memeorandum: Anatomy of an Ad: ‘Basketball’ (New York Times)

1:45 PM ET, May 22, 2012

Top Items:

Is This Obama's Party? — The president didn't come up through Democratic Party institutions, and now he has little organic connection to it. Not fair to compare him to Clinton, says Rendell. — (Getty Images / John Gress) — President Barack Obama took over the country in 2008 …

Discussion: Hot Air, Mother Jones, Weasel Zippers, National Review, Wall Street Journal, Politico and The PJ Tatler

Washington Post:

Poll: Obama, Romney in dead heat on economy — After months of aggressive campaigning on jobs and the economy, President Obama and Mitt Romney, his likely Republican challenger, are locked in a dead heat over who could fix the problem foremost on voters' minds, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, ThinkProgress, Campaign 2012, Daily Kos, Political Watch, GOP 12, Priorities USA Action, The Maddow Blog, National Review, The Hill, Saint Petersblog, Donklephant, The Page, Yahoo! News, Business Insider and Gallup

Josh Israel / ThinkProgress:

Bain and Financial Industry Gave Over $565,000 To Newark Mayor Cory Booker For 2002 Campaign — Yesterday, Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker (D) attacked the Obama campaign for making an issue of Mitt Romney's tenure at Bain Capital during an appearance on Meet the Press.

Matt Negrin / ABCNEWS:

Swinging at Bain, Obama Ignores What Private Equity Is — Bain Capital has been used as a political weapon against Mitt Romney since 1994, but now his opponents might be rethinking ads about attacking him for his time at the private-equity firm as the ads are being criticized by some Democrats as well as Republicans.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Wire, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, Fox News, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com and Politico

ABCNEWS:

Top Obama Donor Tied to Bain Layoffs — The Obama campaign's latest attack tells the story of workers at an Indiana office supply company who lost their jobs after a Bain-owned company named American Pad & Paper (Ampad) took over their company and drove it out of business.

Discussion: Political Watch and Weasel Zippers

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Booker: I had ‘conversations’ with campaign — Less than 24 hours after Obama 2012 press secretary Ben LaBolt told CNN that the Obama campaign did not reach out to Cory Booker following his remarks on Meet The Press, the Newark Mayor went on MSNBC to confirm that he had, in fact, had …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Washington Free Beacon and Business Insider

Molly Hunter / Yahoo! News:
Cory Booker ‘Fit To Be Tied’ After GOP's ‘I Stand with Cory Booker’ Email

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Gateway Pundit, Political Economy and protein wisdom

CNN:
TRENDING: Poll: Obama, Romney tied as race heats up

Discussion: American Prospect, Firedoglake, Politico, Weekly Standard and Weasel Zippers

Mj Lee / Politico:
Jim Clyburn: Romney ‘raping companies’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and The PJ Tatler

David Brooks / New York Times:
How Change Happens — Forty years ago, corporate America was bloated …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Betsy's Page, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

CNN:
Arkansas primary may pose challenge for Obama

Discussion: Politico

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
10 Things Mitt Romney's Republican Primary Opponents Said About Bain

Discussion: Brad DeLong, Hullabaloo and 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
WaPo/ABC poll shows dead heat between Romney, Obama ...

Discussion: Power Line, ABCNEWS, Nice Deb, GOP 12, Washington Post, The Page, Mediaite, Wake up America and Jammie Wearing Fools

CNN:
PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Obama raised most from private equity, hedge funds in 2008

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

ABCNEWS:
Obama Faces Blowback for Attacking Romney Biz Career

Discussion: New York Times, Campaign 2012, The Raw Story, Shakesville, Wake up America, americanthinker.com, RedState, iOwnTheWorld.com, Taylor Marsh, American Power, The Lonely Conservative, Sister Toldjah, Mitt Romney for President …, Mediaite, Washington Wire, The Gateway Pundit and Online NewsHour

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

New Republican Ad Takes a Soft Shot at Obama — WASHINGTON — The ad is the work of two of the most fearsome players in Republican politics: Larry McCarthy, the producer behind the infamous Willie Horton commercial in 1988, and Crossroads GPS, the political battle squad founded by Karl Rove.

Discussion: GOP 12, ABCNEWS, Politico, Hot Air, RedState, Taylor Marsh, Roll Call, Business Insider and Orlando Sentinel

New York Times:

Anatomy of an Ad: ‘Basketball’ — The most recent ad from Crossroads GPS, the super PAC founded by Karl Rove, strives to hit a delicate balance: how to craft the perfect line of attack against a president who remains well liked even by people who are considering voting against him. — Scripted Scenes

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN and Taegan Goddard's …

PFC Auctions:

Lot 160 - Ronald Reagan Blood Vial — Current bid: £8,346.00 — Another user is currently the top bidder. — 2d 4h 18m 25s — Bidding allowed for registered users only. Register or Log in. — You are about to place a bid for: — Setting a Max Bid of: — If this is correct, click Place Bid.

Discussion: newsfeed.time.com, ABCNEWS, msnbc.com, Indecision Forever, Guardian, Campaign 2012, DCist, Wonkette, New York Magazine, Dangerous Minds, Mediaite and The Awl

Alex Dobuzinskis / Reuters:
Foundation objects to auction of purported vial of Reagan's blood

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Outside the Beltway

Aurelius / Pundit Press:

Did White House Doctor Photo of President “Throwing” Football? — I'm not one for conspiracy theories. I prefer to base my opinions on demonstration fact that I can point to. However, after looking at an extremely odd photo of President Obama “throwing” a football, I have my doubts that this photo is real.

Discussion: Wonkette, Indecision Forever and Little Green Footballs

Manu Raju / Politico:
Dems wait by phone for Obama

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Wall Street Journal:

Targeting John Roberts — The left tries to intimidate the High Court on ObamaCare. — You can tell the Supreme Court is getting closer to its historic ObamaCare ruling because the left is making one last attempt to intimidate the Justices. The latest effort includes taunting Chief Justice John Roberts …

Discussion: Online Library of Law …, The Volokh Conspiracy and The Lonely Conservative

Ilya Somin / The Volokh Conspiracy:
Nonlegal Arguments for Upholding the Individual Mandate

Discussion: National Review

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:

Dem-backed law may be downfall of Obama birth control mandate — The biggest legal threat to the White House's birth control mandate could come from a decades-old law that was championed by liberal Democrats, according to legal experts. — The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Wall Street Journal, iOwnTheWorld.com, New York Times and Outside the Beltway

Ross Andersen / The Atlantic Online:

Radical Life Extension Is Already Here, But We're Doing it Wrong — We've already tacked three decades onto the average lifespan of an American, so what's wrong with adding another few decades? — So far as we know, the last hundred years have been the most radical period of life extension in all of human history.

Discussion: The Reaction

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:

Romney Is About to Make Bush's Health-Care Blunder — Mitt Romney, so long bedeviled by the politics of health care, may be about to make another serious mistake. — He is on the verge of spelling out a plan to replace President Barack Obama's health plan.

Sam Baker / The Hill:
GAO: Tax credit in healthcare law underperforms

Discussion: Ezra Klein and Hot Air

JJ Hensley / Arizona Republic:

Arpaio using deputy to help in Obama birth investigation — Sheriff Joe Arpaio's volunteer investigation into documents pertaining to President Barack Obama's residency status now includes the services of a taxpayer-funded deputy, according to Arpaio. — The deputy joined Mike Zullo …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Fox News, Valley Fever, tpmmuckraker …, The Raw Story and Addicting Info

Sam Baker / The Hill:

HHS signs $20M PR contract to promote healthcare law — The Health and Human Services Department has signed a $20 million contract with a public-relations firm to highlight part of the Affordable Care Act. — The new, multimedia ad campaign is designed to educate the public about how to stay healthy …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, LifeNews.com, Hit & Run, Weasel Zippers, The Heritage Foundation, ThinkProgress, The PJ Tatler, The Daily Caller and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Steve Kolowich / Inside Higher Ed:

Report: Robots stack up to human professors in teaching Intro Stats — By — Without diminishing learning outcomes, automated teaching software can reduce the amount of time professors spend with students and could substantially reduce the cost of instruction, according to new research.

Discussion: Via Meadia and Althouse

Tim Mak / Politico:

Colin Powell pauses on endorsing Obama — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday that he's not ready to endorse President Barack Obama's reelection, as he's also considering Mitt Romney, a “good man” he's known for years. — “I don't want to throw my weight behind somebody …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice