memeorandum: The GOP field goes AWOL from Afghanistan (Washington Post)

5:55 PM ET, September 14, 2011

Top Items:

Julianna Goldman / Bloomberg:

Obama Approval Plummets on Jobs Plan: Poll — A majority of Americans don't believe President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs plan will help lower the unemployment rate, skepticism he must overcome as he presses Congress for action and positions himself for re- election.

The Politico:

Twin defeats spark Democratic fears — HOWARD BEACH, N.Y. — The Democratic Party's rare loss of a congressional seat in its urban heartland Tuesday, accompanied by a blowout defeat in a Nevada special election, marked the latest in a string of demoralizing setbacks that threatened to deepen …

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

For Democrats, It's 2010 All Over Again — The outcome of any individual election to the United States House, even in a highly partisan era where Congressional elections have a relatively strong correlation with presidential voting and national trends, is going to be determined based on a combination of local and national factors.

Discussion: Campaign 2012, The Politico, Swampland, Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Daily Caller, Greg's Opinion, Guardian, Big Government, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Taylor Marsh, americanthinker.com, New York Magazine and Hot Air

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Ridiculous NY-09 spin: “It's a very difficult district for Democrats” — Republicans won two House seats in a special election last night. One, in Nevada, had been a relatively safe district, and Republican Mark Amodei cruised to victory over Democrat Kate Marshall as expected.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Left Coast Rebel, National Review, City Room, Randy's Roundtable, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Crawdad Hole, Politics, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Weasel Zippers

Manu Raju / The Politico:

Hill Dems pick apart Obama jobs plan — President Barack Obama's new jobs plan is hitting some unexpected turbulence in the halls of Congress: lawmakers from his own party. — As he demands Congress quickly approve his ambitious proposal aimed at reviving the sagging economy …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Hot Air, Nice Deb, Sky Dancing, The Daily Caller, ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers, Lawyers, Guns & Money and TPMDC

David Seifman / New York Post:
Disaster looms for O in 2012 — Republican Bob Turner's victory …

Discussion: americanthinker.com

New York Times:
Bob Turner Wins Anthony Weiner's House Seat

Brian Beutler / TPMDC:
Blue Dogs Cool To Obama Jobs Vision

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

Alex Isenstadt / The Politico:
NY-9: Winners and losers

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog and Ballot Box

CNN:
CNN Poll: More Americans trust Obama on economy over Republicans in Congress

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly and US Politics

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
What, Obama worry? New York House district elects first Republican since 1920

Discussion: Questions and Observations, RedState and Daily Pundit

Devlin Barrett / Wall Street Journal:
GOP Wins in Race to Replace Weiner

Discussion: The Politico, FiveThirtyEight, Big Government, Erick's blog, The Daily Caller, The Anchoress, National Review, The Caucus, Power Line, Pajamas Media, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, AmSpecBlog, theblogprof, Business Insider, Taylor Marsh, The Sundries Shack, americanthinker.com and Moonbattery

Rob Bluey / The Heritage Foundation:

Conservative Nabs Naming Rights to ‘American Jobs Act’ After Obama Delay — President Obama repeatedly asked members of Congress to pass the American Jobs Act last week. But when no Democrat filed Obama's bill after he presented it to Congress, a conservative congressman swiped the name for his own legislation.

Discussion: Publius Forum, Weasel Zippers, Balloon Juice, The Right Scoop, The Lonely Conservative, The Daily Caller and Campaign 2012

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Obama: 'If you love me, you've got to help me pass this bill' — Obama promoted his jobs bill in North Carolina on Wednesday, the third stop on what White House press secretary Jay Carney has called a “campaign” for jobs. — Not for the first time, Obama called back to an audience member who shouted …

Discussion: CNN, Ballot Box, The Politico, The Lonely Conservative, The Crawdad Hole, The Jawa Report, Campaign 2012, Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media

National Enquirer:

WORLD EXCLUSIVE! SARAH PALIN BOMBSHELL BOOK SHOCKING CLAIMS! — In a bombshell NATIONAL ENQUIRER world exclusive, the new issue of The ENQUIRER hitting newsstands today breaks major news on SARAH PALIN and her husband TODD, according to a new book. — Publishing sources familiar …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, Deadspin, The Crawdad Hole, Wonkette, New York Magazine, Naked Politics, Gawker and Indecision Forever

Jack Dickey / Deadspin:

New Biography Claims Sarah Palin Had A One-Night Stand With Glen Rice In 1987 — The National Enquirer grabbed some details from the upcoming Joe McGinniss Sarah Palin book, and this chunk is too delightful not to share with you immediately. Apparently Palin had a fling …

Discussion: TBogg

Elizabeth Flock / Washington Post:

Attack Watch, new Obama campaign site to ‘fight smears,’ becomes laughing stock of the Internet — As the 2012 presidential campaign heats up, President Obama's campaign team has set up a new Web site, AttackWatch.com, to challenge negative statements about the president made by Republican presidential candidates and conservatives.

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Jawa Report, Politics, Hot Air, The Crawdad Hole, HillBuzz.org, iOwnTheWorld.com and Moe Lane

Michelle Malkin:

Attaaaaack Waaaaaaatch; Update: The laughter continues — This is simply brilliant. — Ezra Dulis and Misfit Politics with Brandon Morse cranked out a quick, hilarious rejoinder to Obama's 4th Brigade of Snitch. — Humor is always the best revenge. — Watch Attaaaaack Waaaaaatch. YouTube gold:

Discussion: The Hill, Politics, Big Government and AMERICAN DIGEST

Michelle Malkin:
Obama launches another snitch police squad

Discussion: Hot Air, HillBuzz.org, The Gateway Pundit, Oliver Willis, americanthinker.com, Outside the Beltway, Moonbattery, Big Journalism, The Hill, The Jawa Report, Nice Deb, The Right Scoop and Weasel Zippers

Nick Baumann / Mother Jones:

The GOP's Genius Plan to Beat Obama in 2012 — If Pennsylvania Republicans and their buddies in other states execute a plan to change election rules, Obama has a one-way ticket to Losertown. — Post Comment — Republican state legislators in Pennsylvania are pushing a scheme that …

Discussion: Washington Post, Associated Press, National Review, Business Insider, Pajamas Media, Washington Monthly, Booman Tribune, Hullabaloo, Truthdig, Ballot Box, The Raw Story, Gawker, New York Magazine, Daily Kos, PoliPundit.com and Suburban Guerrilla

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Perry maintains double digit lead — Rick Perry continues to hold a double digit lead over Mitt Romney nationally in the Republican Presidential race. He's at 31% to 18% for Romney, 11% for Ron Paul, 10% for Newt Gingrich, 9% for Michele Bachmann, 8% for Herman Cain, and 2% each for Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum.

Discussion: Vibe, Don Surber, CNN, Las Vegas Sun Blogs, Flower & Thistle, Campaign 2012, Guardian and Balloon Juice

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
Perry knocks Bachmann's HPV story

Discussion: Washington Wire, CNN, Ballot Box, Iowa Caucuses, Runnin' Scared, National Review, New York Magazine and Campaign 2012

Scott Feinberg / Hollywood Reporter:
Toronto 2011: Harvey Weinstein Pokes Fun at Michele Bachmann and Tea Party Before ‘Butter’ Screening

Discussion: Big Journalism, Moe Lane and Big Hollywood

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Republican State Legislators Can Win The 2012 Election Tomorrow If They Want To — “Pennsylvania Ponders Bold Democrat-Screwing Electoral Plan” is Dave Weigel's brilliant headline for a proposal pending in the PA state legislature. The way this would work is for Pennsylvania …

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

David Weigel / Slate:
Pennsylvania Ponders Bold Democrat-Screwing Electoral Plan

Discussion: Daily Kos and Outside the Beltway

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
New Adventures in Electoral Cynicism

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and TalkLeft

Brendan Kennedy / Toronto Star:

Jewish prof forced to defend himself against anti-Semitism claims — A half-listening student, a hypersensitive campus and the speed at which gossip travels on the Internet conspired to create a very damaging game of broken telephone for one York University professor this week.

Discussion: Gawker, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Volokh Conspiracy

Dan Senor / Wall Street Journal:
Why Obama Is Losing the Jewish Vote

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Shot in the Dark and Betsy's Page

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blog:
Revenge of the Jews? — I've never been to a Republican victory party …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Atlantic Online, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers and Pajamas Media

Seth Abramovitch / Gawker:

Ron Paul's Campaign Manager Died of Pneumonia, Penniless and Uninsured — At CNN's Tea Party-indulging debate on Monday, Ron Paul, a medical doctor, faced a pointed line of questioning from Wolf Blitzer regarding the case of an uninsured young man who suddenly found himself in dire need of intensive health care.

Discussion: Mediaite, ThinkProgress, The Political Carnival, The Moderate Voice and New York Magazine

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:

Gosh, Could Obamacare Be Working? — Need a reason to believe the Affordable Care Act is starting to work? The Census Bureau just gave you a half million of them. — That's how many young adults had health insurance in 2010, as compared to 2009, according to the official estimates.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ThinkProgress and Mother Jones

Russell Berman / The Hill:

Blue Dogs push for debt panel to ‘Go Big’ — Add the centrist Blue Dog Coalition to the list of groups pushing the deficit-reduction supercommittee to expand its ambitions and find more than $1.5 trillion in budget savings. — The Blue Dog leadership released a letter to the 12-member panel …

Discussion: CNN

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Supercommittee to meet privately for Thursday breakfast

Discussion: The Politico

Tyler Durden / ZeroHedge:

Blast From Paul Krugman's Past: “Social Security Is A Ponzi Scheme And Will Soon Be Over” — It is one thing (what thing that is we are not sure, but we have heard others say it, so like all good lemmings we will say it too) for Rick Perry to call Social Security a ponzi scheme.

Discussion: Big Journalism, Paul Krugman, National Review and NewsBusters.org

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:

AP Exclusive: Long-term care plan alarms ignored — WASHINGTON (AP) — Even as leading Democrats offered assurances to the contrary, government experts repeatedly warned that a new long-term care insurance plan could go belly up, saddling taxpayers with another underfunded benefit program …

Discussion: Hit & Run and Campaign 2012

Matthew Yglesias / ThinkProgress:

Be The Change You Want To See In The World — I got a great email today from a self-described “well-educated, politically literate, 30-something person with a job and a kid” who spends “let's say 45 minutes a day that I spend thinking about politics” and who had a great question:

Discussion: Washington Monthly and TalkLeft

Financial Times:

Obama to propose Medicare and Medicaid cuts — Barack Obama is expected to lay out a plan next week that would cut several hundred billion dollars from Medicare and Medicaid, the large government healthcare schemes for the elderly and the poor, as part of a pitch to cut future deficits by more than $1,500bn.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, New York Times and Hullabaloo

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Is It Weird Enough Yet? — Every time I listen to Gov. Rick Perry of Texas and Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota talk about how climate change is some fraud perpetrated by scientists trying to gin up money for research, I'm always reminded of one of my favorite movie lines …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and A plain blog about politics