memeorandum: Ads target top Dems during debate (Martina Stewart/CNN Political Ticker)

7:25 PM ET, September 26, 2007

Top Items:

Couric weighs in on Iraq, Rather — Her take on the news — Speaking at the National Press Club Tuesday evening, CBS "Evening News" anchor Katie Couric pulled back the curtain on her personal views of both the war in Iraq and former "Evening News" anchor Dan Rather.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Brilliant at Breakfast, Flopping Aces, Think Progress, The Jawa Report, Right Voices, Hot Air, Patterico's Pontifications, PoliPundit.com, NewsBusters.org, My Left Wing, Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and The Globe and Mail

The Corner:

The Nefarious "We" — Close readers may have noticed that I am increasingly vexed by cosmopolitanism, the idea that we are not citizens of a country or products of a place but rather "citizens of the world." See this old G-File, particularly the second half for a fuller explanation of my views.

Discussion: The Anchoress, Sadly, No!, VodkaPundit and The Sundries Shack

Yeas & Nays: Rather chokes up, and hunkers down

Eric Boehlert / Media Matters for America:
Dan Rather is right

Discussion: Liberal Values, TalkLeft and The Democratic Daily

Greg Gordon / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Ohio, Florida laws could dampen Democratic voting — WASHINGTON — Ohio and Florida, which provided the decisive electoral votes for President Bush's two razor-thin national election triumphs, have enacted laws that election experts say will help Republicans impede Democratic-leaning minorities from voting in 2008.

Discussion: Comments From Left Field, Prairie Weather, The BRAD BLOG, Corrente and Sister Toldjah

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Dem Defection Sends Voter Fraud Guru to Full Senate — As I reported yesterday, the Senate Rules Committee met this morning about the nomination of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Elections Commission. — This morning's result: faced with the defection of a Democrat on the committee …

Discussion: Booman Tribune and Think Progress

Dahlia Lithwick / Slate:
Do Not Vote for This Guy

Discussion: Think Progress, The BRAD BLOG, The Carpetbagger Report, Lawyers, Guns and Money and MoJoBlog

Susan Crabtree / The Hill: Senate Rules panel moves controversial FEC pick

Greg Sargent / Election Central:

Kyl-Lieberman Iran Amendment Passes By Huge Margin — The Kyl-Lieberman Iran amendment — which ratchets up the confrontation with Iran by calling for the designation of its Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization responsible for killing U.S. troops — just passed overwhelmingly, 76-22.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Comments From Left Field, Talking Points Memo, MyDD, The Carpetbagger Report, NO QUARTER, The Politico and Agence France Presse

Think Progress:

BREAKING: Lieberman-Kyl's Iran amendment passes. — By a vote 76-22, the Senate passed the Lieberman-Kyl amendment, which threatens to "combat, contain and [stop]" Iran via "military instruments." Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) called the amendment "Cheney's fondest pipe dream" and said it could …

Discussion: U.S. Senate, Firedoglake, TalkLeft, Open Left, My Left Nutmeg, Booman Tribune, Corrente, CommonDreams.org, CANNONFIRE, Wake up America, skippy the bush kangaroo and TPM Election Central

David Saltonstall / NY Daily News:

Rudy Giuliani fires chief fundraiser — In a sign of potential money woes, Rudy Giuliani has fired his presidential campaign's chief fundraiser and brought in a top rainmaker for President Bush, The Daily News has learned. — Anne Dunsmore, who took control of Giuliani's …

Discussion: The Trail, Eschaton and The Atlantic Online

CNN Political Ticker:

Giuliani catches Romney in New Hampshire — HANOVER, New Hampshire (CNN) — It's a dead heat in New Hampshire, according to our new poll of likely New Hampshire Republican primary voters. — Mitt Romney's lead in the battle for the GOP presidential nomination in the all important Granite State …

Discussion: The Politico, MyDD, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, Taegan Goddard's … and Pollster.com

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Rudy makes change atop finance team

Discussion: MSNBC

CNN:

Source: Craig won't resign if judge hasn't ruled — EDINA, Minnesota (CNN) — Sen. Larry Craig won't resign from the Senate while awaiting a judge's ruling on his effort to get a guilty plea withdrawn in a restroom sex sting, a source said Wednesday. — A judge in Minnesota was to hear arguments Wednesday afternoon in the case.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, On Deadline, The Moderate Voice, Capitol Briefing, PageOneQ.com Latest, The Carpetbagger Report, The Raw Story and Pam's House Blend

Joshua Freed / Associated Press:
Judge: No Swift Ruling on Craig Request

Discussion: Capitol Briefing, TalkLeft, Wonkette and All Spin Zone

Reuters:

"Childrens do learn," Bush tells school kids — NEW YORK (Reuters) - Offering a grammar lesson guaranteed to make any English teacher cringe, President George W. Bush told a group of New York school kids on Wednesday: "Childrens do learn." — Bush made his latest grammatical slip …

Peter Baker / Washington Post: Bush: No Child Left Behind Is Working

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org:

Fallen Soldier MSNBC Used for 'Gotcha' Game With Rep. Blackburn Did Not Live in Her District — UPDATE — SHUSTER APOLOGIZES: At 6:44 PM EDT, MSNBC broke into the Tucker Carlson show to air a terse apology from Shuster. — View video of Shuster apology here. — Here follows the text of Shuster apology.

Discussion: Hot Air, Redstate, Conservative Belle, Webloggin, Media Blog, The American Pundit, The Corner and INSTAPUTZ

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

First Read: Biden's Iraq resolution passes — From NBC's Ken Strickland — In a strong rebuff to the Bush Administration on Iraq, the Senate overwhelming approved a plan by Biden that essentially calls for breaking Iraq into three sections: Kurd, Sunni, and Shia.

Discussion: Hot Air, The American Street, Comments From Left Field, Taylor Marsh and The American Pundit

Editor and Publisher:

Scoop for Spanish Daily: Transcript of Private 2003 Bush Talk Promising Iraq Invasion — NEW YORK El Pais, the highest-circulation daily in Spain, today published what it said was the transcript of a private talk between President George W. Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar on February 22 …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, The Moderate Voice, The Carpetbagger Report and The American Street

Richard Stengel / Time:

My Dinner with Ahmadinejad — The invitation was on creamy stationery with fancy calligraphy: The Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran "requests the pleasure" of my company to dine with H.E. Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The dinner is at the Intercontinental Hotel …