memeorandum: Judges Compete for Law Clerks on a Lawless Terrain (Catherine Rampell/New York Times)

6:45 PM ET, September 24, 2011

Top Items:

Chris Christie back in spotlight as Perry sags — With the party's frontrunner sagging, Chris Christie is reconsidering pleas from Republican elites and donors to run for president in 2012, two Republican sources told POLITICO. — The New Jersey governor has indicated he is listening …

Discussion: CNN, The Page, No More Mister Nice Blog, Taylor Marsh, Burnt Orange Report, Addicting Info, Connecting.the.Dots, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Caucus, National Review, AmSpecBlog, Gretawire and Hot Air

Byron York / Campaign 2012:

In FL straw poll, a late surge for Herman Cain — ORLANDO — There's no scientific polling, but talks with dozens of delegates who will vote in today's Florida straw poll suggest that many are making last-minute decisions to vote for Herman Cain. — What seems to be happening is this …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Don Surber, The Other McCain, The Impolitic, Hot Air, Politics, Fox News, Sunshine State Sarah, Booman Tribune and Gretawire

Josh Margolin / New York Post:

‘2nd thoughts’ for Christie on running — He's thinking about becoming the new face in the race. — New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie is considering a run for president, after getting lobbied hard from some of the GOP's top leaders and money men, according to a well-placed Republican source …

Discussion: Politics, Ballot Box, Scared Monkeys, Outside the Beltway, Flower & Thistle and The Politico

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
The Case for Buying Low on Perry

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Outside the Beltway, The Caucus, Iowa Caucuses and The Mahablog

Joe Nocera / New York Times:

The Phony Solyndra Scandal — If Brian Harrison and W. G. Stover, the two Solyndra executives who took the Fifth Amendment at a Congressional hearing on Friday, ever spend a day in jail, I'll stand on my head in Times Square. — It's not going to happen, for one simple reason: neither they …

Discussion: Salon, Hit & Run, UrbanGrounds, Prairie Weather, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, JammieWearingFool and Associated Press

Steven F. Hayward / Weekly Standard:
President Solyndra — And his mean green wealth-wasting machine.

Discussion: Power Line

Anand Giridharadas / New York Times:

The Fraying of a Nation's Decency — CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — Amazon.com, the books-to-diapers-to-machetes Internet superstore, is a perfect snapshot of the American Dream, circa 2011. — It grows by the hour, fueled by a relentless optimism that has made America America. First it sold books.

Discussion: Whiskey Fire

Philip Aldrick / Telegraph:

Multi-trillion grand plan to save the eurozone is being prepared — European officials are working on a grand plan to restore confidence in the single currency area that would involve a massive bank recapitalisation, giving the bail-out fund several trillion euros of firepower, and a possible Greek default.

Discussion: AMERICAN FUTURE

Phillip Longman / Foreign Policy:

The World Will Be More Crowded — With Old People — Actually, the children aren't our future. — Demography is not destiny, as is sometimes claimed. The human race could be wiped out by a plague or an asteroid, or transformed by some new technology. But no matter what …

Discussion: Greg's Opinion

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Obama plays a round of golf with Clinton — President Obama headed to Andrews Air Force Base on Saturday for a round of golf with one of the few people who might have some idea of the difficulties the president has been facing: Former President Bill Clinton.

Discussion: CNN and Weasel Zippers

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Poll finds Obama approval at historic low — President Barack Obama's approval ratings have fallen to a new low, with only 36 percent of Americans saying that they approve of the way he is handling his job overall, according to a new poll from the Economist/YouGov.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin

today.yougov.com News:
Problems For The President: Americans Give Him Lowest Approval Rating Ever

Discussion: New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, Don Surber, The Strata-Sphere and Weasel Zippers

Marie Rohde / WisPolitics.com:

WisPolitics: Guv's spokesman, two others granted immunity in ongoing John Doe probe — Gov. Scott Walker's spokesman is one of three witnesses who have been granted immunity in an ongoing John Doe investigation that includes allegations of campaign law violations, according to records obtained by WisPolitics.com .

Discussion: Firedoglake and The Political Carnival

Dennis Overbye / New York Times:

After Report on Speed, a Rush of Scrutiny — One upon a time, the only thing that traveled faster than the speed of light was gossip. — Thanks to the Internet, the whole physics world was watching on Friday when Dario Autiero, of the Institut de Physique Nucléaire de Lyon in France …