memeorandum: Thompson exceeds (low) expectations (Roger Simon/The Politico)

11:55 AM ET, October 3, 2007

Top Items:

Clinton Widens Lead in Poll — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has consolidated her place as the front-runner in the contest for the Democratic presidential nomination, outpacing her main rivals in fundraising in the most recent quarter and widening her lead in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Washington Wire, Captain's Quarters, The Caucus, Democratic Strategist, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report, New York Times, BuzzMachine, Oliver Willis, the talking dog, Newsweek and TIME

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Edwards says Obama using stolen ideas — Former Sen. John Edwards's (D-N.C.) campaign widened its sights Tuesday to include Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) and his foreign policy speech commemorating the five-year anniversary of his first speech against the Iraq war.

Discussion: The Swamp, Taylor Marsh, The Van Der Galiën Gazette and Air America Radio

Quinnipiac University News and Events:

October 3, 2007 - Clinton Tops Giuliani By 11 Points In New York State, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Favorite Son And Daughter Dominate Party Primaries — Sen. Hillary Clinton leads the Republican front-runner, former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani 52 - 41 percent in the 2008 …

Discussion: MSNBC, The Swamp, The Daily Politics and No More Mister Nice Blog

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

Parsing the Polls: Inside the Clinton Surge — It doesn't take a polling expert to understand that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's showing in the latest Washington Post/ABC News poll is a major moment in the campaign. — Clinton, as the Post's Anne Kornblut and Jon Cohen write in today's newspaper …

Discussion: Open Left, The Carpetbagger Report and Raising Kaine

Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Clinton Steals Obama's Fund-Raising Thunder

Discussion: The Politico

Des Moines Register:
Yepsen: 1st-tier Dems' timidity on Iraq may create opening

Discussion: The Politico and TPM Election Central

Jonathan E. Kaplan / The Hill:

SCHIP slips as Dems trip over message — Democratic leaders on Tuesday moved quickly to shift public attention to President Bush's expected veto of a children's health insurance program from a surtax to pay for the war in Iraq. — Democrats had been reveling in their good fortune …

Discussion: Right Voices

CNN:

Bush vetoes child health insurance bill — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Wednesday vetoed legislation expanding a children's health insurance program by $35 billion over five years. — Bush exercised the veto at 10 a.m. ET before leaving the White House for a trip to Lancaster …

Discussion: Comments from Left Field, The Gate and Think Progress

Jennifer Loven / Associated Press:
Bush vetoes child health insurance plan

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Pam's House Blend and The Carpetbagger Report

Ed Morrissey / Captain's Quarters: They Met A Tax They Didn't Like! — Wisconsin Rep. David Obey …

Chris Frates / The Politico:
SCHIP fans storm Capitol Hill

Discussion: The Swamp

CQ.com:
Democrats May Delay Bid to Override Veto of Children's Health Bill

Discussion: Think Progress

Carl Hulse / New York Times:

Limbaugh Latest Victim in War of Condemnation — Having abandoned for now their effort to force President Bush to withdraw troops from Iraq, Democrats are not giving ground against a lesser nemesis: Rush Limbaugh. — With the help of liberal advocacy groups, the Democrats in Congress …

Discussion: Brilliant at Breakfast, The Carpetbagger Report, michellemalkin.com, Daily Kos, The Van Der Galiën Gazette, All Spin Zone, The BRAD BLOG, Norwegianity, Seeing the Forest, QandO, Think Progress, MyDD, Sister Toldjah and Wizbang

Byron York / National Review Online:

Limbaugh Makes His Case — On Monday evening, September 24, Rush Limbaugh was struck by a story that appeared on ABC's World News with Charles Gibson. "A closer look tonight at phony heroes," Gibson said in his introduction to the report, which was about men who claim to be veterans but are not.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Betsy's Page, PrairiePundit and TigerHawk

Media Matters for America:
Limbaugh: VoteVets lied to soldier in ad, "strapp[ed] those lies …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Baltimore Sun, All Spin Zone, The Moderate Voice and Think Progress

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
Times - Limbaugh A "Victim", Like MoveOn

Discussion: Hot Air and Media Matters for America

The Young Turks:
Get Rush Limbaugh Off Armed Forces Radio

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Brilliant at Breakfast, The American Street, Big Brass Blog, TBogg and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Griff Witte / Washington Post:

Pakistan Seen Losing Fight Against Taliban And Al-Qaeda — PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Pakistan's government is losing its war against emboldened insurgent forces, giving al-Qaeda and the Taliban more territory in which to operate and allowing the groups to plot increasingly ambitious attacks …

Discussion: The Swamp, CBS News, PrairiePundit, On Deadline, ParaPundit and Truthdig

Patrick Ruffini:

Kos Traffic Numbers Inflated by 60% — Yesterday, I had the good "fortune" of being frontpaged on Daily Kos. The post sat atop the site for two hours. According to Google Analytics, the link produced 1,164 visitors yesterday. — For the traffic behemoth Kos is portrayed as, that seems low …

New York Times:

From Errand to Fatal Shot to Hail of Fire to 17 Deaths — It started out as a family errand: Ahmed Haithem Ahmed was driving his mother, Mohassin, to pick up his father from the hospital where he worked as a pathologist. As they approached Nisour Square at midday on Sept. 16 …

Discussion: Firedoglake, The RBC, Middle Earth Journal, rubber hose, The Atlantic Online, Three Wise Men and Brilliant at Breakfast

Associated Press:

Soldiers hunt dissidents in Myanmar — YANGON, Myanmar - Soldiers announced that they were hunting pro-democracy protesters in Myanmar's largest city Wednesday and the top U.S. diplomat in the country said military police were pulling people out of their homes during the night.

Discussion: Associated Press, Gateway Pundit, Jules Crittenden, Blue Crab Boulevard, Truthdig and AMERICAblog

John Stossel / Real Clear Politics:

Control Your Own Health Care — Candidates for president have plans to get more people health insurance. Some would compel us to buy it; others would use the tax code to encourage that. Regardless, insurance is the magic that will solve our health-care problems.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard and PrairiePundit

Associated Press:

Defiant Jimmy Carter demands Darfur passage — KABKABIYA, Sudan (AP) — Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter got in a shouting match Wednesday with Sudanese security officials who blocked him from a town in Darfur where he was trying to meet representatives of ethnic African refugees from the ongoing conflict.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice