memeorandum: Each Party Is Set to Hunt The Other's Usual Ground (Dan Balz/Washington Post)

12:25 PM ET, June 8, 2008

Top Items:

Obama Maps a Nationwide Push in G.O.P. Strongholds — WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama's general election plan calls for broadening the electoral map by challenging Senator John McCain in typically Republican states — from North Carolina to Missouri to Montana — as Mr. Obama seeks …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, protein wisdom, The Other McCain, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Carpetbagger Report, Prairie Weather, AMERICAblog, Right Wing Nut House, Soccer Dad, The Caucus, TIME.com, Rezko Watch, American Street, On Deadline, The American Mind, Cliff Schecter, The Political Carnival and Bang the Drum

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

Each Party Is Set to Hunt The Other's Usual Ground — The 2008 general election will pit the best-organized nomination campaign in the history of modern Democratic politics against the battle-tested machinery of the Republican Party, with both Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and Sen. John McCain …

Discussion: TownHall Blog and Associated Press

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

The unhappy warrior — Openly frustrated by what they see as an ongoing double standard in the press's treatment of his campaign, Sen. John McCain and his aides have been aggressively denouncing unfavorable stories as “smear jobs” and “scurrilous attacks,” while the candidate himself …

Discussion: Democrats.com and TIME.com

New York Times:
Clinton Ends Campaign With Clear Call to Elect Obama

Discussion: Washington Post, The Caucus, LewRockwell.com Blog, The Other McCain, The Swamp and The Fix

Mark Penn / New York Times:

The Problem Wasn't the Message — It Was the Money — Perhaps the most frustrating part of losing a close race is thinking about what else you could have done to win. You replay the campaign over and over again in your head. As an adviser to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, I sure do.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blogs, Cogitamus, Sister Toldjah, Swampland, THE GUN TOTING LIBERAL™, JustOneMinute, PSoTD and marbury

Ed O'Keefe / ABCNEWS:

New York Mayor, ABC News Invite Obama, McCain to Historic Town Hall — Network Offers Primetime Coverage of Unprecedented Event — New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ABC News have invited Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to participate in a 90-minute, primetime town hall meeting …

Discussion: The Swamp, The Caucus and TIME.com

Manu Raju / The Hill:

Bush warns of pay cuts for troops — President Bush on Saturday pressed Congress to approve billions of dollars more for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, warning that failure to quickly act could lead to mass layoffs at the Pentagon and an inability to pay the salaries of troops in combat.

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report, VetVoice and American Street

Ari Fleischer / Washington Post:
‘Complicit Enablers’? Not Quite.

Discussion: Ed Driscoll.com and NewsBusters.org

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

People vs. Dinosaurs — Question: What do America's premier investor, Warren Buffett, and Iran's toxic president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have in common? Answer: They've both made a bet about Israel's future. — Ahmadinejad declared on Monday that Israel “has reached its final phase …

Discussion: The Agonist

Mark Steyn / Orange County Register:

Obama the humble savior — The short version of the Democratic Party primary campaign is that the media fell in love with Barack Obama but the Democratic electorate declined to. — “I felt this thrill going up my leg,” said MSNBC's Chris Matthews after one of the senator's speeches.

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Betsy's Page

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:

Fox News Producer Ambushes Bill Moyers; Gets Taste Of His Own Medicine — I think this is my favorite piece of video footage since Jon Stewart told off Tucker Carlson on Crossfire. Seriously, watch it again and again, it just gets better. — At the National Conference for Media Reform …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Latest and Rising Hegemon

CNNMoney.com:

Gas price record reaches $4 a gallon — AAA's daily survey tops the milestone for the first time after a 1.7-cent rise Sunday. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Gasoline rose to a milestone mark Sunday as the national average compiled by motorist group AAA reached $4 a gallon for the first time.

Discussion: Associated Press, Gothamist and TIME.com

Saul F / Times of London:

Al-Qaeda: the cracks begin to show — A succession of leading Muslim radicals has condemned the terror group's tactics as its support in Islamic countries falls off dramatically. Is Britain following the pattern? — Abul Taher — Read the original article in The New Republic here

Discussion: Don Surber and Jihad Watch

Michael L. Millenson / Washington Post:

Want Universal Health Care? The Operative Word Is ‘Care.’ — On a recently posted YouTube music video, to a hypnotic bongo beat, rapper MIKE-E knocks out rhymes about . . . universal health care: — You are among the masses/One of 47 million people without health care access …

Discussion: Economist's View, The Glittering Eye and Outside The Beltway