memeorandum: Olbermann at loose ends (Cindy Adams/New York Post)

4:55 AM ET, April 21, 2012

Top Items:

Obama Campaign Faces Dropoff in Big Donations — President Obama's re-election campaign is straining to raise the huge sums it is counting on to run against Mitt Romney, with sharp dropoffs in donations from nearly every major industry forcing it to rely more than ever on small contributions and a relative handful of major donors.

Discussion: Politico, OpenSecrets.org and msnbc.com

CNN:

Romney asks GOP delegates to sign pledge, but some refuse — Scottsdale, Arizona (CNN) - Members of the Republican National Committee gathering in Arizona were invited to meet with Mitt Romney in private Friday and have their pictures taken with the presumptive GOP nominee, but there was a price of admission: loyalty.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Wonkette, Politico, ABCNEWS and Online NewsHour

Abby Phillipand Dave Levinthal / Politico:

Obama raised $46M in March — President Barack Obama's re-election campaign in March raised $46.4 million and spent $37.7 million — not including money raised with the Democratic National Committee, new federal campaign finance filings indicate. — That easily exceeded …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Jon Corzine Still Bundling for Obama — Barack Obama's reelection campaign has released the most recent list of names of fundraising bundlers. On that list is Jon Corzine, the former governor of New Jersey and embattled money man, the former head of MF Global:

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Conservatives4Palin

Politico:
RNC at a Crossroads

Discussion: Daily Kos and CNN

Holly Bailey / ABCNEWS:
Romney: I'll build Keystone pipeline even ‘if I have to do it myself’

Discussion: Yahoo! News and CNN

Mitch Daniels / CNN:
Daniels offers tough love for Romney

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mediaite, Hot Air and Politico

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
Obama raises $35M in March, has more than $100M stored away

Discussion: CNN

Holly Bailey / Yahoo! News:
Mitt Romney raised nearly $12.6 million in March

Discussion: ABCNEWS

CNN:
Manchin may buck party in presidential vote

Discussion: Hit & Run, Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit, The Political Carnival and New York Magazine

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

Zimmerman Bond Hearing - Media Reaction — Let's follow up our highlights and lowlights of the Zimmerman bond hearing with some media reaction. Here is the local paper, the Orlando Sentinel, which leads with the weak prosecution case: — George Zimmerman granted $150K bond, apologizes to Trayvon Martin's family

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, msnbc.com and Reuters

CNN:

CNN NEWSROOM — George Zimmerman Bond Hearing — THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. — GLADYS ZIMMERMAN, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN'S MOTHER (via telephone): This program started like three years ago and when the problem started …

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
The George Zimmerman Bail Hearing

Discussion: This Just In, Orlando Sentinel and Guardian

Richard Fausset / Los Angeles Times:
George Zimmerman apologizes to Trayvon Martin family; bond is set

Discussion: DISSENTING JUSTICE, Scared Monkeys, The New Republic and No More Mister Nice Blog

New York Times:
Zimmerman Apologizes as Bail is Set in Martin Case

Discussion: Guardian and The Week

Faiz Shakir / ThinkProgress:
Prosecutor: Zimmerman Allegedly Slapped His Ex-Girlfriend And ‘Asked Her How It Felt’

Discussion: Jezebel and Colorlines

Matt Gutman / ABCNEWS:
Warning Graphic Photo: Possible New Evidence Shows George Zimmerman's Bloodied Head

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, UrbanGrounds, JustOneMinute and New York Magazine

First Read / msnbc.com:

Gingrich's future hinges on Delaware — WILMINGTON, Del. — The future of Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign seems to hinge on the Delaware primary early next week. — “Tuesday is a big day,” a source close to the Gingrich campaign told NBC News. “Newt is just waiting to see what happens on Tuesday.”

Discussion: The Caucus and HotAirPundit

Gerald Herbert / ABCNEWS: Gingrich North Carolina Stops Called Off, Then On Again

Dave Wagner / WCNC-TV:
Sources: Gingrich cancels North Carolina trip

Discussion: The Other McCain, ABCNEWS, Hot Air, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Atlantic Online

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

New Romney Spokesman Used Twitter For Sexist Attacks — Presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney's new foreign policy spokesperson Richard Grenell has an odd penchant for targeting the wives of male politicians and women in general on Twitter. — Grenell, who served as George W. Bush's spokesperson …

Discussion: Politico, Good As You, New York Magazine, Towleroad News #gay and Washington Post

Alexander Burns / Politico:

New Romney flack's old pastime: ridiculing the Gingriches — Mitt Romney's campaign put out word Thursday that Richard Grenell, the former Bush administration spokesman at the United Nations, was joining his team as a spokesman on foreign policy issues. — In between his gigs at the UN …

Discussion: CNN, ThinkProgress, Indecision Forever, Daily Kos, Joe. My. God. and Guardian

Cindy Adams / New York Post:

Olbermann at loose ends — Unemployed, perennially confrontational talking head Keith Olbermann aimlessly wandered around Central Park South earlier this week, seemingly looking for a friend or a purpose. — Our spies snapped unflattering pictures of Olbermann decked out in a giant red pullover …

Discussion: his vorpal sword

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Coroner: Breitbart died of heart failure, no foul play — Conservative firebrand journalist Andrew Breitbart died of heart failure, according to a report released by the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner on Friday. — Breitbart, who ran the news aggregation website Breitbart.com …

Discussion: Associated Press

BREITBART.COM:

CORONER: BREITBART DIED OF HEART FAILURE — The office of the Los Angeles County coroner has completed its investigation into the death of Andrew Breitbart on March 1, and has confirmed that he died of natural causes, namely heart failure. — Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey told Breitbart News …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Patterico's Pontifications

Meenal Vamburkar / Mediaite:

President Obama's Video Message Booed At Boston's Fenway Park — During Friday's Red Sox game, President Obama delivered a video message recognizing the 100th of Fenway Park, in Boston. Several people are reporting that his message was met with booing. — The crowd's reaction, via Eric Fehrnstrom, an adviser to Mitt Romney:

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Carlos Maza / Equality Matters:

Fox's O'Reilly, Carlson Warn That Glee Makes Kids Experiment With Homosexuality, Identify As Transgender — During the April 19 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly hosted a segment attacking this week's episode of Glee for featuring a storyline about a transgender teenager struggling with her gender identity.

Discussion: GLAAD, LGBTQ Nation, Good As You, Taylor Marsh, Towleroad News #gay and Mediaite

Erick Stakelbeck / CBN.com:

Media Matters' Anti-Christian Agenda Exposed — WASHINGTON — An influential organization with ties to the White House came under fire recently for attacking Christian news outlets. — Now, CBN News has obtained a document showing that the very foundation of the group known as Media Matters …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Heather Wilson Mocks Al Franken's Anti-Bullying Bill, Says It Would Criminalize Teasing … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Al Franken , Elections 2012, Video, Heather Wilson, New Mexico Senate Election, SB 555, Al Franken Bullying, Anti-Bullying, Election 2012, Gay Bullying, Heather Wilson Al Franken …

Discussion: ThinkProgress