memeorandum: First graders take school field trip...to teacher's gay wedding (Michelle Malkin)

4:25 PM ET, October 13, 2008

Top Items:

McCain campaign attacks Bill Kristol: 'He's bought into the Obama campaign's party line.' — Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Bill Kristol said John McCain's campaign has really become “a pathetic campaign.” In his New York Times op-ed this morning, Kristol went further, suggesting that McCain should …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Lawyers, Guns and Money, Washington Monthly, Wonkette and The E&P Pub

Washington Post:

Obama Up by 10 Points as McCain Favorability Ratings Fall — With just over three weeks until Election Day, the two presidential nominees appear to be on opposite trajectories, with Sen. Barack Obama gaining momentum and Sen. John McCain stalled or losing ground on a range of issues and personal traits …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The New Republic, MSNBC, Democracy in America, Hot Air, Comments from Left Field, David Corn, The Campaign Spot, Daily Kos, Reuters, Washington Monthly, ATTACKERMAN, Firedoglake and Taylor Marsh

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over — WASHINGTON — Howard Wolfson, the generally pessimistic Democratic consultant who was a senior adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, wrote an item on his blog at The New Republic the other day, declaring without qualification that Senator Barack Obama would defeat Senator John McCain.

Discussion: Media Matters for America, Washington Monthly and American Spectator

William Kristol / New York Times:

Fire the Campaign — It's time for John McCain to fire his campaign. — He has nothing to lose. His campaign is totally overmatched by Obama's. The Obama team is well organized, flush with resources, and the candidate and the campaign are in sync. The McCain campaign …

Discussion: The Opinionator, The Moderate Voice, Marc Ambinder, The Swamp, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The New Republic, The Gun Toting Liberal, Buck Naked Politics, Opinions You Should Have, MyDD, Swampland, The Huffington Post, Top of the Ticket, Althouse, No More Mister Nice Blog and Political Machine

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Struggling McCain debuts comeback speech — Three weeks before Election Day, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday is unveiling what his aides call a more forceful new stump speech in which he portrays himself as a scrappy fighter on the comeback trail against an opponent who's already “measuring the drapes” in the Oval Office.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Washington Post, Democratic Strategist, The Raw Story, JammieWearingFool, Taylor Marsh, TIME.com, Jules Crittenden, AMERICAblog News, FOX Embeds and Donklephant

Jim Tankersley / The Swamp:
McCain's Pennsylvania problem

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Associated Press and US Elections

Ragnar / The Jawa Report:
OVER?!?!? NOTHING's Over Until We Decide It Is

Discussion: Political Machine

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Is Drudge Priming a McCain “Reboot” Narrative?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Dish and Gawker

Walter Shapiro / Salon:
How John McCain could still win

Discussion: Townhall.com and Shakesville

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
KRISOL'S NEW ADVICE.... The New York Times' Bill Kristol …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns and Money

Catherine Rampell / Economix:

Paul Krugman Wins Economics Nobel — Paul Krugman, a professor at Princeton University and an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times, was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences on Monday. — “It's been an extremely weird day, but weird in a positive way,” …

Discussion: Marginal Revolution, Crooks and Liars, Reuters, TigerHawk, The Sideshow, Don Surber, Silicon Alley Insider, PoliGazette, Buck Naked Politics, Gawker, Newshoggers.com, Washington Monthly and Shakesville

Tyler Cowen / Marginal Revolution:
Paul Krugman wins the Nobel Prize

Discussion: The Corner, Associated Press, The Curious Capitalist, American Power, Economix, Greg Mankiw's Blog, JustOneMinute, Tim Blair, FP Passport, New York Times and EconLog

Associated Press:
Krugman Wins Nobel Prize for Economics

Discussion: Chronicle of the Conspiracy, Guardian, The G Spot, NewsBusters.org and Jules Crittenden

Daniel / Crooked Timber:
“It's a total surprise”

Discussion: Bloomberg, Freakonomics and Grasping Reality …

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
More Krugman — Daniel Davies remarks:

Discussion: Think Progress

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:

MCCAIN LACKS THE CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT TO BE PRESIDENT. AND PALIN IS SIMPLY A DISGRACE. — I used to nod wisely when people said: “Let's discuss issues rather than personalities.” It seemed so obvious that in politics an issue was an issue and a personality was a personality …

Discussion: THE LIBERAL JOURNAL, Gawker and Wonkette

CNN:
Palin: I've been cleared of ‘any hint of unethical activity’

Discussion: Washington Post, Comments from Left Field and Taylor Marsh

ABCNEWS:

Congressman's $121,000 Payoff to Alleged Mistress — Tim Mahoney Elected to Remove ‘Ethical Cloud’ of His Disgraced Predecessor, Mark Foley — West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Palm Beach Post, Salon, Wonkette, Anne Schroeder's Blogs, TPMMuckraker, Hot Air, Say Anything, The Crypt's Blogs, Stop The ACLU, JammieWearingFool, Gateway Pundit, NewsBusters.org and Naked Politics

Tim Craig / Washington Post:

GOP Head Compares Obama to Bin Laden — Va. Party Leader Criticized, Including By McCain Team — RICHMOND — The chairman of the Virginia Republican Party has compared Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden because of the Illinois senator's past association with Bill Ayers …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Campaign Spot, NewsBusters.org, TPM Election Central, Comments from Left Field, TIME.com and Raising Kaine

Washington Wire:
Senior McCain Aide Says They ‘Need’ Florida, Ohio Wins

Discussion: TIME.com

Mark R. Levin / The Corner:
Obama's Associations Matter, Despite McCain's Failure to Explain Why

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

Marist Poll:

The Battleground: The Presidential Race in Ohio — This Marist Poll reports: — Presidential Race in Ohio: — · Obama Has a Narrow Lead Over McCain in the Buckeye State: The presidential race in Ohio is no longer a statistical dead heat.

Discussion: Washington Wire and Pajamas Media

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
An N.C. endorsement — Here's sort of endorsement …

Discussion: The New Republic

Wall Street Journal:
Obama Camp's Travel Seems a Factor In Recent Leads in Battleground States

Discussion: The Caucus

Wall Street Journal:

Obama's 95% Illusion — It depends on what the meaning of ‘tax cut’ is. — One of Barack Obama's most potent campaign claims is that he'll cut taxes for no less than 95% of “working families.” He's even promising to cut taxes enough that the government's tax share of GDP will be no more than 18.2% …

Discussion: The Corner, Salon, www.redstate.com, Fraters Libertas, Say Anything, This ain't Hell …, Wake up America, TaxProf Blog, QandO, Hot Air, Townhall.com and Betsy's Page

New York Times:

Obama Expands Economic Plans — TOLEDO — Senator Barack Obama on Monday expanded his economic platform, including proposals to spur new jobs, to give Americans penalty-free access to retirement savings to help them through the downturn, to urge a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder

Christopher Wills / Associated Press: Obama calls for 90-day moratorium on foreclosures

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

Acorn pushes back, hugs McCain — The beleaguered Democratic-leaning community group Acorn sends over this photograph: John McCain, in March of 2006, sitting beside Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek at an event Acorn co-sponsored in Florida. — The immigration event, which other photos show …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Daily Kos, MyDD, Campaign Silo, Oliver Willis and Progress Illinois

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Ahead, 51% to 41% — His advantage could be as narrow as 7 points, depending on likely voters — PRINCETON, NJ — Voter preferences in the presidential race continue to be generally auspicious for Barack Obama's election prospects only three weeks ahead of the eve of Election Day.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, MyDD and TPM Election Central

David Kurtz / Talking Points Memo:

CAN WE GET A REWRITE HERE? — Sarah Palin knows a thing or two about abuse of power when she says John McCain is ready to put a stop to it:

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Comments from Left Field and TPM Election Central

Fred Hiatt / Washington Post:

What McCain Hasn't Tried — John McCain likes Barack Obama. He admires and respects Obama. He believes Obama is “very impressive, he's thoughtful, he's centrist.” Obama has “probably got a great future.” He is “a very honest and fine person” — “absolutely” qualified to be president.

Discussion: The New Republic and Newshoggers.com

Michelle Malkin:

First graders take school field trip...to teacher's gay wedding — Welcome to reason number 9,999,987 to homeschool. I guarantee you this is the tip of the iceberg for the anti-Proposition 8 propaganda campaign in California. Via ProtectMarriage.com: … Here's the SF Chronicle piece that ran on Saturday.

Discussion: Stop The ACLU