memeorandum: OFA Director Attacks “Firebagger Lefty Blogosphere,” says “Paul Krugman is a Political Rookie” (Jane Hamsher/Firedoglake)

9:30 PM ET, August 17, 2011

Top Items:

Poll: Romney rocks, Perry pops, Bachmann doesn't bounce — Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney remains in a commanding position in the first-in-the-nation primary state while Texas Gov. Rick Perry makes a strong first showing in the latest NH Journal survey conducted by Magellan Strategies.

Discussion: Slate, Iowa Caucuses, The Argo Journal, TPMDC, Texas on the Potomac, Politics in Minnesota, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's …, The Iowa Republican, Politics and National Review

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Dean: Bush camp will ‘take Perry out’ — Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean predicted that prominent political supporters of former President George W. Bush will deal a critical blow to Texas Gov. Rick Perry's (R) presidential campaign.

Discussion: The Hill and NO QUARTER

The Note:

Rick Perry Accuses The White House Of Lecturing Him On Bernanke Comments: ‘I Got In Trouble’ — ABC News' Michael Falcone (@michaelpfalcone) and Arlette Saenz (@ArletteSaenz) report: — BEDFORD, N.H. — On his first stop as a presidential candidate in the state that holds …

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, New York Times, Washington Wire, Wall Street Journal, The Politico, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Dish, WMUR Political Scoop, ABCNEWS and Political Punch

Evan McMorris-Santoro / TPMDC:
Rick Perry: Climate Change Is A Hoax Drummed Up By Scientists Looking To Make Money

Discussion: PoliTex, Weasel Zippers, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, ThinkProgress, First Draft, Little Green Footballs, Hot Air and The Huffington Post

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
CHART OF THE DAY: *Government* Jobs Led To Perry's Economic Boom

Discussion: Daily Kos

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Pawlenty's gone, so who's the next Republican to fold?

Discussion: The Other McCain, Politics in Minnesota, Race 4 2012, Gallup and Betsy's Page

Darren Samuelsohn / The Politico:
Rick Perry: Climate science skewed by ‘dollars’

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog and Daily Kos

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Major Bachmann Super PAC forms

Discussion: msnbc.com, Ben Smith's Blog and TPMDC

Amanda Terkel / The Huffington Post:

Obama Campaign Staffer Sends Out Email Bashing Paul Krugman And ‘Firebagger Lefty Blogosphere’ … WASHINGTON — The Obama campaign's point person in New Mexico recently sent an email to supporters defending the president's position on the debt deal and bashing the “Firebagger Lefty blogosphere …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Political Punch, Doug Ross, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, AMERICAblog News, Balloon Juice and Ben Smith's Blog

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:

Score one for the professional left — Greg Sargent has a nice take on the e-mail an Obama campaign official sent mocking Paul Krugman and the “firebaggers.” But whenever I read these periodic eruptions about “the professional left,” my main thought is: if I were a member of the professional left, I would be stoked.

Discussion: Hullabaloo and Eschaton

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Does Obama camp see upside in pissing off the left?

Discussion: Firedoglake and Daily Kos

Jane Hamsher / Firedoglake:
OFA Director Attacks “Firebagger Lefty Blogosphere,” says “Paul Krugman is a Political Rookie”

Discussion: Hullabaloo

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

New Low of 26% Approve of Obama on the Economy — Ratings on Afghanistan and foreign affairs have also declined — PRINCETON, NJ — A new low of 26% of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's handling of the economy, down 11 percentage points since Gallup last measured it in mid …

The Politico:

Bachmann: I'll get gas under $2 — Americans will save at the pump if Michele Bachmann is elected president, the Minnesota Republican said Tuesday. — “The day that the president became president gasoline was $1.79 a gallon. Look at what it is today,” she said at an event in Greenville …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, The Atlantic Online and ThinkProgress

The Hill:
Bachmann: If elected, gas prices would fall to less than $2 per gallon

Discussion: The Politico and National Review

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
New Bachmann super-PAC forms

Discussion: The Politico and The Note

New York Times:

Crashing the Tea Party — GIVEN how much sway the Tea Party has among Republicans in Congress and those seeking the Republican presidential nomination, one might think the Tea Party is redefining mainstream American politics. — But in fact the Tea Party is increasingly swimming …

Jason McLure / Reuters:
Romney says he is “in sync” with Tea Party

Discussion: Hot Air and Daily Kos

Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:

Bachmann Staffer Arrested for Terrorism in Uganda in 2006 — The charges were dropped after he spent more than a month in prison. Now he's rallying Bachmann's faith-based support and prepping for a movie about his ordeal. — Updated 6:35 p.m. — The evangelical organizer …

Discussion: Politics, New York Magazine, The Raw Story, Mediaite and Joe. My. God.

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Field of Dashed Dreams — The president was in “Afternoon of a Faun” mode, a rural deity playing on his panpipes in the woods. Then, suddenly, he stood very still as he sensed electoral danger. — After assuring Obama that she was a supporter, an Iowa mother named Emily asked the president …

Discussion: Don Surber, Salon, JOSHUAPUNDIT, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh, Althouse, The Daily Caller, Connecting.the.Dots and NationalJournal.com

Byron York / Campaign 2012:

Black caucus: Tired of making excuses for Obama — During a sometimes-raucous session of what's being called the “For the People” Jobs Initiative tour, a key member of the Congressional Black Caucus told an audience in Detroit Tuesday that the CBC doesn't put pressure on President Obama because he is loved by black voters.

Discussion: theGrio, Wizbang, Pajamas Media, Weasel Zippers, Big Government, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit and Politics

Rolling Stone:

Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes? — A whistleblower claims that over the past two decades, the agency has destroyed records of thousands of investigations, whitewashing the files of some of the nation's worst financial criminals. — Imagine a world in which a man …

Discussion: FT Alphaville, naked capitalism and New York Magazine

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

Canucklehead Obama bus-ted! — WASHINGTON — President Obama is barnstorming the heartland to boost US jobs in a taxpayer-financed luxury bus the government had custom built — in Canada, The Post has learned. — The $1.1 million vehicle, one of two that Quebec-based Prevost sold the government …

Discussion: Chicago Tribune, The TrogloPundit, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog, theblogprof, Red Dog Report, Michelle Malkin, Mediaite, The Other McCain, Weasel Zippers, Pirate's Cove, iOwnTheWorld.com, NewsBusters.org blogs, Fausta's Blog and Pajamas Media

Digby / Hullabaloo:

Metaphorically Deaf — I heard this the other day and wasn't going to say anything because, well, there's no point in jumping on everything. But it turns out that this is part of the stump speech — he said it again today — and that's a problem: … Where to begin.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Rick Perry / The Daily Beast:

Sarah Palin Is a Tease! — Even after Michele Bachmann's win in the Iowa straw poll last weekend, Sarah Palin won't go away. Is she really serious about running for president? As Meghan McCain sees it, not a chance.

Discussion: The Hill

Martin Kady II / The Politico:

The Biden ‘terrorist’ story: How it came together — Vice President Joe Biden's comparison of tea party negotiators to terrorists during the debt limit crisis is still causing headaches for the White House — and on the campaign trail — more than two weeks after POLITICO reported Biden's comments …

Discussion: Associated Press and The Gateway Pundit

Dara Kam / Post on Politics:

Florida Supreme Court rules against Scott, finds he violated separation of powers — Gov. Rick Scott overstepped his authority and violated the separation of powers by freezing state agency rulemaking, the Florida Supreme Court ruled today. — Shortly after he was sworn in as governor on Jan. 4 …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and Suburban Guerrilla

CBS News:

Presidential vacations: How does Obama compare? — President Obama and his family will be staying at the 28-acre Blue Heron Farm in Martha's Vineyard. (Ivy Ashe for the Vineyard Gazette) — Following his three-day bus tour to promote his economic agenda — and not to mention …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

GOP Bigs Push Paul Ryan to Run — Mitch Daniels, Jeb Bush, John Boehner, Jim Jordan, and Bill Bennett encourage Ryan to run for president. — As Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan comes to a final decision about running for president, several top national conservatives are encouraging him to join the race.

Discussion: National Review, Red Racing Horses, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Outside the Beltway, Hotline On Call, Politics, GOP 12 and Brilliant at Breakfast

James Oliphant / Los Angeles Times:

Obama dares Republicans to block his coming jobs package — The president, visiting the Midwest, pledges to send Congress a plan in September and challenges Republicans to block it. Not all Democrats are comfortable with his hard-line stance. — Reporting from Davenport, Iowa …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, The TrogloPundit, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Booman Tribune, The POH Diaries, Hullabaloo, Ballot Box, American Power and New York Times

Jake Tapper / Political Punch:
President Obama to Give Major Economy Speech After Labor Day

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, AmSpecBlog and Pajamas Media

Jen Doll / Runnin' Scared:

FDNY Rescues Driver From Truck Dangling From Sanitation Garage — This photo just in. Somehow, a garbage (some are saying a salt) truck managed to get in this precarious position, two stories high, dangling out of a sanitation garage at 58-35 52 Road at 59th Street in Queens.

Discussion: Gothamist, The Atlantic Online and New York Magazine

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Looking Back At The Bush Administration — I was on the radio yesterday with Drew Westen and something that came up was the surprisingly persistent myth that George W Bush was some kind of legislative steamroller who somehow coerced Congress into doing things it didn't want to do through …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Philly.com and A plain blog about politics

Jim Thome / Yahoo! Sports:

Renegade Miami football booster spells out illicit benefits to players — Nevin Shapiro and a second source said this photo of the booster and Kellen Winslow Jr. was taken in Shapiro's VIP section of Opium Garden nightclub in 2003. — KEARNY, N.J. - A University of Miami booster …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Riptide 2.0, emptywheel, Scared Monkeys and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Alex Seitz-Wald / ThinkProgress:

Karl Rove: It's ‘Offensive’ To Say We Are A Christian Nation — Social conservatives often insist the U.S. was founded to be a “Christian nation,” and they accuse progressives and President Obama of undermining these supposedly core values. But leading conservative strategist Karl Rove called …

Discussion: Shakesville