Top Items:

The Tea Kettle Movement — There are actually two Tea Party movements in America today: one you've read about that is not that important and one you've not read about that could become really important if the right politician understood how to tap into it. — The Tea Party that has gotten …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, No More Mister Nice Blog, Althouse, Firedoglake and Balloon Juice
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Tea-Party Movement Gathers Strength — The tea party has emerged as a potent force in American politics and a center of gravity within the Republican Party, with a large majority of Republicans showing an affinity for the movement that has repeatedly bucked the GOP leadership this year …

Tea & Crackers — How corporate interests and Republican insiders built the Tea Party monster — This is an article from the October 15, 2010 issue of Rolling Stone, available on newsstands on October 1, 2010. — It's taken three trips to Kentucky, but I'm finally getting …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos and Pharyngula

Takeover: 71% of Republicans now tea-party supporters
Discussion:
The Daily Caller, The Page and CNN

Jack Cafferty: I'll Eat CNN's Building in NYC If Palin Becomes President
Discussion:
Mediaite


Fake pimp from ACORN videos tries to ‘punk’ CNN correspondent — Editor's note: CNN takes an unprecedented look inside the young conservative activist movement in the documentary “Right On The Edge,” which airs Oct. 2 and 3 at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. EST. — Lusby, Maryland (CNN) …


Poll: Obama, Dems Poised to Lose Grayson House Seat — Republican Dan Webster jumps to a 7-point lead — In one of the most closely watched U.S. House races in the nation, Republican Daniel Webster now holds a 7-point lead over Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson in Central Florida's 8th Congressional District …
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Justice: Webster up 7 over Grayson
Discussion:
The Blaze and Weekly Standard

‘Credible But Not Specific’: Threat of New Terrorist Attack — Officials in Europe, US on High Alert for Commando-Style Raids After Capture of Suspected German Terrorist — US and European officials said Tuesday they have detected a plot to carry out a major, coordinated series …
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Al-Qaeda terror plot targeting Europe uncovered — France has recently beefed up security outside its national landmarks — An al-Qaeda plot to carry out co-ordinated attacks in the UK, France and Germany has been uncovered, Western intelligence sources say.
Discussion:
Guardian, Wall Street Journal, The AfPak Channel, Online NewsHour, msnbc.com, Telegraph and The Page

Distrust in U.S. Media Edges Up to Record High — Perceptions of liberal bias still far outnumber perceptions of conservative bias — WASHINGTON, D.C. — For the fourth straight year, the majority of Americans say they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Weasel Zippers, Moe Lane and JammieWearingFool
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Your Bad Economic News for the Morning — Earlier this year, government bond spreads in several European countries ballooned dangerously in response to the Greek debt crisis. In May the EU came to the rescue, Greece agreed to a combined loan/austerity package, and spreads settled down.
Discussion:
Ezra Klein
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And Then There Were None — According to Spanish Prime Minister …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Free exchange, Felix Salmon and The Atlantic Online

Sen. Nelson: GOP worries over Tea Party impeding tax-cut deal — Centrist Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) said Wednesday that GOP senators' fear of the Tea Party has made it difficult for them to reach a deal with Democrats on the expiring Bush tax cuts. — Speaking at the conservative Heritage Foundation …
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Obama at Madison rally: “keep believing...change is possible” Transcript — For Immediate Release September 28, 2010 — THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Wisconsin! (Applause.) Hello! Hello, Wisconsin! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you, everybody. — I am — I don't know about you, but I'm fired up.
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‘Stick With Me,’ Obama Urges Students
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Washington Monthly, The Politico and National Review


Another School Says Christine O'Donnell Did Not Attend — Claremont Graduate University tells TPM that Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell did not attend the Southern California school despite listing it under education on her LinkedIn profile. — Rod Leveque, a spokesman for the school, told TPM tonight:
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Plum Line, Mock, Paper, Scissors, Gawker and New York Magazine
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Being Glenn Beck — Glenn Beck was sprawled out on his office couch a couple of weeks ago, taking — as self-helpers like to say — an inventory. “I think what the country is going through right now is, in a way, what I went through with my alcoholism,” he told me. “You can either live or die.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Ben Smith's Blog, The Atlantic Online, newsfeed.time.com, Mediaite and Prairie Weather


Assistant attorney general blogs against gay student body president — (CNN) — For nearly six months, Andrew Shirvell, an assistant attorney general for the state of Michigan, has waged an internet campaign against college student Chris Armstrong, the openly gay student assembly president at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Discussion:
Think Progress, Pharyngula, New York Magazine and AMERICAblog Gay


Young People And Minorities Are All The President Has Left — Americans between ages 18 and 29 are significantly more likely to be satisfied with the overall state of the country than those who are 65 and older, according to the latest Society for Human Resource Management/National Journal …
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Commentary and The New Republic


Obama's University Visit Was Not Simple — Would it be all right if the Leader of the Free World stopped by your campus for a little while? — He wants to surround himself with hordes of enthusiastic young people, toss out a few oratorical gems — as you know, he's got the gift — and reinvigorate his anxious political party.
Discussion:
Althouse

Dems retreat to coasts as GOP rules vast interior — Here's an exercise for some evening when you're curious about big nationwide trends in this year's elections. — Get an outline map showing the 50 states and take a look at the latest poll averages in pollster.com in each race for senator and governor.
Discussion:
Eunomia, FishbowlDC and The Hill

Dukakis shared his strategy for midterm elections at the White House — WASHINGTON — Former Massachusetts Governor Michael S. Dukakis, the failed 1988 presidential nominee, recently visited the White House and delivered his strategy for the midterm elections: pound key precincts across …
Discussion:
The Note, The Hill, Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, Moe Lane, Betsy's Page, GayPatriot and The American Pundit

More on “No Wedding, No Womb.” — Today on the Michael Eric Dyson show, bloggers Christelyn Karazin and Jamilah Lemieux talked about the “No Wedding, No Womb” campaign. Karazin, who is spearheading the effort, started it to “raise awareness” about high rates of out-of-wedlock births among black women.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias


Blaming the voters — Tweet — On Oct. 24, 1996, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole got up at a campaign rally and promptly lost it: “I wonder sometimes what people are thinking about, or if people are thinking at all,” he shouted. “Wake up, America!”
Discussion:
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The DSCC, Betsy's Page, DCCC and Commentary


Meg Whitman's Housekeeper — ‘Explosive’ Allegations — UPDATE: Meg Whitman's campaign chairman, former California Governor Pete Wilson, tells TMZ he is unaware of any claim by Whitman's former housekeeper, but “The timing of this is highly suspect.” — The former housekeeper for Meg Whitman …


Florida Dems aim death blow at Charlie Crist — Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is getting the full Arlen Specter treatment as he struggles to hold on to Democratic support in his independent bid for the U.S. Senate. — The Florida Democratic Party is throwing money behind a crushing new ad …

Democrats, Obama divided over whether to lock in Bush's middle-class tax cuts — Senate Democrats are peeling away from President Obama over permanent extension of the middle-class tax cuts, saying that locking in low rates for the vast majority of taxpayers is an unaffordable luxury.
Discussion:
TalkLeft


Progressives: Obama remarks are ‘condescending’ — Activist: ‘The least he could do is acknowledge that progressives have legitimate concerns’ — President Barack Obama's lecture to his supporters to snap out of their lethargy is getting a frosty reception from some on the left side of the Democratic coalition.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Commentary, Reuters and Hot Air

A One-to-Two-State Solution — This week's bad news from the West Bank — the resumption of settlement construction after a 10-month moratorium, just as a new round of peace talks had gotten underway — didn't much dampen optimism among seasoned Middle East watchers. — That's because there wasn't much optimism to dampen.
Discussion:
Commentary, Mondoweiss and The Washington Note