memeorandum: GOP candidates ready for CBS News/National Journal debate (CBS News)

11:50 PM ET, November 12, 2011

Top Items:

Poll: Obama disapproval rating on economy at record high — CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto — President Obama's ratings on the the most important issue for his re-election — the economy …

Discussion: Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, Ballot Box, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, TalkLeft and Fire Andrea Mitchell!

Jan Crawford / CBS News:

CBS/NJ GOP debate tonight: 5 things to watch — SPARTANBURG, S.C. - As the Republican presidential candidates gather here for the CBS News/National Journal foreign policy debate, airing tonight on CBS and CBSNews.com, here are five things to watch: — 1. Can Rick Perry clear the low bar of expectations?

Discussion: Business Insider and Political Mojo

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:

Foreign policy debate highlights differences between GOP hopefuls — The Republican presidential candidates finally found a way to draw stark contrasts with one another, revealing a surprising amount of divergence on the proper role for the U.S. in world affairs.

Discussion: CNN

Marc A. Thiessen / National Review:

The Big Loser of the Night: CBS — If there was a loser on the debate stage tonight, it was CBS. First, they scheduled their debate on a Saturday night between two major football games. Then they decide to only broadcast the first hour of their 90-minute debate. Then their Internet feed failed for the final 30 minutes.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Josh Lederman / Ballot Box:

Huntsman plays to his strengths, goes after GOP rivals on foreign policy — Hours before the first Republican presidential debate to focus on foreign policy, Jon Huntsman released a web video to capitalize on the only issue where he has the clear advantage over his competitors.

Discussion: Reuters, The Hill, The Reaction and CNN

CBS News:
GOP candidates ready for CBS News/National Journal debate

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Los Angeles Times, Firedoglake, Hot Air, Political Mojo, Pat Dollard and CBS Boston

Peter Hamby / CNN:
5 things to look for in GOP debate

Discussion: US Politics

Lee Moran / Daily Mail:

Is this the sexiest political ad campaign ever? Putin's model army strikes again with raunchy video to get Russians voting — They've washed cars in skimpy outfits and torn their clothes off - all to promote the hardman of Russian politics, Vladimir Putin.

Discussion: Power Line

Lindsey Boerma / NationalJournal.com:

Cain: God Convinced Him to Run for President — Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain gestures during a speech at the Values Voter Summit in October — ATLANTA, Ga. - Herman Cain, whose campaign could use some redemption in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Ballot Box, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

An Elegy for Berlusconi, the Man Who Ruined Italy (Again) — The Economist has a great elegy for my favorite now deposed leader, Silvio Berlusconi. If you gave me a list at the beginning of the year of Hosni Mubarak, Moammar Gadhafi and Berlusconi, I would have said that Berlusconi …

Discussion: World Blog

New York Times:
Berlusconi Resigns After Italy's Parliament Approves Austerity Measures

Discussion: Gawker, Runnin' Scared and Wall Street Journal

Charles Dharapak / ABCNEWS:

President Obama to CEOs: 'We've Been a Bit Lazy' — For the second time in as many months, President Obama has taken the nation that elected him president to task for its own lackadaisical economic performance on the global stage. — Obama told a group of CEOs today that the United States has gotten …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Josh Lederman / The Hill:
Obama, leaders set framework for Asia-Pacific trade agreement

Discussion: The Politico and CNN

Kurt Schlichter / Big Government:

Lessons From the Battle of BlogCon 2011: The Occupiers Deserve Derision — The weirdos, losers and mutations who make up the Occupy movement showed the world their glass jaw when their Denver branch descended upon the FreedomWorks BlogCon 2011 new media convention on Friday.

Discussion: laborunionreport's Diary, LaborUnionReport.com and RedState

Denver Post:

Denver police forcing Occupy Denver to move their property in Civic Center — Denver police forced stubborn protestors out of Civic Center park early this evening, using pepper spray and tearing down illegally pitched tents. — About half of the protesters had started to leave Lincoln Park …

Discussion: Campaign 2012 and Jammie Wearing Fools

Steven Hayward / Power Line:

Renewable Energy: Bubble, Scam, or Both? — The lead story in today's New York Times is a devastating look at solar and wind power subsidies. Too bad it appears on a Saturday when fewer people will read it (which may not be a coincidence). The print hed and sub-hed tell it better than the online version …

Discussion: New York Times

New York Times:
A Gold Rush of Subsidies in Clean Energy Search

Discussion: Marginal Revolution and The Lonely Conservative

David Willman / Los Angeles Times:

Cost, need questioned in $433-million smallpox drug deal — A company controlled by a longtime political donor gets a no-bid contract to supply an experimental remedy for a threat that may not exist. — The U.S. searched Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, including smallpox, after the 2003 invasion.

Discussion: LaborUnionReport.com, Michelle Malkin, Verum Serum, RedState, The Lonely Conservative, Pat Dollard, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Wizbang

Colby Hall / Mediaite:

Herman Cain Wouldn't Be Romney's VP, But He Would Like To Be Secretary Of Defense — In the event that the American voters aren't sold on the presidential qualities honed by Herman Cain's experience as CEO of Godfather's Pizza, President of the National Restaurant Association or decade spent …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hot Air