memeorandum: Fasten Your Seat Belts: Polarization, Weak Economy Forecast Very Close Election (Alan I. Abramowitz/Sabato's Crystal Ball)

2:40 PM ET, July 12, 2012

Top Items:

Mitt Romney stayed at Bain 3 years longer than he stated — Firm's 2002 filings identify him as CEO, though he said he left in 1999 — Nine SEC filings submitted by four different business entities after February 1999 describe Romney as Bain boss. — Government documents filed …

David Corn / MoJo Articles:

EXCLUSIVE: Romney Invested Millions in Chinese Firm That Profited on US Outsourcing — The GOP candidate decries China poaching US jobs. But at Bain he held a large stake in a Chinese company that did just that. — Last month, Mitt Romney's campaign got into a dustup with the Washington Post …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, American Prospect, Crooks and Liars, Slate, The Hinterland Gazette, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos, The Mahablog, The Huffington Post, Balloon Juice, Angry Bear and New York Times

Dylan Byers / Politico:

FactCheck.org: Romney ‘would be guilty of a federal felony’ by claiming 1999 departure — Earlier this month, FactCheck.org stated that if Mitt Romney had not left Bain Capital in 1999, he “would be guilty of a federal felony by certifying on federal financial disclosure forms …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The Daily Dish, Eclectablog and Washington Post

Michael Tomasky / The Daily Beast:

Michael Tomasky on Mitt Romney the Race Baiter at the NAACP — With his incendiary speech to the NAACP, Mitt crossed an ugly line. No longer simply spineless and disingenuous, he's now become a race-mongering pyromaniac. Plus Mansfield Frazier on Romney's diversity problem.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, USA Today, Washington Examiner, Sister Toldjah, The Right Sphere, Eclectablog, Texas on the Potomac, protein wisdom, American Prospect, The New Republic and ABCNEWS

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

New Romney Ad Calls Obama Liar, Dishonest — A new television advertisement from the campaign of presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney attacks President Barack Obama's campaign for spreading lies and dishonest attacks. Watch the ad, titled “No Evidence,” here:

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit and Israel Matzav

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Romney camp: Globe story ‘inaccurate’ — The Mitt Romney campaign is pushing back against today's Boston Globe report which found that, according to SEC filings, Romney served as CEO at Bain Capital until 2002, despite saying that he left in 1999. — “The article is not accurate,” …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Mother Jones, US Politics, Guardian, Dependable Renegade and Balloon Juice

BuzzFeed:

Obama Campaign: Romney A Liar, Potential Criminal — Cutter turns the rhetorical volume way up. — Image by Eric Kayne / Getty Images — Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter suggested that Mitt Romney may be a criminal on a conference call with reporters this morning …

Discussion: Politico, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Business Insider and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:

Romney Accuses Obama of Lying in New Outsourcing Ad — JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. - In a new television ad released today, Mitt Romney accuses President Obama of lying and asks how voters can trust him to lead if he “doesn't tell the truth.” — The ad, titled “No Evidence,” is the campaigns clearest …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog and ABCNEWS

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Mitt Romney's Wealth Costs Him With One in Five Voters — One in five independents say it makes them less likely to vote for him — PRINCETON, NJ — Three-quarters of registered voters say the fact that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is worth more than $200 million makes …

Discussion: Politico, his vorpal sword, Scared Monkeys, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Business Insider and The Daily Dish

Dylan Byers / Politico:

FactCheck.org: ‘Little new’ in Globe story — FactCheck.org is standing by their assessment that Mitt Romney did not actively manage Bain Capital after February 1999, despite today's Boston Globe report that he was CEO there until 2002. — “We see little new in the Globe piece.

Discussion: Washington Post, The PJ Tatler and National Review

CNN:
TRENDING: Romney team disputes report he misled on Bain departure date

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Business Insider

Sahil Kapur / tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com:
TPMDC — Reid: Romney 'Couldn't Be Confirmed As Dog Catcher' By The Senate

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, The Democratic Daily, Weekly Standard and Business Insider

Henry Blodget / Business Insider:
Sorry, Mitt Romney, You Can't Be Chairman, CEO, And President Of A Company And Not Be Responsible For What It Does...

Discussion: Little Green Footballs

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:
THE TRUTH HURTS — “For weeks, President Obama has been …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, Politicker, American Thinker, Business Insider, Wake up America, NewsBusters.org, The Caucus and Daily Kos

John Aravosis / US Politics:
Romney may have committed felony lying about role with Bain

Discussion: Crooks and Liars and National Review

New York Times:
Conservatives Push Romney to Deliver Counterpunch

Discussion: Washington Post, The Caucus, msnbc.com, Guardian, Daily Kos, Wall Street Journal, American Power, Politico, 2012 Decoded and The Page

David Catanese / Politico:

Poll: Cruz up on Dewhurst in Texas — The Republican pollster that signaled Dick Lugar's demise and Deb Fischer's late surge is now flagging an upset in the making in the Texas Senate race. — Tea party favorite Ted Cruz is leading Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst 47 percent to 38 percent in the GOP runoff …

Discussion: Trail Blazers Blog, The PJ Tatler, Ballot Box, National Review and RedState

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Cruz leads in Texas runoff

Discussion: National Review

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Obama Holds Lead, Romney Trails on Most Issues — Record Negatives for Supreme Court Driven by GOP Discontent — OVERVIEW — Despite the stagnant economy and broad dissatisfaction with national conditions, Barack Obama holds a significant lead over Mitt Romney.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Quinnipiac University:
American Voters Say Health Care Law Is A Tax Hike, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds …

Discussion: National Review, 2012 Decoded, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard, Scared Monkeys, Washington Free Beacon, Riehl World View, ABCNEWS, Power Line and The Gateway Pundit

Mollie Reilly / The Huffington Post:
Health Care Law Repeal Efforts By House GOP Cost Nearly $50 Million: CBS Report

Discussion: CBS News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, ThinkProgress, ACS Blog and Politico

Toby Harnden / Daily Mail:

Mitt Romney ‘deliberately got booed by the NAACP to appeal to white racists’ — The Romney campaign has been accused of deliberately getting the Republican presidential candidate booed by black people during his NAACP speech to attract votes ‘in certain racist precincts’, by MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

Michael McAuliff / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney NAACP Speech Shows He Failed To Learn Father's Civil Rights Lessons, Black Caucus Says

Discussion: The Hope For America, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

Jillian Rayfield / msnbc.com:
Did the Romney campaign plant supporters at NAACP speech?

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, PoliticusUSA, Wonkette, 2012.talkingpointsmemo.com and Jack & Jill Politics

Obama Isn't Working:

The Obama Campaign's Top Ten Lies & Exaggerations — “We knew when President Obama was elected he had no experience, but at least we thought he'd tell us the truth. President Obama's campaign has spent millions of dollars on television spreading distortions and falsehoods about Governor Romney's record.

John Hinderaker / Power Line: Barack Obama, Liar

Bonnie Kavoussi / The Huffington Post:

Paul Krugman Slams New York Times Colleague, CNBC: ‘One Zombie Idea After Another’ … FOLLOW: — Paul Krugman, Video, Krugman, Krugman Cnbc, Paul Krugman Cnbc, Paul Krugman Cnbc Zombie Ideas, Paul Krugman Criticizes Cnbc, Paul Krugman Joe Kernen Cnbc, Paul Krugman New York Times …

Discussion: Paul Krugman and Mediaite

Joe Weisenthal / Business Insider: KRUGMAN: The Government Has To Do More Deficit Spending To Avoid A Full-On Depression

BuzzFeed:

Meet The Republican Party's 23-Year Old James Cameron — Lucas Baiano is back in action “The thing about Lucas's videos: they make people march.” What is this, this Les Mis ?? — Source: ia.media-imdb.com — Source: youtube.com — Lucas Baiano, the video maker who drew attention …

Discussion: Washington Examiner

Associated Press:
Qualities that doomed Pawlenty's presidential bid could make him an attractive running mate

Discussion: ABCNEWS and BuzzFeed

Caroline Winter / Business Week:

How the Mormons Make Money — (Updated with magazine version. Removes an earlier reference to a Twitter account that is not Thomas S. Monson's official account.) — Late last March the Mormon Church completed an ambitious project: a megamall. Built for roughly $2 billion …

Discussion: The Daily Dish and National Review

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:

Romney On NAACP Booing: If They Want More Free Stuff From The Government Vote Obama — There has been a lot of speculation today about Mitt Romney's motivation for giving a speech to the annual NAACP Convention, and trashing Obamacare in the process. Romney himself said he “expected” …

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Obama's Shrinking Majority — He won 9.5 million more votes than McCain. That won't happen again. — Elections are about numbers, and right now the president's are bad. To understand why, consider 2008 as a reference point. That year, Barack Obama received 69,456,897 votes to John McCain's 59,934,814.

Discussion: Wake up America and Hot Air