SATURDAY ROUNDUP

Former White House Press Secretary, who died Sunday after a bout with colon cancer, is being remembered by conservative bloggers as someone who was as gracious as he was talented. Barack Obama may have made a misstep by rejecting public funds, according to one blogger on the right, but it’s John McCain’s campaign who has been clumsy lately, according to liberal bloggers.

Snow’s optimism, confidence and genuine interest in people was a breath of fresh air to a White House that needed it when he became press secretary in 2006, writes The Corner’s Yuval Levin, a former White House staffer. Snow was the opposite of paranoid, as he assumed that everyone liked him, which was a rare quality for anyone in Washington, according to Contentions’ John Podhoretz. The Associated Press took a “cheap shot” in its obituary of Snow by writing that he didn’t always have command of the facts, writes Newsbusters’ Tom Blumer.

Obama may have overestimated his fundraising capabilities and opted out of the public finance system because of his fantastic first quarter numbers, writes The Next Right’s Patrick Ruffini, who suggests that McCain could have the money advantage. But McCain’s campaign has stumbled by allowing its candidate and its surrogate, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), to blame the country’s real housing market and economic woes on psychology, suggests kos.

The housing bill passed by the Senate on Friday is based on circular logic, as it seeks to insure imperiled homeowners with revenue from new taxes on embattled mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, according to The Corner’s Steven Spruiell. But what lawmakers have really failed to do is watch over greedy executives, who have profited under lax housing laws and may leave taxpayers holding the bag, writes Ian Welsh at Firedoglake.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Remembering Tony Snow – Yuval Levin, The Corner
Tony – John Podhoretz, Contentions
Tony Snow, Cont. – Byron York, The Corner
AP Takes Cheap Shot at Snow – Tom Blumer, Newsbusters
Obama’s Miscalculation on Financing – P. Ruffini, Next Right
Obama More Reagan than Carter – A. Sullivan, Daily Dish
Should Nat’l #s Concern Obama? – Nate Silver, The Plank
More Psychology – kos, Daily Kos
Political and Other Realities About Drilling – N. Chart, MyDD
Collapse Doesn’t Indicate Execs Failed – I. Welsh, Firedoglake
Freddie, Fannie and The Housing Bill – S. Spruiell, The Corner

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Protected by Washington, Fannie and Freddie Grew – NYT
Former WH Press Sec. Tony Snow Dies at 53 – Wash. Post
Obama Revels in Contrasts With McCain – Associated Press