memeorandum: US issues threat to Iraq's $50bn foreign reserves in military deal (Patrick Cockburn/The Independent)

1:00 AM ET, June 6, 2008

Top Items:

Clinton, Obama meet in Washington — They confer after she disavows push to make her vice president — WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton met late Thursday with Barack Obama, a day after saying she would end her quest for the Democratic nomination and endorse the Illinois senator.

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Tom Watson, The Caucus, The Moderate Voice, Connecting.the.Dots, Wizbang, American Spectator and TPM Election Central

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:

Ferraro wants Obama to pay Clinton's debt — Geraldine Ferraro has a plan for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to recoup her sizable campaign debt: Have Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) fundraisers pick up the tab. — After a long primary season, the Clinton campaign's expenditures …

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Lawyers, Guns and Money, The Reaction and AMERICAblog

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Gets Slight Bounce With Clinton as VP — Slight majority of Democrats say Obama should choose Clinton — PRINCETON, NJ — A slight majority of Democrats say that Barack Obama should choose Hillary Clinton as his Democratic running mate for the fall election.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft and Donklephant

Adam Nagourney / The Caucus:

Clinton Says V.P. Is Obama's Choice — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today disavowed a campaign by some of her supporters to pressure Senator Barack Obama into choosing her as a running-mate, saying they were acting on their own and the decision on who to pick was “Senator Obama's and his alone.”

Discussion: TIME.com, City Room, Slate, Marc Ambinder, Comments from Left Field and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Justin M. Sizemore / Sabato's Crystal Ball:
HOW OBAMA DID IT — Big states, small states, caucuses and campaign strategy

Discussion: Ross Douthat, The Plank and The Caucus

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
An Early Gallup Road Map to the McCain-Obama Matchup

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Oliver Willis and American Power

New York Times: Clinton Says Running Mate Choice Is Obama's

Kelly Moeller / Political Punch:

Obama Confronts Lieberman On McCain Advocacy, Tone, on Senate Floor — Sen. Joe Lieberman, the self-described “Independent Democrat” who caucuses with the Democratic party in the Senate even though he has endorsed Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz, got some tough talk from Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois …

Discussion: PrestoPundit, The Raw Story, The Carpetbagger Report, Spin Cycle, Salon, The Field, Daily Kos, Corrente, Sister Toldjah, Political Radar, Comments from Left Field, TPM Election Central, Don Surber, The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, Pottersville and Swampland

Matt / Think Progress:

DeLay On Obama: ‘Unless He Proves Me Wrong, He Is A Marxist’ — On right-winger Mike Gallagher's radio show today, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), who is currently facing charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, launched a fringe attack on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) by claiming that he is a Marxist.

Discussion: Political Punch

Andy Barr / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
DeLay: ‘Unless Obama Proves Me Wrong, He Is a Marxist’

Discussion: RADAMISTO

Scott Shane / New York Times:

Senate Panel Accuses Bush of Iraq Exaggerations — WASHINGTON — In a report long delayed by partisan squabbling, the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday accused President Bush and Vice President Cheney of taking the country to war in Iraq by exaggerating evidence of links between Saddam Hussein …

Discussion: PERRspectives Blog, Crooks and Liars, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Hot Air, Reuters, Gateway Pundit, BlueOregon, The Crypt's Blogs, TPMMuckraker, Macsmind, The Gavel, RADAMISTO and Liberal Values

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard Blog:
Jay Rockefeller's Amnesia; White House Weakness

Discussion: Attackerman

Satyam / Think Progress: Iraq Report Undermines Bush's Claim That He Is A ‘Credible’ …

Leader's Journal releases of democrats:
Senate Intelligence Committee Unveils Final Phase II Reports …

Discussion: Think Progress, Emptywheel, AMERICAblog and IntoxiNation

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:
PHASE II — The Senate intel committee's Phase II report …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report and TPMMuckraker

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Obama denies a rumor and questions the question — Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday batted down rumors circulating on the Internet and mentioned on some cable news shows of the existence of a video of his wife using a derogatory term for white people, and criticized a reporter for asking him about the rumor …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, NO QUARTER, Hot Air, Reason Magazine and The Mahatma X Files

David Weigel / Reason Magazine:
Everything's Gonna Be All White

Discussion: protein wisdom, American Spectator and Rezko Watch

Hilary Leila Krieger / Jerusalem Post:

Obama clarifies united J'lem comment — Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama did not rule out Palestinian sovereignty over parts of Jerusalem when he called for Israel's capital to remain “undivided,” his campaign told The Jerusalem Post Thursday.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Flopping Aces, Atlas Shrugs and Doug Ross

Steven Ginsberg / The Trail:

Obama Clarifies Remarks on Jerusalem — Facing criticism from Palestinians, Sen. Barack Obama acknowledged today that the status of Jerusalem will need to be negotiated in future peace talks, amending a statement earlier in the week that Jerusalem “must remain undivided.”

Discussion: Political Punch, Soccer Dad, Hot Air and Redstate

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Obama And Dean Team Up To Recast The Political Map — Sixteen months after he launched his campaign for the White House, Sen. Barack Obama may, just now, be entering his campaign's most perilous stage. Facing a rift of sorts within the Democratic Party and concerns over the scope of his political base …

Discussion: protein wisdom, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™, Cliff Schecter, The Swamp, TPM Election Central, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Outside The Beltway, Washington Monthly and MyDD

Associated Press:
Obama keeps Dean at DNC, bans lobbyist money

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, TPM Election Central, Hot Air, Political Machine, Washington Wire, Buck Naked Politics, D-Day, Ben Smith's Blogs, Yahoo! News, Donklephant and Salon

Staten Island Advance:

Son of GOP nominee throws hat into ring for Staten Island's seat — It could be father versus son in the race for Staten Island's seat in the House of Representatives. — An already topsy-turvy political year grew even more so today when Francis M. Powers, the son of GOP designee Francis H. Powers …

Discussion: Daily Kos, The Crypt's Blogs, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Daily Gotham, Swing State Project, Spin Cycle and TPM Election Central

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:

HALPERIN'S TAKE: What John McCain Underestimates — 1. The astonishing enthusiasm that Obama inspires in his supporters — and how much it contrasts with the respect, but not passion, McCain enjoys from his own backers. (And the size of Obama's crowds...)

Discussion: TownHall Blog, Eunomia, Hot Air and The American Mind

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Stay classy, Kos: Markos goes after McCain's ... teeth — Bookmark this post, and recall it every single time a progressive blogger accuses us of “distractions” and irrelevancies when it comes to criticizing Barack Obama. Today, Markos gives his readers a substantive reason to vote against John McCain — his yellowed teeth:

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Sister Toldjah, Redstate, The Huffington Post and JammieWearingFool

Kos / Daily Kos:
McCain's teeth — Hunter already mocked John McCain's website today …

Discussion: Macsmind, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and Little Green Footballs

Robert Burns / Associated Press:

Gates ousts Air Force leaders in historic shake-up — WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Robert Gates ousted the Air Force's top military and civilian leaders Thursday, holding them to account in a historic Pentagon shake-up after embarrassing nuclear mix-ups. — Gates announced at a news conference …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Argghhh! and Truthdig

Thom Shanker / New York Times:
2 Top Leaders of Air Force Pushed Out After Inquiry

Discussion: Danger Room, The Swamp, Soccer Dad, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Argghhh!, Crooks and Liars, The Crypt's Blogs, Outside The Beltway and Matthew Yglesias

Glenn Thrush / Spin Cycle:

Most NY Reps to skip Hillary sendoff — Sorry Hillary, they've got other plans. — The vast majority of Hillary Rodham Clinton's congressional supporters in New York will be skipping her Saturday drop-out announcement in Washington - citing reasons ranging from town halls back in their districts …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket and Gateway Pundit

Jackie Kucinich / The Hill:

McCain snubs President Bush's fundraising dinner — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) will not attend President Bush's fundraising dinner for congressional candidates in another indication that the GOP nominee is distancing himself from the man he wants to replace.

Discussion: TPMMuckraker and Hot Air

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Lincoln's Rule: Organization Matters — Politics has become hi-tech with sophisticated databases, the Internet, TV ads, focus groups and polls. — But a lanky Sangamon County, Ill., lawyer described the essential task of politics in 1840 in a letter to his Whig campaign committee.

Discussion: God-o-Meter, Firedoglake and protein wisdom