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.
Discussion:
The Fix, Hullabaloo, Sister Toldjah, Democracy in America, Ezra Klein, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Booman Tribune
RELATED:
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.
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
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, Firedoglake, Mediaite, Guardian, The Huffington Post, MyDD and msnbc.com
Jack Brammer / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Rand Paul refuses to shake hands with opponent Conway after debate
Rand Paul refuses to shake hands with opponent Conway after debate
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, National Review, Ballot Box and ThinkProgress
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, Moe Lane, RedState and Wake up America
Richard Mauer / Anchorage Daily News:
Miller security guards handcuff editor — The editor of the Alaska Dispatch website was arrested by U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller's private security guards Sunday as the editor attempted to interview Miller on camera at the end of a public event in an Anchorage school.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Alaska Dispatch, TPMDC, Riehl World View, Mother Jones, Hot Air, Red County, TBogg, Salon, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Magazine, alicublog, The Hill, Corrente, No More Mister Nice Blog, Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog, The Caucus, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Politics Daily, Taylor Marsh, KTUU-TV, Gateway Pundit, National Review, AMERICAblog News, Right Klik, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Politico, FrumForum, The BRAD BLOG, The Huffington Post, Ben Smith's Blog, skippy the bush kangaroo, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo and BAGnewsNotes, more at Mediagazer »
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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:
Daily Kos and Harry's Place
Steve / What Do I Know?:
Joe Miller: “If East Germany could, we could.”
Joe Miller: “If East Germany could, we could.”
Discussion:
Anchorage Daily News and Outside the Beltway
Alaska Dispatch:
Alaska Dispatch editor detained at Miller event [updated]
Alaska Dispatch editor detained at Miller event [updated]
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Joe Miller for Senate, Anchorage Daily News, Wall Street Journal, Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, Front Row Washington, Firedoglake, No More Mister Nice Blog, TPMDC, Speakeasy, The Mudflats, The Note, Climate Progress, Riehl World View, The Moderate Voice and Progressive Alaska
The Huffington Post:
Tony Hopfinger, Reporter Detained By Joe Miller's Security Guards …
Tony Hopfinger, Reporter Detained By Joe Miller's Security Guards …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars and RHRealityCheck.org
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Alaska Race May Make for Long Election Night
Alaska Race May Make for Long Election Night
Discussion:
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:
The Note, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Moderate Voice, TPMDC, Hullabaloo, USA Today, Crooks and Liars, The Politico, New York Magazine, Raw Story, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Washington Independent, Colorlines, Salon, msnbc.com, Talking Points Memo and Washington Post
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:
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
Nicholas Lemann / New Yorker:
DESERT STORM — Harry Reid is the most powerful man in the Senate.
DESERT STORM — Harry Reid is the most powerful man in the Senate.
Discussion:
Wonkette
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, The Other McCain, The New Republic, Wonkette, Mediaite, FishbowlDC, TPM LiveWire and Swampland
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 and Weigel
RELATED:
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:
Guardian, The Atlantic Online and Dennis the Peasant
RELATED:
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:
Washington Post, Washington Wire, Gateway Pundit and JammieWearingFool
RELATED:
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:
Ben Smith's Blog, HillBuzz, Weasel Zippers, Real Clear Politics and Gateway Pundit
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, Taegan Goddard's …, JammieWearingFool and Wake up America
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:
Zandar Versus The Stupid, HillBuzz, Wonkette, Dot Earth, Mediaite, Hot Air, The Powers That Be and Althouse
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
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.
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:
Commentary, A plain blog about politics, Salon, FrumForum, Yglesias, Pajamas Media, The Daily Caller, Mother Jones, Daily Kos and Shot in the Dark
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 Monthly, iOwnTheWorld.com, Daily Kos, Washington Post and Hullabaloo
Lauren Effron / ABCNEWS:
John McCain: Sarah Palin Similar To Ronald Reagan — McCain Gives an Exclusive Interview to 'Nightline's' Terry Moran on Sen. Barbara Boxer, the Obama Administration and Sarah Palin — Sen. John McCain is not afraid to use fighting words. — After lashing out at Sen. Barbara Boxer …
Kos / Daily Kos:
AZ-03: Shocking Democratic pickup opportunity — Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos. 10/16-17. Likely voters. MoE 3.8% (No trend lines) — Ben Quayle (R) 44 — Jon Hulburd (D) 46 — Yeah, that was a real WTF moment for us in this open seat being vacated by conservative icon John Shadegg.
Discussion:
Weigel, POLISING, TPMDC and PoliPundit.com