memeorandum: Do Voters Discriminate Against Obese Candidates? (John Sides/The Monkey Cage)

10:45 AM ET, September 8, 2011

Top Items:

Romney and Perry Clash, Drawing Lines in G.O.P. Sand — SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — The fight for the Republican presidential nomination began narrowing into an intense and ideological battle at a debate here Wednesday night, with Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Mitt Romney sharply clashing over Social Security …

Discussion: The Politico, Washington Post, Online NewsHour, The Atlantic Online, Questions and Observations, The Caucus, Michelle Malkin, DownWithTyranny!, Outside the Beltway, Bark Bark Woof Woof, 2012 Election Central and The Page

Michael O'Brien / The Hill:

Fireworks between Perry and Romney erupt early in debate — Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) began sparring over their respective jobs records less than 10 minutes into Wednesday's Republican presidential debate. — The highly-anticipated fight between Romney …

Z. Byron Wolf / Politics:

Rick Perry, Galileo and Global Warming — Texas Gov. Rick Perry clung to his skepticism of climate change science in Wednesday's Republican presidential debate when he was asked if he believes man-made climate change is happening. — “The science is not settled on this.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Outside the Beltway, Guardian and PoliPundit.com

Jonathan Chait / The New Republic:

How Rick Perry Won the Debate — The most intellectually interesting portion of tonight's Republican presidential debate occurred in its opening moments, when Rick Perry and Mitt Romney sparred over their states' record of job creation. Perry cited his states record of creating jobs.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ThinkProgress, Washington Post, The Mahablog, The Politico and Rod Dreher

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:

Romney adviser: Perry ‘has lost’ — Mitt Romney's campaign leapt just now on Rick Perry's restatement of his view that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme” and that promising to maintain it in its current form is a “monstrous lie.” — “PERRY DOES NOT BELIEVE SOCIAL SECURITY SHOULD EXIST,” read the headline of Romney's press release.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The New Civil Rights Movement, RedState, The New Republic, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Other McCain and Pajamas Media

Stanley Kurtz / National Review:
Perry Leads — This was a very successful debate debut for Rick Perry.

Discussion: Washington Post, Verum Serum and Rick Perry for President 2012

New York Times:
Attacking the Democrats, but Not Always Getting It Right

Discussion: ThinkProgress, New York Times, Prairie Weather and The Caucus

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Electability a Primary Liability for Perry

Discussion: Washington Post, Pajamas Media, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Saint Petersblog, The Daily Dish, Prairie Weather, The Atlantic Online, Iowa Caucuses, Infidel753, Minnesota Independent and The Nation

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Live-Blogging The Third GOP Debate

Discussion: Althouse, A plain blog about politics and Taegan Goddard's …

Erick Erickson / Erick's blog:
Perry vs. Romney

Discussion: Washington Post, Campaign 2012, Outside the Beltway and RedState

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Perry begins to show his hand on Social Security

Discussion: Connecting.the.Dots, The Caucus, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

Reuters:

New jobless claims rise to 414,000 last week — A man and woman enter a job fair at the Phoenix Workforce Connection in Phoenix, Arizona August 30, 2011. REUTERS/Joshua Lott — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New U.S. jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, further evidence of a weak labor market …

Discussion: Instapundit, Scared Monkeys and americanthinker.com

Bob Willis / Bloomberg:
Jobless Claims in U.S. Unexpectedly Rose

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The Lonely Conservative

George F. Will / Washington Post:

Why liberals fear the ‘Lochner’ decision — Liberal certitudes continue to dissolve, the most recent solvent being a robust new defense of a 1905 Supreme Court decision that liberals have long reviled — and misrepresented. To understand why the court correctly decided Lochner v. New York …

Discussion: The Jawa Report and The Volokh Conspiracy

Tim Mak / Reuters:

Dick Cheney: Hillary Clinton should challenge Barack Obama — Go for it, Hillary! — That was former Vice President Dick Cheney's advice to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton - take on Barack Obama in 2012. — “I think it would be good for the country [for Clinton to run for president] …

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and americanthinker.com

Michael Falcone / Politics:
Dick Cheney to Hillary Clinton: Run!

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taegan Goddard's …, AMERICAblog News and Business Insider

First Read / msnbc.com:

Who do you think won the Republican debate at the Reagan library? — {"contentId":"7658608","totalVotes":"12 2019"} — Who do you think won the GOP debate? — Results — Total of 122,019 votes — Ron Paul — 49.8% — (60,749 votes) — Mitt Romney — 17.4% — (21,171 votes)

Discussion: Don Surber and Towleroad News #gay

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
REPUBLICANS CHEER DEATH PENALTY at Reagan Library Debate (Video)

Discussion: Freedom's Lighthouse

Brad Friedman / MoJo Articles:

Audio: Chris Christie Lets Loose at Secret Koch Brothers Confab — In our exclusive recordings, David Koch introduces the New Jersey governor as “my kind of guy” and “a true political hero.” — Post Comment … On the morning of June 26, Chris Christie, New Jersey's flamboyant …

Discussion: The Washington Independent, The BRAD BLOG, Philly.com, Raw Replay, PoliticusUSA, EconomicPolicyJournal.com, AlterNet and The Reaction

Beth DeFalco / Associated Press:
NJ gov met with oil exec before gas pact pullout

Discussion: Citizens for Legitimate … and Teamster Nation

Raymond Hernandez / New York Times:

Mogul Plans Another Run, to Succeed Lieberman — WASHINGTON — Linda E. McMahon, the wrestling mogul who spent $50 million of her own money in an aggressive but failed Senate run in Connecticut last year, will announce in the coming week that she will try again, according to two Republicans who are close to her.

Discussion: Ballot Box and Business Insider

Sheri Jennings / Associated Press:

‘4:44’ Film Billed as Wake-up Call to Humanity — Abel Ferrara made his new film “4:44 Last Day on Earth” to serve as a wake-up call to humanity over impending ecological disasters. — The movie, by the director of 1992's “Bad Lieutenant,” focuses largely on one couple …

Discussion: Right Wing News

Michael J. Boskin / Wall Street Journal:

The Obama Presidency by the Numbers — The president constantly reminds us that he was dealt a difficult hand. But the evidence is overwhelming that he played it poorly. — When it comes to the economy, presidents, like quarterbacks, often get more credit or blame than they deserve.

Discussion: Don Surber and The Lonely Conservative

The Politico:

At Reagan debate, Jon Huntsman wins a prize nobody wants — There is, of course, no formal political equivalent of the Lady Byng Trophy. Instead, every four years, the press corps dubs one candidate the exemplar of tough, honest, truth-telling, willing to confront his or her party's orthodoxies with a cold blast of reality.

Robert Pear / New York Times:

Doctor Fees Major Factor in Health Costs, Study Says — WASHINGTON — Doctors are paid higher fees in the United States than in several other countries, and this is a major factor in the nation's higher overall cost of health care, says a new study by two Columbia University professors …

New York Times:

The Republican Debate at the Reagan Library — The following is a transcript of the 2012 Republican presidential debate on Sept. 7, 2011, in Simi Valley, Calif., as transcribed by Roll Call. — SPEAKERS: REP. RON PAUL, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE — GOV. RICK PERRY, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

Discussion: Althouse, Hit & Run, Post on Politics and The Lonely Conservative

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

MSNBC's Chris Matthews Demands To Know Why Rick Santorum Didn't Bring Up Gay Marriage At GOP Debate — Last night's GOP presidential debate didn't touch on social issues, but that didn't stop MSNBC's Chris Matthews from demanding to know why Rick Santorum — who has spent weeks arguing …

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Philip Klein / Campaign 2012:

Gallup:Obama approval among Hispanics hits new low — President Obama's approval rating among Hispanics hit a new monthly low at 48 percent in August, according to Gallup, another troubling sign as he heads into next year's election. — In 2008, Obama blew out Sen. John McCain …

Discussion: Gallup and nation.foxnews.com

Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Obama Approval Sinks to New Lows Among Whites, Hispanics

Discussion: Washington Post, Scared Monkeys, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers and Naked Politics

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Schumer: Some Republicans ‘want the economy to actually fail’ — Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday morning that he believed Republicans in Congress would rather see President Obama defeated than economic improvement that would benefit the country as a whole. — “I think that is true.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Buffalo News:

Gun buyback for kids? It's about toys . . . and pizza — This was a different kind of gun buyback program. — The guns being bought back from the streets weren't 9 mm handguns or Glocks. Instead, they were Nerf guns or toy pistols. — And they weren't being bought with cash.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and americanthinker.com

Mike Levine / Fox News:

Holder Denies Prior Knowledge of ‘Fast and Furious’ — The head of the U.S. Justice Department launched his strongest personal defense yet in the growing furor over Operation Fast and Furious, the controversial sting targeting Mexican drug cartels and American gunrunners.

Discussion: The Politico, Weasel Zippers and The Heritage Foundation

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

News Analysis: On the Verge of a Double Dip Recession — If history is a guide, the odds that the American economy is falling into a double-dip recession have risen sharply in recent weeks and may even have reached 50 percent. — Economies have a strong self-reinforcing nature.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …