Midday Blog Roundup

A Friday full of bad economic news -- 80,000 jobs lost last month, 81 percent of Americans believe the country is on wrong track -- has conservative and liberal bloggers fencing over who deserves the blame.

The Foundry, the Heritage Foundation's blog, argues that the "elite media" is wrong to point fingers at Wall Street and blame a lack of government control for the current economic woes. Politicians and even community activists had called for the easing of lending terms on mortgages, the blog notes.

Pushing back from the left, AMERICAblog's Jacki Schechner writes that a 5.1 percent unemployment rate doesn't bode well for President Bush's legacy. And Kossack DemFromCT argues that the poll numbers all point to a rough road ahead for Republicans. After all, they have controlled the White House during the current downtown, the blogger notes.

All three presidential campaigns are taking fire. Matthew Yglesias finds Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) new ad "bizarre" for focusing on the time he turned in a prep school classmate. Ed Morrissey at Hot Air notes that a Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) adviser drafted a memo calling for an 80,000-troop force in Iraq at the same time Obama has called for a withdrawal. And Marc Ambinder writes up Mark Penn's side work for Colombia in support of a free trade pact, something that Penn's colleagues on the Clinton campaign aren't too happy about.

McCain's vice presidential pick continues to be a topic of speculation in conservative circles. RedState's California Yankee notes that there's no favorite among Republican voters, according to a new poll. Respondents' two most preferred candidates, former primary rivals Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney, however, could be at each other again, writes Matt Lewis. The Townhall blogger suggests that social conservatives could be working to undermine Romney in order to improve Huckabee's chances.

FROM THE BLOGS:Econ: How We Got Here, How to Get Out -- The FoundryFundamentals Awful For GOP, Getting Worse -- DemFromCT, DKosNo Consensus Favorite For VP -- California Yankee, RedStateHuckabee Jealousy Behind Anti-Mitt Move? -- M. Lewis, TownhallPenn's Got Trouble -- Marc AmbinderMcCain: The Snitchin' Candidate -- Matthew YglesiasMcCain

Barack Obama's $40 million raised in March is turning heads in the blogosphere. The number is less than the $55 million Obama brought in during February, but as First Read's Mark Murray notes, "it's still a significant haul."Chris Cillizza suggests that the Clinton campaign announcing it will not yet release its March numbers is a bad sign. Cillizza notes that there are only two ways the race ends before June 3 and one of those is if Clinton's money dries up.Doug Mataconis at Below The Beltway adds up the total to $127 million for Obama during the first quarter, which comes out to roughly $1.4 million a day, a "pretty amazing total," Mataconis writes.The total makes Jonathan Singer at MyDD look toward Obama's potential for the general election. Singer says Obama's ability to raise funds will "expand the map and put more states in play."FROM THE BLOGS:Congress Can Only Hurt On Housing - The FoundryN.J. Senate: Replay of '06 Akaka-Case? - Jonathan Singer, MyDDObama's $40 Million Haul - Chris Cillizza, The Fix Border Fence Can't Fix This Problem - Andy McCarthy, The CornerJane Fonda: 'Obama!' - Andrew Malcolm, The SwampJimmy Carter Drops Strong Hint - Mark Halperin, The PageCrunching The N.C. Registration Numbers - Mark Murray, First ReadWhy Is The Pledge Delegate Count So Important? - TalkLeftOTHER NEWS SOURCES: Obama's Appeal State By State - U.S. News & World ReportClinton Tax Returns - ABC News

A 2003 Bush administration memo that allowed for harsh interrogation tactics has bloggers busy Wednesday, with others finding time to discuss Hillary Clinton

Barack Obama appears to be catching up to Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, according to the most recent Rasmussen poll, and that has caught the attention of several bloggers this morning.

Isaac Chotiner of The New Republic

On the same day Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveiled his plan to overhaul regulation of the financial system, conservative and liberal bloggers are debating what they would do.blackhedd at RedState argues that the best approach is to let the situation work itself out, with some help from the Bush administration using the policies in place. Bailing those out with "dirty hands" will ensure that the same problems will come up again, he claims.Matthew Yglesias agrees with much of what Bill Clinton's former treasury secretary, Lawrence Summers, says; Summers is arguing for the passage of a measure backed by Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) that would better protect the public from a financial meltdown. Summers also wants, in general, a broader social safety net for the public, not just financial institutions, Yglesias writes.Chris at AMERICAblog argues that Paulson and the White House must do more than what they're proposing.Michelle Malkin, meanwhile, looks at Hillary Clinton's rhetoric on subprime mortgages, and finds that her campaign manager has contradicted it.FROM THE BLOGS:Politics (and Econ) of Mortgage Relief -- blackhedd, RedState Larry Summers on the Financial Crisis -- Matthew YglesiasBiggest Change Since GOP Helped Create Crisis -- AMERICAblog
Hillary Camp

Amid Democratic handwringing over the seemingly endless Obama-Clinton nomination fight, several pundits have put forth their solutions to end it.Jennifer Rubin at Contentions says that should Barack Obama win Indiana or North Carolina, he should consider giving Clinton the Michigan and Florida delegates. The other option, Rubin writes, is to allow the race to go to the convention, where a divisive credential fight looms, something that the McCain campaign is certainly hoping for.Prominent Obama backers Sens. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have begun to call for Clinton to leave the race altogether.Glenn Hurowitz, blogging at the Huffington Post, echoes Joe Klein and suggests that superdelegates get behind Al Gore for president. For his part, Gore said in an interview that the race will "resolve itself," The Page notes. But Gore added, "We'll see."

One way or another, the nomination fight could be settled by July 1, the date floated on Friday by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. Dean said he wants superdelegates to decide by then.

FROM THE BLOGS:A Time To Give In -- Jennifer Rubin, Contentions
Gore to the Rescue? -- Glenn Hurowitz, HuffPoGore: Race Will

The presidential candidates

Like The Briefing Room, most blogs picked up on the new Gallup poll showing 28 percent of Hillary Clinton

Geopolitics got the attention of some bloggers today, as The Huffington Post asked if the military success of the