memeorandum: Obama clinches nomination, plans celebration (Associated Press)

5:55 PM ET, June 3, 2008

Top Items:

AP tally: Obama effectively clinches nomination … WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama effectively clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, based on an Associated Press tally of convention delegates, becoming the first black candidate ever to lead his party into a fall campaign for the White House.

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Superdelegates surge to Obama — A tsunami of superdelegates is poised to rush to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) over the next 12 hours, giving him a mathematical lock on his party's presidential nomination. — The superdelegate surge is likely to swamp a few holdouts within the camp …

Discussion: Boston Globe, Associated Press, The Fix, The Swamp, The Moderate Voice, Slate, The Caucus, The Daily Dish, American Research Group, Rocky Mountain News, The Raw Story, Liberal Values, The Democratic Daily and Minnesota Monitor

Associated Press:

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. — WASHINGTON (AP)—Hillary Rodham Clinton will concede Tuesday night that Barack Obama has the delegates to secure the Democratic nomination, campaign officials said …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and Daimnation!

Associated Press:

Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP — WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton told colleagues Tuesday she would consider joining Barack Obama as his running mate, and advisers said she was withholding a formal departure from the race partly to use her remaining leverage to press for a spot on the ticket.

Discussion: Firedoglake, TalkLeft, Ben Smith's Blogs, New York Times, Union-News, MSNBC, Washington Wire, AMERICAblog, The Jed Report, BlogHer, Corrente, Wake up America, Outside The Beltway, The Democratic Daily and Daily Kos

CNN:

Lawmakers: Clinton says she's open to being Obama's VP — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Sen. Hillary Clinton on Tuesday told New York lawmakers she is open to being the running mate of Sen. Barack Obama, her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, two of the lawmakers told CNN.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Shakesville, Wake up America, New York Magazine, Pam's House Blend, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, MoJoBlog, Wonkette and The Washington Independent

CNN:

Clinton backer Feinstein says it's time to end — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Major Hillary Clinton supporter Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Tuesday the final primaries mark a “moment of truth” for the New York senator, who should end her campaign. — The California senator also repeated her view …

Discussion: The Swamp, TPM Election Central, The Daily Dish, Top of the Ticket and TIME.com

Associated Press:

Obama clinches nomination, plans celebration — WASHINGTON - Barack Obama clinched the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, becoming the first black candidate to lead a major party into a campaign for the White House. — Vanquished rival Hillary Rodham Clinton swiftly signaled …

Discussion: The Nation, Washington Wire, Marc Ambinder, The Jed Report, FREEDOM EDEN, The Carpetbagger Report, Threat Level, MyDD and Washington Post

Marc Ambinder:
RNC Memo: Dems In Chaos

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Reason Magazine and JammieWearingFool

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Clinton, pushed as VP, doesn't push back

Discussion: The Raw Story and Salon

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
On the AP count — It's a bit hard to know what to make of this …

Discussion: Time

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Montana Governor, Senators Set To Jump Off Fence

Discussion: Open Left, Washington Wire, 2008 Democratic …, The Trail, TPM Election Central, The Field and Associated Press

Associated Press:
Miss. Democrat vice chair commits to Obama as superdelegate

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, TPM Election Central, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, TIME.com and Q: Florida Politics

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
McAuliffe: If Obama Gets Magic Number, Hillary Will Concede

Discussion: TIME.com, The Carpetbagger Report, Open Left, The RBC and Political Machine

Jerry Zremski / Buffalo News:
Clinton says she is willing to serve as Obama's running mate

Discussion: TIME.com, Salon and Commentary

Detroit Free Press:
Kilpatrick, 4 other Mich. superdelegates pick Obama

Discussion: The Caucus, The Field and MSNBC

Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
Clinton Open to Being Veep Candidate

Discussion: The Fix, The Carpetbagger Report and Dean's World

Kara Spak / Chicago Sun Times:

Cardinal removes Pfleger from St. Sabina parish — The firebrand pastor of St. Sabina parish was removed from his duties there Tuesday, according to a statement released by the Archdiocese of Chicago. — In the statement, Cardinal Francis George says he asked the Rev. Michael Pfleger …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Political Machine and JammieWearingFool

Jay Levine / WBBM-TV:

George Temporarily Removes Pfleger From St. Sabina — CHICAGO (CBS) ― CBS 2 News has learned that Francis Cardinal George is temporarily removing Father Michael Pfleger from his position as pastor of St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church on Chicago's South Side.

Discussion: FREEDOM EDEN and Marathon Pundit

Cathleen Falsani / Chicago Sun Times:
‘This is a dangerous time in America . . . you have to whisper your thoughts’

Discussion: The Daily Dish, michellemalkin.com and Betsy's Page

Muckraker / Muckraked:

Bush: We'll Be in Iraq for 40 Years, Hamas Election Was “Good Thing” — When NBC News correspondent Richard Engel sat down with President Bush last year for an interview, he had little idea how much Bush would reveal about his true intentions and his real sentiments about the war on terror and America's allies and enemies.

Discussion: Think Progress and War and Piece

Richard Engel / Simon & Schuster, Inc.:
War Journal — My Five Years in Iraq — This Edition: Hardcover

Discussion: Cato-at-liberty

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:

Obama's comfort level at the non-existent Applebee's salad bar — For over eight years now, we've been hearing that Democrats have been losing presidential elections because people don't want to have a beer with the party's nominees. This always struck me as an odd formulation …

Discussion: Eunomia

David Brooks / New York Times:
Calling Dr. Doom — It took Christopher Columbus about 70 days …

Discussion: The Next Right and Connecting.the.Dots

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform:

New Questions about Vice President Cheney's Role in CIA Leak — Chairman Waxman urges Attorney General Mukasey to turn over the FBI interviews of President Bush and Vice President Cheney, citing new information from the FBI interview of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby and the recent disclosures by Scott McClellan.

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Nukes & Spooks and The Washington Independent

Faiz / Think Progress:
Waxman calls for release of FBI interviews with Bush and Cheney.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Emptywheel and Needlenose

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:

HALPERIN'S TAKE: What Obama And Clinton Underestimate — Obama underestimates: — 1. The intensely loyal feelings many of Clinton's supporters have about her - and the intensely negative feelings they have about him. — 2. That any delay in choosing a running mate will only bring rampant speculation …

Discussion: marbury

Associated Press:

Former screen siren Bardot convicted in race case — PARIS - Brigitte Bardot was convicted Tuesday of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France. — A Paris court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner.

Discussion: Law Blog, Reason Magazine and Don Surber

Amz / Democracy Corps:

Another Congressional Wave Election — In the latest Democracy Corps battleground survey of 1,600 likely voters conducted May 19-26, 2008, we modified our sample design to include more hard-to-reach Republican-held districts. And even in this totally Republican battleground that Bush won …

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Raw Story and TPM Election Central

Alisyn Camerota / Alisyn in the Greenroom:

Beckel's Obama Bombshell — Were you watching at 6:25 when Democratic strategist Bob Beckel dropped a bomb on us? He said he'd heard through his political pipeline that a big shoe was about to drop on the Obama campaign. It has something to do with Michelle Obama.