memeorandum: McConnell: GOP's ‘only’ option is to defeat Obama in 2012 (Michael O'Brien/The Hill)

1:35 PM ET, November 4, 2010

Top Items:

Democrats Outrun by a 2-Year G.O.P. Comeback Plan — The PowerPoint slides presented to House Republicans in January 2009 seemed incongruously optimistic at a time when the very word “hope” belonged to the newly ascendant Democrats and their incoming president, Barack Obama.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Washington Monthly, New York Magazine, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Monkey Cage, Mother Jones, TPM LiveWire, Prairie Weather, Outside the Beltway, The Maddow Blog, Wall Street Journal and msnbc.com

George F. Will / Washington Post:

A recoil against liberalism — Unwilling to delay until tomorrow mistakes that could be made immediately, Democrats used 2010 to begin losing 2012. Trying to preemptively drain the election of its dangerous (to Democrats) meaning, all autumn Democrats described the electorate as suffering a brain cramp …

Discussion: Commentary, The New Republic, Balloon Juice, Achenblog, Betsy's Page, The Glittering Eye and No Left Turns

The Politico:

Michele Bachmann bid adds drama to the GOP leadership race — House Republicans look like they've largely been spared any uncomfortable leadership races as they cruise into their robust new majority, except for one little speed bump: Michele Bachmann. — The often fiery and always …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress, TRAIL BLAZERS, Daily Kos, New York Times, RedState and The Caucus

The Huffington Post:

Gibbs: Obama Will Listen To GOP Pitch On Extending Tax Cuts For Wealthy — WHAT'S YOUR REACTION? … WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs reiterated on Thursday that the president will be open to extending the upper-end Bush tax cuts for one or two years as part of a broader compromise with Republicans.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and The Plum Line

The Politico:
Michele Bachmann bid adds drama to the GOP leadership race

Discussion: The Note

Washington Post: For tea party, victories may trigger identity crisis

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Golf and banter won't suffice for Boehner, Obama relationship

Discussion: The Note, ABCNEWS, Time and First Draft

The Politico:

GOP senators fight over failure — Long-simmering tensions within the Republican Party spilled into public view Wednesday as the pragmatic and conservative wings of the GOP blamed each other in blunt terms for the party's failure to capture the Senate. — With tea party-backed candidates …

Discussion: The Note, protein wisdom, Yahoo! News, Left Coast Rebel, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Wonkette, Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, Online NewsHour, The Plum Line, Taylor Marsh, NewsBusters.org, The Washington Independent, New York Magazine and CNN

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Mitch McConnell doubles down against President Obama — An emboldened Sen. Mitch McConnell on Thursday will declare that President Barack Obama must be defeated in 2012 because Republicans “can't plan” on the White House to listen to voters and cooperate on some of his party's top political priorities.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, Outside the Beltway, SpeakEasy, TPMMuckraker and The Hill

Patrick O'Connor / Washington Wire:

McConnell: No Mood for Compromise — An emboldened Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell isn't in the mood to compromise following the party's historic gains in the House. — The Kentucky Republican is expected to tell a conservative audience later today that the White House can either …

Discussion: Moe Lane

Wall Street Journal:

The Boehner Evolution — House Republicans and the challenge of divided government. — John Boehner is no Newt Gingrich, which suits the current public mood. Americans have had their fill of triumphalism and revolution in a House Speaker. But Barack Obama is also no Bill Clinton …

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Booman Tribune

J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill: Senate Dems warn GOP not to block legislation

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:
McConnell: GOP's ‘only’ option is to defeat Obama in 2012

Discussion: The Politico and Booman Tribune

Derek Thompson / The Atlantic Online:
The First War of the Next Congress: The Debt Ceiling

Discussion: TPMDC

NDTV.com:

34 warships sent from US for Obama visit — New Delhi: The White House will, of course, stay in Washington but the heart of the famous building will move to India when President Barack Obama lands in Mumbai on Saturday. — Communications set-up, nuclear button, a fleet of limousines …

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, Weasel Zippers, The Jawa Report, theblogprof, JammieWearingFool, Pundit & Pundette and Don Surber

Telegraph:
Coconuts removed from trees in preparation for Barack Obama's India trip

Discussion: Moonbattery and theblogprof

J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:

You think '10 was tough? Check out '12 — For the first time in two cycles, Democrats will have more seats up for grabs than the Republicans, and the party could see its shrunken majority erased altogether. — Several of the senators up for reelection came in on the 2006 Democratic wave …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Riehl World View, Hot Air, Gateway Pundit and iOwnTheWorld.com

Ben S. Bernanke / Washington Post:

What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability — Two years have passed since the worst financial crisis since the 1930s dealt a body blow to the world economy. Working with policymakers at home and abroad, the Federal Reserve responded with strong …

Discussion: New York Times, Daniel W. Drezner, Economist's View, YID With LID, naked capitalism, Macro and Other Market Musings, Wall Street Journal, The Big Picture, Guardian and Eschaton

R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:

In new memoir, Bush makes clear he approved use of waterboarding — Human rights experts have long pressed the administration of former president George W. Bush for details of who bore ultimate responsibility for approving the simulated drownings of CIA detainees, a practice …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Emptywheel, ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs, Raw Story, TPMMuckraker and Guardian

Nicholas D. Kristof / New York Times:

Mr. Obama, It's Time for Some Poetry — On my blog, a Times reader named Eddie asked about President Obama: “Where is the man I voted for?” — “Does he ever sweat?” Eddie continued. “We're in desperate times and I don't see a man who is really affected by it.”

Discussion: Washington Post, Hit & Run, Daily Kos and Wall Street Journal

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog: Pulling a Clinton? — John Harris, the noted Clinton biographer …

The Politico: GOP senators fight over failure

truth-out.org:

Bill Moyers: “Welcome to the Plutocracy!” — Bill Moyers speech at Boston University on October 29, 2010, as a part of the Howard Zinn Lecture Series. — I was honored when you asked me to join in celebrating Howard Zinn's life and legacy. I was also surprised. I am a journalist, not a historian.

Discussion: Latest Open Salon Blog

Shira Toeplitz / The Politico:

Washington, Alaska races not over — One of the lingering, unresolved Senate races was taken off the board late Wednesday afternoon, when Sen. Michael Bennet was declared the winner in his agonizingly close Colorado matchup with tea party Republican Ken Buck.

Discussion: CNN

Seattle Blogs:
Murray-Rossi race: ‘no one knows how many ballots are left’

Discussion: Gateway Pundit, Seattle Times, Daily Kos, National Review and Seattle Post-Intelligencer

A. G. Sulzberger / New York Times:

Ouster of Iowa Judges Sends Signal to Bench — DES MOINES — An unprecedented vote to remove three Iowa Supreme Court justices who were part of the unanimous decision that legalized same-sex marriage in the state was celebrated by conservatives as a popular rebuke of judicial overreach …

Discussion: Politics Daily, National Review, The Snitch, Law Blog, GayPatriot and Election Law

CNN:

Poll: GOP candidates top Obama in hypothetical 2012 race — Washington (CNN) — His party got its clock cleaned in Tuesday's midterm elections, but President Barack Obama still remains competitive in some hypothetical 2012 presidential election matchups, especially against Sarah Palin, a new poll shows.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, AmSpecBlog, Mediaite and Latest Open Salon Blog

Erin McPike / Real Clear Politics:
FOX News Debuts 12 in '12 Series; Romney Declines Interview

Discussion: Mediaite, Raw Story, Conservatives4Palin.com and WANE-TV

Andy Barr / The Politico:

Sarah Palin takes victory lap — Former Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin is out with a new video Thursday touting the victories of her chosen candidates — and brushing aside the many who fell to defeat on Tuesday. — “Across the country, everyday Americans are standing up and they're speaking out …

Discussion: CNN, New York Magazine and The Awl

Corky Siemaszko / NY Daily News:
‘Sorry, mom!’ …

Discussion: Politics Daily, Mediaite, Raw Story and PopEater

Jeremy P. Jacobs / Hotline On Call:

Devastation: GOP Picks Up 680 State Leg. Seats — While the Republican gains in the House and Senate are grabbing the most headlines, the most significant results on Tuesday came in state legislatures where Republicans wiped the floor with Democrats. — Republicans picked up 680 seats …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

DNC memo on health care reform — Health Reform and the Elections by The Numbers — Ø Of all the factors that contributed to Republican gains in the Congressional elections, the President's health care reform does not appear to have been the significant drag on Democratic candidates.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Plum Line and Daily Kos