memeorandum: McMahon Ad Attacks Blumenthal's Vietnam Claim (Raymond Hernandez/New York Times)

9:50 PM ET, October 4, 2010

Top Items:

Tennessee County's Subscription-Based Firefighters Watch As Family Home Burns Down — As ThinkProgress has noted, there are currently two competing visions of governance in the United States. One, the conservative vision, believes in the on-your-own society, and informs a policy agenda …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The KRMG Morning News Blog, National Review, The Sundries Shack, Climate Progress, The Huffington Post, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Daily Kos and The Poor Man Institute

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: The Volokh Conspiracy, JustOneMinute, Salon, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Matthew Yglesias

Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
National Review Writers Defend County Whose Subscription-Only …

Discussion: Blogcritics and National Review

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: Chicago Tribune, HillBuzz, The Politico, Hot Air, New York Magazine, Right Wing News, Politics Daily and Wonkette

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Emanuel's ‘Glad to be home’ video filmed in Washington — Rahm Emanuel kicked off his campaign for mayor of Chicago with a homecoming video, filmed in front of a bookshelf with a vase and a family photograph. — “I was born here, and my wife Amy and I raised our three children here,” he says.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Sister Toldjah, MyFox DC, Betsy's Page, The Capitol Fax Blog, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, WLS-AM 890, Politics Daily and MyDD

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: Politics Daily, TBogg, Little Green Footballs, Raw Story, The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly, CNN, New York Magazine, msnbc.com and Outside the Beltway

The Note:

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 Politico and CNN

Eric Kleefeld / TPMDC:
It Has Come To This: O'Donnell Family Straightens Out Father's Bozo The Clown Career

Discussion: The Caucus, The Political Carnival and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Sen. Franken to stump for Del. Senate nominee Coons

Discussion: Delaware Democratic Party and delawareonline

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: Hot Air, Weekly Standard, RedState, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, The Politico, National Review, The Sundries Shack, USA Today, Ruby Slippers, Conservatives4Palin.com, Real Clear Politics and AmSpecBlog

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

Slate:

How the Roberts Court disguises its conservatism. — It's dark and silent. Reporters trickle into the grand ceremonial room from a door on the left; like everyone, they've been instructed that no recording devices of any sort are allowed. A clutch of spectators, some of whom have been waiting for hours, enters at the rear.

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Volokh Conspiracy, Firedoglake, SCOTUSblog, PointOfLaw Forum, Ezra Klein, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Washington Post

Ann Althouse / Althouse:
It's the first Monday in October, time for people like Barry Friedman …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

Slate:
Trick 2: Misdirection — Every great illusionist masters …

Discussion: Josh Blackman's Blog, The Plum Line, Obsidian Wings and National Review

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 Awl and The Daily Weekly

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

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

Kevin Grandia / The Huffington Post:

Filmmaker Goes Undercover to Expose the Corporate Links to the Tea Party [video] — What's Your Reaction: — In his recently released documentary, [astro] Turf Wars, Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham goes undercover to try and answer the question: “Just how real are the roots of the tea party's supposed grassroots uprising.”

Discussion: Wonk Room

Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Tales of the Sharron Angle tape

Discussion: Howard Kurtz, Mediaite, Hot Air, CNN, New York Magazine, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Ben Smith's Blog

Sara Jerome / Hillicon Valley:
Guide arms Tea Party members with anti-net-neutrality talking points

Discussion: Prairie Weather

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: CNN, Hot Air, MyFox DC, Pajamas Media and Moe Lane

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: Daily Kos, Weigel and POLISING

Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:
McMahon Ad Attacks Blumenthal's Vietnam Claim

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, The Fix, Indecision Forever, FoxNews.com, msnbc.com and A plain blog about politics

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Gibbs won't rule out DNC appointment — White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday he loves his job, but he would not rule out a transition to chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). — Reports over the weekend indicated Gibbs was being considered for the DNC post …

Discussion: CNN and HotAirPundit

Kerry Eleveld / Advocate:
Gibbs Vague on Path to End DADT

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, The Huffington Post and AMERICAblog Gay

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, Salon, TPMMuckraker, Wonkette and Weigel

Michael Georgy / Reuters:

Drone strike kills 8 Germans in northwest Pakistan — (Reuters) - A suspected U.S. drone strike killed eight militants of German nationality in northwest Pakistan on Monday, Pakistani intelligence officials said. — They died when two missiles from a suspected CIA pilotless aircraft struck …

Discussion: The Jawa Report

BBC:
‘German militants’ killed in Pakistan drone attack

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

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

Twitter Blog:

newtwitterceo — By all accounts Twitter is on a roll. We've redesigned our web site to great user feedback. Our user and usage numbers are growing at a rapid clip all around the world. We've launched an early, but successful, monetization effort. And, many top engineers …

Discussion: TechCrunch, Hillicon Valley, New York Times, Guardian, Gawker, Fortune, Scripting News, BlogPost, Mashable!, New York Magazine, Daring Fireball and Engadget, more at Techmeme »

DownWithTyranny!:

Could Congressional Progressives Come Out Of The Midterms In A Stronger Position? — There's the roll-up-your-sleaves-and-get-to- work way to win elections and then there's the Inside-the-Beltway conventional wisdom about what candidates are supposed to do. Inside the Beltway it's …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Open Left and TalkLeft

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: Jihad Watch, Right Pundits and Weasel Zippers

The Note:

Joe Miller: End Federal Minimum Wage, ‘Defund Certain Components’ of EPA — ABC News' Rick Klein reports: — Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller was in Washington last week to raise money and meet with some of the same establishment Republicans who supported his opponent in his primary.

Discussion: Hotline On Call, ABCNEWS, Think Progress, The Atlantic Online, Joe. My. God., msnbc.com, The Moderate Voice and Washington Post

Jack Dolan / Los Angeles Times:

$69 million in California welfare money drawn out of state — Las Vegas tops the list with $11.8 million spent at casinos or taken from ATMs, but transactions in Hawaii, Miami, Guam and elsewhere also raise questions. Officials say budget cuts hinder investigations. — Reporting from Sacramento —

Discussion: MyFox DC, ParaPundit and Gateway Pundit

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

Ominous new Gallup findings for Democrats: Blacks still love Obama, others not so much — The good news for President Obama is his popular support among blacks is holding steady at 91%. — The bad news is no other group of potential voters likes him that much.