memeorandum: Rep. to DOJ: Watch tea party at polls (Simmi Aujla/The Politico)

8:15 AM ET, October 29, 2010

Top Items:

Ben Smith / The Politico:

Bill Clinton pushed Kendrick Meek to quit Florida race — Bill Clinton sought to persuade Rep. Kendrick Meek to drop out of the race for Senate during a trip to Florida last week — and nearly succeeded. — Meek agreed — twice — to drop out and endorse Gov. Charlie Crist's independent bid …

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:

Crist says White House was involved — (CNN) - In an appearance on Fox news Thursday night Republican-turned-independent Senate candidate, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said he spoke with Rep. Kendrick Meek and “several people” at the White House about having Meek step out of the race.

Ezra Klein / The Plum Line:
Charlie Crist asked Clinton camp to suggest Meek drop out, source says

Discussion: CNN, Politics Daily, The Reid Report, The Atlantic Online and Ben Smith's Blog

Gschwarzcnn / CNN:
Clinton to CNN: I spoke with Meek twice

Discussion: The Politico, Hot Air and RedState

Emily Goodin / Ballot Box:
Meek denies report he was going to drop out of Florida Senate race, endorse Crist

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Once again, Bill Clinton tries unsuccessfully to nudge an …

Discussion: Guardian

Gawker:

I Had a One-Night Stand With Christine O'Donnell — Three years ago this week, an intoxicated Christine O'Donnell showed up at the apartment of a 25-year-old Philadelphian and ended up spending the night in his bed. Here's his story—and photos—of his escapade with the would-be Delaware senator.

Discussion: Mediaite, Salon, The Huffington Post, The Awl, Runnin' Scared, pandagon.net, Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, Joe. My. God., The Atlantic Online, Raw Story, Shakesville, The Daily Caller, Page One, HeadCount, Little Green Footballs and JOSHUAPUNDIT, more at Mediagazer »

The Smoking Gun:

On The Trail Of “Anonymous,” Christine O'Donnell's Sex-Free Pal — Buster … [UPDATE: TSG has identified the “Anonymous” correspondent who today detailed his purported (sexless) one-night stand with Christine O'Donnell. See bottom of piece.] — Readers of today's first-person account …

Discussion: YID With LID and Classical Values

Michelle Malkin:

The Gawker smear machine: A refresher course; Update: O'Donnell responds — If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you know all about the Gawker smear machine and its misogynist war on conservative women. — Under Gawker Media boss Nick Denton, barrel-scraping blog Wonkette published racist, sexist crap like this:

Discussion: Facebook, RedState, NewsReal Blog, The Daily Caller, American Power and POWIP

Foster Kamer / Runnin' Scared:

Dustin Dominiak: The Guy Who Sleazed Christine O'Donnell, Says Friend (Updated) — Remember that time earlier this afternoon Gawker took some guy's sleazy story about the time three years ago on Halloween he hooked up with Christine O'Donnell, the would-be Senator from Delaware …

Discussion: The Awl

Jessica Coen / Jezebel:

Why You Care About Christine O'Donnell Getting To Third Base — So here's the deal: One time Christine O'Donnell got drunk and made out with a dude. They didn't do it, BUT STILL. — Except, well, who really cares? Actually, you do. Maybe not you individually or specifically, but you …

Discussion: Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money, more at Mediagazer »

J.P. Freire / Beltway Confidential:

NOW refuses comment on Gawker's Christine O'Donnell sex smear UPDATE: Cheers O'Donnell's loss, slams smear — Following gossip website Gawker's publication of an anonymous story alleging a one-night encounter between the author and Republican senatorial candidate for Delaware Christine O'Donnell …

Discussion: Wonkette

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Wow: Charlie Cook moves Barney Frank's seat from “likely Democratic” to “lean Democratic” — Remember, as of just a few weeks ago, this seat wasn't even on the board. Then, for the first time in decades, MA-4 popped up in the “likely Democratic” column. And now, if you'll pardon the pun, it's moved a bit further to the right.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media, GayPatriot and flemingandhayes.com

Sabato's Crystal Ball:

The Crystal Ball's Final Calls — Larry J. Sabato, Director, U.Va. Center for Politics — The time has finally come in this two-year election cycle to make the final calls. Thanks to everyone who has helped us by providing background info, tips, private polls, observations, and constructive criticism.

Discussion: MyDD, Wake up America and The Daily Dish

Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:
Poll: Miller falls to last place

Discussion: American Prospect, Anchorage Daily News, Hot Air, Power Line, Riehl World View, The Moderate Voice, CNN, The Daily Beast, POLISING, Conservatives4Palin.com, The Eye, Gawker, ABCNEWS, Outside the Beltway, RedState and National Review

New York Times:

As Reid Falters, Schumer Subtly Stands in the Wings — WASHINGTON — Senator Charles E. Schumer shipped $500,000 to Nevada in recent weeks to help Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader and Mr. Schumer's political patron and close friend, as he fights for his political life.

Laura Myers / Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Angle poll data improve — Reid countering with huge effort to get out his voters — Positioned to pull off the biggest upset in the nation, GOP challenger Sharron Angle heads into Election Day leading Democratic incumbent Sen. Harry Reid by 4 percentage points, says a new poll for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and 8NewsNow.

Discussion: National Review and Taegan Goddard's …

CNN:

Arkansas school board member to resign over anti-gay post — (CNN) — A school board district member in Arkansas who came under fire for an anti-gay post on a social networking site regrets the comments and will resign his seat, he told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday.

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Pam's House Blend, Politics Daily, The Moderate Voice and Joe. My. God.

Ed Whelan / National Review:

Tribe to Obama: Sotomayor Is “Not Nearly As Smart As She Seems To Think She Is” — I've obtained a copy of an interesting letter that Harvard law professor Larry Tribe wrote to his protégé, President Barack Obama, in the immediate aftermath of Justice Souter's announcement of his decision to retire from the Court.

Discussion: The Caucus, Verum Serum, Washington Post, The Volokh Conspiracy, Law Blog, NewsBusters.org blogs, Hit & Run and Ben Smith's Blog

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Meg Whitman: ‘It breaks my heart,’ but deport housekeeper — California GOP gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman says her former housekeeper should be deported. — Whitman — down 10 percentage points in the latest Field Poll after spending over $140 million of her own money on the campaign …

Discussion: The Informer and The Moderate Voice

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Divided We Fail — Barring a huge upset, Republicans will take control of at least one house of Congress next week. How worried should we be by that prospect? — Not very, say some pundits. After all, the last time Republicans controlled Congress while a Democrat lived in the White House …

Discussion: The Enterprise Blog and Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog!

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Shocker: Bush beats Obama 48/43 in poll — When I wrote yesterday that the “blame Bush” strategy had reached its expiration date, I had no idea how prescient that was. Pollster Douglas Schoen, who partners with longtime Democratic strategist Mark Penn at Penn Schoen & Berland …

Discussion: US News, The Plum Line and Wake up America

Paul Bedard / US News:
Poll: Most Want Obama Fired In 2012

Discussion: Salon, American Spectator, The Moderate Voice, Rasmussen Reports, theblogprof, James Pethokoukis, Weasel Zippers, MyDD, Wake up America, Left Coast Rebel and Beltway Confidential

Tom Junod / Esquire:

The Sore Winners: Will America's Super Minority Sink Us All? — Last summer — long before Bill O'Reilly reminded Whoopi Goldberg that “Muslims killed us on 9/11,” well before Jan Brewer reminded the Arizona police what identity politics mean today, and certainly before an election that's less …

Discussion: Obsidian Wings

Tom A. Peter / Christian Science Monitor:

Osama bin Laden threatens French troops, France announces pullout from Afghanistan — France denies any connection between its decision to remove troops from Afghanistan in 2011 and Osama bin Laden's pledge to attack French troops. — Kabul, Afghanistan — France is leaving Afghanistan.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Weasel Zippers and Neptunus Lex

Charles Peters / Washington Monthly:

Tilting at Windmills — Jobs versus schools: It's complicated — In January of 1979, Marion Berry was about to take office for his first term as mayor of Washington. A mutual friend mistakenly thought we might hit it off and brought us together for lunch. He asked me what I thought was Washington's number one problem.

Simmi Aujla / The Politico:

Rep. to DOJ: Watch tea party at polls — Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is asking the Department of Justice to investigate whether tea party groups are intimidating black and Hispanic voters in her district. — Jackson Lee has asked Attorney General Eric Holder to send poll monitors …

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Betsy's Page and Weasel Zippers

Ken Boehm / Big Government:

FTC Drops Investigation of Google Less Than a Week After Company Exec Hosts Obama Fundraiser — Yesterday, the White House blog asked “as special interest billionaires continued to pour secret donations of millions of dollars each into front groups supporting Republicans, we asked the obvious question: “What do they expect in return?

Courier-Journal:

Women — Preston and Tucker illustrate one problem Conway may face come Election Day. — The poll found that women, a reliable Democratic voting bloc, are becoming less likely to vote for Conway. The poll found that Conway leads Paul just 48 percent to 46 percent among women …

Discussion: Cubachi, Washington Wire, USA Today and Liberty Pundits Blog

Pew Hispanic Center:

Illegal Immigration Backlash Worries, Divides Latinos — The national political backlash against illegal immigration has created new divisions among Latinos and heightened their concerns about discrimination against members of their ethnic group-including those who were born in the United States or who immigrated legally.

Discussion: The Politico, The Washington Independent, National Review and Immigration Chronicles

Lynda Waddington / Iowa Independent:

Anti-judge bus tour dwarfed by pro-retention rally — CEDAR RAPIDS — If event attendees are any indication of ballot totals following midterm elections Tuesday, three Iowa Supreme Court justices up for a retention vote next week will overwhelmingly maintain their seats.