memeorandum: The American Political Parties Are Breaking Down (Walter Russell Mead/Via Meadia)

4:45 PM ET, October 31, 2011

Top Items:

Exclusive: 2 women accused Herman Cain of inappropriate behavior — During Herman Cain's tenure as the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, at least two female employees complained to colleagues and senior association officials about inappropriate behavior by Cain …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, Right Wing Watch, American Prospect, Ben Smith's Blog, CNN, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, National Review, The Other McCain, Firedoglake, Business Insider, The New Republic, The Spectacle Blog, Erick's blog, Outside the Beltway, Swampland, The Daily Caller, Guardian, News Hounds, Mediaite, msnbc.com, GayPatriot, Big Government, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …, Campaign 2012, NewsBusters.org blogs, CBS News, Boston Globe, Roger L. Simon, Los Angeles Times, ThinkProgress, The PJ Tatler, nation.foxnews.com, Politicons, The Atlantic Online, OpenSecrets.org, Wake up America, Associated Press, Hot Air, US Politics, No More Mister Nice Blog, Truth Wins Out, Political Mojo, Wonkette, PolitickerNY, The Crawdad Hole, Don Surber, Pat Dollard, A plain blog about politics, Nice Deb, The Raw Story, Ballot Box, White House Dossier, 2012 Decoded, Matt Glassman, The Daily Dish, Indecision Forever, Townhall.com, The Gateway Pundit, Online NewsHour, Iowa Caucuses, Bark Bark Woof Woof, The Political Carnival, Truthdig, Poynter, Daily Kos, The Greenroom, The Enterprise Blog, RedState, News Desk, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Balloon Juice, Scared Monkeys, The Page, Feministing, The Lonely Conservative, Weasel Zippers, Big Journalism, Sky Dancing, Ed Driscoll, The Moderate Voice, Betsy's Page, GOP 12, Gothamist, Pundit & Pundette, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Caucus, Towleroad News #gay, The Right Scoop, Booman Tribune, Gawker, Freedom's Lighthouse and Whiskey Fire

First Read / msnbc.com:

NBC confirms one Cain accuser received cash settlement — By NBC's Chuck Todd, Lisa Myers, and Domenico Montanaro — NBC News has confirmed that one woman received a settlement from the National Restaurant Association after complaining about inappropriate sexual conduct by Herman Cain.

Discussion: Ballot Box, Los Angeles Times, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Shakesville, Mediaite, Daily Kos and US Politics

Ross Ramsey / The Texas Tribune:

Cain Edges Perry in New UT/TT Poll … Keywords: - Texas Republican Party, - Herman Cain, - Michele Bachmann, - Mitt Romney, - Ron Paul, - Texas Governor Rick Perry, - 2012 Presidential Race, - Perry for President, - Rick Perry Politics, - UT/Texas Tribune Poll

Discussion: Fox News, Hot Air, The Caucus, The Daily Caller, Swampland, Business Insider, Rick Perry 2012 Campaign …, CNN, Don Surber, Outside the Beltway, Ballot Box, KXAN-TV, National Review, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's … and Freedom's Lighthouse

Business Insider:

AMAZING MUST-WATCH VIDEO: Herman Cain Just Broke Into Song At The National Press Club — Herman Cain may be the only presidential candidate in history to actually benefit from a sex scandal. — Just hours after Politico broke a story about accusations of sexual harassment against Cain …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Gawker, The Crawdad Hole, Hit & Run and The Enterprise Blog

JSOnline:

State firm's cash to Herman Cain may breach federal campaign, tax laws — Herman Cain's two top campaign aides ran a private Wisconsin-based corporation that helped the GOP presidential candidate get his fledgling campaign off the ground by originally footing the bill for tens of thousands …

The Caucus:

Cain Calls Harassment Issue a ‘Witch Hunt’ — Updated Herman Cain called the accusations of sexual harassment against him “a witch hunt” and said he had been falsely accused while the head of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. — Declaring at the National Press Club that he …

Discussion: Power Line, Associated Press, The Politico, Washington Post, The Impolitic, Ben Smith's Blog, FishbowlDC, ABCNEWS, The New Republic, Firedoglake, The Daily Caller, Riptide 2.0 and The Daily Dish

Washington Examiner:

Cain details gesture that led to sex accusation — Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain for the first time has offered a detailed recollection of what led an employee of the National Restaurant Association to lodge a sexual harassment charge against him when he was CEO of the organization.

Discussion: The Page

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Politico's Martin Dodges Question On Cain Details — Herman Cain has been taking heat for his response to questions about Politico's story on alleged sexual harassment. But today on Morning Joe, it was Politico's own Jonathan Martin, lead author of the story, who was being evasive about the details of the allegations against Cain.

Discussion: Mediaite, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, The Spectacle Blog, Campaign 2012, Big Journalism, Patterico's Pontifications and Freedom's Lighthouse

RealClearPolitics Video Log:
Coulter: Politico's Smear Of Cain Shows Liberal Media “Terrified Of Strong, Conservative, Black Men”

Discussion: The Politico, New York Magazine, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Daily Dish, The Gateway Pundit, News Desk, Business Insider and National Review

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Cain: “I was falsely accused” of sexual harassment at trade group

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Gawker, The Crawdad Hole, The Daily Dish and Freedom's Lighthouse

Alexander Burns / The Politico:
Herman Cain acknowledges harassment accusations

Discussion: Daily Kos

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:
Cain Says ‘Herman Is Going to Stay Herman’ as Allegations Swirl

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Kristina Wong / ABCNEWS:

Occupy Veterans Movement Growing Across U.S. — Since Occupy Wall Street protests have broken out in cities across the U.S. and abroad, support has come from what might seem like an unlikely corner: war veterans. — But two of the highest-profile protesters — each from opposite ends of the country — had served in wars.

Discussion: About.com US Liberal Politics, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Shakesville

Seung Min Kim / The Politico:

Boehner: I get OWS ‘frustrations’ — Speaker John Boehner said Monday that he understood the “frustrations” driving the Occupy Wall Street movement - but urged protesters to be peaceful to prevent demonstrations from blowing out of control. — “I understand people's frustrations,” …

Discussion: City Room, THEROOT.COM, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers, Daily Kos and The Daily Caller

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Occupy Wall Street doesn't reflect American sentiment, Sen. Lieberman says

Discussion: Pat Dollard and Weasel Zippers

New York Post:
OWS camp gets really commie-cal

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Big Government and JammieWearingFool

Mackenzie Weinger / The Politico:
‘Occupy Wall Street’ seeks to trademark the brand

Discussion: CNNMoney.com and Weasel Zippers

Harry Siegel / NY Daily News:

At Occupy Wall Street central, a rift is growing between east and west sides of the plaza — The Wall Street protesters determined to “Occupy Everything” now find themselves, in a sense, occupied — The Wall Street protesters determined to “Occupy Everything” now find themselves, in a sense, occupied.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Volokh Conspiracy, Wake up America, Gothamist, Hullabaloo, ThinkProgress, Althouse, The Crawdad Hole and JammieWearingFool

David Frum / CNN:

How tea party could drive GOP to disaster — Editor's note: David Frum, a CNN contributor, was a special assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2002. He is the author of six books, including “Comeback: Conservatism That Can Win Again,” and is the editor of FrumForum.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Agonist, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Mahablog and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney Limits National Media Exposure With Frontrunner Strategy

Discussion: Daily Kos, Big Journalism, Washington Monthly, GOP 12, msnbc.com and Don Surber, more at Mediagazer »

Ben Geman / The Hill:

Second Energy Dept.-backed company goes bankrupt — A Massachusetts company that received a $43 million Energy Department loan guarantee last year filed for bankruptcy Sunday, a step certain to fuel criticism of federal green energy financing in the wake of the solar company Solyndra's collapse.

Discussion: CBS News, CNN, Bloomberg, Michelle Malkin, NewsBusters.org, Guardian, New York Times, Big Government, The Heritage Foundation, The PJ Tatler, The Lonely Conservative and The Hill

Reuters:
Beacon Power bankrupt; had U.S. backing like Solyndra

Discussion: Verum Serum, Hot Air, Don Surber, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller and Business Insider

AnnArbor.com News:

Mass exodus? University of Michigan tries to fight domestic partner benefits ban as employees think of looking elsewhere — Andries Coetzee, left, and his partner Gary Woodall stand outside of their home in Ann Arbor on Friday. Woodall may lose his health care coverage if the bill proposing …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Gay Politics, Associated Press and Balloon Juice

Bernie Becker / The Hill:

The Hill Poll: Fears about inequality in income grow — Two-thirds of likely voters say the American middle class is shrinking, and 55 percent believe income inequality has become a big problem for the country, according to this week's The Hill Poll. — Only 14 percent of respondents …

Discussion: PERRspectives, ThinkProgress, Prairie Weather and The Maddow Blog

The Politico:
Income gap slips into GOP talk

Discussion: American Spectator and ThinkProgress

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Bombs, Bridges and Jobs — A few years back Representative Barney Frank coined an apt phrase for many of his colleagues: weaponized Keynesians, defined as those who believe “that the government does not create jobs when it funds the building of bridges or important research or retrains workers …

Discussion: Modeled Behavior, Prairie Weather, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, Cafe Hayek and Bark Bark Woof Woof

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Michelle Obama approval remains high, but down slightly from previous months — Voters' approval First Lady Michelle Obama remains high but a new poll found that her approval ratings have fallen slightly. — According to the Marist Poll released Monday, 63 percent of Americans hold …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and CNN

Jasmine Coleman / Guardian:

World's ‘seven billionth baby’ is born — Danica May Camacho, a girl born in Philippine capital Manila, is chosen by UN to symbolically mark global population milestone — The world's seven billionth baby has been born in a packed government-run hospital in the Philippines.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, iOwnTheWorld.com, msnbc.com, The Daily Caller and New York Magazine

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

Limbaugh: Politico Story An “Unconscionable Racially Charged Attack” — Rush Limbaugh opines on the Politico article accusing Herman Cain of sexual harassment in the 1990s. Cain responded to the charge earlier today. Transcript from Limbaugh's opening monologue: The Politico …

Discussion: Business Insider and The PJ Tatler

Vanity Fair:

The December 2011 60 Minutes/Vanity Fair Poll — America's dogs aren't the only ones who would miss the mailman. But we're happy to skip dinner in the dark. — Kindness: that's the leitmotif of this month's poll. The kindness might not be immediately evident in each case …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Wonkette and Weasel Zippers

WTVR-TV:

Police break up Occupy Richmond protests — RICHMOND, VA (WTVR-TV) - Police cleared out the public park in downtown Richmond where members of Occupy Richmond were camped since October 15. — At 1 a.m., Halloween morning, police on foot and on horseback told Occupy Richmond demonstrators to leave Kanawha Plaza.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, CBS News, Pixiq and The Raw Story

Ann Compton / ABCNEWS:

Obama to Sign Prescription Drug Executive Order — Using the legal force of an executive order, President Obama is taking action on the health care front as part of his pressure on Congress for action on his jobs plan. — White House officials say at a midday signing ceremony in the Oval Office …

Discussion: New York Times and Gawker

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

2012 presidential debates scheduled in Denver, New York, Florida — Universities in Denver, New York and Florida will host three 2012 presidential debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates announced Monday. — The commission announced three presidential and one vice presidential debate.

Discussion: CNN