Top Items:
Peter Baker / New York Times:
Education of a President — On a busy afternoon in the West Wing late last month, President Barack Obama seemed relaxed and unhurried as he sat down in a newly reupholstered brown leather chair in the Oval Office. He had just returned from the East Room, where he signed the Small Business Jobs Act …
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Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
President Obama Looks Forward — and Back — President Obama said that he expected Republicans to offer him more cooperation after November's elections, no matter the outcome. — In an hour-long interview with the Times's White House correspondent, Peter Baker, Mr. Obama predicted …
Discussion:
Michelle Malkin, JustOneMinute, Gateway Pundit, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, Right Wing News, Political Punch and doubleplusundead
Chris Moody / The Daily Caller:
‘Spirit of Political Disclosure’? White House Press Sec once part of group that refused to disclose donors — The White House plans to continue attacking groups like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other conservative organizations for not disclosing the names of donors behind political ads.
Discussion:
Washington Wire, Hot Air, POWIP, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, Politics Daily and Liberty Pundits Blog
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Robert Gibbs, hypocritical transparency crusader — The controversy over Chamber of Commerce election funding raises a very real and important issue: the genuine threat posed to our political system by unknown funders who can pour massive amounts of money into negative ads while hiding who they are.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Last Tradition, The Daily Caller and The Plum Line
Mike Allen / The Politico:
20 DAYS OUT - Obama to Peter Baker: 'There's no such thing …
20 DAYS OUT - Obama to Peter Baker: 'There's no such thing …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Politics Daily and Outside the Beltway
The Hill:
THE HILL POLL: Republicans are up in 8 of 10 open House districts — Republicans are winning eight out of 10 competitive open House seats surveyed in a groundbreaking new poll by The Hill. — Taken on top of 11 GOP leads out of 12 freshman Democratic districts polled last week …
Discussion:
The Hill, The Fix, Commentary, Taylor Marsh, Right Wing News, Wake up America, Prairie Weather, Ballot Box, msnbc.com and Zandar Versus The Stupid
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The Hill:
THE HILL POLL: A district-by-district analysis of results and interactive map — D: Roy Herron, 37% R: Stephen Fincher, 47% — Washington 3 — D: Denny Heck, 40% R: Jaime Herrera, 42% — Arkansas 1 — D: Chad Causey, 34% R: Rick Crawford, 46% — Wisconsin 7 — Illinois 10
Discussion:
RedState, The Tolbert Report and WisPolitics DC Wrap
Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
Four Causes that Will Lead to a Democratic Election Nightmare
Four Causes that Will Lead to a Democratic Election Nightmare
Discussion:
Liberty Pundits Blog
Lee Fang / ThinkProgress:
Exclusive: Chamber Receives At Least $885,000 From Over 80 Foreign Companies In Disclosed Donations Alone — Last week, ThinkProgress published an exclusive story about the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's foreign fundraising operation. We noted the Chamber raises money from foreign-owned businesses for its 501 …
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Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
Chamber of Commerce: The White House Wants Our Donor Lists So Its Allies Can Intimidate Our Donors — Tuesday afternoon, I spoke with Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs at the US Chamber of Commerce, about the White House pressing the Chamber to release its donors list …
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blog, Sunlight Foundation, Pundit & Pundette and The Daily Caller
Wall Street Journal:
GOP Groups Launch Massive Ad Blitz — Alliance Spends $50 Million on Competitive House Races Where Democrats Have More Money Now — An alliance of Republican groups is launching a $50 million advertising blitz this week in a final push to help the GOP win a majority in the House …
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, Wake up America, FoxNews.com, Mother Jones, The Spot, The Caucus and The Page
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Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Rove-backed group raised $13M since attacks from Obama
Rove-backed group raised $13M since attacks from Obama
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and JammieWearingFool
NY Daily News:
GOP governor hopeful Carl Paladino cashed in on Buffalo gay clubs Cobalt, Buddies II — Carl Paladino says kids shouldn't be “brainwashed” into thinking it's okay to be gay or be taken to a “disgusting” gay pride parade. — But he had no problem when his son, William, ran Cobalt …
Discussion:
Raw Story, Rough Sketch, Gothamist, The Huffington Post, Mediaite, Runnin' Scared, New York Times and Gawker
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Washington Post:
Michelle Rhee to announce resignation as D.C. schools chancellor on Wednesday — D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee will announce Wednesday that she is resigning at the end of this month, bringing an abrupt end to a tenure that drew national acclaim but that also became a central issue …
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Felix Salmon:
The enormous mortgage-bond scandal — You thought the foreclosure mess was bad? You're right about that. But it gets so much worse once you start adding in a whole bunch of parallel messes in the world of mortgage bonds. For instance, as Tracy Alloway says, mortgage-bond documentation generally …
Julian Borger / Guardian:
Linda Norgrove: Navy Seal faces disciplinary action — Guardian learns commando hurled explosive device during rescue as he had not seen UK aid worker taking cover nearby — Startling details of the daring rescue mission that ended in the death of the British aid worker Linda Norgrove …
Discussion:
BLACKFIVE
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Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
Wage cuts hurt, but they may be the only way to get Americans back to work — Last week, General Motors and the United Auto Workers announced agreement on a new two-tier wage structure that would allow the automaker to produce its next-generation subcompact car in Michigan rather than in South Korea.
Discussion:
Mother Jones, Prairie Weather and Grasping Reality …
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Jocelyn Noveck / Associated Press:
Obama's related to Palin — NEW YORK - President Barack Obama has family ties to none other than Sarah Palin, according to the genealogists at Ancestry.com, a discovery the family history site made when looking for connections between political foes. — And that's not all …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog, Weasel Zippers and Politics Daily
Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Sink continues to lead — Alex Sink continues to lead the Florida Governor's race by a 46-41 margin over Rick Scott. — The big story in this race is the independents. In most states across the country Republicans are dominating with them but the intense unpopularity of Scott is making this contest an exception to that rule.
Discussion:
Riptide 2.0
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Rand Paul's college letters: Asked whether gov't should combat discrimination, worshipped Ayn Rand — I've obtained several letters and Op eds that Rand Paul wrote to his school newspaper in the early 1980s, and they provide a glimpse into Paul's budding libertarian mind as he grappled with his early hostility towards government.
Discussion:
The New Republic, TPMDC and Hullabaloo
Zaid Jilani / Think Progress:
GOP Congressional Candidate Walberg Suggests Using Impeachment To Get Obama's Birth Certificate — As ThinkProgress previously noted, Tim Walberg — a former GOP congressman and current Republican nominee for the House of Representatives from Michigan's seventh congressional district …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Daily Telegram News RSS, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, Mediaite and Wonkette
Michael Hirschorn / The Atlantic Online:
Truth Lies Here — How can Americans talk to one another—let alone engage in political debate—when the Web allows every side to invent its own facts? — THIS PAST AUGUST, the left-leaning San Francisco-based Web site AlterNet posted a remarkable scoop: members of a group calling itself …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, Liberal Values and The Moderate Voice
Eric Dondero / Libertarian Republican:
MAINE: Nazi symbols spray-painted on Jewish Republican candidate's signs — Media Blackout! — From Eric Dondero: — Symbols of the National Socialist Party (NAZIs) such as the ones in the photo to the left, were recently spray-painted on signs of a Jewish Republican candidate for Maine State Senate.
Discussion:
Left Coast Rebel, Right Wing News and Gateway Pundit
Sam Youngman / Ballot Box:
First lady strikes softer tone on campaign trail — The White House might be engaged in an election year battle with the Chamber of Commerce, but first lady Michelle Obama struck a softer tone in her return to the campaign trail. — Obama was in Milwaukee on Wednesday …
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN and ABCNEWS
Christian Rudder / OkTrends:
Gay Sex vs. Straight Sex — Gay issues have been in the news a lot lately, from the debate over same-sex marriage in Congress to a sickening rash of gay-bashing here in New York City. We see a lot of emotion out there, instead of information, and we wanted to provide some data-based context …
Discussion:
Feministe, Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine, The Daily Weekly, The Daily Dish, Gawker, Marginal Revolution and Runnin' Scared
Jonah Goldberg / Los Angeles Times:
Obama's outsized ego — Obama's arrogance problem isn't a matter of psychology but of strategy. — “That's all right, all of you know who I am,” President Obama joked last week when the presidential seal fell off his podium during a speech in Pittsburgh.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog and The Agonist
Sean J. Miller / The Hill:
POLL: Majority of voters say they want a viable third party in American politics — A majority of likely voters think a viable third party would be good for American politics, according to a new poll of likely voters in 10 key open House districts. — Those voters are split, however …
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Majorities in U.S. View Gov't as Too Intrusive and Powerful — Independents largely side with Republicans in denouncing big government — PRINCETON, NJ — Record- or near-record-high percentages of Americans are critical of the size and scope of government, as measured by four Gallup trend questions updated in September.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Weasel Zippers, Commentary, CNSNews and GayPatriot
BBC:
Gates warns over abrupt halt to 'Don't ask, don't tell' — Iraq veterans including Lt Dan Choi were among those discharged under the policy — US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has warned a court-ordered halt of a ban on openly gay military personnel could have “enormous consequences”.
Discussion:
Advocate, Wonkroom, AMERICAblog Gay and Towleroad News #gay
Associated Press:
JPMorgan exits electronic mortgage tracking system — NEW YORK - JPMorgan Chase's CEO says the bank has stopped using the electronic mortgage tracking system used by major financial institutions. — Lawyers have argued in court proceedings that the system is unable to accurately prove ownership of mortgages.
Discussion:
Foreclosure Fraud, Newshoggers.com and The Market Ticker
Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Gore vs. the Supreme Court: The justices and the ‘CSI effect’ — In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate yet equally important groups: the police, who investigate crime; and the district attorneys, who prosecute the offenders.
Discussion:
New York Magazine
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Dem's hippie ad: ‘Does not support Pelosi...voted with GOP 65% of the time’ — As Democrats in conservative districts scramble to distance themselves from the national Democratic leadership, Georgia Rep. Jim Marshall outdoes the rest with what's a cultural attack ad aimed at contrasting him with Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Discussion:
Washington Post, Hotline On Call, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Fix, Open Congress and Gateway Pundit
Cathleen Decker / Los Angeles Times:
Whitman and Brown's final debate a contentious one — The rivals for California governor continue their attacks on each other and stick to their talking points without offering details on how they would fix the troubled state. — Meg Whitman called Jerry Brown “the same old same old,” …
Discussion:
Reuters, TPMDC, Gawker, The Awl, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, ImmigrationProf Blog, Left Coast Rebel and PolitiCal