Top Items:
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
The Conway Rorschach — I'm fascinated by the divide among Democrats in reaction to Jack Conway's fusillade over the weekend against Rand Paul. I first saw the ‘Aqua Buddha’ ad late Saturday afternoon in an email blast from Conway campaign. And my jaw dropped.
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TPMDC:
The Nastiest Debate Of 2010 In 2:44 (VIDEO) — Last night's Kentucky Senate debate was one of the most brutal of the year, hands down. Though the forum included talk of the health care bill, illegal immigration, the economy and energy legislation, most of the talk was about Republican nominee Rand Paul's days in college.
Discussion:
Rough Sketch, Guardian, Mediaite, Firedoglake, The Plum Line, MyDD, The Atlantic Online and msnbc.com
Myglesias / Yglesias:
Why The Fuss About Jack Conway? — I'm a little taken aback by how taken aback some people are over Jack Conway's hit on Rand Paul: — This ad has the virtue—not that common in politics—of being accurate. It also has the virtue of raising actual policy issues about the consequences of Paul's position on tax reform.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute and The New Republic
Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Sympathy For Rand Paul — The ugliest, most illiberal political ad of the year may be this one, from Kentucky Democrat Jack Conway: — I actually don't doubt the implication of the ad, namely that Rand Paul harbors a private contempt for Christianity. He's a devotee of Ayn Rand, who is a fundamentally anti-Christian thinker.
Kos / Daily Kos:
KY-Sen: What's wrong with the ad?
KY-Sen: What's wrong with the ad?
Discussion:
The Note, The New Republic, The Reality-Based Community, Washington Monthly and Talking Points Memo
Meredith Shiner / The Politico:
Claire McCaskill: Jack Conway ad ‘very dangerous’
Claire McCaskill: Jack Conway ad ‘very dangerous’
Discussion:
Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, National Review, Wake up America, Moe Lane and RedState
Steve / What Do I Know?:
Joe Miller: “If East Germany could, we could.” — I went to the Joe Miller town hall this afternoon at Central Middle School. It was an interesting session, about 175 people, and I was impressed with how courteous, for the most part, the audience was with several questions from people who were clearly not Miller supporters.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Anchorage Daily News, Outside the Beltway and palingates
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Jillian Rayfield / TPMDC:
Joe Miller On Securing The Border: ‘If East Germany Could, We Could’ (VIDEO) — Alaska Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller was asked about illegal immigration at his town hall yesterday, and he said that the country's first priority should be to secure the border. “If East Germany could, we could,” he said.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos and Harry's Place
Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska Politics Blog
Alaska Politics Blog
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, New York Magazine and Salon
Richard Mauer / Anchorage Daily News:
Miller security guards handcuff editor
Miller security guards handcuff editor
Discussion:
TPMDC, Alaska Dispatch, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Riehl World View, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mother Jones, Salon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TBogg, alicublog, The Hill, Corrente, The Daily Caller, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog, Red County, Outside the Beltway, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Taylor Marsh, National Review, Politics Daily, The Caucus, Gateway Pundit, AMERICAblog News, FrumForum, Right Klik, The Politico, KTUU-TV, The BRAD BLOG, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Moderate Voice, Ben Smith's Blog, Balloon Juice, skippy the bush kangaroo, The Huffington Post and BAGnewsNotes, more at Mediagazer »
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Alaska Race May Make for Long Election Night
Alaska Race May Make for Long Election Night
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Atlantic Online, Progressive Alaska, Anchorage Daily News, Prairie Weather and FrumForum
Jon Ralston / Las Vegas Sun Blogs:
Angle to Hispanic children: “Some of you look a little more Asian to me” — As more of the video surfaces from GOP Senate nominee Sharron Angle's meeting last week with Rancho High School's Hispanic kids, the more bizarre it gets. Elsewhere on this blog, I have posted the video of her claiming …
Discussion:
TPMDC, RHRealityCheck.org, Washington Monthly, The Note, The Moderate Voice, ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Crooks and Liars, Salon, The Politico, USA Today, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, The Washington Independent, Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Colorlines, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and msnbc.com
RELATED:
The Note:
ABC News Exclusive: Tea Party Candidate in Nevada Senate May Tip the Scales in Reid's Favor — ABC News' Jonathan Karl reports: — Scott Ashjian calls himself the “Tea Party of Nevada” candidate for U.S. Senate, but he tells ABC News that he would be “at peace” knowing he helped re-elect Harry Reid …
Discussion:
The Politico, Raw Story, YID With LID, TPMDC and The Moderate Voice
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Palin fires up Tea Partiers to launch bus tour
Palin fires up Tea Partiers to launch bus tour
Discussion:
The Politico, CNN, Weasel Zippers and Anchorage Daily News
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Sharron Angle: My ads aren't referring to Mexico, except when they clearly are
Sharron Angle: My ads aren't referring to Mexico, except when they clearly are
Discussion:
TPMDC, The Reaction, Zandar Versus The Stupid and msnbc.com
The Daily Caller:
Guy gets revenge on ex-girlfriend on CSPAN2 — When the audience gathered for a Book TV discussion of Jonah Goldberg's new book, “Proud to be Right,” they got more than your average CSPAN fare. — It turns out panelists Todd Seavey and Helen Rittelmeyer, both contributors to Goldberg's collection …
Discussion:
Politics Daily, Salon, Wonkette, Hot Air, Mediaite, FishbowlDC, The Other McCain, Swampland, The New Republic and TPM LiveWire
Pundit Review Radio / BLACKFIVE:
URGENT: VFW DISSOLVES PAC BOARD! — This, from last week, is just now making it to my in-box. THIS IS WHAT WAS NEEDED ALL ALONG- Download Memo to council - new ballot Oct 10 … This, after the Ladies Auxilery withdrew all funding support for the PAC (which, I'm told, is a good chunk of it) …
Discussion:
Big Peace, Gateway Pundit, Beltway Confidential and Weigel
RELATED:
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
GOP Holds Solid Leads in Voter Preferences for Another Week — Gallup trends from prior midterm years suggest shifts are still possible — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup's tracking of the generic ballot for Congress finds Republicans leading Democrats by 5 percentage points among registered voters …
Discussion:
The Hill, Top of the Ticket, The Other McCain, Viking Pundit, JammieWearingFool and Wake up America
Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
Obama: 15 Senate seats ‘up for grabs’ — President Obama implored supporters on Monday for donations to help Democrats in the 15 Senate seats he said were “up for grabs” on Nov. 2. — The president painted a picture of an expansive map of competitive Senate races in a fundraising e-mail …
Discussion:
The Politico, Washington Wire, Washington Post, Gateway Pundit and JammieWearingFool
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Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Obama to Appear on “Mythbusters” — For a president under siege, maybe this could help. — In an episode of “Mythbusters” on the Discovery Channel to be shown on Dec. 8, President Obama will help determine whether the Greek scientist Archimedes really set fire to an invading Roman fleet using …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Washington Monthly, HillBuzz, Wonkette, Mediaite, Hot Air, Dot Earth, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Powers That Be, iOwnTheWorld.com and Althouse
Andrew Harmon / Advocate:
Judge Skeptical of Govt. Arguments — If a Monday afternoon federal court hearing in Riverside, Calif., was any indication, a recent judicial ruling barring any enforcement of the “don't ask, don't tell” policy will remain in effect unless a higher court intervenes.
Discussion:
Pam's House Blend and Towleroad News #gay
William Kristol / Weekly Standard:
Dennis Menaced? — Is Kucinich in trouble? — THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained the results of a private poll conducted last night in Ohio-10, the Cleveland-area district held for seven terms by Democrat Dennis Kucinich. Kucinich has been widely viewed as safe—even though he fell short …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, HillBuzz, Real Clear Politics, Ben Smith's Blog and Gateway Pundit
CNN:
Former surgeon general calls for marijuana legalization — (CNN) — Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders told CNN Sunday she supports legalizing marijuana. — The trend-setting state of California is voting next month on a ballot initiative to legalize pot, also known as Proposition 19.
Discussion:
Neptunus Lex, skippy the bush kangaroo and Liberty Pundits Blog
Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Tales of the Tea Party — A month ago, a U.C.L.A. graduate student named Emily Elkins spent hours roaming a Tea Party rally on the Washington Mall, photographing every sign she saw. — Elkins, a former CATO Institute intern, was examining the liberal conceit that Tea Party marches are rife with racism and conspiracy theorizing.
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics, Salon, Pajamas Media, Commentary, FrumForum, Yglesias, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Mother Jones and Shot in the Dark
RELATED:
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
DeMint: 'I'm not a kingmaker'
DeMint: 'I'm not a kingmaker'
Discussion:
Los Angeles Times, CNN and NewsBusters.org blogs
Charles Johnson / Little Green Footballs:
The Ludicrous Lies of Robert Spencer — If you've read anything by Robert Spencer, you already know that he will blatantly lie when cornered. — Today he responds to my piece for the Guardian, with a ridiculous article that calls Pamela Geller a defamed freedom fighter.
Discussion:
Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs, Guardian, The Atlantic Online and Dennis the Peasant
Paul Krugman:
Epitaph For An Administration … Surely this can serve as a generic statement: … Stimulus, bank rescue, China, foreclosure; it applies all along. At each point there were arguments for not acting; but the cumulative effect has been drift, and a looming catastrophe in the midterms.
Discussion:
Dennis the Peasant
Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Many Chamber ads attacking House Dems contain debunked falsehoods, distortions — UPDATE, 1:57 p.m.: The Chamber has responded to all these fact checks with a detailed rebuttal, which you can read right here. — ORIGINAL POST: — Last week I noted that the ads that have been bankrolled …
Discussion:
Washington Post, iOwnTheWorld.com, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly and Hullabaloo
Jackson Diehl / PostPartisan:
How Obama sabotaged Middle East peace talks — For 15 years and more, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas conducted peace talks with Israel in the absence of a freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Now, it appears as likely as not that his newborn negotiations …
Discussion:
AmSpecBlog and Commentary
New York Times:
In Climate Denial, Again — Former Vice President Dick Cheney has to be smiling. With one exception, none of the Republicans running for the Senate — including the 20 or so with a serious chance of winning — accept the scientific consensus that humans are largely responsible for global warming.
Michael Hudson / The Huffington Post:
16 Cents on the Dollar: Doing the Math on Angelo Mozilo's Big Settlement — What's Your Reaction: — In the end, Angelo Mozilo settled for pennies on the dollar. — The former Countrywide Financial Corp. chief agreed Friday to a settlement that requires him to pay 16 cents out of his own pocket …
Discussion:
DealBook and PaperTrail Blog