memeorandum: On the stump, Obama moves past hope (Carrie Budoff Brown/The Politico)

12:15 PM ET, September 15, 2008

Top Items:

MCCAIN STILL SEES THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE ECONOMY AS STRONG.... The Obama campaign routinely tweaks John McCain for having argued that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Last week, the Washington Post's Jonathan Weisman criticized Obama for using the line, insisting that the quote is “months old.”

Discussion: Firedoglake, Buck Naked Politics and Happy Furry Puppy Story …

Terence Hunt / Associated Press:

Obama blames Wall St. crisis on Republican policy — CHICAGO - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Monday the upheaval on Wall Street was “the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression” and blamed it on policies that he said Republican rival John McCain supports.

Discussion: AMERICAblog News and Donklephant

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Financial Russian Roulette — Will the U.S. financial system collapse today, or maybe over the next few days? I don't think so — but I'm nowhere near certain. You see, Lehman Brothers, a major investment bank, is apparently about to go under. And nobody knows what will happen next.

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Bank meltdown wallops campaigns — America's banking instability could upend the final 50 days of the presidential campaign, with both candidates forced to confront a calamity that has gotten only glancing attention during the first 20 months of the race for the White House.

Discussion: Townhall.com, TIME.com, American Power, The Caucus, Spin Cycle and Grasping Reality …

Howard Wolfson / The Flack:

It's 3am on Wall Street — During the primary the Clinton campaign posited the idea that a President would face a 3am call on the economy. It looks like one of those 3am calls came this weekend as the government made the decision to let Lehman Brothers go bankrupt rather than bail the firm out.

Discussion: The Hill's Pundits Blog, The Opinionator, The Marathon Blog, Political Punch and Lynn Sweet

Floyd Norris:

Lehman Monday — This blog will be updated during the day, with the newest items at the top to enable returning viewers to see what is new. It can be best read from the bottom. — It looks like prices are slipping. The financials are testing their loiws of the day.

Discussion: The Big Picture, EconLog, Democratic Strategist, New York Times and Angry Bear

Ben Smith / The Politico:
McCain: Fundamentals are (still) strong

Discussion: TPM Election Central and Think Progress

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Shares Fall in Europe; U.S. Index Futures Slide

Discussion: The Caucus, Think Progress, CNNMoney.com and TPMCafe

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Statements on Wall Street

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Washington Monthly

Christopher Hass / Barack Obama and Joe Biden:
Statement from Senator Obama on the Situation in Financial Markets

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Wall Street Journal:
Crisis on Wall Street as Lehman Totters, Merrill Is Sold, AIG Seeks to Raise Cash

Discussion: City Room, ScrappleFace, Jay Currie, The Other McCain, The American Mind, New York Times, Dealbreaker, The Big Picture, Economist's View and Shakesville

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Greenspan: This Is The Worst Economy I've Ever Seen

Discussion: Booman Tribune, Jack & Jill Politics, Wall Street Journal and Truthdig

Washington Post:
A New Architecture For the Financial World

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Independent and Corrente

New York Post:

OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL — WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Townhall.com, The Moderate Voice, NO QUARTER, www.redstate.com, Fox News, Wake up America, Betsy's Page and Pajamas Media

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Did Obama try to scotch an Iraqi-US agreement on military forces? — Amir Taheri accuses Barack Obama of interfering in the attempt to negotiate a status-of-forces agreement with Iraq while making his trip to Baghdad in July. In his New York Post column, Taheri quotes the Iraqi Foreign Minister …

Discussion: Wizbang, ThreatsWatch, BLACKFIVE and Pajamas Media

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

On the stump, Obama moves past hope — CHICAGO — The “hopemonger” is gone. — Barack Obama sounds more like a man trying to shake a rain cloud these days, dispensing a teeth-clenching, I-get-your-pain stump speech in town after town that offers only snippets of the unbridled optimism that long permeated his campaign pitch.

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House and Hot Air

Think Progress:

McCain Loses Fox News: Megyn Kelly Rips McCain Flack For Claiming Obama Would Raise Middle Class Taxes — On Fox News today, host Megyn Kelly called out McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds for the campaign's lies about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) tax proposals.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Wire and Group News Blog

New York Times:

Chairman Rangel — Mounting embarrassment for taxpayers and Congress makes it imperative that Representative Charles Rangel step aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical problems are investigated. — This recommendation does not come easily …

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, Commentary, A Blog For All, www.redstate.com, Wolf Howling and www.redstate.com

Wall Street Journal:

Palin's Project List Totals $453 Million — McCain Campaign Says Record Shows Drop in Requests — Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative.

Discussion: Chicago Boyz, Washington Post, Hot Air, TheZoo and Pajamas Media

Barton Gellman / Washington Post:

Cheney Shielded Bush From Crisis — This is the second of two stories adapted from “Angler: The Cheney Vice Presidency,” to be published Tuesday by Penguin Press. — Vice President Cheney convened a meeting in the Situation Room at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 …

Discussion: The Anonymous Liberal, Balkinization, They gave us a republic, ACSBlog and Swampland

Cathy Young / Wall Street Journal:

Why Feminists Hate Sarah Palin — Left-wing feminists have a hard time dealing with strong, successful conservative women in politics such as Margaret Thatcher. Sarah Palin seems to have truly unhinged more than a few, eliciting a stream of vicious, often misogynist invective.

Discussion: Althouse and Wizbang