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

7:50 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, Addicting Info, Burnt Orange Report, Connecting.the.Dots, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, The Caucus, National Review, AmSpecBlog and Gretawire

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: Don Surber, The Other McCain, The Impolitic, Sunshine State Sarah, Fox News, Booman Tribune and Gretawire

St. Petersburg Times:

Herman Cain wins Presidency 5 straw poll — ORLANDO — In a stunning upset Saturday, Herman Cain won Florida's Presidency 5 straw poll, a vote of 2,657 Republican activists that in past years has predicted the party nominee. — Cain, the former CEO of Godfather's Pizza who charmed the three …

Discussion: National Review, Michelle Malkin, American Power, RedState, PoliPundit.com and The Other McCain

The Huffington Post:

Herman Cain Wins Florida Straw Poll Ahead Of 2012 … Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain came out on top in the Florida straw poll on Saturday. — The former CEO of Godfather's Pizza won the test of conservative strength with roughly 37 percent of the vote.

Discussion: Ballot Box, The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos and AlterNet

Susan Page / USA Today:

Cain upsets Perry at Florida straw poll — Businessman Herman Cain scored a major upset Saturday, winning the Florida straw poll and creating a new set of problems for Texas Gov. Rick Perry. — The final tally: Cain carried 37% of the vote, Perry 15% and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney 14%.

Discussion: Don Surber and The Political Carnival

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

The Case for Buying Low on Perry — The political betting market Intrade, as of this writing, gives Mitt Romney a 44 percent chance of winning the Republican nomination. I have been pretty bullish on Mitt Romney's chances of securing the nomination for several months now, and I would probably be a buyer at that price.

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

Josh Margolin / New York Post:
‘2nd thoughts’ for Christie on running

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

Arlette Saenz / Politics:
Rick Perry Takes His Chances on Florida Straw Poll

Discussion: CNN, Washington Examiner, Hot Air and Weekly Standard

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, Prairie Weather, UrbanGrounds, 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 plan to save the eurozone 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: naked capitalism

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: Outside the Beltway, New York Magazine, 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