memeorandum: UK Pundit to Shocked TV Host: Suffering Children Should Be Smothered (Scott Baker/The Blaze)

8:20 AM ET, October 5, 2010

Top Items:

Christine O'Donnell Ad: 'I'm Not A Witch' — ABC's Michael Falcone reports: — “I'm not a witch,” Delaware Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell assures voters, who may be concerned that she once “dabbled” in the dark arts, in a new ad released by her campaign on Monday.

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Politico, Weigel, Left Coast Rebel, Right Pundits and AmSpecBlog

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:

It Has Come To This: O'Donnell Family Straightens Out Father's Bozo The Clown Career — Christine O'Donnell's campaign is facing yet another set of questions about her background, and this time it's on a really weird line of discussion — whether her father was Philadelphia's local Bozo the Clown.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, The Political Carnival and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Ben Evans / Associated Press:

O'Donnell said China plotting to take over US — WASHINGTON — Republican Senate nominee Christine O'Donnell of Delaware said in a 2006 debate that China was plotting to take over America and claimed to have classified information about the country that she couldn't divulge.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, No More Mister Nice Blog, Firedoglake, TBogg, Raw Story, Politics Daily, CNN, Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, The Reaction, Outside the Beltway and msnbc.com

Fhardingj / CNN:

Trending: O'Donnell: ‘I am not a witch’ — Washington (CNN) - Playing off of her admission that she dabbled in witchcraft in high school, Delaware Senate Republican nominee Christine O'Donnell will launch her first television ad of the general election on Tuesday, in which she looks straight …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and American Power

Ashley Parker / The Caucus:
O'Donnell Ad Confronts Reports on Her Past

Discussion: Philly.com, Wonkette and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Mark Leibovich / The Caucus:
Send In the Clowns — and the Truth Squad

Discussion: First Draft and Rough Sketch

Gallup:

GOP Well Positioned Among Likely Midterm Voters — Voting preferences remain close among registered voters — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's generic ballot for Congress among registered voters currently shows Republicans with 46% of the vote and Democrats with 43%, similar to the 46% to 46% tie reported a week ago.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Beltway Confidential, Weekly Standard, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Hot Air, Sweetness & Light, Erick's blog, USA Today, The Atlantic Online, Politics Daily, The Politico, The Sundries Shack, National Review, GayPatriot, Real Clear Politics, Conservatives4Palin.com and AmSpecBlog

Levi Johnston / Washington Post:

Democrats gain in poll but GOP still leads as midterm elections near — Less than a month before the midterm elections, the political landscape remains strongly tilted toward Republicans, although Democrats have made modest improvements with voters since their late-summer low point, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: Prairie Weather and The Page

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
GOP holds wide lead among likely voters in latest Gallup poll

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Beltway Confidential

Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:

National Review Writers Defend County Whose Subscription-Only Firefighters Watched Home Burn Down — As ThinkProgress reported earlier this morning, South Fulton firefighters from Obion, Tennessee, last week stood by and watched as a family's home burned down because their services …

Discussion: Blogcritics and National Review

Daniel Foster / National Review:

Pay-to-Spray Firefighters Watch as Home Burns — Oy, this is bad for the libertarians: … That bolded paragraph is what really gets to me. I have no problem with this kind of opt-in government in principle — especially in rural areas where individual need for government services and available infrastructure vary so widely.

Discussion: Hot Air, Mother Jones, The Volokh Conspiracy, ECHIDNE of the snakes, Salon and JustOneMinute

Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
Tennessee County's Subscription-Based Firefighters Watch As Family Home Burns Down

Discussion: National Review, Paul Krugman, The Confluence, The KRMG Morning News Blog, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, A Spork in the Drawer, Climate Progress, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Sundries Shack, Daily Kos and The Poor Man Institute

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Mondale to Obama: Ditch the ‘idiot boards’ — Former Vice President Walter Mondale suggested in an interview today President Obama stop relying on “idiot boards” — teleprompters, that is — to deliver his message to the American people. — “He uses these idiot boards to read speeches in television …

Discussion: The Confluence, Balloon Juice, Federal Eye, Pajamas Media, Hot Air, MyFox DC and CNN

Byron York / Beltway Confidential:
Mondale: Obama's teleprompters are ‘idiot boards,’ …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media

Brian Stelter / New York Times:

With Tagline, MSNBC Embraces a Political Identity — MSNBC, once the also-ran but now the No. 2 cable news channel, has a new tagline that embraces its progressive political identity. — The tagline, “Lean Forward,” will be publicly announced Tuesday, opening a planned …

Discussion: Da Techguy's Blog and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Brian Alexander / msnbc.com:

Pretzel nation: Americans have sex in 41 combinations — We aren't as bland as we might think, new study shows — Americans are often portrayed as being bland sexual mopes, compared to say, the French. But according to a new study, we actually routinely choose from more spicy combinations …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, The Daily Weekly and The Awl

aolnews.com:
Survey on America's Sexual Habits: We're Getting Friskier

Discussion: Rough Sketch, The Daily Dish, Bloomberg, New York Times and Unfogged

Lynn Sweet:

Rahm Emanuel: Experts say not a legal resident of Chicago, cannot run for mayor — BY ABDON M. PALLASCH — CHICAGO—The first question isn't: Can Rahm win? It's: Can Rahm run? — Sunday, Rahm Emanuel announced in a video posted on a website that he is preparing to run for mayor of Chicago.

Discussion: The Politico, HillBuzz, The Atlantic Wire, Hot Air, Right Wing News, Wonkette and Politics Daily

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Emanuel's ‘Glad to be home’ video filmed in Washington

Discussion: The Politico, Israel Matzav, Chicago Tribune, Sister Toldjah, Pajamas Media, Betsy's Page, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, WLS-AM 890, MyDD, Politics Daily and MyFox DC

Susan Page / USA Today:

Elections are likely to trim number of women in Congress — GLENWOOD, Ark. — Blanche Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1992, a time when women gained so much ground in the House and Senate that it was dubbed the “Year of the Woman.” — Now, the Arkansas senator, who faces Republican John Boozman …

Discussion: Hot Air, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Jezebel

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

Federal judge charged with buying drugs from stripper — A longtime federal judge was freed on a $50,000 bond Monday after his arrest on federal charges that he bought cocaine and other illegal drugs while involved in a sexual relationship with an exotic dancer for the past several months.

Discussion: TalkLeft

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Blumenthal up 12 — The race may be closer than it was six months ago but the truth remains: Richard Blumenthal is one of the strongest Democratic Senate candidates in the country, Linda McMahon is one of the weakest Republican ones, and Blumenthal holds a double digit lead.

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Kos, A plain blog about politics, POLISING and Weigel

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
McMahon hammers Blumenthal over Vietnam statements

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN, The Politico, OpenSecrets.org, Gateway Pundit, Real Clear Politics, The Fix and msnbc.com

Simmi Aujla / The Politico:

Nancy Pelosi: GOP attacks are a ‘compliment’ — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday evening that she considers Republican attacks on her a “compliment” — evidence that she's done her job well. — Pelosi (D-Calif.) told a friendly audience at a banquet at Fortune magazine's …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

On the right, hateful words are fired like bullets — I still ride a bike. I do 12 miles, several days a week, and as I do so I listen to music — the Pandora service on my iPhone. I have created a station that plays folk rock. Lately, it has repeatedly played the Neil Young song “Ohio” …

Discussion: protein wisdom and NewsBusters.org

Mike DeBonis / Mike DeBonis on Local Politics:

Hacker infiltration ends D.C. online voting trial — Last week, the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics opened a new Internet-based voting system for a weeklong test period, inviting computer experts from all corners to prod its vulnerabilities in the spirit of “give it your best shot.”

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG and Threat Level

Scott Baker / The Blaze:

UK Pundit to Shocked TV Host: Suffering Children Should Be Smothered — Advice columnists in Britain are known as “agony aunts” (or uncles). Virginia Ironside is one. Her latest bit of advice has drawn outraged reaction from television viewers who caught her comments on the BBC yesterday.

Discussion: Glenn Beck, NewsBusters.org, Daily Mail, Babalú Blog, Right Wing News, iOwnTheWorld.com, Hot Air and Pajamas Media

Project Veritas:

Statement regarding CNN — Now that I've had a chance to watch CNN's “Right on the Edge” documentary, I'm happy to comment. I apologize for not saying anything sooner, but don't want to comment until I have all the facts at my disposal. — As you can imagine in our line of work …

Discussion: The Politico, CNN, Gateway Pundit, Right Pundits, Mediaite, Salon, TPMMuckraker, Wonkette and Weigel

BBC:

No joke as Brazil clown tops votes for Congress — Tiririca won far more votes than any other candidate — A Brazilian clown has had the last laugh by winning a seat in Congress with more votes than any other candidate in Sunday's elections. — Tiririca, or Francisco Oliveira Silva …

Discussion: Raw Story, iOwnTheWorld.com and Reuters

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

Did The Wave Crest? — We've got another new congressional generic just out today. This one from Rasmussen and it shows a 3 point spread for the GOP — GOP 45%, Dems 42%. But the context is important. Last week Rasmussen had a 6 point margin. And for most of the summer their number …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Rosalind Helderman / Virginia Politics Blog:

Cuccinelli reissues global warming subpoena to U-Va. — Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli has sent a new civil subpoena to the University of Virginia, renewing a demand for documents related to a work of a former university climate scientist that was stymied when a judge blocked his previous request in August.

Discussion: Mother Jones and The Huffington Post

Associated Press:

Sen. Murkowski Asks Alaska Stations Not to Air Tea Party Ads — JUNEAU, Alaska — U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's campaign is warning Alaska broadcasters not to air ads by a national tea party group that the campaign says are “littered with lies and intentional mischaracterizations” about her and her write-in campaign.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and HotAirPundit

Bruno Waterfield / Telegraph:

Geert Wilders trial suspended after he attacks judge — Geert Wilders, the anti-Islam politician, told a Dutch court that he stood by his opinions that the Koran is a “fascist book” and Islam is as dangerous as Nazism, as he went on trial for inciting racial hatred.

Discussion: Guardian, Gates of Vienna, ParaPundit, Right Pundits, Jihad Watch and Weasel Zippers