memeorandum: The Public Ordeal of a Private Person (Eric Konigsberg/New York Times)

12:15 PM ET, March 12, 2008

Top Items:

Fredric U. Dicker / New York Post:

SPITZER TO RESIGN IN THE HOUR, SOURCES SAY — Gov. Eliot Spitzer has decided to resign and will begin notifying top state officials of his decision just after 9 a.m., The Post has learned. — Word began circulating of his decision in state political circles just minutes ago …

New York Times:

Spitzer Aides Say Governor Will Resign This Morning — Gov. Eliot Spitzer, reeling from revelations that he had been a client of a prostitution ring, will resign today, some of his staff members said they have been told. Mr. Spitzer is scheduled to speak today at 11:30 a.m. at his Manhattan office, a top aide said.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Reason Magazine, PoliBlog (TM), Marist Poll, Democrats.com, MyDD, Connecting.the.Dots, Middle Earth Journal, Sister Toldjah, TRAIL BLAZERS and Majikthise

CNN:

Sources: Spitzer to resign amid talks of plea deal — ALBANY, New York (CNN) — New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer will resign Wednesday, his aides said, as he faces allegations — but no charges — that he is tied to an international prostitution ring ensnared in a federal probe.

Discussion: Pam's House Blend and Balloon Juice

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

Spitzer's Media Enablers — The fall of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer holds many lessons, and the press will surely be examining them in coming months. But don't expect the press corps to delve into the biggest lesson of all — its own role as his enabler. — Journalists have spent the past …

Discussion: New York Times, Dealbreaker, QandO, Achenblog, URGENT AGENDA and American Power

Eric Konigsberg / New York Times:

The Public Ordeal of a Private Person — Silda Wall Spitzer gave up a high-powered career as a corporate lawyer to raise three daughters and support her husband as he sought elective office, yet has always had deep reservations about his political career. Time and again, she has found herself …

Discussion: The Corner, Top of the Ticket, New York Magazine, Feministe, BAGnewsNotes, American Power, New York Sun, Althouse and New York Post

New York Times:

Spitzer Resigns, Citing Personal Failings — Gov. Eliot Spitzer, reeling from revelations that he had been a client of a prostitution ring, announced his resignation today, becoming the first governor of New York to be forced from office in nearly a century.

Discussion: Newsday, DownWithTyranny! and Outside The Beltway

ABCNEWS:
Spitzer to Resign Today at 11:30 a.m.; White Knight Tarnished …

Discussion: Washington Post, Comments from Left Field and New York Magazine

Daphne Retter / New York Post:
HIS PUSHY PLAN TO BE IN DC FOR TRYST

Discussion: Spin Cycle

ABCNEWS:
Spitzer Escort: Governor Was a Nice Guy, Good Tipper

Discussion: Newsday, protein wisdom, New York Post, The Corner, Jon Swift, Brilliant at Breakfast, Patterico's Pontifications, Fausta's blog, The Huffington Post, New York Times and Scared Monkeys

Tracy Quan / New York Times:
Really Dangerous Liaisons — AS a former sex worker …

Discussion: Anne Schroeder's Blogs, New York Post and Jezebel

New York Times:
Spitzer Wrestles Over Response, Paralyzing Albany

Discussion: New York Post, TigerHawk, Kiko's House, NY Daily News, protein wisdom, Gawker, New York Sun, QandO and D-Day

John Derbyshire / The Corner:
Spitzenfreunde — That's what it's called, Spitzenfreude …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and Associated Press

Michael Hill / Associated Press:
Paterson May Be First Blind NY Governor

Discussion: Think Progress

David Mamet / Village Voice:

Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal’ — John Maynard Keynes was twitted with changing his mind. He replied, “When the facts change, I change my opinion. What do you do, sir?” — My favorite example of a change of mind was Norman Mailer at The Village Voice.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, The Moderate Voice, Hot Air, NewsBusters.org, The American Scene, Jules Crittenden, American Spectator and Cold Fury

Rick Klein / ABCNEWS:

Time on Her Side: Obama Maintains Lead, but Clinton Might Have the Edge — Intense Democratic Primary Voting Takes a Break as Intense Contest Continues — The Clinton campaign plans to use the coming six-week gap in primary voting to aggressively push its case that Sen. Barack Obama …

Discussion: Hot Air and PSoTD

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:
Obama Wins in Mississippi

Discussion: TPM Election Central, CNN, The Politico, The Carpetbagger Report, DownWithTyranny!, American Power and The Swamp

Peter Baker / Washington Post:
Spitzer's Troubles May Hurt Clinton

Discussion: AMERICAblog, NY Daily News and Wonkette

Washington Wire:
Political Perceptions: Obama's Mississippi Win Examined

Discussion: The Fix, New York Times and Open Left

ABCNEWS:

Ferraro Defends Comments: Obama Is Where He Is Because He's Black — Clinton Backer, Geraldine Ferraro Defends Her Record of Fighting Racism After Controversial Remarks — Geraldine Ferraro stood by her controversial comments about Sen. Barack Obama's presidential candidacy today.

Discussion: Channel '08, Los Angeles Times and About.com US Politics

Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
Maybe Geraldine Ferraro decided stature and goodwill are overrated

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TPM Election Central and Daily Kos

Isaac Chotiner / The New Republic:
Ferraro Everywhere — After Senator Clinton disavowed Geraldine …

Discussion: MoJoBlog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Re-vote picture clouds — For a moment, it looked like party leaders were marching toward a Florida revote. But Obama's campaign signaled today that the mechanics would be an obstacle, and Florida's congressional delegation just took a hard line against a re-vote in a joint statement:

Discussion: Donklephant and Real Clear Politics

Marc Ambinder:
House Dems in Florida: No Re-Do

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, CNN, MyDD, Obsidian Wings and Buck Naked Politics

David Plouffe / HillaryClinton.com:
Clinton Campaign Calls for Michigan and Florida Voices to Be Heard

Discussion: TalkLeft

CAMERA:

BBC Fabricates Home Demolition Report — On Friday, March 7, 2008, the BBC's World News with Jonathan Charles (seen in the U.S. on PBS stations as part of BBC America) aired footage purporting to show the demolition and burning of a house that belongs to the family of Ala Abu Dheim …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and Spectator

CNN:

Caucus win gives Obama more Texas delegates than Clinton — (CNN) — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama has won the Texas Democratic caucuses and will get more delegates out of the state than his rival, Sen. Hillary Clinton, who won the state's primary, according to CNN estimates.

Discussion: TRAIL BLAZERS, Outside The Beltway and The Field

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

A Ferraro flashback — “If Jesse Jackson were not black, he wouldn't be in the race,” she said. — Really. The cite is an April 15, 1988 Washington Post story (byline: Howard Kurtz), available only on Nexis. — Here's the full context:

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Daily Dish, The Huffington Post, Associated Press, American Spectator, Jezebel, QandO, American Street, Sister Toldjah, Bang the Drum, ABCNEWS, Balloon Juice, The Bilerico Project, Centerfield, MSNBC and CNN

Andrew G. Biggs / Wall Street Journal:

The Obama Tax Hike — Until recently, Sen. Barack Obama took a responsible position on Social Security, noting the urgency of reform and saying all options should be on the table. — But having cornered himself among Democratic activists whose attitudes toward Social Security reform range …

Discussion: Cato-at-liberty and Betsy's Page

Roland S. Martin / CNN:

Martin: Florida, Michigan don't deserve revote — Watch Roland S. Martin at 11:15 a.m. ET Wednesday on CNN.com Live. — (CNN) — For two weeks we have watched nearly every political hack from Michigan and Florida hit the airwaves to tell us that voters in those states deserve to have their votes counted …

Discussion: Wampum

Ross Douthat:

The Politics of Immigration — Riffing on Dave Weigel's post-mortem on the Paul campaign, in which Weigel suggests that Paul should have spent less time talking up his restrictionist position on immigration, Matt writes: … I don't think there's any question that many immigration restrictionists overstate the salience of the issue.

Discussion: American Spectator