memeorandum: Success No Matter What — This Friday, September's job-loss total will be announced. (John Stossel/Real Clear Politics)

11:05 AM ET, October 1, 2009

Top Items:

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

NV-Senate: Lowden Announces Against Reid — Former Nevada state Republican Party Chairwoman Sue Lowden will announce her bid to challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid today, immediately becoming the highest-profile candidate in an increasingly crowded field hoping to unseat the Nevada Democrat.

Discussion: The Page

Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:

Carper quietly devises third option — Sen. Tom Carper bided his time on health care reform. — Rarely in the spotlight, and unfailingly restrained, the Delaware Democrat never staked out a public position on the government insurance option, solidifying his status as the model of an undecided moderate in need of persuading.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Page and Hot Air

The Hill:
New focus as Democrats sense that healthcare clock may be ticking fast

Discussion: TalkLeft, Associated Press, Firedoglake and msnbc.com

Manu Raju / The Politico:
Senators bristle over Reid's deal

Discussion: The Hill, Prairie Weather and RedState

Rasmussen Reports:

Roman the Rapist — A Commentary By Susan Estrich — He had sex with a 13-year-old girl. He got her to go to Jack Nicholson's house by promising that she would be in a photo shoot. When she got there, he fed her a Quaalude and alcohol — champagne for a 13-year-old, how enticing — and then he raped her.

Discussion: The Huffington Post and Don Surber

Washington Post:

The Sordidness of Polanski's Crime Justifies U.S. Adjudication — Sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl isn't ‘a little mistake.’ — FIRST, THERE was: “He's a brilliant guy, and he made a little mistake 32 years ago.” Next came: “Whatever you think about the so-called crime . . . it is a shocking way to treat such a man.”

Discussion: Salon

Yochi J. Dreazen / Wall Street Journal:

Gates Doubts U.S.'s Afghan Strategy — WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama met with senior counselors for three hours Wednesday to launch his review of Afghan war strategy, amid indications that his defense secretary — the key link between the White House and the military — is among those undecided about the right approach.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Washington Independent, National Review Online and The New Republic

Michael Yon / Washington Times:

The Greatest Afghan War — ANALYSIS/OPINION: — The Greatest Afghanistan War has deteriorated so noticeably that one can now feel the enemy's growing pulse. Each month it beats steadier, stronger, and in 2010 it will finally be born. — On Sept. 11 in Kandahar, a South African civilian …

Discussion: Michael J. Totten

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:
On Afghanistan War, Obama May Have to Seek GOP Support

Discussion: New York Times, Bloomberg, The Politico, Mudville Gazette, The Hill and The Local

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Republicans decide not to introduce Grayson resolution — WASHINGTON (CNN) - House Republicans changed course on Wednesday and decided not to move forward with a resolution condemning Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Florida, for saying that the GOP health care plan calls for sick people to “die quickly.”

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
EXCLUSIVE: Cantor: Obama's not met with GOP leaders since May

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:
House Leaders Trying to Give All Democrats a Say

Discussion: The Note, McClatchy Washington Bureau and The Hill

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Palin co-author: Evangelical, partisan — Sarah Palin's most consequential choice since leaving the Alaska governor's mansion may be her co-author - a staunch conservative, devoted evangelical Christian, and intensely partisan Republican from far, far outside the Beltway.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, race42008.com and GOP 12

beliefnet:
Sarah Palin on Islam and China

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Palin ‘grateful’ for top spot

Discussion: PoliBlog, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Hot Air, GOP 12, The Sundries Shack and New York Post

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:

Pawlenty preps 2012 campaign team — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been quietly assembling the blueprint of a presidential campaign and will announce Thursday the support of a group of high-level political strategists and donors, complemented by a handful of top new media consultants, POLITICO has learned.

Discussion: Boston Globe, The Swamp, Power Line, Politics Daily, GOP 12, The Page and Hot Air

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Pawlenty Launches His “Freedom First” PAC

Discussion: Wonkette, The Washington Independent, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Boston Globe and race42008.com

Wall Street Journal:

Stimulus Spending Doesn't Work — Our new research shows no evidence of a Keynesian ‘multiplier’ effect. There is evidence that tax cuts boost growth. — Printer — Friendly — The global recession and financial crisis have refocused attention on government stimulus packages.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, Neptunus Lex, The Money Game and The Glittering Eye

James Pethokoukis:

Obama's not-so-secret plan to raise taxes — Does President Obama have a secret plan to raise taxes on middle-class Americans — and,well, pretty much everybody else — with a European-style, value-added tax? Actually, it's not such a big secret. Connect the dots:

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Political Byline, Cato @ Liberty, American Power and Sister Toldjah

Jack Shafer / Slate:

The downside of nonprofit news organizations like MinnPost, Voice of San Diego, and the Washington Independent. — The nonprofit news business—if that isn't a contradiction in terms—is spreading like a midsummer algae bloom. — Philanthropists, who in different times would have endowed …

John Thornton / The Huffington Post: Jack Shafer: Concerned About My Bank Balance, and Knows My Inner Motivations.

Quinnipiac University:

Pennsylvania Senate Seesaw Tips To Toomey, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama's Approval Drops Below 50 Percent — The seesaw 2010 Senate race in Pennsylvania tips to Republican Pat Toomey, who has 43 percent to recently converted Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter's 42 percent, too close to call …

Discussion: Politics Daily, The Hill, Glenn Thrush's Blog, TPMDC and Taegan Goddard's …

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Consumers Union joins health care battle — The venerable advocacy group Consumers Union, best known for publishing Consumer Reports, will dive into the health care fray Monday with a television ad making the case for passing health care reform legislation.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and TPMDC

New York Times: Abortion and Health Care Reform

Sharon Waxman / The Wrap:

Exclusive: Comcast in Talks to Buy NBC-Universal from General Electric (updated) — Deal was negotiated at a meeting among bankers in New York on Tuesday. Comcast denies a deal is done, but does not deny talks — Comcast, the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Mediaite, New York Times, TVNewser, Silicon Alley Insider, TVbytheNumbers and Mashable!

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Politico: Freaky-deaky Edwards love child scandal even freaky-deakier than thought — Add six cups of freaky, a quart of deaky, stir well, then let chill overnight. The next day: Voila. If you're reading this on the east coast, where it's already past nine, I'd advise turning on a light …

Discussion: The New Republic, Ace of Spades HQ and The Politico

Patrick / Now! Hampshire:

Portsmouth PD: Shea-Porter was removed from Bush town hall by two police officers — Two officers of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire Police Department removed Carol Shea-Porter and Susan Mayer from a February 2005 town hall event hosted by then-President George W. Bush at the request of the owner …

Discussion: Moe_Lane's blog

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Climate bill hinges on Ohio's Senator Sherrod Brown to pass — Sen. Sherrod Brown holds the key to delivering a bloc of Midwestern senators crucial to passing climate change legislation that faces strong bipartisan opposition. — The Ohio liberal has been working diligently behind the scenes …

Discussion: Blog entry and Time

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
Key Dems confident card-check will pass

Discussion: Commentary

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Obama Can't Outsource Afghanistan — George Bush succeeded in Iraq by talking to his generals regularly. — Printer — Friendly — So our top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has told CBS's “60 Minutes” that he has spoken with President Barack Obama only once since June.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, JustOneMinute, Commentary, Gateway Pundit, YID With LID and Pundit & Pundette

Matt Richtel / New York Times:

At 60 M.P.H., Office Work Is High Risk — Like almost all Americans surveyed, David Vered says he takes care when he multitasks behind the wheel. Cameras that he allowed The New York Times to install in his car provide a glimpse of the car as mobile office and of behavior that research shows can prove dangerous.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias and Gothamist

Lanny Davis / Pundits Blog:

Fact-checking matters — even for columnists and bloggers — I write columns and post blogs regularly, and I've made my share of factual mistakes. — So I do not sit in judgment of someone who goofed. But if you make a factual mistake, there are certain rules of the road that responsible writers …

Discussion: TalkLeft and NO CHASER

Dr. Helen:

Fit for Combat — I had a few minutes to kill today and finally picked up a copy of J.D. Johannes new book, Fit for Combat: When Fitness is a Matter of Life or Death. For those of you not familiar with J.D.'s work, he is a former Marine, filmmaker and war correspondent covering Iraq and Afghanistan.

Discussion: Jules Crittenden