memeorandum: Rick Scott spent $50 million on primary bid (Domenico Montanaro/msnbc.com)

1:00 AM ET, August 25, 2010

Top Items:

Scott Whitlock / NewsBusters.org:

Andrea Mitchell Lectures U.S. on Ground Zero Mosque: America Needs to Be ‘More Sensitive to Minority Communities’ — Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday fretted that the “angry voices” protesting against the Ground Zero mosque will hurt Barack Obama's attempts to reach out to the Muslim world.

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:

Karen Hughes: I don't remember any of my work with Imam — As you may have heard, former Bush senior adviser Karen Hughes came out against Cordoba House over the weekend. Hughes called on Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to move the project in order to “provide a path toward the peaceful relationships …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, TPMDC, Washington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Firedoglake, Think Progress and Mother Jones

Fox News:
‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Imam: America Killed More Innocents Than Al Qaeda

Discussion: Riehl World View

Cristian Salazar / Associated Press:
NY archbishop worries about tone of mosque debate

Discussion: Associated Press, Ben Smith's Blog and Riehl World View

National Review:
Inventing Moderate Islam

Discussion: Coalition to Honor Ground Zero, Israel Matzav and Cold Fury

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
State Department compares Park 51 Imam to Shirley Sherrod

Discussion: Forbes, TUNDRA TABLOIDS and Atlas Shrugs

Dina Temple-Raston / NPR:
Rancor Over Mosque Could Fuel Islamic Extremists

Discussion: Daily Kos, NO QUARTER, Washington Monthly, Right Wing News, The Jawa Report, The Impolitic, Mediaite and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, more at Mediagazer »

Alexander Burns / The Politico:

Scott shocks McCollum in Fla. governor's race — Multimillionaire health care executive Rick Scott narrowly captured the GOP's nomination for governor of Florida Tuesday night, shocking both Republican and Democratic insiders who believed the free-spending newcomer's fortunes had taken …

Discussion: CNN, Taylor Marsh, Guardian, Wonkette and Macsmind

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Rubio back on top — Democrats will get their stronger candidate if Kendrick Meek wins the Florida Senate primary tonight as expected- but the biggest winner coming out of the primary may be Marco Rubio. PPP finds he would begin the general election in the lead at 40%, followed by Charlie Crist at 32%, and Meek at 17%.

Discussion: Swing State Project, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Don Surber, Power Line, Weekly Standard, National Review, American Glob, Post on Politics, Taegan Goddard's … and GOP 12

CNN:
Meek thanks supporters in e-mail

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
GOP Turnout Way Ahead in Florida?

Discussion: The Other McCain, Weigel and GayPatriot

Jeff Zeleny / The Caucus:
10 Questions for Marco Rubio

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Colorlines, Firedoglake, Democracy in America, GOP 12 and MyDD

Jake Sherman / The Politico:

Boehner on the national stage — CLEVELAND — John Boehner is clearly laying his marker for what Republicans think will propel them into the House majority in November. — Not a Contract with America, but a Contract on Obama. A continuous battering of the president's advisers, policies and legacy.

Discussion: CNN, National Review and The Page

Dan Pfeiffer / White House.gov Blog Feed:
Their Economic Policies Haven't Changed, So They Won't Bring the Change We Need

Discussion: TPMDC, msnbc.com, ABCNEWS, Swampland, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Fix, Washington Monthly, The Politico, The Caucus, New York Times, Political Punch and Politics Extra

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Minority leader Boehner to call for mass firing of Obama's economic team

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:
John Boehner Mocked His Deficit Reduction Plan Before He Proposed It

Discussion: Weigel, Daily Kos, Capital Gains and Games blogs, Politic365 and Gateway Pundit

Alex Pareene / Salon:

Jonah Goldberg: Caring about Muslims is a hate crime against Real Americans — Jonah Goldberg, whose columns are apparently published in grown-up newspapers for consumption by literate adults, uses today's to expand on a theme that he first toyed with at The Corner last week …

Los Angeles Times:
Islamophobia? Not really — The supposed anti-Muslim backlash …

Discussion: The Mahablog

Benjamin Weinthal / Jerusalem Post:

Amnesty Int'l Finland: Israel scum state — Exclusive: In Jpost interview, Frank Johansson stands by his words. — Talkbacks (51) — Make JPOST.COM your Home Page — Iranian Threat — Jewish World — Local Israel — Arts & Culture — Français — Classifieds — Israel

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Biased BBC

KGS / TUNDRA TABLOIDS:
CHAIRMAN OF FINNISH AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS ISRAEL A SCUM STATE.......

Discussion: RubinReports and Solomonia

Nathan Hodge / Washington Wire:

Conway: U.S. Withdrawal Deadline Boosts Taliban in Afghan War — The top U.S. Marine general said President Barack Obama's announced July 2011 deadline to start withdrawing troops from Afghanistan had given “sustenance” to the Taliban. — “We know the president was talking to several audiences …

Discussion: Hot Air, YID With LID and NO QUARTER

Marc Ambinder / The Atlantic Online:

MoJo for President: The Fantasy Continues — Joe Scarborough, former congressman from Florida and co-host of MSNBC's agenda-setting wake-up show Morning Joe, has protested, kindly and loudly (he is kind and loud), when speculation arises about his presidential ambitions.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Salon

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

GOP Maintains Edge in Midterm Voting Preferences — Holds 47% to 44% advantage in latest update — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup tracking of 2010 midterm congressional election voting preferences shows 47% of registered voters saying they would vote for the Republican candidate and 44% …

Discussion: Ballot Box and Gallup.Com

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
For Obamacare supporters, judgment day approaches

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Hot Air, Wake up America and Beltway Confidential

CNN:

Greene escorted from campaign event — South Carolina Democratic Senate nominee Alvin Greene was escorted from an event on Saturday. — Washington (CNN) - Embattled Democratic Senate candidate Alvin Greene was escorted from a meeting of the Oconee County Democratic Party on Saturday …

Discussion: Associated Press, Weasel Zippers and Sister Toldjah

The Huffington Post:

Bloomberg Launches Another Impassioned Defense Of Cordoba House — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? — In a rousing address before a predominantly Muslim audience Tuesday night, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reaffirmed his commitment to the controversial Islamic cultural center near the former site of the World Trade Center.

Discussion: New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Weasel Zippers, New York Magazine and Little Green Footballs

msnbc.com:

Rachel Maddow Show on — Guests: Eugene Robinson, Kent Jones, Suhail Khan, Gail Hillebrand — RACHEL MADDOW, HOST: Good evening, Lawrence. Thanks very much for that. — And thanks for you—thanks to you at home for staying with us for the next hour.

Discussion: Pam's House Blend

realtor.org:

July Existing-Home Sales Fall as Expected but Prices Rise — Existing-home sales were sharply lower in July following expiration of the home buyer tax credit but home prices continued to gain, according to the National Association of Realtors®. — Existing-home sales1 …

Discussion: Political Economy, Felix Salmon, The Atlantic Online, Politics Daily, The Curious Capitalist, New York Times, Clusterstock, Moneyblog, Guardian, Economix, The Big Picture, Balloon Juice and Commentary

Daniel Indiviglio / The Atlantic Online:
How Bad Was July's Plummet in Home Sales?

Discussion: Mother Jones, NO QUARTER, Political Economy, Vox Popoli, The Daily Dish and Clusterstock

Kevin Allocca / TVNewser:

‘CBS Evening News’ Ties All-Time Low — The network newscast ratings for last week are in and “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric” tied its all-time low in total viewers with an average of 4.89 million tuning in during the five days. — The low was set last June, when ABC also hit its own low.

Discussion: Media Decoder, Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media, The Impolitic, The Daily Caller and NewsBusters.org

Julie Appleby / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Colleges say new health law may imperil student policies — WASHINGTON — Colleges and universities say that some rules in the new health law could keep them from offering low-cost, limited-benefit student insurance policies, and they're seeking federal authority to continue offering them.

Discussion: Right Wing News and Sister Toldjah

Scott / Power Line:

A question too far... ...for Obama's counterrorism adviser John Brennan, who has declared jihad a legitimate tenet of Islam. Pressed on the issue by Washington Times editorial writer James Robbins — author of the terrific forthcoming book This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Moonbattery, American Glob and Pajamas Media

The Politico:

Is ‘Beckapalooza’ about cause or Beck? — Even as he prepares for a Saturday rally that could cement his status as an unparalleled force in conservative politics, Glenn Beck is facing quiet but persistent questions from some on the right about whether he can be a reliable partner …

Discussion: Wonkette, Think Progress, Taylor Marsh, Ben Smith's Blog and Strupp

Shai Oster / Wall Street Journal:

China Traffic Jam Could Last Weeks — BEIJING—A 60-mile traffic jam near the Chinese capital could last until mid-September, officials say. — Traffic has been snarled along the outskirts of Beijing and is stretching toward the border of Inner Mongolia ever since roadwork on the Beijing-Tibet Highway started Aug. 13.

Discussion: Hot Air, Left Coast Rebel, New York Magazine and Felix Salmon

Randy Krehbiel / Tulsa World:

Inhofe criticizes McCain on election day — U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe attacked fellow Republican John McCain of Arizona on Tuesday as a closet liberal who “gets elected because of one thing - earmarks.” — Specifically, Inhofe was criticizing McCain's opposition to earmarks, which Inhofe said are simply appropriations.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post and Weasel Zippers

Steve Goldstein / MarketWatch:

Stimulus plan boosted GDP by as much as 4.5%, says CBO — WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The oft-criticized stimulus plan boosted the economy in the second quarter by as much as 4.5%, the Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday. — In a report published the same day as Minority Leader …

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Obsidian Wings

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Obama war on fisheries jobs gets vacation protest — President Obama may be on vacation this week at Martha's Vineyard, but as with all Presidents, it's a working vacation. That's good, because the people who rely on fishing in the Northeast Atlantic have a message for Obama …

Discussion: Boston Herald and Cold Fury