memeorandum: Poll suggests contest is a dead heat, with few left undecided (Alan Wirzbicki/Boston Globe)

3:45 AM ET, October 19, 2010

Top Items:

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, Sister Toldjah, Democracy in America, Hullabaloo, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Ezra Klein, Riehl World View, McClatchy Washington Bureau and Booman Tribune

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: The Plum Line, Rough Sketch, Firedoglake, MyDD, Associated Press, Guardian, 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

The Huffington Post:
Conway's Attack On Paul Slammed By Fellow Dems

Discussion: TPMDC, The Caucus and The Note

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:
Sympathy For Rand Paul

Discussion: Commentary, American Power, Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Politico, Taylor Marsh, msnbc.com, Left Coast Rebel, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Althouse, Ezra Klein and Gateway Pundit

Kos / Daily Kos:
KY-Sen: What's wrong with the ad?

Discussion: The New Republic, The Reality-Based Community, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo and Washington Monthly

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: Salon, TPMDC, USA Today, Hullabaloo, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, The Politico, Crooks and Liars, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Colorlines, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, The Washington Independent, The Moderate Voice, msnbc.com, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and Raw Story

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, The Politico, YID With LID and TPMDC

Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Palin fires up Tea Partiers to launch bus tour

Discussion: The Politico, Weasel Zippers, CNN and Anchorage Daily News

Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
Sarah Palin to GOP: “Man Up” and Support Tea Party Candidates

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Other McCain and CBS News

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Sharron Angle: My ads aren't referring to Mexico, except when they clearly are

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid, TPMDC, The Reaction and msnbc.com

Andy Barr / The Politico:
Sharron Angle says Hispanic students look ‘Asian’

Discussion: Wonkette and msnbc.com

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: Outside the Beltway, Anchorage Daily News, Crooks and Liars, The Immoral Minority, TPMDC, palingates and Alaska Dispatch, more at Mediagazer »

Jillian Rayfield / TPMDC:
Joe Miller On Securing The Border: ‘If East Germany Could, We Could’ (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Daily Kos, Washington Monthly, Harry's Place and Speakeasy

Anchorage Daily News:
Alaska Politics Blog

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Huffington Post, Little Green Footballs, New York Magazine, Salon, The Mudflats and The BRAD BLOG

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Alaska Race May Make for Long Election Night

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Anchorage Daily News, The Hill, Progressive Alaska, New York Magazine, Left Coast Rebel, Crooks and Liars, The Mahablog and Prairie Weather

Lpratapas / CNN:
Joe Miller responds on job questions

Discussion: Washington Wire, Joe Miller for Senate, The Politico, TPMDC, POLISING, Daily Kos and Ben Smith's Blog

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, Grim's Hall, Wonkette, Salon, The Other McCain, Mediaite, FishbowlDC, Swampland, The New Republic, Hot Air and Comments from Left Field

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: Ben Smith's Blog, Nice Deb, Big Peace, Weasel Zippers, Gateway Pundit, Weigel and Beltway Confidential

Richard L. Eubank / VFW:
VFW NATIONAL COMMANDER MOVES FOR DISSOLUTION OF POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE

Discussion: The Politico

Jim Carlton / Washington Wire:
VFW Shuts Off Campaign Arm

Discussion: Hot Air

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

Confusion was the word of the day on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” this morning when the panel questioned why so many women have been drawn to the Tea Party movement. — Co-host Mika Brzezinski, The New York Times' Sam Tanenhaus, CBS's Lesley Stahl, columnist Mike Barnicle, and Newsweek's Jon Meacham …

Discussion: Hot Air

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, The Other McCain, Top of the Ticket, Viking Pundit, 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: Washington Monthly, Hot Air, Mediaite, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The New Republic, Wonkette, HillBuzz, The Powers That Be, iOwnTheWorld.com and Althouse

Nellie Andreeva / Deadline.com:
He's Doing What?! Barack Obama To Appear On Discovery Channel's ‘Mythbusters’

Discussion: PopEater

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: skippy the bush kangaroo, Pam's House Blend and Towleroad News #gay

Daily Kos:

Meet Joe Miller's Thugs: Drop Zone Security — If you went to bed early tonight, you may have missed one of the most wonderful gifts that the Teabaggers have ever given to the Democrats: Alaskan GOP Senate candidate, Joe Miller. — If you wanna catch up on Joe's recent antics …

Discussion: TPMDC, Talking Points Memo and Progressive Alaska

Terence P. Jeffrey / CNSNews:

It's Official: Obama Has Now Borrowed $3 Trillion — It's official: The Obama administration has now borrowed $3 trillion, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. — It took from 1776, when the United States became an independent country, until 1990, the year after the Berlin Wall fell signaling victory …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Michelle Malkin, HotAirPundit and Gateway Pundit

Bruce Golding / New York Post:

Jurors convict Riverdale bomb plotters on 30 of 32 counts — Tweet — A jury today found four Muslim converts guilty of 30 of 32 counts in the May 2009 plot to bomb two Riverdale synagogues and shoot down military aircraft at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh.

Discussion: Jihad Watch and New York Magazine

Kasie Hunt / The Politico:

Group hit by DCCC backed 6 Dems — National Democrats have charged that a House candidate endorsed by a controversial anti-immigration group has “Nazi ties” — but six other congressional Democrats also have the group's endorsement, and at least one has enthusiastically embraced its support.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

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, Washington Monthly, iOwnTheWorld.com, Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

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, Raw Story, Liberty Pundits Blog and skippy the bush kangaroo

Lpratapas / CNN:

In West Virginia, a debate about Obama — (CNN) - In Monday's West Virgina Senate debate, Democratic Gov. Joe Manchin sought to claim his independence and Republican John Raese tried to attach Manchin's name to President Obama's as much as possible. The other two candidates seemed to act like buffers.

Discussion: The Politico

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 …

Discussion: The Politico

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: PaperTrail Blog and DealBook

Lpratapas / CNN:

Political theater but no fireworks in NY gubernatorial debate — (CNN) - New York's gubernatorial debate lived up to its expectation that it would be political theater as Republican candidate Carl Paladino faced Democrat Andrew Cuomo for the first time in a debate in a race making headlines for its nasty tone.

Discussion: The Politico