Top Items:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Morning Fix: A premature celebration for the GOP — Republicans in Washington can barely contain their glee at the turn of President Obama's political fortunes in the first nine months of the year but a new Washington Post/ABC News poll suggests the GOP still faces serious perception problems in the eyes of the American public.
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
WaPo/ABC poll uses skewed sample to show public-option support — My first clue that the new WaPo/ABC poll had big problems in its sampling came from question 38 of the raw data released by ABC last night, the generic Congressional ballot. Most polls have that within the margin of error; both Rasmussen and Pew have it at a dead heat.
Washington Post:
Most support public option for health insurance, poll finds
Most support public option for health insurance, poll finds
Discussion:
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Political Punch:
Today's Qs for O's WH - 10/20/2009 — From this morning's gaggle in White House press secretary Robert Gibbs' office: — Can you explain why it's appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one - — Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based …
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Gibbs's opinion — Tapper and Gibbs spar on the subject of Fox:
Gibbs's opinion — Tapper and Gibbs spar on the subject of Fox:
Discussion:
Commentary
John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Scozzafava Calls the Cops — Lowville, N.Y. — Tonight, Dede Scozzafava, the Republican candidate for the November 3 special election in the 23rd congressional district, spoke to about 100 Republicans at the Lewis County GOP dinner at the Elks Lodge 1605.
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, Townhall.com, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Working In These Times, Village Voice, Salon, NewsBusters.org, The Moderate Voice, Political Byline, Pundit & Pundette, Scorecard's Blog, Michelle Malkin, Power Line, TPMDC, race42008.com, Jules Crittenden, Ben Smith's Blog, Another Black Conservative and Erick's blog
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William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
A Reporter Does His Job — My colleague John McCormack called me last night, as I was watching the Phillies-Dodgers game, from his car in a parking lot in Lowville, N.Y. He had attended a Scozzafava campaign event, tried to ask the candidate a few questions — and the Scozzafava campaign had called the police.
Josh Kraushaar / Scorecard's Blog:
Scozzafava's response to the Weekly Standard — Here's the Scozzafava campaign's response as to why they called the cops on a Weekly Standard reporter last night: — “Agree or not with Dede Scozzafava's positions, she should still be afforded a basic level of respect.
Discussion:
TPMDC
Robert Bernstein / New York Times:
Rights Watchdog, Lost in the Mideast — AS the founder of Human Rights Watch, its active chairman for 20 years and now founding chairman emeritus, I must do something that I never anticipated: I must publicly join the group's critics. Human Rights Watch had as its original mission …
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Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Reid offers doctors a deal — The White House and Democratic leaders are offering doctors a deal: They'll freeze cuts in Medicare payments to doctors in exchange for doctors' support of healthcare reform. — At a meeting on Capitol Hill last week with nearly a dozen doctors groups …
Discussion:
The Politico, Ben Smith's Blog, National Review, Erick's blog, The Foundry, Roll Call, Club for Growth, The Note and Hot Air
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Lenny Ben-David / Pajamas Media:
Showdown on J Street — Pointed questions for director Jeremy Ben-Ami before the new “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby's first big conference. — J Street's director, Jeremy Ben-Ami, published an open letter to Israel's Ambassador Michael Oren in the Jerusalem Post this week insisting …
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David M. Halbfinger / New York Times:
Christie May Have Gotten Improper Aid — When news broke in August that the former United States attorney, Christopher J. Christie, had lent $46,000 to a top aide in the federal prosecutor's office, he said he was merely helping a friend in need. He also said the aide, Michele Brown …
CNN:
Karzai accepts Afghanistan election runoff — KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Afghanistan is to hold a run off presidential election on November 7, it was announced Tuesday, as incumbent Hamid Karzai bowed to international pressure over claims of widespread vote fraud.
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Sam Youngman / The Hill:
Obama applauds Karzai's decision to participate in runoff
Obama applauds Karzai's decision to participate in runoff
Discussion:
The Nation
Ben Conery / Washington Times:
Justice concludes black voters need Democratic Party — U.S. blocks N.C. city's nonpartisan vote — Voters in this small city decided overwhelmingly last year to do away with the party affiliation of candidates in local elections, but the Obama administration recently overruled the electorate …
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Financial Giants Donating Little to Obama Party — WASHINGTON — The Wall Street giants that received a financial lifeline from Washington may have no compunction about paying big bonuses to their dealmakers and traders. But their willingness to deliver “thank you” gifts to President Obama …
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Peter Hamby / CNN:
DeMint denounces op-ed with Jewish stereotype — WASHINGTON (CNN) - South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint is denouncing remarks by two Republican officials in his state that were published in a controversial weekend op-ed which included a Jewish stereotype. — The piece, written …
Discussion:
The State, Think Progress, Talking Points Memo, Ben Smith's Blog, The Palmetto Scoop, Daily Kos and TPM LiveWire
RELATED:
CNN:
CNN Poll: Half the country disagrees with Obama on issues — WASHINGTON (CNN) - For the first time since he took over in the White House, Americans don't see eye to eye with President Barack on the important issues, according to a new national poll. But the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation …
David Rohde / New York Times:
‘You Have Atomic Bombs, but We Have Suicide Bombers.’ — A NERVOUS-LOOKING Pakistani soldier pointed a rocket-propelled grenade at our pickup truck in late January. The Taliban guard beside me loaded his rifle and ordered me to put a scarf over — my face.
Nancy Dillon / NY Daily News:
Ex-Miss Cali owes us boob job payback: lawsuit — LOS ANGELES - Deposed beauty queen Carrie Prejean still owes $5,200 for breast implants floated by pageant organizers in January, a new lawsuit claims. — Ex-Miss California Carrie Prejean stiffed pageant organizer K2 Productions even though …
Robert Travis Scott / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Vitter leads Melancon in latest poll on Senate race — A statewide opinion poll released today shows Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. David Vitter holds a double-digit lead in his 2010 re-election bid over Democratic challenger Rep. Charlie Melancon although he is short of a majority.
Tomoeh Murakami Tse / Washington Post:
At rescued banks, perks keep rolling — Bosses benefit after bailout Fringe compensation rose 4 percent last year — NEW YORK — Even as the nation's biggest financial firms were struggling and the federal government was spending hundreds of billions of dollars to save many of them …
Jim Hoft / Gateway Pundit:
Good Grief... ANOTHER Mao-Praising Obama Czar Caught on Tape (Video) — How many commies have invaded the White House? — ...We may never know. — But here's the latest Obama Czar praising mass-murderer Mao Tse-Tung in a speech: — Naked Emporer News — Ron Bloom is the Manufacturing Czar.
Advocate:
Govt.-Run Health Care Isn't the Answer — Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D., and GOProud's Christopher R. Barron say that the inefficiencies of the Ryan White CARE Act suggest that a government-run program is not the key to quality health care. — COMMENTARY: Right now, there are hundreds of patients …