memeorandum: Biden's popularity plunges; lower than Cheney's (Byron York/Washington Examiner)

9:40 AM ET, October 27, 2009

Top Items:

Durbin: Progressives Forced Our Hand On Public Option — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — Democratic leaders were forced to include a national public health insurance option as part of health care reform by progressive Democratic senators who refused to support anything less, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Monday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Politico, Fox News, Hullabaloo, The Confluence, Glenn Thrush's Blog, The Huffington Post, Open Left, The New Republic, DownWithTyranny!, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Daily Kos, The Hill, Truthdig and TPMDC

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Washington Sketch: Harry Reid, party of one, on the health-care public option — What Harry Reid did Monday afternoon gave new meaning to the phrase “public option.” — The Senate majority leader, after haggling behind closed doors with members of his Democratic caucus …

Discussion: The Note, JustOneMinute, The Huffington Post, Betsy's Page and Suburban Guerrilla

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Schumer: We Prevailed On White House That Public Option Was The Way To Go — So how did we go from a White House at loggerheads with the Senate leadership last Thursday night over a public option, to a deal today that's exactly what the leadership wanted? — This evening I spoke …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Talking Points Memo

New York Times:
Public Option Push in Senate Comes With Escape Hatch

Matt Sedensky / Associated Press:
Pelosi: Health care ‘public option’ needs new name

Discussion: CBS News, Shot in the Dark, Sister Toldjah, Hot Air, Left Coast Rebel, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, American Power, Don Surber, Townhall.com and Michelle Malkin

Tony Romm / The Hill:
NRSC: Reid is a ‘partisan bully’

Discussion: The Politico, The TrogloPundit, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, TPMDC and MyDD

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
Reid's Roll Of The Dice

Discussion: Christian Science Monitor, The Huffington Post, Newsweek Blogs, The Moderate Voice, MyDD, Health Care Experts and The Reaction

Tony Romm / The Hill:
Snowe disappointed with ‘opt-out’ public option

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots

Martin Kady II / The Politico:
Comeback kids? — This is turning into a heck of a comeback story.

Discussion: MyDD and CBS News

David M. Herszenhorn / Prescriptions:
Senator Reid Announces ‘Opt-Out’ Public Plan

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Politico, Ezra Klein, The Note, Democratic Strategist, The Hill, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Capitol Briefing, The Agonist, The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, MoJo Blog Posts and Salon

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Nielsen: Fox News ratings up almost 10% since WH declared war — It's a nine-percent bump in the two weeks since Anita Dunn's whine heard 'round the world — in terms of overall audience. Among the coveted 25-54 demographic? A 14-percent bump. Good work, Barry.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, NewsBusters.org, Scared Monkeys, Commentary, Riehl World View, Gateway Pundit, Dean's World, Don Surber and Stop The ACLU

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

CNN Drops to Last Place Among Cable News Networks — CNN, which invented the cable news network more than two decades ago, will hit a new competitive low with its prime-time programs in October, finishing fourth - and last - among the cable news networks with the audience that all the networks rely on for their advertising.

Discussion: Mediaite, TalkLeft, Another Black Conservative, Liberal Values, The Daily Dish, Kausfiles, Truthdig, NewsBusters.org, Michael Calderone's Blog, DailyFinance, Taylor Marsh and Politics Daily

Don Surber:
CNN's numbers drop 68% in prime to last place

Discussion: Pajamas Media

CNN:
Obama, smack those playground bullies

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Weasel Zippers

William Kristol / Washington Post:

The future of the GOP is outside the Beltway — Bien-pensant conservative elites and establishment-friendly Republican big shots yearn for a more moderate, temperate and sophisticated Republican Party. It's not likely to happen. And probably just as well.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Power Line, TBogg, Hot Air, Gates of Vienna, Bark Bark Woof Woof and The New Republic

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Right Battles G.O.P. in a Pivotal Race in New York — WATERTOWN, N.Y. — From a command center inside the Days Inn here, conservatives from around the country are fighting to preserve what they see as the integrity of the Republican Party. — Urged on by leaders like former Gov. Sarah Palin …

Discussion: The Politico, Townhall.com, WWNY, Real Clear Politics, MyDD, The Page and The Caucus

Janet Hook / Los Angeles Times:
New York race at epicenter of a GOP mutiny

Discussion: American Prospect and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Biden's popularity plunges; lower than Cheney's — Vice President Joe Biden's favorable rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new Gallup poll, down from a high of 59 percent just after last year's election. Biden's unfavorable rating in the new poll is 40 percent, up from 29 percent last November.

Discussion: Riehl World View and Pajamas Media

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Vice President Biden's Favorable Rating Continues to Decline

Discussion: The Hill

Washington Post:

McDonnell has double-digit lead in Va. governor's race, Post poll says — Republican Robert F. McDonnell carries a double-digit lead over Democrat R. Creigh Deeds into the final week of the campaign for Virginia governor, according to a new Washington Post poll.

Discussion: CBS News, Washington Times, Daily Kos, George's Bottom Line, Townhall.com, The Page, Commentary, Real Clear Politics, Top of the Ticket, Political Punch, National Review Online, Virginia Politics and msnbc.com

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Morning Fix: NY-23 as 2012 litmus test?

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, The Atlantic Politics Channel and JSOnline

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
REDSTATE EXCLUSIVE: Tim Pawlenty Endorses Doug Hoffman

Discussion: On Politics, The Atlantic Politics Channel, Scorecard's Blog, Hot Air, DCCC, Another Black Conservative, Riehl World View, KN@PPSTER, Salon, The Fix, The Other McCain, AmSpecBlog, CNN and The Note

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Deeds: I didn't push the president away

Discussion: Townhall.com, The Note and Washington Post

Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:

U.S. official resigns over Afghan war — When Matthew Hoh joined the Foreign Service early this year, he was exactly the kind of smart civil-military hybrid the administration was looking for to help expand its development efforts in Afghanistan. — A former Marine Corps captain …

Discussion: New York Times, The Atlanticist, The Washington Independent, Taylor Marsh, Rethink Afghanistan, KN@PPSTER, Outside The Beltway, ATTACKERMAN, Daily Kos, NPR Blogs and Philly.com

Mary Williams Walsh / New York Times:

Ex-A.I.G. Chief Is Back, Luring Talent From Rescued Firm — Maurice R. Greenberg, who built the American International Group into an insurance behemoth with an impenetrable maze of on- and offshore companies, is at it again. — Even as he has been lambasting the government for its handling …

Discussion: marbury, NPR Blogs, New Jersey Online, Prairie Weather and Suburban Guerrilla

Jerusalem Post:

J Street branch drops pro-Israel slogan — J Street's university arm has dropped the “pro-Israel” part of the left-wing US lobby's “pro-Israel, pro-peace” slogan to avoid alienating students. — That decision was part of the message conveyed to young activists who attended a special weekend program …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Yourish.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Commentary, Israel Matzav, The New Republic and Solomonia

The Politico:

Grayson goes too far for colleagues — Republicans and Democrats slammed Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) for calling Linda Robertson, an adviser to Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, a “K Street whore” in a month-old radio interview that circulated on Capitol Hill Monday night. — “There's no call for that language.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Central Florida Political …, RedState, JammieWearingFool and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Robin Pagnamenta / Times of London:

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet — People will need to consider turning vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming. — In an interview with The Times, Lord Stern of Brentford said …

Discussion: Hot Air, QandO, Infidel Bloggers Alliance, The Strata-Sphere, RedState, LewRockwell.com Blog, The Corner on National …, Truthdig and Weasel Zippers

Michael Schneider / Variety:

MacFarlane special loses Microsoft — Company yanks sponsorship of Fox show — Microsoft has yanked its sponsorship from Fox's upcoming Seth MacFarlane comedy/variety special over content concerns. — Fox still plans to air “Family Guy Presents: Seth and Alex's Almost Live Comedy Show” …

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, Media Decoder, Mashable! and Engadget

Chris Harris / Media Matters Action Network:

After 6 Days, RNC Finally Removes Photo Calling Mixing Of Races A “Crime Against American Values” … RNC FACEBOOK PAGE HOSTED BLATANTLY RACIST PHOTO — Earlier today, the Republican National Committee finally removed a racist photo of President Obama that had been featured on its Facebook page since October 20th.

Daniel Tencer / Raw Story:
RNC keeps racist pics on Facebook for nearly a week

Discussion: The Gun Toting Liberal, Mediaite, Think Progress, The Reaction and The Impolitic