memeorandum: Obama: McCain better than Bush (Ben Smith/Ben Smith's Blogs)

10:45 PM ET, April 20, 2008

Top Items:

Obama says McCain would be better than Bush — READING, Pa. (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Sunday that Republican rival John McCain would be better for the country than President Bush has been over the past eight years. — “You have a real choice in this election.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Lance Mannion and Redstate

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Obama: McCain better than Bush — Barack Obama seemed to break with the core of the Democratic Party's strategy against John McCain at a town hall in Reading, telling the audience that McCain would be better than George W. Bush. — “You have a real choice in this election.

Discussion: The Trail, The Swamp, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Don Surber and Political Radar

Rick Pearson / Chicago Tribune:

Clinton: Obama ‘undermining’ himself — BETHLEHEM, Pa.— Sen. Hillary Clinton on Sunday stepped up her attacks on rival Sen. Barack Obama, contending her Democratic presidential rival was showing desperation in the spate of criticism that the two have been hurling at each other in advance of Pennsylvania's primary on Tuesday.

Discussion: TalkLeft and The Confluence

John McCain / CNN:

Obama's patriotic, but his Ayers ties are ‘open to question’ — (CNN) - John McCain waded into the controversy over Barack Obama's ties to Weather Underground founder William Ayers Sunday, telling an interviewer that the Illinois senator's relationship with the activist was “open to question …

Discussion: Donklephant, Wizbang Blue and TPM Election Central

Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama Holds Slight 47% to 45% Advantage

Discussion: Donklephant, The Moderate Voice and Talking Points Memo

Ali / Think Progress:
Rove Watch Clock: It's Been 75 Days Since Fox Has Failed To …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Associated Press:

Secretary of State Rice Mocks Muslim Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a Coward — BAGHDAD — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice mocked anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as a coward on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Spencer / Attackerman:

In A World Of Chaos, You'll Be The First To Go — This Los Angeles Times story suggests that Najaf is the new Basra: multifaceted chaos, scheming, violence and mutual suspicion. The Najafi clerics who've always hated and resented Sadr appear to be attempting a push. And it'll probably backfire!

Discussion: Firedoglake, VetVoice and Newshoggers.com

Michael Leahy / Washington Post:

McCain: A Question of Temperament — John McCain cupped a fist and began pumping it, up and down, along the side of his body. It was a gesture familiar to a participant in the closed-door meeting of the Senate committee who hoped that it merely signaled, as it sometimes had in the past …

Newsweek:

Obama: Can't ‘Swift Boat’ Me — Charles Ommanney / Getty Images for Newsweek — Seeing Ghosts: Obama's ties to Ayers and Auchi are distant, but his foes plan to pounce — The Obama campaign is planning to expand its research and rapid-response team in order to repel attacks it anticipates …

Discussion: The Raw Story, JustOneMinute, BAGnewsNotes, MSNBC, QandO, Gateway Pundit and Democracy Project

The Huffington Post:

Debate Analysis: ABC Asked Most Scandal Questions, Obama Was Clear Target — The furor over ABC's Democratic debate last week was not universally shared. — While Obama supporters (and many media critics) decried what they saw as biased, gotcha-style questioning, a vocal minority (mostly Clinton supporters) was unmoved.

Discussion: AMERICAblog, TalkLeft, Patterico's Pontifications and American Street

Matthew Yglesias:

Everyone an Anti-Semite — For reasons I can't quite comprehend, even some pretty hardened TNR-haters seem to see Leon Wieseltier as making a positive contribution to the world. Certainly, some very good stuff appears in the back of the book over there, but the man's own work is a kind of writing-as-thuggery.

Discussion: Grasping Reality …

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:

This Week: Bringing Up McCain's Life-Long, Federally-Provided Health Care Is “A Cheap Shot” — Wow. George Stephanopoulos actually listened to us and asked John McCain some pretty tough questions today on This Week. Who knew that George read teh blogs? McCain's body language …

Discussion: TBogg

Austin Hill / Townhall.com:

Obama, Clinton And Capitalism: It's Okay For Them, But Nobody Else — Remember Chico Escuela? — He was a character created by Actor Garrett Morris on the “Saturday Night Live” TV show, back in the 1970's. Morris became famous for uttering these simple words in broken-English …

Discussion: protein wisdom and Seeing the Forest

Chuck Todd / MSNBC:

NEW PA. POLL HAS CLINTON HOLDING LEAD — From NBC's Chuck Todd — A new MSNBC/McClatchy/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette poll of Pennsylvania indicates things are staying fairly competitive in the Pennsylvania Dem primary. — The poll of 625 likely Dem primary voters was conducted Thursday …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Fix, The Moderate Voice, Cogitamus, The Raw Story and Donklephant

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Poll: Clinton margin in Pa. won't cut Obama's delegate lead

Discussion: Newshoggers.com and TalkLeft

Scott Helman / Boston Globe:
In Pa., late deciders could lift Clinton

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Page and The Democratic Daily

WBBM-TV:

Bloody Weekend: 32 Shot, 2 Stabbed, 6 Dead — CHICAGO (CBS) ― A violent and deadly weekend continues in Chicago. At least 12 people have been shot, two of them killed, since Saturday morning. Two others were stabbed in a home invasion. This comes after at least 20 people were shot …

Discussion: Rachel Lucas

Armed Liberal / Winds of Change.NET:

So How Do We Fight An Information War? — The usual suspects are going bonkers - bonkers! - over the notion that the Pentagon briefed a cadre of retired military men who served as ‘expert commentators’ in the media. — So here's my problem. If we're engaged in counterinsurgency …

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings, Whiskey Fire and The Carpetbagger Report