memeorandum: White House Debates Fight on Economy (New York Times)

4:50 PM ET, August 14, 2011

Top Items:

Pawlenty Drops Out of Republican Race — Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, left, at Thursday's debate in Ames, Iowa, with Jon M. Huntsman Jr. and Newt Gingrich. — DES MOINES — Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, dropped his bid for the Republican nomination for president …

ABCNEWS:

Pawlenty Drops Out of Presidential Race After Disappointing Straw Poll Finish — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the Republican presidential contest, after a disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll Saturday. — “We needed to get some lift to continue …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Wizbang, Radio Iowa and LGBTQ Nation

Political Punch:

Pawlenty Drops Out of Presidential Race After Disappointing Straw Poll Finish — Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the Republican presidential contest, after a disappointing third place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll yesterday. — “We needed to get some lift to continue …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Wire, The Daily Caller, Online NewsHour, Washington Monthly, Iowa Caucuses, Swampland, The Daily What, Daily Kos, TPMDC, The Other McCain and The Political Carnival

Jazz Shaw / Hot Air:

T-Paw dropping out; Update: State GOP chair to ask Pawlenty to run for Senate — News began breaking on Sunday morning before most folks had finished their coffee or had even woken up on the left coast. Some fourteen hours after finishing a relatively distant third place to Michele Bachmann …

Discussion: Power Line, Outside the Beltway, Questions and Observations, Donklephant, Ballot Box, Patterico's Pontifications, The Strata-Sphere, Instapundit, The Moderate Voice and Bloomberg

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

So much for Sam's Club — The departure of Tim Pawlenty this morning won't have a major impact on a race that had already taken shape without him — that's why he dropped out. — The move makes clear that Texas Gov. Rick Perry has fully seized the space Pawlenty sought to occupy, of the established conservative alternative.

Discussion: The Daily Dish

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
Farewell to Tim Pawlenty

Discussion: Hot Air

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Adrift in Iowa: Tired Rituals in Tough Times

Discussion: National Review, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Toby Harnden / blogs.telegraph.co.uk: 10 things to take away from Ames. What Michele Bachmann's win means

Catalina Camia / USA Today:
Tim Pawlenty ends presidential campaign

Discussion: Firedoglake, Moe_Lane's blog, Towleroad News #gay, Conservatives4Palin and The Politico

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Bachmann says she can win independents in general election

Discussion: The Note and Washington Monthly

The Politico:
Tim Pawlenty drops out of presidential race

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, CNN, Runnin' Scared, ABCNEWS, Salon, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and New York Times

Jon Ward / The Huffington Post:
Ames Win Positions Michele Bachmann As Rick Perry's Top Obstacle To Be Anti-Romney (VIDEO)

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Brian Bakst / Associated Press:
Ex-Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty ends White House bid

Discussion: Guardian

Juana Summers / The Politico:
Former rivals praise Tim Pawlenty as he exits

Discussion: CNN and The Caucus

Des Moines / Iowa Caucuses:
Michele Bachmann wins Iowa Straw Poll

Discussion: Bloomberg, The Other McCain, The Politico, New York Times, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway and CNN

New York Times:

White House Debates Fight on Economy — WASHINGTON — As the economy worsens, President Obama and his senior aides are considering whether to adopt a more combative approach on economic issues, seeking to highlight substantive differences with Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail rather …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Economist's View, Jared Bernstein, Daily Kos, TalkLeft, Clusterstock, emptywheel, Booman Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Impolitic

Calculated Risk:
White House Debates Doing Little or Nothing

Discussion: Suburban Guerrilla, Clusterstock, emptywheel and Grasping Reality …

Mark Thoma / Economist's View:
White House Debates Giving Up on Helping the Economy

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Don Surber and Grasping Reality …

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:

Gallup: Obama job rating sinks below 40% for first time — President Obama's summer woes have dragged his approval rating to an all-time low, sinking below 40% for the first time in Gallup's daily tracking poll. — New data posted Sunday shows that 39% of Americans approve of Obama's job performance, while 54% disapprove.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Scared Monkeys, Weasel Zippers and HotAirPundit

CNN:

CNN/ORC Poll: Dem support for Obama's re-election fades — Washington (CNN) - Barack Obama's base is behind another term for the president, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll. — Seven in 10 Democrats say they'd like to see Obama as their party's presidential nominee next year.

Discussion: Hot Air and Israel Matzav

Deborah Netburn / Los Angeles Times:

Virginia school district bans Sherlock Holmes book — That's right, Watson, Sherlock Holmes has been banned. That is, one book featuring the detective has been pulled from the sixth-grade reading list in one Virginia school district. — The Albemarle County School Board …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Roger Ailes

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

A Theory of Everything (Sort of) — LONDON burns. The Arab Spring triggers popular rebellions against autocrats across the Arab world. The Israeli Summer brings 250,000 Israelis into the streets, protesting the lack of affordable housing and the way their country is now dominated by an oligopoly of crony capitalists.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Balloon Juice

Charles Dameron / Wall Street Journal:

Rick Perry's Crony Capitalism Problem — The presidential candidate's signature economic development initiative has raised questions among conservatives. — Gov. Rick Perry's presidential pitch goes something like this: During one of the worst recessions in American history, he's kept his state “open for business.”

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Reality-Based Community, Betsy's Page and Riehl World View

yyAMCopy / Nation Now:

Indiana State Fair stage collapse: 5 dead; singer relates horror — The death toll has risen to five in the stage collapse at the Indiana State Fair in which 45 people were also injured. — The main stage collapsed on a crowd waiting for a Sugarland performance Saturday night …

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Mediaite

Glenn Cook / Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Reid expects Tea Party to fade away — Can Harry Reid wait out the Tea Party? — The Senate majority leader seems to think so. — Reid sat down with more than 30 Review-Journal staffers Friday afternoon for an hour-long Q&A session at the newspaper's offices.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, The Hill and The Other McCain