memeorandum: Republican race snaps into focus with unlikely top tier of Romney, Bachmann, Perry (Dan Balz/Washington Post)

9:15 PM ET, August 15, 2011

Top Items:

Roger Simon / The Politico:

Ron Paul remains media poison — I admit I do not fully understand Ron Paul and his beliefs. But I do understand when a guy gets shafted, and Ron Paul just got shafted. — On Saturday, the Ames Straw Poll was conducted in Iowa amid huge media interest and scrutiny.

Discussion: CNN, Booman Tribune, The Note, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Truthdig, New York Times, Swampland, Outside the Beltway and Washington Monthly

Michelle Goldberg / The Daily Beast:

A Christian Plot for Domination? — Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry aren't just devout—both have deep ties to a fringe fundamentalist movement known as Dominionism, which says Christians should rule the world. — With Tim Pawlenty out of the presidential race, it is now fairly clear …

Discussion: Sister Toldjah, Hullabaloo, Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, Off the Kuff, Suburban Guerrilla, The Daily Dish, Let Freedom Ring Blog, Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, CNN and Gothamist

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

The Ten Weirdest Ideas In Rick Perry's Fed Up — Rick Perry's November 2010 book Fed Up!: Our Fight to Save America from Washington is not a typical “campaign book” from a political candidate. For starters, its forward is written by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, nominally one of Perry's rivals for the nomination.

Discussion: National Review, And So it Goes in Shreveport, Lawyers, Guns & Money, New York Magazine, Gawker, Paul Krugman, The Reality-Based Community, Questions and Observations, Balloon Juice, Connecting.the.Dots and Shakesville

Wall Street Journal:

Bachmann-Perry Overdrive — GOP voters are still searching for a unifying candidate. — The fight for the Republican Presidential nomination is finally getting underway in earnest, with Texas Governor Rick Perry bull-riding his way into the race and Michele Bachmann winning Saturday's straw poll in Iowa.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, NationalJournal.com, Washington Post, Salon, The Moderate Voice, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Online NewsHour, Balloon Juice, Booman Tribune, Don Surber, GOP 12 and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:

Rove warns GOP about electability — First, the Wall Street Journal was spooked about the Michele Bachmann/Rick Perry surge, and just now, Karl Rove issued a similar warning. … Earlier today, the WSJ wrote an op-ed that seemed to suggest that neither Michele Bachmann nor Rick Perry were particularly electable.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Gawker, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Conservatives Whine About Unfairness Of Quoting Rick Perry Accurately — Rick Perry holds a lot of extreme views about American public policy and constitutional law. I know that because I've read Rick Perry's book, Fed Up, which about his extreme views about American public policy and constitutional law.

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Fact checking Rick Perry's announcement speech — Well, goodbye Tim Pawlenty, hello Rick Perry. — The Texas governor announced that he is running for president on Saturday, just hours before the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa that ended Pawlenty's presidential aspirations.

Discussion: Indecision Forever, Daily Kos, The Nation, Campaign 2012, Erica Grieder and Swampland

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Texas Unmiracle — As expected, Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, has announced that he is running for president. And we already know what his campaign will be about: faith in miracles. — Some of these miracles will involve things that you're liable to read in the Bible.

Discussion: Washington Post, Campaign 2012, The TrogloPundit, Washington Monthly, Paul Krugman, Felix Salmon, Outside the Beltway, dallasmorningviewsblog …, The Mahablog, ThinkProgress, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos and National Review

Timothy P. Carney / Washington Examiner:
Will no one rid the GOP of this troublesome congressman?

Discussion: Campaign 2012, Eunomia, Outside the Beltway, National Review, LewRockwell.com Blog and AmSpecBlog

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Bachmann skipped family reunion she cited

Discussion: Iowa Caucuses

Ross Douthat / New York Times:
Chris Christie's Cue

Discussion: msnbc.com, Eunomia, ThinkProgress, The Political Carnival and The New Republic

Ken Shepherd / NewsBusters.org blogs:
Daily Beast/Newsweek: Michele Bachmann Has ‘Christian Plot’ for ‘Domination’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Pirate's Cove

David Weigel / Slate:
Exit Tim Pawlenty

Discussion: Swampland, Eunomia, No More Mister Nice Blog, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Dish, Balloon Juice and ThinkProgress

Byron York / Campaign 2012:
Behind the Michele Bachmann ‘submissive’ question

Discussion: Salon, The Daily Caller, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Right Wing Watch and CBS News

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Republican race snaps into focus with unlikely top tier of Romney, Bachmann, Perry

Discussion: Blogcritics, The Atlantic Online, The Politico, Daily Kos, Facing South, AMERICAblog News and Washington Times

Warren E. Buffett / New York Times:

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich — OUR leaders have asked for “shared sacrifice.” But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched. — While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, International Liberty, National Review, Lynn Sweet, The Reaction, The Atlantic Online, Campaign 2012, Hot Air, Crooks and Liars, The Wealth Report, The Politico, The Democratic Daily, Rebuild the Dream, No More Mister Nice Blog, ABCNEWS, Hit & Run, The Heritage Foundation, Outside the Beltway, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Lonely Conservative, Rhymes With Right, CBS New York, Questions and Observations, AMERICAN FUTURE, Forbes.com, NewsBusters.org blogs, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, Newshoggers.com, Firedoglake, War in Context, AmSpecBlog, Clusterstock, Guardian, Felix Salmon, The Moderate Voice, dallasmorningviewsblog …, Blue Mass Group, Donklephant, The Impolitic, Taylor Marsh, EconLog, emptywheel, TPMDC, AFL-CIO NOW BLOG, The Hill, Pajamas Media, Mediaite, The Raw Story, Liberal Conspiracy, New York Magazine, Booman Tribune, Washington Monthly, TalkLeft, Connecting.the.Dots, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, Althouse and PointOfLaw Forum

Jennifer Epstein / The Politico:
Obama: Warren Buffett is right on the money

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, CNN and JammieWearingFool

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:
How Much Tax Should The Rich Pay?

Discussion: Modeled Behavior and National Review

Azi Paybarah / PolitickerNY:

Bill Clinton: Rick Perry is a ‘Good-Looking Rascal,’ But His Platform ‘Is Crazy’ — Bill Clinton at the IAFF conference in Manahttan on August 15, 2011. (photo credit: azi paybarah / observer) — Bill Clinton said newly announced presidential candidate, Republican Governor Rick of Texas was a …

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, TPMDC, The Hill, GOP 12, Pajamas Media, Althouse, Gothamist and Columbian

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Was Perry packing? — Texas Gov. Rick Perry is a leading advocate of gun rights who likes to boast of having dispatched a coyote on a recent jog, so I asked him during today's walking press conference at the Iowa State Fair whether he was armed. — “I never comment on whether I'm carrying a handgun or not,” he said.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Note and Gawker

Neil King Jr / Washington Wire:
Perry and Romney Trade Swipes Over ‘Real Economy’

Discussion: The Caucus, CNN and Hot Air

Glenn Thrush / The Politico:

President Obama blasts Republican presidential field — CANNON FALLS, Minn. — President Barack Obama took on the entire GOP presidential field Monday — mocking their collective pledge to block even the slightest attempt to raise taxes on the rich — while singling out Mitt Romney …

Discussion: CNN, The Note, Weasel Zippers and And So it Goes in Shreveport

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
What a president ‘looks like’

Discussion: Washington Post and Paul Krugman

The Note:
Mitt Romney Dubs Obama's Trip the ‘Magical Misery Bus Tour’

Discussion: Don Surber, ABCNEWS, The Raw Story, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, CNN, Wake up America, Political Punch and The Lonely Conservative

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Mistakes New Hampshire For Iowa (VIDEO)

Discussion: Daily Kos

Eric Lichtblau / New York Times:

A Businessman in Congress Helps His District and Himself — VISTA, Calif. — Here on the third floor of a gleaming office building overlooking a golf course in the rugged foothills north of San Diego, Darrell Issa, the entrepreneur, oversees the hub of a growing financial empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, The Heritage Foundation, iWatch News, The Daily Caller, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, The Impolitic, Daily Kos, JammieWearingFool, Campaign 2012 and The Page

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Issa's office slams New York Times's ‘hit piece’

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation

Byron York / Campaign 2012:

Obama: I reversed recession until ‘bad luck’ hit — At a town hall meeting on his campaign-style tour of the Midwest, President Obama claimed that his economic program “reversed the recession” until recovery was frustrated by events overseas. And then, Obama said, with the economy …

Discussion: Power Line and Weasel Zippers

Byron York / Campaign 2012:
Obama compares woes to Lincoln

Discussion: Power Line, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

Andrew Restuccia / The Hill:

Obama to automakers: 'You can't just make money on SUVs and trucks' — The country's automakers should ditch their focus on SUVs and trucks in favor of smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, President Obama said Monday. — “You can't just make money on SUVs and trucks,” …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Pajamas Media and The Lonely Conservative

Nouriel Roubini / Project Syndicate:

ROUBINI: Is Capitalism Doomed? Karl Marx was right, it seems, in arguing that globalization, financial intermediation run amok, and redistribution of income and wealth from labor to capital could lead capitalism to self-destruct. So what can be done to prevent that outcome?

Discussion: Truthdig

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

‘Iron my shirt’ — When Texas Gov. Rick Perry took his jacket off for a question-and-answer session in Waterloo last night, he joked about his attire. — “This shirt has a few wrinkles in it; it's not my wife's fault,” he said. — The line seemed very Texas, and a bit less directed …

Discussion: Slate Magazine

Reid J. Epstein / The Politico:

Ed Rendell: Hillary Clinton can't resist White House run — Former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said on Monday he doesn't believe Hillary Clinton is ready to retire from public life and the possibility of someday becoming the first female president “would probably be too much for her to resist.”

Discussion: New York Post, Taylor Marsh, Weasel Zippers, The Raw Story and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Kieran Crowley / New York Post:

Wall Street big lavished gifts on mistresses in three countries: wife — He's an aging Wall Street fat cat who could put even the most lusty young lothario to shame. — John Duffy, 62, the married CEO of the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods investment bank, has lavished millions of dollars' worth of homes …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Gothamist, Dealbreaker and New York Magazine

Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:

All He Is Saying Is, Give War A Chance — Former Enron advisor Paul Krugman outlined his latest stimulus idea on Fareed Zakaria's Sunday talkie: — It's very hard to get inflation in a depressed economy. But if you had a program of government spending plus an expansionary policy by the Fed, you could get that.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, nation.foxnews.com, Patterico's Pontifications, Michelle Malkin and Booman Tribune