memeorandum: White House pressures GOP leaders for stance on troop withdrawal (Michael O'Brien/The Hill)

10:40 AM ET, August 31, 2010

Top Items:

Frank Newport / Gallup:

GOP Takes Unprecedented 10-Point Lead on Generic Ballot — Republicans also maintain wide gap in enthusiasm about voting — PRINCETON, NJ — Republicans lead by 51% to 41% among registered voters in Gallup weekly tracking of 2010 congressional voting preferences.

The Politico:

Tidal wave? 10-point poll edge for GOP — Democrats thought things couldn't get much worse on the electoral front — and then they went home to campaign. — A new Gallup poll released Monday shows Republicans with a record 10-point edge over Democrats on the “generic ballot” test …

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice and Hotline On Call

The Politico:

Democrats seek separation from Nancy Pelosi — Some of the Democratic Party's most endangered lawmakers are taking steps to distance themselves from Speaker Nancy Pelosi in an attempt to inoculate themselves from charges that they are beholden to the unpopular House leader and supportive of the ambitious national Democratic agenda.

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The Democrats' New Normal — I don't usually like to comment on individual polls. Most of the time, when a poll produces an “unusual” result, it simply reflects random noise and the best advice is to wait for the next edition of the poll to come along, when more often than not it will revert to its previous position.

Discussion: The New Republic, Politics Daily, HotAirPundit and National Review

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Republicans take 10-point generic ballot lead (and what it means)

Discussion: PostPartisan, Anchorage Daily News, Swing State Project, Freedom's Lighthouse, msnbc.com and WDSU-TV

Lisa Gartner / Washington Examiner:

Education secretary urged his employees to attend Sharpton's rally — President Obama's top education official urged government employees to attend a rally that the Rev. Al Sharpton organized to counter a larger conservative event on the Mall. — “ED staff are invited to join Secretary Arne Duncan …

Discussion: Townhall.com, Washington Post, Red Dog Report, Gateway Pundit, Sister Toldjah, The Blaze, Michelle Malkin, Don Surber and Big Government

Steve Krakauer / Mediaite:

Exclusive: Glenn Beck Launches “News And Opinion” Website, The Blaze — Having conquered TV, radio, book publishing and now live events, Glenn Beck is looking to expand his media empire into a new arena - the web (obviously GlennBeck.com is thriving too). — Mediaite has the exclusive details …

Discussion: Philly.com, Outside the Beltway, The Wire, Political Byline, Firedoglake, New York Magazine and News Hounds, more at Mediagazer »

Michelle Boorstein / Washington Post:
Glenn Beck may be unlikely leader for conservative Christians

Discussion: Politics Daily, Townhall.com, NewsBusters.org, Democratic Strategist and Crooks and Liars

Joe Schoffstall / The Blast:
Amazing: Aerial Shot of Glenn Beck's ‘Restoring Honor’ …

Discussion: Macsmind and Gateway Pundit

Glenn Beck / The Blaze: A Message From Glenn

ZIP / Weasel Zippers:
Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan Urged Gov't Employees …

Discussion: American Glob

Jay Cost / HorseRaceBlog:

Health Care Reform Has Endangered the Democratic Majority — This Politico piece by Jim VandeHei, Alex Isenstadt, and Mike Allen got a lot of play last week: … There is no mention of health care reform in this piece. The economy is referenced several times. So is the President's inability to control the narrative.

Discussion: The New Republic, National Review, NewsBusters.org and Hullabaloo

Jennifer Haberkorn / The Politico:

Public sours on health care reform as midterms loom — A new poll shows that public support for health care reform dropped sharply in August - a dagger in Democrats' hopes that their landmark legislation will help them in November's midterm. — The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll has support …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Reid Report, Hot Air and Liberty Pundits Blog

kff.org:
Kaiser Health Tracking Poll — August 2010

Discussion: Hit & Run and Pollster.com All Content

The Note:
Sebelius: Time for ‘Reeducation’ on Obama Health Care Law

Discussion: Moe Lane, The New Republic, Macsmind, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Weekly Standard, The Caucus, Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool

Gerry Mullany / The Caucus:

Boehner Assails Obama on Iraq — In advance of President Obama's Tuesday night speech on Iraq, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the House Republican leader, was set to remind thousands of veterans attending the national convention of the American Legion that Mr. Obama and other Democrats …

Discussion: CNN, The Swamp, Michelle Malkin, Washington Times, Taylor Marsh, Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:

Obama speech on Iraq has risks — President Obama is promoting the decision to end the U.S. combat mission in Iraq on Tuesday as a fulfillment of his campaign promise to draw the war to a close. But some of the president's detractors are using the same moment to question the wisdom of doing so …

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Caucus, ATTACKERMAN, The Politico, New York Times, USA Today, msnbc.com, Politics Daily and Think Progress

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

White House pressures GOP leaders for stance on troop withdrawal — The White House sought on Tuesday to put the pressure on top Republicans to say whether they support the withdrawal of 90,000 troops this month from Iraq. — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs questioned GOP leaders …

Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
Previewing Obama Iraq speech, Gibbs won't credit surge

Discussion: Betsy's Page

ABCNEWS:

ABC NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Two Men on United Flight from Chicago Arrested on ‘Preparation of a Terrorist Attack’ in Amsterdam — Suspects Had Been Cleared Sunday by TSA in Chicago, Birmingham Despite Security Concerns — Two men taken off a Chicago-to-Amsterdam United Airlines flight in the Netherlands …

New York Times:
Airline Passengers Held on Fears of Terrorist Plot

Discussion: Biased BBC

CNN:

Miller sees prospect of bad blood with fellow Republicans — Miller says he sees the prospect of bad blood with fellow Republicans. — Anchorage, Alaska (CNN) - As Republican Joe Miller eyes what could be a major victory in the Alaska Senate GOP primary, the upstart candidate believes it's possible …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Salon and Ballot Box

The Huffington Post:
Christine O'Donnell, Delaware's Tea Party Candidate, Has GOP Spooked

Discussion: Washington Monthly, WSJ Blogs - WSJ, NewsBusters.org, Michelle Malkin and Boot Mike Castle

Dan / Riehl World View:
Mark Levin's Rousing Call To Arms For The Tea Party Movement

Discussion: The Right Scoop

Abdon M. Pallasch / Chicago Sun Times:

Durbin throws support behind Ground Zero Mosque — Sen. Dick Durbin, the man who could lead the U.S. Senate depending on how November's elections go, had a strong message for Illinois' 400,000 Muslims and other residents about the Ground Zero Mosque Monday.

Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:
Sen. Orrin Hatch: 'I'd Be The First To Stand Up For Their Rights …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Plum Line and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Durbin on majority leader job: ‘My choice is Harry Reid’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Juliette Jowit / Guardian:

Lomborg wants $100bn climate fund — Exclusive ‘Sceptical environmentalist’ and critic of climate scientists to declare global warming a chief concern facing world — • Climate change voice who changed his tune — • Rajendra Pachauri under pressure to stand aside

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, Grist, Telegraph, EU Referendum, Firedoglake and The New Republic

Donna Bowater / Daily Express:
CLIMATE CHANGE LIES ARE EXPOSED

Discussion: Fox News, Right Wing News and JammieWearingFool

Alex Seitz-Wald / Think Progress:

Palin's Speaking Demands Confirmed: $75K, SUVs, Deluxe Hotel Suites, Bendable Straws, And No Public Access — In April, two students at Cal State Stanislaus found a partial copy of a speaker's contract for former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The partial copy revealed that Palin …

Discussion: News Hounds, The Reid Report and The Daily Hurricane

Fox News:

CBO: Eight Years of Iraq War Cost Less Than Stimulus Act — As President Obama prepares to tie a bow on U.S. combat operations in Iraq, Congressional Budget Office numbers show that the total cost of the eight-year war was less than the stimulus bill passed by the Democratic-led Congress in 2009.

Discussion: Brain Rage and Gateway Pundit

Carl Campanile / New York Post:

Seven in 10 NYers want mosque moved — Tweet — Move the mosque! — Seven in ten New Yorkers say the proposed mosque/Islamic community center near Ground Zero should be relocated because of opposition from 9/11 families — and an equal number want state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo …

Discussion: Commentary, The Local, The Blaze, JammieWearingFool and thenational.ae

Orin Kerr / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Fourth Amendment Stunner: Judge Rules That Cell-Site Data Protected By Fourth Amendment Warrant Requirement — A few federal court opinions have been making a big public splash recently by taking surprising positions on how the Fourth Amendment applies to location surveillance.

Discussion: PogoWasRight.org

The Hill:

Wealthy lawmakers increased their riches as economy sputtered in '09 — The wealthiest members of Congress grew richer in 2009 even as the economy struggled to recover from a deep recession. — The 50 wealthiest lawmakers were worth almost $1.4 billion in 2009, about $85.1 million …

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and Prairie Weather

Honest Reporting:

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Dramatic Reunion Ten Years After The Photo That Started It All — Exclusive: Tuvia Grossman Interviewed by HonestReporting … HonestReporting: How have things changed for you since your picture appeared in the NY Times? — Tuvia Grossman: Ten years ago …

Discussion: Israpundit and Israel Matzav

Wall Street Journal:

Foreign and Domestic Priorities Tug at White House — WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will walk a fine line this week between pressing his Mideast foreign-policy priorities and keeping an eye on the domestic issue that could determine his Democratic Party's political future—the economy.

Discussion: Commentary