memeorandum: 3:00 a.m: Roy Spence's Redux (Marc Ambinder)

12:45 PM ET, February 29, 2008

Top Items:

State Democrats say Clinton camp may sue — Legal action could disrupt or delay caucuses, party says — AUSTIN — The Texas Democratic Party warned Thursday that election night caucuses scheduled for Tuesday could be delayed or disrupted after aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton threatened …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Prairie Weather, Burnt Orange Report, Wake up America, Comments from Left Field, Daily Kos, Cliff Schecter and Balloon Juice

Alex Johnson / MSNBC:

Some Texas Republicans to vote for Obama — True support combines with stop-Clinton sentiment in next week's primary — One of Sen. Barack Obama's surest applause lines comes about halfway into his standard stump speech. It goes like this: — “They whisper to me.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Post, PoliBlog (TM), Tennessee Guerilla Women, American Power, Froth Slosh B'Gosh, The Politico and Cliff Schecter

Geoff Earle / New York Post:
TRIBES RAGE AT HILL

Discussion: Sweetness & Light

Nitya / Political Radar:

Clinton Goes Nuclear: New Ad Tests Obama — ABC News' Nitya Venkataraman: Closing in on the March 4 contests, Sen. Hillary Clinton debuts a campaign ad today with ominous undertones. — “It's 3:00am and your children are asleep,” the voice over says. “There's a phone in the White House, and it's ringing.

Discussion: The Fix, The Moderate Voice, The Campaign Spot, Salon, The Carpetbagger Report, Gateway Pundit, MSNBC, Don Surber, The Page, Hot Air, Liberal Values and Suburban Guerrilla

Steve Kornacki / New York Observer:
Hillary as Mondale, Again

Discussion: Spin Cycle, Ben Smith's Blogs and MSNBC

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Mondale: ‘Red Phone’

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Marc Ambinder: 3:00 a.m: Roy Spence's Redux

Ben Smith / The Politico:

New Clinton ad is the scariest of cycle — Clinton is up with the scariest ad of the cycle, one that echoes, in a soft-focus way, some of President Bush's 2004 campaign spots. — It features a child sleeping in bed and an unnamed emergency ringing the White House phone …

Discussion: democracyarsenal.org, Taegan Goddard's … and Cliff Schecter

Marc Ambinder:

Clinton's “Red Phone” — Perhaps the most provocative ad Hillary Clinton has run this cycle. It's bound to evoke comparisons to LBJ's “Daisy” ad and Walter Mondale's “Red Phone” ads — asking the essential question: if the White House phone rings at 3:00 am and there's a crisis brewing, who do you want on the other end of the line?

Discussion: Ohio Daily Blog, Cliff Schecter, FP Passport and Towleroad

Frank James / The Swamp:

Clinton ad: Who should take 3 am crisis call? — by Frank James updated with Obama response — Sen. Hillary Clinton has a new TV ad up which uses one of her main arguments against Sen. Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination. — It boils down to she's ready …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

Shaun Mullen / The Moderate Voice:
Texas: End of the Road For Hillary Clinton

Discussion: Comments from Left Field

CTV.ca:

Opponents slam Obama after CTV story on NAFTA — Allegations of double talk on NAFTA from the Obama and Clinton campaigns dominated the U.S. political landscape on Thursday. — On Wednesday, CTV reported that a senior member of Barack Obama's campaign called the Canadian embassy within …

Discussion: Redstate, Taylor Marsh, protein wisdom, Right Voices, NO QUARTER, The Campaign Spot, Middle Earth Journal, Political Punch, Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, ShopFloor.org, The RBC, Ben Smith's Blogs and TPM Election Central

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S DISADVANTAGES — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** The GOP's Disadvantages: The New York Times' Nagourney does a smart preview piece of how Republicans are likely to go after Obama in a general election, and are already doing so …

Discussion: Blog P.I., The Moderate Voice, New York Times, AMERICAblog and No More Mister Nice Blog

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama's NAFTA double-talk confirmed: CTV

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Taylor Marsh, ABCNEWS, PoliGazette, Gateway Pundit, Betsy's Page and The Campaign Spot

Zogby:

Reuters/C-SPAN/Houston Chronicle Poll: Obama Builds Lead Over Clinton in Texas, But Dem Race Too Close To Call in Ohio... Zogby News Releases

Discussion: MyDD, Taegan Goddard's …, Ohio Daily Blog and Buckeye State Blog

Houston Chronicle: Poll: McCain and Obama lead in Texas

Economist:

Hope and fear — Democratic economic policy sounds worryingly populist — FOR a man who has placed “hope” at the centre of his campaign, Barack Obama can sound pretty darned depressing. As the battle for the Democratic nomination reaches a climax in Texas and Ohio …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Opinionator, Redstate, The Glittering Eye and Right Voices

Charles Mahtesian / The Politico:

Clinton seeks to regain the spotlight — There was a time not long ago when Hillary Clinton dominated the discourse in both parties' presidential contests. — Now, she's struggling to get her message out and remain part of the campaign conversation as the media and her remaining rivals …

Discussion: Captain's Quarters and ABCNEWS

IraqPundit: Obama's Incoherence — What did Barack Obama mean Tuesday …

Guardian:

Israeli minister warns of Palestinian ‘holocaust’ — An Israeli minister today warned of increasingly bitter conflict in the Gaza Strip, saying the Palestinians could bring on themselves what he called a “holocaust”. — “The more Qassam [rocket] fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range …

Discussion: The Raw Story and Media Blog

Alon Bernstein / Associated Press:
Israel warns Gaza invasion impending

Discussion: Captain's Quarters

Paul Farhi / Washington Post:

Did ‘SNL’ Go Beyond the Pale With Fauxbama? — Lorne Michaels Defends Casting Of Non-Black Man in Sketch — When Barack Obama announced his candidacy for president last year, some observers questioned whether the senator from Illinois was “black enough” to embody the hopes and aspirations of African Americans.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Don Surber, Althouse, NewsBusters.org, Riehl World View and politburo diktat 2.0

CNN:

Police: Deadly toxin found at Las Vegas hotel — (CNN) — Police in Las Vegas, Nevada, are investigating the discovery of what they said is the deadly poison ricin in a hotel room. — Authorities were called to an Extended Stay America hotel around 3 p.m. PT Thursday after a man brought …

Discussion: The Lede and Hot Air

Nancy / nancynall.com:

Copycat. — I feel bad about what I'm going to do here. — I've had a lot of fun at Tim Goeglein's expense over the last few months. Mean-spirited fun, certainly, but my problem with him has always been one of personal taste. In his columns for The News-Sentinel, my old newspaper …

Discussion: News-Sentinel.com, The Moderate Voice and Romenesko

Ken Silverstein / Harper's:

John McCain's Charitable Contributions — His kids' private schools are prime beneficiaries — The charitable contributions of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have received a fair amount of press scrutiny. The same is not true of John McCain, which is somewhat surprising since …

Discussion: Wonkette and Think Progress