Obama Plays Defense

"Here's what I think is going on. Time after time, from the beginning of the campaign to now, the media has called Obama on a 'major' gaffe or presented his [reaction] to an event as a 'major' problem only to figure out a week later that Obama hasn't suffered a bit and Hillary Clinton numbers have dropped back down to about 40%."

Of course, a minor problem in the Democratic primaries could become a major problem in the general election.

The Huffington Post, which rarely goes a day without a Hillary-bashing piece or three, cites a book that says Hillary said the following in 1995 in a discussion over appealing to working-class southern whites:

" 'Screw 'em,' she told her husband. 'You don't owe them a thing, Bill. They're doing nothing for you; you don't have to do anything for them.' "

Howard Wolfson denied last night that Hillary had said what the author said he witnessed.

Jonah Goldberg calls Barack and Michelle Obama "self-hating yuppies straight out of the 1980s."

The Boss says Obama was born to run: Bruce Springsteen endorses Barack.

Guess who was spotted wearing a flag pin? Allahpundit sticks it to Obama:

"I lost track of this very stupid story after the initial dust-up last October. Evidently a disabled vet handed it to him at [yesterday's] speech, thereby magically ridding it of the Iraq cooties that had rendered it unfit to grace the chest of the Messiah . . .

"Conservatives naturally were blamed for making an issue of this last fall but in fact Obama's the one who politicized it by investing the pin with such grandiose meaning that he simply had to stop wearing it in good conscience. No other prominent Democratic critic of the war that I can think of has felt the need to divest him- or herself of the sort of symbolism that those small town yokels whom Obama has such affection for seem to appreciate so much."

ESPN, canceling an interview with Obama? Here's the lame explanation: "It's absolutely not an issue about any one candidate. Our position is that when they're down to the final two candidates, we'll look for options to interview each accordingly. Fans don't expect political coverage on our air."

Dude, you had an interview with Barack Obama, who's fairly good at basketball (if not bowling). Could it have anything to do with the fact that ESPN's president is a John McCain donor? I'm throwing the penalty flag on this one.

Wouldn't this be tantamount to switching parties?

"Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), the Democratic Party's 2000 vice presidential nominee, is leaving open the possibility of giving a keynote address on behalf of Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) at the Republican National Convention in September."

Kos wonders why the Dems don't strip Lieberman of his chairmanships: "The dude is a Republican. I wish he'd come out and say so already."