Top Items:
The Politico:
The GOP's special failure — All the evidence pointing to monster Republican House gains this fall—the Scott Brown upset win in Massachusetts, the scary polling numbers in once-safely Democratic districts, the ever-rising number of Democratic seats thought to be in jeopardy—was contradicted Tuesday.
Discussion:
National Review, PostPartisan, Townhall.com, American Spectator, The Other McCain, Hot Air, Conservatives4Palin.com, Balloon Juice, The Monkey Cage, HorseRaceBlog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Right Now, Liberal Values, Jules Crittenden, skippy the bush kangaroo, The Hill, Sister Toldjah, First Draft, Taylor Marsh, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Riehl World View, Think Progress, Outside The Beltway, Ballot Box, Maggie's Farm, The Corner on National …, AMERICAblog News and ABCNEWS
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Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
What Tuesday Really Meant — There were five races that we were tracking closely over the course of the evening — and I've already seen analysts drawing flimsy conclusions from each of them. — Pennsylvania — Democratic Senate primary — The results: Joe Sestak defeats Arlen Specter, 54-46.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
‘WHERE IS THE WAVE?’.... Arguably the most important election yesterday wasn't a primary race, but rather, the congressional special election in Pennsylvania's 12th — a contest to fill the vacancy left by the late Rep. Jack Murtha (D). — Observers in both parties considered the race something of a bellwether.
Glen Bolger / Public Opinion Strategies:
The Death Of Independence — Analysts are pointing toward last night's primary results (the defeat of Arlen Specter, Trey Grayson, and the run-off for Blanche Lincoln) as - when combined with Bob Bennett and Alan Mollohan's defeats - proof of anti-incumbency and anti-Washington establishment.
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Resultsblogging II: PA-12 — Former John Murtha staffer Mark Critz's win in the PA-12 House election is just straight-up embarrassing for Republicans. The Democratic strategy was straight out of the 2006/2008 playbook. Find a moderately conservative House district and run a somewhat heterodox Democrat.
New York Times:
Specter Defeat Signals a Wave Against Incumbents — WASHINGTON — Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who left the Republican Party a year ago in hopes of salvaging a 30-year career, was rejected on Tuesday by Democratic primary voters, with Representative Joe Sestak winning the party's nomination …
Discussion:
The Field on the Narcosphere, The Note, CNN, The Atlantic Online, Hendrik Hertzberg, Firedoglake, Opinionator, PostPartisan, The Politico, The Swamp, Time, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, A plain blog about politics, Kentucky Politics, The Huffington Post, USA Today, Philly.com, Wall Street Journal, NBC Philadelphia, Felix Salmon, The Caucus, Politics Daily, The BLT, The Faster Times, DISSENTING JUSTICE, Main Justice, pa2010.com, Associated Press, Shakesville, The Fix, Outside The Beltway, Left Coast Rebel, Plain Dealer, Slate, Newsweek Blogs, Breitbart.tv, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Another Black Conservative, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, FrumForum, No More Mister Nice Blog and Hit & Run
Daniel Larison / Eunomia:
PA-12 and The Single Greatest Pushback in American History
PA-12 and The Single Greatest Pushback in American History
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Daily Dish, Beltway Confidential, Swing State Project and Balloon Juice
Domenico Montanaro / msnbc.com:
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE OUTSIDERS — The outsiders (Paul, Sestak) …
FIRST THOUGHTS: THE OUTSIDERS — The outsiders (Paul, Sestak) …
Discussion:
The Fix, The Moderate Voice, Philly.com, Politically Speaking, Daily Kos, Ezra Klein and Outside The Beltway
Charles Babington / Associated Press:
Obama endorsements don't seem to help Democrats
Obama endorsements don't seem to help Democrats
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, NY Daily News, Pajamas Media, NewsBusters.org, Sweetness & Light and Associated Press
Michael Barone / Beltway Confidential:
Republican lesson from Pennsylvania 12 special
Republican lesson from Pennsylvania 12 special
Discussion:
Riehl World View
The Politico:
Reid Wall St. reform vote held up — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) postponed a key test vote on the Wall Street reform bill Wednesday as he attempted to wrangle support from Democrats who were protesting their inability to secure votes on amendments.
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
More on Rand Paul — So is Rand Paul, on a personal level, just a deeply unlikeable guy? One of the weird things about his acceptance speech last night was that he held it at the local country club — to what looked uncannily like a members only crowd. This morning he defended the venue …
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Simon McGregor-Wood / ABCNEWS:
Rahm's Son's Bar Mitzvah Irks Some in Israel — Israeli Activists Say They Will ‘Blow Up,’ Figuratively, Zach Emanuel's Bar Mitzvah — White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's plan to take his son, Zach, to Jerusalem's famous Western Wall for his Jewish coming-of-age ritual appeared to have run into serious trouble.
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Matt Corley / Think Progress:
Right-wing Israeli activists threaten to protest Rahm Emanuel's …
Right-wing Israeli activists threaten to protest Rahm Emanuel's …
Discussion:
Gateway Pundit
George F. Will / Washington Post:
Slow learners at the 9th Circuit — The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a stimulus package for the Supreme Court, which would rather not have one. The 9th Circuit, often in error but never in doubt, provides the Supreme Court with steady work: Over the past half-century …
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Wall Street Journal:
Kagan Criticized the Warren Court in Thesis
Kagan Criticized the Warren Court in Thesis
Discussion:
CNN, New York Times, National Review, The Politico, SCOTUSblog, Law Blog, The New Republic, Main Justice, Lynn Sweet, Liveshots, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Balkinization and The BLT
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Who woulda thunk it: Fact-checking is popular! — Has anyone else noticed that the Associated Press has been doing some strong fact-checking work lately, aggressively debunking all kinds of nonsense, in an authoritative way, without any of the usual he-said-she-said crap that often mars political reporting?
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
WHY JOURNALISTS ‘GOT IN THE BUSINESS’.... Perhaps no problem …
WHY JOURNALISTS ‘GOT IN THE BUSINESS’.... Perhaps no problem …
Discussion:
Eschaton
Andy Barr / The Politico:
Dean: N.Y. Times story a ‘hatchet job’ — Howard Dean on Wednesday took the New York Times to task for running a “hatchet job” story on Democratic Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal misstating his service in Vietnam without acknowledging that the information came from a GOP campaign.
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Jamison Foser / Media Matters for America:
The New York Times has some explaining to do — This Associated Press report about the controversy surrounding Richard Blumenthal's description of his military service raises some questions about the New York Times' handling of the story: … So why didn't the Times include Blumenthal …
NBC Los Angeles:
Power Play Over Immigration Law — LA's boycott resolution sparks a threat over power the city receives from Arizona — An Arizona utility commissioner said he's willing to pull the plug on Los Angeles if the city goes through with a boycott of his state.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Tammy Bruce, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Moonbattery, L.A. NOW and Philly.com
RELATED:
Judson Berger / Fox News:
Arizona Official Threatens to Cut Off Los Angeles Power as Payback for Boycott
Arizona Official Threatens to Cut Off Los Angeles Power as Payback for Boycott
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Chris Johnson / Washington Blade:
Key senator says hold off on 'Don't Ask' repeal — A key U.S. senator has told the Blade that he opposes repealing “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” at this time. — In a brief exchange on Capitol Hill, Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Tuesday he would vote against an effort next week to overturn the law.
Patrick Gavin / The Politico:
HOUSE PASSES BEER RESOLUTION — While most of Washington was focused on Tuesday's election results, the House was busy doing something else: Passing a resolution about beer. — House Resolution 1297, sponsored by Rep. Betsy Markey, supports “the goals and ideals of American Craft Beer Week.”
Gene J. Koprowski / Fox News:
Global Cooling Is Coming — and Beware the Big Chill, Scientist Warns — Contrary to the commonly held scientific conclusion that the Earth is getting warmer, a scientist who has written more than 150 peer-reviewed papers has unveiled evidence for his prediction that global cooling is coming soon.
David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Why Are Incumbents Faltering? Check Out The Election Night FinReg Massacre — Yesterday's results in the election showed what has now become conventional wisdom: an “anti-incumbent mood,” something the media will parrot from now to November. Have they explored why?
Jane Horwitz / Washington Post:
Theater J pulls Madoff play after objections from activist Elie Wiesel — Bowing to objections from Elie Wiesel, the author, human rights activist and Holocaust survivor, Theater J has canceled its first production of the coming season — a play in which Wiesel is a character.
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Scandals in the House Republican Class of 1994 — When was it, exactly, that the Republican revolution merged with the sexual revolution? — With each passing year, the class notes for the famous House Republicans Class of '94 get more lurid. The latest entry was submitted Tuesday morning by Rep. Mark Souder (Ind.).