memeorandum: Solyndra loan: White House pressed on review of solar company now under investigation (Joe Stephens/Washington Post)

11:35 AM ET, September 14, 2011

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: RedState, The Moderate Voice, Washington Post, NY Daily News, Associated Press, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Pirate's Cove, Pajamas Media and JammieWearingFool

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: Swampland, Taylor Marsh, Guardian, americanthinker.com, The Moderate Voice, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, AmSpecBlog and Balloon Juice

Rachel Weiner / Washington Post:

Republican Bob Turner wins New York special election — Businessman Bob Turner (R) defeated state Assemblyman David Weprin (D) in the special election for the House seat held by former New York Rep. Anthony Weiner (D). — Turner's victory is regarded as an upset given the Democratic history …

Discussion: Associated Press, Campaign 2012, Washington Monthly, The Daily Caller, AmSpecBlog, National Review, The Politico, The Other McCain, theblogprof, The Lonely Conservative, Atlas Shrugs, American Power, Politics, The Gateway Pundit, Outside the Beltway and Don Surber

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: Randy's Roundtable, Weasel Zippers and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:

GOP Wins in NY House Race, Seen as Obama Rebuke — Republicans have scored an upset victory in a House race that started as a contest to replace Rep. Anthony Weiner after he resigned in a sexting scandal but became a referendum on President Barack Obama's economic policies.

Discussion: RedState, NOM Blog, Wonkette, The Atlantic Online, The Gateway Pundit and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

New York Times:

Bob Turner Wins Anthony Weiner's House Seat — A little-known Republican businessman from Queens, channeling voter discontent with President Obama into an upset, won election to Congress on Tuesday from the heavily Democratic district in New York City last represented by Anthony D. Weiner.

Discussion: Gothamist, NY Daily News, iWatch News, City Hall, City Room, The Confluence, Salon, Politics, The Politico, The Reaction, The Raw Story, Prairie Weather, The Agonist, Towleroad News #gay, The BLT, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Balloon Juice

Washington Post:

Republican wins Democratic New York House seat — With the outcome of his own reelection effort 14 difficult months away, President Obama suffered a sharp rebuke Tuesday when voters in New York elected a conservative Republican to represent a Democratic district that has not been in GOP hands since the 1920s.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, NO QUARTER, TalkLeft, Patterico's Pontifications and Gawker

Marc Ambinder / NationalJournal.com:

White House Already Spinning Feared New York Loss — The White House is girding for a political loss in the heart of New York on Tuesday. They're also spinning up an explanation that won't entirely result in the blame landing on the low popularity of the president.

Discussion: Hot Air, Questions and Observations, FiveThirtyEight, Top of the Ticket, The Lonely Conservative, Scared Monkeys, Washington Post, Daily Pundit, Politisite, Fox News and Hotline On Call

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

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Pajamas Media and Gawker

Ashley Killough / CNN:
GOP's Turner wins House seat vacated by Weiner

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Ballot Box and The Hill

Andrew Breitbart / Big Government: After Turner Earthquake in Weiner District, Democrats' Civil War Against Obama Begins

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:
GOP coasts to victory in Nevada race

Discussion: Power Line and The Politico

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

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Taylor Marsh, Campaign 2012, The Sundries Shack, Moonbattery, iOwnTheWorld.com and Pajamas Media

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
NY-09 Results (AP Calls Race for Republican)(Victory Song and Tweet of Night added)

Discussion: Firedoglake, Slate, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, Pajamas Media and RedState

Cameron Joseph / Ballot Box:
Republicans win Weiner's seat

Discussion: The Politico, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Pajamas Media and National Review

Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Amodei defeats Marshall for Nevada congressional seat

Discussion: Washington Monthly

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

Discussion: Betsy's Page and Shot in the Dark

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.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Hot Air, Don Surber, Outside the Beltway, Randy's Roundtable, The Gateway Pundit, Taegan Goddard's …, americanthinker.com, RedState, Business Insider, JammieWearingFool and The Lonely Conservative

Joe Garofoli / San Francisco Chronicle:
Field Poll: Obama approval rating at 46% in state

Discussion: Daily Kos and Mediaite

Quinnipiac University:
Virginia Voters Back Tougher Abortion Rules, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Gov. McDonnell's …

Discussion: GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's … and Hotline On Call

Reuters:
Obama's approval rating falls in California: poll

Discussion: msnbc.com and JammieWearingFool

Emily Schultheis / Reuters:
Poll: Obama is still popular abroad

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Joe Stephens / Washington Post:

Solyndra loan: White House pressed on review of solar company now under investigation — The Silicon Valley company, a centerpiece in President Obama's initiative to develop clean energy technologies, had been tentatively approved for the loan by the Energy Department but was awaiting …

Discussion: House Energy …, The Politico, msnbc.com, Hot Air, Fortune, National Review, AmSpecBlog, Right Wing News, Hit & Run, Betsy's Page, New York Times, Green and Pajamas Media

ABCNEWS:

Emails: Obama White House Monitored Huge Loan to ‘Connected’ Firm — Chris Gronet, right, talks about solar technology with President Barack Obama on a tour of the Solyndra solar panel company, in this May 26, 2010 file photo, in Fremont, Calif. (Paul Chinn/Pool/Getty Images)

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, The Politico, The Strata-Sphere, Business Insider, Doug Ross, RedState, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers, The Huffington Post, National Review and Hot Air

USA Today:
Uncle Sam play venture capitalist? See Solyndra

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Campaign 2012, Grist and ThinkProgress

Henry I. Miller / National Review:

Gardasil and the GOP — More than an hour into last night's debate, Rep. Michele Bachmann attacked Gov. Rick Perry on the HPV vaccination controversy — or more accurately pseudo-controversy. It stems from an executive order issued by Perry in 2007 that required all Texas girls to receive Gardasil …

Discussion: Power Line, Flopping Aces, Outside the Beltway, Pajamas Media, Riehl World View, Washington Post, American Power, RedState, Ben Smith's Blog and The Politico

Ben Howe / RedState:
Bachmann Stayed Quiet on Mandatory Vaccinations While Serving Minnesota

Discussion: Guardian, Erick's blog, GOP 12, Leon_H_Wolf's blog and The Politico

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: The Moderate Voice

Karin Tanabe / The Politico:

Al Gore calls out Colbert's ‘character’ — He talked about global warming, his television projects and the days when Rick Perry was a Democrat, but the highlight of Al Gore's appearance on Tuesday night's “Colbert Report” was his giggle fit. — After the former VP talked about his new Current TV show …

Discussion: ThinkProgress

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:

Huntsman staffer says she is ‘sick and sad’ for the Republican Party after watching presidential debates — The behavior by some members of the audience at the most recent Republican presidential debates has at least one campaign staffer concerned about the future of the GOP.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

‘Supercommittee’? More than stupor committee. — So what's so super about the “supercommittee”? — The Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, as the supercommittee is known formally, held a first meeting last week that consisted entirely of speech-making by the panel members.

Discussion: Simply Left BehindThe …, Prairie Weather, New York Times and Capital Gains and Games blogs

Wall Street Journal:

The 2013 Tax Cliff — Business had better enjoy the next 16 months. — President Obama unveiled part two of his American Jobs Act on Monday, and it turns out to be another permanent increase in taxes to pay for more spending and another temporary tax cut. No surprise there.

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Bob Egelko / San Francisco Chronicle:

Court backs district on teacher's religious banners — Saying a high school teacher has no right to “use his public position as a pulpit,” a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that a San Diego County school district was on solid legal ground when it ordered a math instructor …

Discussion: Pajamas Media

Ryan J. Foley / Associated Press:

Testimony: Cain campaign concealed gay aide's role — IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Facing concerns from supporters in Iowa, Herman Cain's presidential campaign tried to conceal the role of a top adviser who had been ousted as leader of a gay pride group in Wisconsin amid a financial scandal, a former staffer has alleged in legal testimony.

Discussion: Ballot Box, ThinkProgress and Box Turtle Bulletin

Glen Johnson / Boston Globe:

A Brown-Warren US Senate matchup could rival Weld-Kerry battle royale — Should Elizabeth Warren be fortunate enough to win the Massachusetts Democratic Party's US Senate nomination next year, state voters could see an election contest that rivals the concurrent presidential campaign.

Discussion: Above the Law, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com, Politics, Law Blog and Wall Street Journal

Kim Severson / New York Times:

North Carolina Voters to Decide on Same-Sex Marriage — ATLANTA — North Carolina on Tuesday took a big step toward losing its status as the last state in the Southeast without a constitutional amendment making it clear that marriage is legal only when there is a bride and bridegroom.

Discussion: Runnin' Scared and Balloon Juice