memeorandum: TPM2012 — Romney, Harvard Grad With Harvard Advisers, Rips ‘Harvard Faculty Lounge’ (2012.talkingpointsmemo.com)

3:30 PM ET, September 26, 2011

Top Items:

CNN:

CNN Poll: Perry still at top but Romney stronger vs. Obama — Washington (CNN) - Despite his performances in the two most recent Republican presidential debates, a new national survey indicates that Texas Gov. Rick Perry remains on top of the field in the race for the GOP nomination.

Discussion: GOP 12, Christian Science Monitor, Wake up America, Washington Wire, Washington Post, The Politico, Taegan Goddard's …, Hot Air, Hotline On Call, Pajamas Media, Outside the Beltway, The Page, Daily Kos, HotAirPundit, National Review and Ricochet Conversation Feed

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

How Lucky Is Mitt Romney? — “Go to sleep, Rick Perry. Go to sleeeep ... ” — I have spent more than a year predicting the electoral demise of Mitt Romney. Here is a Mormon, once fervently pro-choice candidate running to lead an electorate whipped into a frenzied belief …

Discussion: The Other McCain, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air and Daily Kos

Roanoke College:

RC Poll: Obama trails Republican front runners; Allen and Kaine in dead heat in Va poll — Jobs trump deficit; Virginians want political compromise — Conducted by The Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College — With 14 months remaining until the 2012 election …

Discussion: National Review, GOP 12, Hot Air and The Daily Caller

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Trump blasts DNC ad, to meet with Romney Monday afternoon

Discussion: CNN

Sam Youngman / The Hill:

Obama mocks Perry, Republican debates — President Obama broadened his attack on Republicans Sunday night, firing an indirect shot at Texas Gov. Rick Perry and condemning audience members at recent Republican debates. — At a fundraiser in San Jose, Calif., Obama said that some in the audience might …

Discussion: Ballot Box, Swampland, ThinkProgress, Weasel Zippers, Sweetness & Light, Pajamas Media, Politics, CNN and Towleroad News #gay

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:

‘Outrageous’ — A Rick Perry spokesman pushed back on President Obama's use of the Texas wildfires in a fundraising speech last night to criticize the GOP frontrunner as a climate-change critic. — “It's outrageous President Obama would use the burning of 1,500 homes, the worst fires in state history …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Ben Smith's Blog, Campaign 2012, Sister Toldjah, Mediaite, Austin American-Statesman, Weasel Zippers and New York Times

Matt Negrin / The Politico:
Obama mocks Perry, GOP audiences

Discussion: Washington Post and ThinkProgress

Jackie Calmes / The Caucus:
At Fund-Raisers, Obama Refers to Audiences at G.O.P. Debates

Discussion: Michelle Malkin and Washington Monthly

Maggie Haberman / The Politico:
Obama raps Perry as gov ‘whose state is on fire’

Discussion: Mediaite, Trail Blazers Blog and The Page

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

New gaffe: Obama confuses Jews with janitors — President Obama spoke to the Congressional Black Caucus awards banquet over the weekend. — Those folks will stick with him in 2012, of course. — But they've been somewhat miffed in recent months that the first post-partisan president …

Discussion: Hot Air, Wizbang and The Enterprise Blog

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:

Maxine Waters: Obama remarks ‘curious’ — Rep. Maxine Waters on Monday called President Barack Obama's comments to black Americans that they should stop complaining “a bit curious” and said she doesn't “know who he was talking to.” — The California Democrat told CBS's “Early Show” …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, The Western Experience, theblogprof, Pundit & Pundette, Weasel Zippers and Don Surber

Jamie Weinstein / The Daily Caller:
Obama gaffe: President says billionaires should pay ‘Jew’ tax rate

Discussion: Sister Toldjah and Weasel Zippers

Yahoo! News:
Congresswoman found speech to blacks ‘curious’

Discussion: Ricochet Conversation Feed, Pajamas Media and National Review

Rick Perry / The Daily Beast:

Roger's Reality Show — First, Ailes dialed back the Tea Party talk. Now he's turning the GOP race into a political X-Factor—and steering the election agenda one more time. — It was part political spectacle, part American Idol, part YouTube extravaganza, a pure Roger Ailes production …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly, Salon, Gawker, Rumproast, The Daily Dish, Business Insider, Ben Smith's Blog, GOP 12, Poynter, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

Lydia Saad / Gallup:

Americans Express Historic Negativity Toward U.S. Government — Several long-term Gallup trends at or near historical lows — PRINCETON, NJ — A record-high 81% of Americans are dissatisfied with the way the country is being governed, adding to negativity that has been building over the past 10 years.

Discussion: The Hill, Firedoglake, The Strata-Sphere, The Politico, Indecision Forever, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, The Western Experience, Hotline On Call, Via Meadia, Prairie Weather and National Review

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:

Cain nearly quit campaign before Florida straw poll, calls Obama a ‘liar’ — ORLANDO, Fla. — Not everyone needs to go to Disney World to have fun in central Florida. — After one of Herman Cain's strongest showings yet at a Republican presidential debate Thursday, and two days …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Big Hollywood, National Review, Washington Post, GOP 12, The Other McCain, Randy's Roundtable, nation.foxnews.com, American Spectator, Campaign 2012, Naked Politics, Gretawire, Business Insider and NewsBusters.org

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Shutdown looms: Spotlight now on Senate after Boehner wrangled House GOP votes — With time running out, Congress returns Monday to try to pass a short-term funding measure to avert a government shutdown and avoid yet another market-rattling showdown over the federal budget.

Discussion: The Politico, Open Congress, Washington Monthly, WNYC News and ThinkProgress

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Democrats Fighting Funding Resolution To Stop a Dangerous Precedent

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and Hullabaloo

Robert Pear / New York Times:
Flood Victims Getting Fed Up With Congress

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Seeing the Forest and ThinkProgress

Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:

Videos Show Police Using Pepper Spray at Protest on the Financial System — For a few moments on Saturday, the confrontations between the police and the protesters just south of Union Square in Manhattan seemed fairly typical. People pushed, the police shoved and arrests were made …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, City Room, The Moderate Voice, AlterNet, Simply Left BehindThe …, Crooks and Liars, Towleroad News #gay, Suburban Guerrilla, The Awl, Connecting.the.Dots and Runnin' Scared

Philosopher Artists / Davids Camera Craft:
Occupy Wall Street March Turns Violent

Discussion: Firedoglake, Democracy Now, The Atlantic Online, Guardian, Gawker, Runnin' Scared, Techdirt, AlterNet, The Agonist and The Mahablog

FIRE:

‘Firefly’ and Anti-Fascism Posters Get Professor Threatened with Criminal Charges on University of Wisconsin Campus — A professor has been censored twice, reported to the “threat assessment team,” and threatened with criminal charges because of satirical postings on his office door.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Hit & Run, Instapundit and Althouse

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Euro Zone Death Trip — Is it possible to be both terrified and bored? That's how I feel about the negotiations now under way over how to respond to Europe's economic crisis, and I suspect other observers share the sentiment. — On one side, Europe's situation is really, really scary …

Discussion: Washington Post, Paul Krugman, Northern Reflections, Business Insider, Firedoglake, naked capitalism, Prairie Weather, The Big Picture and Daily Kos

Jim McElhatton / Washington Times:

California Democratic Party among Solyndra's creditors — Out of the hundreds of out-of-work employees, vendors, investors and other creditors in the bankruptcy of government-backed solar-panel maker Solyndra LLC, one name stands out: the California Democratic Party.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation and Sweetness & Light

Washington Times:
Powerful lobbying — Beyond being listed as a creditor …

Discussion: National Review and The Heritage Foundation

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

The bogus ‘third party’ dodge — Calling for a third party is a quick and easy way to get yourself booked for a round of cable TV appearances. But many of those calling for a third party are refusing to reckon with an inconvenient fact: One of the two parties already occupies …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hit & Run and Paul Krugman

Erik Eckholm / New York Times:

Companies Get Gay-Rights Heat Over Christian Donations — The culture war over gay rights has entered the impersonal world of e-commerce. — A handful of advocates, armed with nothing more than their keyboards, have put many of the country's largest retailers, including Apple, Microsoft …

Discussion: Hot Air and Joe. My. God.

Stephen M. Walt / Foreign Policy:

Mearsheimer responds to Goldberg's latest smear — Ever since John Mearsheimer and I began writing about the Israel lobby, some of our critics have leveled various personal charges against us. These attacks rarely addressed the substance of what we wrote — a tacit concession that both facts …

Discussion: The Volokh Conspiracy, The Atlantic Online, A Chequer-Board of Nights … and The Daily Dish

Chuck Bennett / New York Post:

Cocaine ‘blow’ to economy — Here's another sign of the stalled economy — New Yorkers are ditching their coke habits. — Cocaine-related emergency-room admissions, overdoses and requests for rehab have declined since the economy started its 2008 decline, according to data obtained by The Post.

Discussion: Gawker, Runnin' Scared, FP Passport and New York Magazine

CNN:

Paul Ryan: Popular by pushing the unpopular — Washington (CNN) — To hear Paul Ryan explain it, there's just one way to cope with becoming the Democrats' favorite man to hate: “I gave fear up for Lent this year,” Ryan told CNN during an extensive interview. — And he's not kidding.

Discussion: Daily Kos