memeorandum: What Has Rush Wrought? — If Hillary ekes out close wins … (Hugh Hewitt/Townhall.com)

10:00 AM ET, March 5, 2008

Top Items:

Big Wins for Clinton in Texas and Ohio; McCain Is In as G.O.P. Choice — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton defeated Senator Barack Obama in the Ohio and Texas primaries on Tuesday, ending a string of defeats and allowing her to soldier on in a Democratic presidential nomination race that now seems unlikely to end any time soon.

Discussion: The Swamp, The Carpetbagger Report, Brendan Nyhan, MSNBC, NY Daily News, Boston Globe, American Street and normblog

Washington Post:

OBAMA: In the Weeks to Come, A Costly Battle on Two Fronts — With losses in three out of four primaries yesterday, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his campaign face a scenario that a barrage of advertising, phone calls and door-knocking could not avert — a protracted, two-front war …

Discussion: Hot Air, NO QUARTER, Taylor Marsh and The Page

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Clinton's lesson: Attacking Obama works — A few weeks ago, though it feels like months, exhausted campaign staffers and reporters amused themselves with gallows humor about the Pennsylvania Scenario — a wildly improbable convergence of circumstances that would extend a race that was supposed …

The Politico:

Clinton scrambles to freeze defectors — A behind-the-scenes battle broke out late Tuesday over superdelegates who had secretly committed to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), with Clinton campaign officials scrambling to “freeze” them before they announced support for him.

Discussion: The Swamp, New York Times, MSNBC, Trailhead, The Opinionator, Below The Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, Oliver Willis, The Page and The Reaction

Washington Post:

CLINTON: Energizing Victories, But Difficult Delegate Math — As Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton raced from border towns on the Rio Grande to farm communities in the Midwest trying to salvage her troubled presidential campaign in recent days, advisers at her Arlington headquarters were awash …

Discussion: Hot Air and Below The Beltway

Hugh Hewitt / Townhall.com:

What Has Rush Wrought? — If Hillary ekes out close wins, stays alive, gains the nomination and the White House, will Rush hold the Bible at her Inauguration? — Bill O'Reilly was just on with Brit Hume giving Rush the credit for the Clinton comeback —which is certainly the least expected bit …

Discussion: Don Surber and Balloon Juice

WCBS-TV: Clinton Hints At Sharing Ticket With Obama

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
In 2 Battlegrounds, Voters Say, Not Yet

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and Time

John Dickerson / Slate:
She Lives! — CLINTON HAS COME BACK, BUT HAS SHE COME BACK FAR ENOUGH?

Discussion: MSNBC and Washington Wire

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times: Obama Seeks to Rally Backers After Clinton Victories

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice: Hillary Clinton Wins Texas Democratic Primary And “Comeback” Narrative (UPDATED)

Ron Fournier / Associated Press:
ON DEADLINE: Democrats Fret Long Battle

Discussion: Pandagon and The Reaction

Washington Post:
Clinton Beats Obama in Texas and Ohio; McCain Clinches Republican Nomination

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Moderate Voice, Houston Chronicle, OPENERS, The Strata-Sphere, Below The Beltway, Instapundit.com and Gallup

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Obama lawyer ambushes Clinton conference call — Barack Obama's top lawyer, Bob Bauer, made an unexpected appearance on the Clinton campaign's conference call this evening, calling in on a line intended for reporters to challenge Clinton aides' claims of irregularities in several Texas precincts.

Discussion: blog.dispatch.com, 2008Central.net, American Prospect, The Corner, Trailhead, Wake up America, The Huffington Post, Political Machine, The Page, Hotline On Call, The Raw Story, Donklephant, Taylor Marsh, TownHall Blog and TPM Election Central

Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Clinton cries foul in Texas; Obama lawyer hijacks call

Discussion: National Review, The Politico, Political Radar, Hot Air, Gawker, The Sleuth, NO QUARTER, OPENERS, Redstate and Minneapolis Star Tribune

2008Central.net:
Obama General Counsel Crashes Clinton Press Call On Voting …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, MSNBC, Threat Level, Taylor Marsh, American Spectator, Trailhead, The Democratic Daily, The Trail and Firedoglake

Marc Ambinder:
Caucus Problems In Texas

Discussion: Trailhead, Taylor Marsh and QandO

CNN:

Exit polls: Did Limbaugh influence Democratic race? — (CNN) — There were concerns that Republican voters would participate in large numbers in the Democratic primaries in Ohio and Texas Tuesday and cause mischief, following a call by Rush Limbaugh for listeners to vote for Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: Political Insider, culturekitchen, The Mahablog, Political Machine, DownWithTyranny! and The Campaign Spot

CNN:
CNN: Clinton wins Ohio, Texas; McCain secures nomination

New York Times:
McCain Clinches Race as Foe Concedes; Democrats Battle Over 2 Crucial States

Discussion: protein wisdom, Newsweek, ABCNEWS, Live Coverage, MSNBC, Liberal Values, Gateway Pundit, Feministing, The Moderate Voice and The Democratic Daily

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

FINAL THOUGHTS — The big headlines tonight are now in focus. Hillary takes three of four primaries, and the two big states. Yet the delegate spread didn't budge. The possibilities seem to range from a high-single digit pick up for Hillary to the possibility of a net pick up for Obama.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Althouse, Brilliant at Breakfast, Angry Bear, Bark Bark Woof Woof and Obsidian Wings

CNN: Schneider: Clinton's delegate problem

Martin Fletcher / Times of London:

Q&A: Barack Obama and Tony Rezko — Who is Tony Rezko? — Antoin “Tony” Rezko, 52, a long-time friend and fundraiser for Barack Obama, is a Syrian-born property developer, pizzeria entrepreneur and political fixer in Chicago. Hillary Clinton has made him a campaign issue by denouncing him as a “slum landlord”.

Discussion: Pundita, Fausta's blog, TigerHawk and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Chicago Sun Times:
Sen. Obama, time to call us about Rezko: (312) 321-2417

Discussion: Hillary Is 44

John D. McKinnon / Wall Street Journal:

Sentiment on Iraq Is Changing — WASHINGTON — The perception that the U.S. troop surge in Iraq has succeeded is changing some public views of the war, potentially blunting Democrats' political edge on the issue. — Americans continue to judge the nearly five-year-old U.S. invasion of Iraq as a mistake …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah

Tim Arango / New York Times:

Back in the Game — The morning after the Democratic primary debate on Feb. 21, while both sides argued over who had come out ahead, there was one clear winner: CNN. The debate, broadcast by CNN and Univision, the Spanish-language network, drew 7.6 million viewers, one of the biggest audiences ever …

Discussion: Gawker and Romenesko

David Weigel / Reason Magazine:

The Mini Tuesday Primary Thread: Paul Triumphs, Clinton Endures, Mike Huckabee Splatters Against the Wall — UPDATE 8:36: Ron Paul has been re-elected to Congress in the Fourteenth District of Texas. — No Democrat has filed to run against him, so winning the GOP nomination has assured him re-election.

Discussion: Liberal Values, Attytood, Below The Beltway and Wonkette

Z. Byron Wolf / ABCNEWS:
Revolution Revived! Ron Paul Survives Challenge

Discussion: Roger Ailes, Trailhead, Political Radar and MyDD

Leo Grin / The Cimmerian:

The Dungeonmaster Has Died — Gary Gygax, 1938-2008 — (hat tip: Jonah Goldberg and John J. Miller at NRO and Will Greenwald at Crave) — One of the seminal influences in fantasy in the twentieth century has left us for Valhalla. Gygax was a giant, a man whose enthusiasm and sense …

Discussion: CNET News.com, On Deadline, The Newshoggers, New York Times and TigerHawk

Marc Ambinder:

I Sound Like A Broken iPod... A new Clinton memo is out... the one thing missing is... yep... a plausible delegate scenario. Read the memo after the jump. Hello, re-vote in Florida and Michigan?

Discussion: TownHall Blog