The Gavel:

Pelosi Letter to Attorney General Mukasey on Contempt Citations of Miers and Bolten — February 28th, 2008 by Office of the Speaker — Washington, D.C. - Today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent the following letter to U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, informing him of the referral letter sent …

Discussion: Think Progress, Shakespeare's Sister, Right Voices and Emptywheel

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Some hateful, radical ministers — white evangelicals — are acceptable — One of this week's hysterical press scandals was that Minister Louis Farrakhan praised Barack Obama's candidacy even though Obama had previously denounced numerous Farrakhan remarks and the Obama campaign did nothing to seek out the Farrakhan praise.

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The New Republic, Catholic League, Reuters, The Carpetbagger Report, Hullabaloo, Matthew Yglesias, politburo diktat 2.0, Washington Wire and The Caucus

Michael D. Shear / The Trail:
McCain Endorsement Angers Catholic League President

Discussion: Think Progress and DownWithTyranny!

BBC:

Prince Harry in Taleban fighting — Prince Harry has been fighting the Taleban on the front line in Afghanistan, the MoD has confirmed. — Harry, 23, who is third in line to the throne, has spent the last 10 weeks serving in Helmand Province. — The prince joked about his nickname …

Discussion: Daily Mail, culturekitchen and Us Weekly

Agence France Presse:

Iran ‘number one world power’: Ahmadinejad … President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared on Thursday that Iran was the world's “number one” power, as he launched a bitter new assault on domestic critics he accused of siding with the enemy. — “Everybody has understood that Iran is the number …

Discussion: Liberal Values

The Campaign Spot:

McCain: 'Chris carries on the spirit of his dad with a great sense of humor.' — John McCain, in between fund-raisers and events in Texas, held another conference call with bloggers. Selected highlights: — McCain: My one opening comment is on Senator Obama's comment that he would consider …

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Weekly Standard and The American Mind

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

POLL: MCCAIN LOOKING GOOD IN FL — From NBC's Domenico Montanaro — McCain leads both Obama and Clinton in potential general-election match ups with either candidate in the all-important swing state of Florida, according to a Mason-Dixon poll out today. — McCain leads Obama 47%-37% and Clinton 49%-40%.