memeorandum: The Katrina of All Potemkin Fences! … (Clinton Obama/Slate)

1:45 PM ET, February 29, 2008

Top Items:

Clinton Goes Nuclear; Obama Camp Fires Back — ABC News' David Wright, Sunlen Miller, Andy Fies & Nitya Venkataraman Report: Closing in on the March 4 contests, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., debuted a campaign ad on Friday with ominous undertones. — “It's 3:00am and your children are asleep,” a voice over says in the ad.

Discussion: The Fix, The Caucus, The Campaign Spot, The Moderate Voice, QandO, Pam's House Blend, MSNBC, Salon, The Carpetbagger Report, Gateway Pundit, The Page, Don Surber, Hot Air, Liberal Values and Suburban Guerrilla

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

Discussion: AMERICAblog

Redstate:
Hillary's New Ad — Hillary Clinton has a new ad out.

Discussion: Spin Cycle

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

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

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

Jay Root / Houston Chronicle:

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

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: American Power, Commentary, democracyarsenal.org, Taegan Goddard's …, NYT 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: Newsweek Blogs, Ohio Daily Blog, Towleroad, Cliff Schecter and FP Passport

Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Hillary Ad: Who Do You Want Answering The White House Phone At 3 a.m.?

Discussion: Donklephant, KnoxViews and Eschaton

Frank James / The Swamp:
Clinton ad: Who should take 3 am crisis call?

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs

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: TalkLeft, Redstate, Taylor Marsh, protein wisdom, Political Punch, ABCNEWS, Buck Naked Politics, Right Voices, The Campaign Spot, NO QUARTER, Middle Earth Journal, ShopFloor.org, Sister Toldjah, The Moderate Voice, The RBC, The Page and Ben Smith's Blogs

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

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Taylor Marsh, Polimom Says, PoliGazette, Gateway Pundit, Betsy's Page, The Campaign Spot and Instapundit.com

Mark Murray / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE GOP'S DISADVANTAGES

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

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: The Kenosha Kid's Blog, The Moderate Voice, Cliff Schecter and Romenesko

Timothy Goeglein / News-Sentinel.com: Education: Ideas worth defending, honesty of reflective thought

Herb Keinon / Jerusalem Post:

Israel prepares for assault on Gaza — As Hamas drew Ashkelon into the circle of communities coming under heavy rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Ministry on Thursday began preparing both Israeli and world opinion for the possibility of a large-scale incursion into Gaza.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Spectator and Atlas Shrugs

Guardian:
Israeli minister warns of Palestinian ‘holocaust’

Discussion: The Raw Story and Media Blog

Sarah Lyall / New York Times:

Harry Withdrawn From Afghanistan — LONDON — The Defense Ministry announced Friday that Prince Harry, the third in line to the British throne, would have to come home from Afghanistan because it was too risky for him to stay there. — The prince, 23, has been in Helmand Province …

Discussion: BAGnewsNotes, Guardian, Bark Bark Woof Woof and The Agonist

Luke Baker / Reuters:
Media's embargo on “Harry's war” sparks debate

Discussion: Think Progress and The Independent

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

CHUTZPAH. — I'm sort of busy today, but if some other enterprising blogger wants to collect pictures of George W. Bush meeting with leaders “who put [their] people in prison because of their political beliefs,” I'll certainly link to it. The idea that Bush — who regularly hangs out with …

Discussion: Total Information Awareness

Matthew Yglesias: Oh Noes! — Ezra's certainly right to say that it's bizarre …

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

Marc Ambinder:

Unless Obama Wins, He Loses — Huh?

Discussion: TalkLeft, Ben Smith's Blogs and Trailhead

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: The Opinionator, Hot Air, Redstate, The Glittering Eye and Right Voices

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

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

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, Althouse, NewsBusters.org, Don Surber, Riehl World View and politburo diktat 2.0

Linda Chavez / Townhall.com:

William F. Buckley, RIP — Conservatism lost one of its most influential voices this week. William F. Buckley Jr. — author, editor, television host, and one of America's most important public intellectuals — died in his home Wednesday at 82. Buckley shaped the modern conservative movement …