memeorandum: Midterm Elections Play Major Role In Redistricting (Mara Liasson/NPR)

2:40 AM ET, September 22, 2010

Top Items:

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Move to End 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Stalls in Senate — WASHINGTON — With Congress increasingly paralyzed by the partisan fury of the midterm elections, the Senate on Tuesday voted against taking up a major military bill that includes a provision allowing the repeal of the “don't ask, don't tell policy” regarding gay soldiers.

Discussion: The Foundry, The Atlantic Online, American Power, ACS Blog, Outside the Beltway, Lawyers, Guns & Money, A plain blog about politics, Balloon Juice, Corrente and Prairie Weather

Christina Bellantoni / TPMDC:

Al Franken Chokes Up Over Don't Ask, Don't Tell (VIDEO) — Shortly after Senate Republicans and two Democrats blocked a vote to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Sen. Al Franken gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor. — Franken (D-MN) told a story about one of his trips to entertain …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker

The Hill:

Senate deals blow to 'Don't ask, don't tell' repeal in 56-43 vote — The Senate on Tuesday dealt a significant blow to the Obama administration's efforts to repeal the ban on openly gay people serving in the military. — In a 56-43 vote, Senate Democratic leaders fell short of the 60 votes …

Discussion: The Nation, Washington Monthly, The Other McCain, Weasel Zippers, ChattahBox News Blog and Liberty Pundits Blog

The Politico:

Harry Reid's botched battles — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid hoped the defense policy bill would help make a final pre-election argument for Democrats while energizing the base on gay rights and immigration. — But what he got was a failed vote and a mix of frustration and disappointment from the people he was trying to help.

Discussion: Power Line, CNN, New York Magazine and The Politico

Fhardingj / CNN:
Dana Bash: Sen. Collins' not so secret phone call

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Politico, Hot Air, Don Surber, The Note, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post and The Democratic Daily

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
McCain Wins On DADT

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community

The Huffington Post:
Collins Equates Senate Debate With 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Policy

Discussion: Oliver Willis, Wake up America, Firedoglake and First Draft

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:

O'Donnell: Coons has made ‘some very anti-American statements’ — Tea Party-backed Christine O'Donnell (R) took aim at New Castle County Executive Chris Coons (D) Tuesday night during an appearance on Fox News. — O'Donnell referenced an article Coons wrote in college in which he referred to himself as “a bearded Marxist.”

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Salon, RADAMISTO, The Confluence and The Caucus

Kasie Hunt / The Politico:

Christine O'Donnell down 15 points in new poll — In Delaware, the tea is lukewarm. — A new Fox News poll, conducted Sept. 18 and released Tuesday, shows Democratic Senate nominee Chris Coons leading Republican Christine O'Donnell by 15 points, 54 to 39 percent.

Discussion: ChattahBox News Blog, Jezebel, About.com US Liberal Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, Media Matters for America, FrumForum, The Fix and Taylor Marsh

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
CNN to broadcast Delaware Senate debate Oct. 13

Discussion: The Politico, The Note and Pulp Culture

Chris Stirewalt / Fox News:
Fox News Polls Track Tea Party Influence in 5 Battleground States

Discussion: Public Policy Polling, FoxNews.com, Hot Air, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Verum Serum

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Clinton to Dems: Don't underestimate Tea Party movement

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, Weekly Standard and Yourish.com

John Fritze / USA Today:
Tea Party group gets $1 million anonymous donation

Discussion: Weigel, Bloomberg, The New Republic and FrumForum

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Christine O'Donnell is toxic and hurting GOP

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Salon, Daily Kos and RADAMISTO

Joe / Joe. My. God.:

CONFIRMED: Sen. Saxby Chambliss Admits “All Faggots Must Die” Comment Came From His Atlanta Headquarters — I've just gotten off the phone with Atlanta Journal-Constitution political writer Jim Galloway who says that Sen. Saxby Chambliss has confirmed that the “All faggots must die” …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Joe / Joe. My. God.:

“All Faggots Must Die” — The above comment was left today by “Jimmy” on my post about the DADT cloture vote. The IP address *appears* to resolve to the neighborhood of GOP U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss' Atlanta office. The ISP is “United States Senate.” I'm confident that the JMG internet sleuths can get to the source.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Moderate Voice, Mock, Paper, Scissors, The Awl and Mediaite

Jim Galloway / Political Insider:

Did Saxby Chambliss aide leave threatening slur? — U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss confirmed Tuesday that he investigating whether one of his staffers left a threatening slur on an Internet discussion of the right of gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker, Politerati and AMERICAblog Gay

Hans Nichols / Bloomberg:

Summers Expected to Leave White House After Election — White House officials expect Lawrence Summers to leave his job as the president's National Economic Council director after November's congressional elections, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:
Summers Move Lets Obama Alter Economic Team

Discussion: Economist's View

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / The Caucus: Top White House Economic Adviser to Depart

Peter Baker / New York Times:

Woodward Book Portrays Obama Aides' Battles — WASHINGTON — Some of the critical players in President Obama's national security team doubt his strategy in Afghanistan will succeed and have spent much of the last 20 months quarreling with one another over policy, personalities and turf, according to a new book.

Discussion: The Politico, Pajamas Media, The Page, FrumForum and Althouse

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Helen Thomas to headline fundraisers

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Comments from Left Field, NewsBusters.org and Commentary

Chicago Sun Times:

Rep. Jackson: I did nothing wrong but ‘deeply sorry’ over ‘social acquaintance’ — Chicago congressman vows to remain in office in wake of Sun-Times report regarding fund-raiser — U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) said Tuesday he is “deeply sorry” for having “disappointed some supporters” …

Discussion: CNN, Taegan Goddard's … and News Hounds

Natasha Korecki / Chicago Sun Times:
Fund-raiser: Jackson behind $6M Senate-seat scheme

Discussion: The Politico, NBC Chicago, The Capitol Fax Blog, Wonkette, Lynn Sweet, Doug Ross, Ballot Box, The Caucus and Sunlight Foundation

Clout St:
New questions about Jackson and Senate seat

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Chicago Breaking News

Andrew Greiner / NBC Chicago:
Jesse's Girl? — Jesse Jackson Jr. doesn't deny involvement …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Hot Air and Weasel Zippers

Ezra Klein:

Federal Reserve won't help, won't explain why — As expected, the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee met today, and decided against doing anything further to stimulate the economy. But it's worth reading their news release explaining — or, more accurately, not explaining — why.

Discussion: Modeled Behavior, Grasping Reality … and Macro and Other Market Musings

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For immediate release — Information received since …

Discussion: Free exchange, The Atlantic Online, Macro and Other Market Musings, Calculated Risk, The Impolitic, The Washington Independent, Economix, Matthew Yglesias and Paul Krugman

Igor / Wonk Room:

McCain Ignores Testimony Before His Committee, Claims Military Doesn't ‘Seek Out’ Orientation — This afternoon, immediately after the Senate failed to invoke cloture on a defense authorization measure which included an amendment to gradually repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell …

Discussion: National Review, Good As You, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, AMERICAblog News, Federal Eye, Pam's House Blend and Joe. My. God.

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Why Generic Ballots May Underestimate Democrats — In the last couple of posts on our House forecasts, I've noted that the generic congressional ballot tends to show worse results for Democrats than other indicators like polls of individual House races. The generic ballot, as of last week …

Discussion: National Review, Talking Points Memo and AmSpecBlog

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:

Lieberman Wants To Start A Bipartisan, High-Income Tax Cuts Gang — TPM noted yesterday that, in direct conflict with President Obama's agenda, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) is organizing Senate Democrats and Republicans to temporarily extend Bush tax cuts for high-income Americans.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, New York Magazine and Daily Kos

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
New poll: Tax cut fight is winner for Dems in battleground states

Discussion: SEIU, The Politico, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice and The Political Carnival

The Politico:

FLOTUS's stump sked announced — With midterm elections just weeks away, Michelle Obama will use her star power to launch a fundraising blitz for imperiled Democratic candidates, hitting at least six states for eight congressional races beginning next month, senior administration officials announced on Tuesday.

Discussion: CNN

Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:
Michelle Obama hitting the campaign trail

Discussion: JammieWearingFool and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Diane Daniels / WSBT-TV:

Oops! Billboard spelling error creates embarrassment — SOUTH BEND — If you ever wondered how much difference just one letter can make when it comes to a message, ask the thousands of people who drove by a digital billboard near the intersection of Ironwood and State Road 23 between Thursday and Monday morning.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, All American Blogger, Scared Monkeys, The Agitator, Don Surber and The Political Carnival

Fox News:

Ahmadinejad Warns of Capitalism's Defeat in Tepid U.N. Speech — Before a sparse audience, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used 10 minutes on the world stage Tuesday to declare capitalism near death while urging world leaders to “spare no effort” in starting to plan for a new world order.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs and Libertarian Republican

Anne Laurie / Balloon Juice:

You'd Be Cripplingly Incapacitated, Too... Even before John posted about Americans over 50 who may never be allowed paid employment again, I had tagged a couple of articles about one all-American non-solution. From the Washington Post, “Jobless are straining Social Security's disability benefits program”:

Yitzhak Benhorin / Ynetnews:

No peace in NY: Fayyad-Ayalon meeting ends on sour note — Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad leaves meeting with Danny Ayalon angry, after Israel's deputy foreign minister demands that meeting summary refer to notion of ‘two states for two peoples’ — WASHINGTON - Palestinian Prime …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Elder of Ziyon

Shane D'Aprile / Ballot Box:

GOP House candidate invokes idea of ‘victory mosque’ in campaign ad — A Republican House candidate claims in new ad that Muslims want to build “victory mosque” near Ground Zero. — The building of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero has faded from the midterm campaign conversation …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers