Top Items:

Cain leads nationally — Yesterday PPP released numbers showing Herman Cain leading Mitt Romney 30-22 in Iowa and our monthly look at the national picture finds the exact same numbers. Cain is up 30-22 on Romney with Newt Gingrich sneaking past Rick Perry for 3rd place at 15% to Perry's 14% …
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Oh my: Cain 30, Romney 22, Gingrich 15, Perry 14 — Alternate headline: “Republicans really, really, really don't want to nominate Mitt Romney.” … NBC's teasing its own poll to come later today by noting that Cain leads Romney two-to-one among tea partiers and that Cain/Perry/Bachmann combined continue …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers, Pat Dollard, The Daily Caller, Fire Andrea Mitchell! and Daily Kos


NBC/WSJ poll: Cain now leads GOP pack — The pizza CEO's ascent, and Perry's decline — probably not the last shakeup — Below: — Deputy political director — updated 2011-10-12T22:28:08 — Fueled by Tea Party supporters, conservatives and high-interest GOP primary voters …
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, Taegan Goddard's … and Reuters

First Thoughts: Is Romney a sure thing? — By NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Brooke Brower — Is Romney a sure thing? All signs point in that direction, but the numbers tell a different story... Recapping last night's debate: Another missed opportunity for Perry …
Discussion:
FiveThirtyEight, streiff's blog, Washington Post, A plain blog about politics, Ben Smith's Blog and Lynn Sweet


After another bad debate, is Rick Perry finished? — HANOVER, NH — It would be an understatement to say that Texas Gov. Rick Perry's top aides are unhappy with press reports casting Tuesday night's Republican debate as a make-or-break moment for the Texas governor.


Romney leads GOP, Cain second: Reuters/Ipsos
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Rush Limbaugh, Taegan Goddard's …, Guardian, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway and New York Magazine


My Advice to the Occupy Wall Street Protesters — Hit bankers where it hurts — I've been down to “Occupy Wall Street” twice now, and I love it. The protests building at Liberty Square and spreading over Lower Manhattan are a great thing, the logical answer to the Tea Party and a long-overdue middle finger to the financial elite.
Discussion:
Mediaite and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »
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Wall Street Sees ‘No Exit’ From Woes — Wall Street executives, facing demonstrators camped for a fourth week in New York's financial district, say they're anxious and angry for other reasons. — An era of decline and disappointment for bankers may not end for years …
Discussion:
The Daily Bail, Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo, Deal Journal, ECHIDNE of the snakes, The Awl and New York Magazine


Protests and Power — Should liberals support Occupy Wall Street? — How should liberals feel about Occupy Wall Street? If you follow politics and you think of yourself as a liberal, then you have undoubtedly been grappling with that question in recent weeks.
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Monkey Cage, Hot Air, Business Insider, Rasmussen Reports, Oliver Willis and National Review

Khamenei claims Occupy Wall Street protests will topple US capitalism
Discussion:
Pajamas Media and JammieWearingFool

99 Percenters, Meet the 53 Percenters
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, Speakeasy, Opinionator, ThinkProgress, Online NewsHour and Mediaite


A Modest Proposal: Call Obstruction What It Is — Here is the headline in the online home page of the NYT, about Obama's “pass this jobs bill, pass it now” proposal. Note the word “fails”: — The subhead and the rest of the article make clear that more Senators voted for the bill than against it — 50 to 49.
Discussion:
A plain blog about politics, The TrogloPundit, The New Republic, Hit & Run and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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DWS: We're not here to create jobs
Discussion:
The 1600 Report, UrbanGrounds and Outside the Beltway

NBC/WSJ poll: Despite defeat, Obama's jobs bill is popular
Discussion:
Daily Kos, Associated Press, Washington Monthly, The Political Carnival, US Politics and ThinkProgress

Reid latest to raise the sabotage question
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Prairie Weather, ThinkProgress, New York Times and Indecision Forever

McConnell: Passing bills is more important than joint caucus when it comes to mending partisan relations
Discussion:
The Politico

There's no need to obscure obstructionism
Discussion:
Political Mojo, Democracy in America and NationalJournal.com

Biden Warns of More Rapes and Murders If Jobs Bill Is Not Passed — In Flint, Michigan, Vice President Joe Biden suggested that more rapes and murders could occur if President Barack Obama's jobs bill is not passed. — “In 2008, when Flint had 265 sworn officers on their police force …
Discussion:
Hot Air, JammieWearingFool, Pajamas Media and Pirate's Cove
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Wall Street Journal circulation scam claims senior Murdoch executive — Andrew Langhoff resigns as European publishing chief after exposure of secret channels of cash to help boost sales figures — One of Rupert Murdoch's most senior European executives has resigned following Guardian inquiries …

DOJ: Feds Can Tell Church Who Its Ministers Will Be — In yet another stunning attack on freedom of religion, President Barack Obama's Justice Department asked the Supreme Court last week to give the federal government the power to tell a church who its ministers will be.
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Hot Air


N.H.'s Bill Gardner to Nevada: Drop dead — Bill Gardner just flipped the Republicans the bird. Again. — In a three-page statement released Wednesday afternoon, the New Hampshire secretary of state reiterated his independence and said he'll move the primary up as far as necessary …
Discussion:
CNN, Ben Smith's Blog, Indecision Forever and Gawker
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NH primary could jump up to early December
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online and The Other McCain

Conceding One to the Critics — As readers of this site have no doubt noticed, I'm not one who is greatly troubled by hostile criticism. — On the other hand, sometimes the critics make a valid point. When they do, I'm not too obstinate to concede. — For years, I've shared …
Discussion:
Campaign 2012 and The Daily Caller

All the Single Ladies — IN 2001, WHEN I was 28, I broke up with my boyfriend. Allan and I had been together for three years, and there was no good reason to end things. He was (and remains) an exceptional person, intelligent, good-looking, loyal, kind.
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, ThinkProgress and The Hairpin


Perry Botches U.S. Revolution Century — Texas Governor Rick Perry energetically bounded into the Beta Theta Pi fraternity on Dartmouth College's campus after Tuesday night's debate, but when he was asked a question about states' rights, he slipped up on the dates for when the American Revolution was fought.
Discussion:
Brendan Nyhan, National Review, Little Green Footballs, Campaign 2012, The Raw Story, Political Insider, ThinkProgress and Gawker


Charles Schumer: ‘Impossible’ for Democrats to lose Senate in 2012 — (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) — A top Democrat said it's “almost impossible” Republicans will take over the Senate majority in 2012. — Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), his party's former campaign chairman …
Discussion:
Campaign 2012, National Review and Truthdig
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Schumer's strategy: Tie GOP in 2012 to rising Tea Party unpopularity
Discussion:
The Politico and Weasel Zippers


ACLU sues on S.C. immigration law — ACLU and a coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against South Carolina's tough immigration law on Wednesday, challenging the measure's constitutionality and saying it invites racial profiling. — South Carolina's law, which goes into effect January 1 …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
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Buffett made $62,855,038 last year — NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett this week showed a little more leg in his campaign to get Congress to raise taxes on the uber-rich. — In a letter to Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp Tuesday, Buffett revealed that his adjusted gross income …
Discussion:
The Hill, Weasel Zippers and Business Insider


Apologies Not Accepted — Leadership: Leaked cables show Japan nixed a presidential apology to Hiroshima and Nagasaki for using nukes to end the overseas contingency operation known as World War II. Will the next president apologize for the current one? — The obsessive need of this president …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Little Green Footballs, Big Government, Pat Dollard, NO QUARTER, Conservatives4Palin and National Review


Herman Cain consultant: 9-9-9 wouldn't be accepted — Herman Cain expressed confidence at Tuesday's debate that his much-touted “9-9-9” plan to revamp the tax code would pass Congress, but the paid campaign consultant who scored the plan for Cain said the idea was more of a theory …

OWS Protester Wants College Paid for Because That Is What He Wants — In picking someone out from a crowd, one runs the risk of being accused of cherry-picking. So be it. Over the last week I have spoken to a significant number of people involved in the Occupy Wall Street protests …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers

Jeffress Denounces Gays As Promiscuous, Manipulative And Abnormal — Robert Jeffress' criticism of the Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Mormon faiths has gained increasing attention since he endorsed and introduced Rick Perry at last week's Values Voter Summit.
Discussion:
Good As You and ThinkProgress