memeorandum: It is Japan we should be worrying about, not America (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard/Telegraph)

9:05 AM ET, November 2, 2009

Top Items:

Hoffman leads big — Doug Hoffman has a commanding lead in the special election for New York's 23rd Congressional District. — In a three way contest with Democrat Bill Owens and Republican Dede Scozzafava Hoffman leads with 51% to 34% for Owens and 13% for Scozzafava.

Discussion: RedState, The Hill and PoliBlog

Watertown Daily Times:

SCOZZAFAVA THROWS SUPPORT TO OWENS — Scozzafava released the following statement at 2 :06 p.m.: — I want to thank you for your support and friendship. Over the past 24 hours, I have had encouraging words sent to my family and me. Many of you have asked me whom you should support on Tuesday.

The Politico:

Winning Dede: How Dems got her nod — Fearful that the party had almost no chance of winning the Nov. 3 New York special election after Republican nominee Dede Scozzafava abruptly announced Saturday that she was dropping out, high-ranking national Democrats immediately began working to secure …

Discussion: Washington Times, Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, Wall Street Journal, Taegan Goddard's …, Gateway Pundit, Truthdig and Glenn Thrush's Blog

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

More NY-23 mess — Man NY-23 is really a mess. — Here are some interesting facts from our unweighted numbers so far: —In a three way contest Doug Hoffman leads Bill Owens by 19 points. In a two way contest Hoffman leads Owens by 15 points. So the Dede Scozzafava withdrawal …

Discussion: Hot Air, National Review Online and Shot in the Dark

Michelle Malkin:

How Scozzafava repays NRCC and RNC — Hey, how did that six-figure RNC donation to the NRCC plus $85,000 to the New York GOP plus nearly half-million-dollar investment in advertising and other independent expenditures on behalf of radical leftis Dede Scozzafava work out?

Discussion: TBogg, American Spectator, New York Magazine, The Daily Politics, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Carol's Closet, protein wisdom, The Washington Independent, Hotline On Call and The Other McCain

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Three Big Questions in NY-23

Discussion: The Note, Washington Times, Politics Daily, The Fix, Another Black Conservative, The New Republic, Verum Serum, No More Mister Nice Blog, Left Coast Rebel and New York Magazine

Hotline On Call:
Scozzafava Manager Backs Hoffman

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, DaTechguy's Blog, Left Coast Rebel and The Politico

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Conference call with Hoffman campaign

Discussion: The Other McCain, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Scared Monkeys and Not One Red Cent

Tony Romm / The Hill:
Rep. Issa's PAC suggests Dems promised Scozzafava favors

Discussion: New York Times, The Huffington Post and YID With LID

Tony Romm / The Hill:
GOP nominee endorses Democrat after stepping aside under pressure from right

Discussion: The Politico, The Swamp, Riehl World View, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Carol's Closet, Commentary, Maggie's Farm, Ben Smith's Blog and MyDD

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
NY-23: Scozzafava Endorses Owens

Discussion: IntoxiNation, Stop The ACLU, Don Surber, The Daily Dish, Politics Daily and TPM LiveWire

Little Green Footballs:
Doug Hoffman: The Glenn Beck Candidate

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, The Jawa Report, Atlas Shrugs, Political Byline, 2.0, American Power and The Washington Independent

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Christie leads — Chris Christie leads Jon Corzine 47-41 in PPP's final poll of the New Jersey Governor's race, with Chris Daggett at 11%. — Corzine had pulled to within a point of Christie on our poll three weeks ago after trailing by as many as 14 points over the summer …

Discussion: New Jersey Online, Commentary, Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, National Review Online and Blue Jersey

Quinnipiac University:

New Jersey Gov Race Tips To Christie By 2 Points, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Daggett Voters Key As Race Is Too Close To Call — In the see-saw New Jersey Governor's race, Republican challenger Christopher Christie has 42 percent to Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine's 40 points …

Discussion: George's Bottom Line

Joel Siegel / ABCNEWS:
Obama Rallies for N.J. Gov.: Is President's Image at Stake?

Discussion: The Politico and The Greenroom

Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:

White Men Are Not Very Progressive — A nice map from dreaminonempty at Open Left illustrates the vote share won among white men in the 2008 presidential election: … I would say that another message is that progressive politics is badly disadvantaged by a situation in which the overwhelming majorities …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Jules Crittenden, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and J. Bradford DeLong's …

Dreaminonempty / Open Left:
2008 Electorate: Alternate History

Discussion: Alas, a blog

Wall Street Journal:

The Worst Bill Ever — Epic new spending and taxes, pricier insurance, rationed care, dishonest accounting: The Pelosi health bill has it all. — Printer — Friendly — Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told fellow Democrats that she's prepared to lose seats in 2010 if that's …

Discussion: Power Line, Gateway Pundit, Bloomberg, Betsy's Page and Fausta's Blog

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

With Karzai, U.S. Faces Weak Partner in Time of War — WASHINGTON — With the White House's reluctant embrace on Sunday of Hamid Karzai as the winner of Afghanistan's suddenly moot presidential runoff, President Obama now faces a new complication: enabling a badly tarnished partner …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The Caucus, The Washington Independent and Villainous Company

BBC:

Karzai declared elected president — Hamid Karzai has been declared the elected president of Afghanistan by poll officials, after they scrapped the planned second round of the vote. — The Independent Election Commission announcement comes a day after Mr Karzai's sole challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of the race.

Discussion: ATTACKERMAN, PoliBlog, The Washington Independent and Los Angeles Times

Daniel Libit / The Politico:

The pro-Fox Democrats — Democratic pundit Bob Beckel has been under contract with Fox News for six years. And in the midst of the White House war against the cable network, some of his liberal friends think that's six years too many. — They invited him to lunch the other day for an intervention …

Discussion: RADAMISTO

John Harwood / New York Times:
If Fox Is Partisan, It Is Not Alone

Discussion: Media Blog on National … and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard / Telegraph:

It is Japan we should be worrying about, not America — Japan is drifting helplessly towards a dramatic fiscal crisis. For 20 years the world's second-largest economy has been able to borrow cheaply from a captive bond market, feeding its addiction to Keynesian deficit spending …

Discussion: The Big Picture

Bill Carter / New York Times:

DVR, Once TV's Mortal Foe, Helps Ratings — In what may seem a media business version of the Stockholm syndrome, television network executives have fallen in love with a former tormentor: the digital video recorder. — The reason is not simply that more households own DVRs …

Discussion: TVbytheNumbers, Outside The Beltway and MoJo Blog Posts

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Republicans headed for a Virginia sweep — Bob McDonnell leads Creigh Deeds 56-42 in PPP's final poll of the race. — In a finding that may sum up what happened here 63% of voters in the state think McDonnell made a strong case for why he should be Governor while only 34% said the same of Deeds.

Discussion: The Hill and Below The Beltway

RushLimbaugh.com:

Rush on Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace — BEGIN TRANSCRIPT — WALLACE: Now to our interview with Rush Limbaugh. Whether you love him or can't stand him, he is a major player on the American political scene. For three hours a day, five days a week, he tells listeners exactly …

Discussion: Cold Fury, RealClearPolitics Video Log, American Thinker, The Corner on National … and NewsBusters.org