memeorandum: Romney confuses ‘Sikh’ with ‘sheik’ (Philip Rucker/Washington Post)

11:10 AM ET, August 8, 2012

Top Items:

Polls See Sharp Divide in 3 Swing States — For all of the Democratic attacks painting Mitt Romney as an out-of-touch elitist who will help the rich at the expense of the middle class, he is maintaining the traditional — and sizable — Republican advantage among a politically vital constituency …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, The Caucus, Taegan Goddard's …, USA Today, New York Magazine and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Quinnipiac University:

Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado White House Races Close, Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News Swing State Poll Finds — Watch Video: Assistant Director Tim Malloy discusses poll results — Clip Information and Download: — FLV File -For Website (1920x1080/225MB) Original .MP4 File -For Broadcast (1920x1080/289MB)

Discussion: GOP 12, Firedoglake, Guardian, Business Insider, nation.foxnews.com, First Read, Hotline On Call, USA Today and Public Policy Polling

Virginia / CNN:
New state polls: Voters divided in race for White House

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Politico, The 1600 Report, Reuters and This Just In

Matthew Jaffe / ABCNEWS:

Alleged Wisconsin Gunman Wade Michael Page's Ex-Girlfriend Arrested — Police say they have arrested the former girlfriend of Wade Michael Page, the man who allegedly shot and killed six people in a Sikh temple, after authorities say they found a gun in her Milwaukee home.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Hinterland Gazette and New York Magazine

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Romney confuses ‘Sikh’ with ‘sheik’ — WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Mitt Romney mistakenly confused the words “Sikh” and “sheik” at a fundraiser here Tuesday night when he offered his condolences to the victims of last weekend's shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Daily Kos and New York Magazine

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Why the Reaction Is Different When the Terrorist Is White — Atrocities like the attack on the Sikh congregation in Wisconsin introduce terrifying dissonance into America's post-9/11 mindset. — Members of the Sikh congregation mourn their dead. / Reuters

Discussion: The Awl and Wired

CNN:
Romney holds biggest fund-raiser in Iowa history

Discussion: New York Magazine

David Edwards / The Raw Story:
Fox News analyst: Sikh temple massacre ‘not domestic terrorism’

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Bloomberg, Addicting Info and Booman Tribune

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Bill Clinton slams Romney ‘misleading’ welfare ad — Bill Clinton, after steering clear of the flap over Mitt Romney using him in an ad in which he accused President Obama of trying to “gut” the 1996 welfare reform act, responds tonight with a statement rapping the Republican:

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Politifact.com Truth …, Taylor Marsh, Washington Examiner and The Hill

Steve Benen / msnbc.com:

The scandal behind Romney's new attack ad — Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has presented the political world with an important test. I'm eager to see whether we pass or fail. — First, a little background. Some Republican governors this year asked the Obama administration …

Discussion: Washington Post, Feministing, ourfuture.org/blogs_chrono/*, The Democratic Daily, Washington Monthly, Crooks and Liars, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, The Maddow Blog, Balloon Juice, Taking Note, Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos and The Huffington Post

Reuters:

Paul Ryan veep prospects split GOP — As Mitt Romney's vice presidential selection nears and buzz about Rep. Paul Ryan's prospects builds, a split is emerging among Republicans about whether the choice of the House Budget chairman and architect of the party's controversial tax and spending plan …

Discussion: Politico, Los Angeles Times, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, National Review, AEIdeas, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Beast and The Huffington Post

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:
Memorandum

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Power Line, It's A Free Country ®, The Caucus, Business Insider, Washington Monthly and The Hill

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

Gibbs won't condemn ad linking Romney to woman's death — Senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs on Wednesday refused to condemn a controversial super-PAC ad featuring a steelworker who said he could not pay for his wife's cancer treatments after his company was bought by Bain Capital …

Discussion: Politico and nation.foxnews.com

The 1600 Report:

Ad linking Romney to death of the wife of a laid off steelworker not accurate — CNN White House Correspondent Brianna Keilar — A new attack ad by a Super PAC backing President Obama appears to blame Mitt Romney for a woman's death from cancer after his company, Bain Capital …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The PJ Tatler, RedState, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Outside the Beltway, CBS News, Examiner, Mediaite, Business Insider, Washington Examiner, Capital New York, CNN and USA Today

Greg Holyk / ABCNEWS:

Romney's Popularity Stays Low, Obama's is Better, but with Challenges — Mitt Romney is laboring under the lowest personal popularity ratings for a presumptive presidential nominee in midsummer election-year polls back to 1984. But Barack Obama has his own challenges in the latest ABC News …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Maddow Blog and Mother Jones

Washington Post:
Mitt Romney's poll numbers at standstill, Washington Post-ABC News poll finds

Discussion: Hot Air and The Moderate Voice

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

CNN: Wife of steelworker in new Obama Super PAC ad still had job and health insurance after he lost his — I wonder if Bill Burton and crew knew about this and greenlit the smear anyway or if they didn't care enough to even find out. Why would they? The point of calling Romney a murderer …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Patterico's Pontifications, Betsy's Page and Michelle Malkin

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Woman mentioned in Priorities ad died in '06

Tomer Ovadia / Politico:
Rove: Veep pick ‘as early as Friday’

Discussion: The Other McCain and Hot Air

Dylan Byers / Politico:

The best Newsweek cover yet — Tina Brown's shock-and-awe approach to Newsweek covers is so familiar now it hardly warrants mention. But the strategy is predicated upon ginning up false controversy and feigned outrage to call attention to the struggling print edition …

Discussion: FAIR Blog, Capital New York, The Hinterland Gazette and Taylor Marsh, more at Mediagazer »

Raphael Brion / Eater National:
Food Media: Newsweek's Gratuitous Food Porn Cover Looks Familiar

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Ed Driscoll, BuzzFeed and Vodkapundit, more at Mediagazer »

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Republicans in Missouri pick Todd Akin to face Sen. Claire McCaskill in November — Republicans on Tuesday pinned their hopes of winning back a Senate seat in Missouri — and perhaps control of the chamber — on Todd Akin, picking the conservative congressman to take on endangered Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill in November.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press and Taylor Marsh

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
New Poll Puts Mitt Romney In The Deep End (The Note)

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Politicker and The Raw Story

Allan Turner / Houston Chronicle:

Texas executes man despite concerns over IQ — Marvin Wilson, the two-time armed robber who fatally beat and shot a Beaumont police informer he thought responsible for his arrest on a drug charge, was executed Tuesday at the state's Huntsville death house. — Wilson's case …

David Dayen / Firedoglake:
Scalia Denies Stay, Texas Executes Mentally Retarded Man

Discussion: American Prospect, Associated Press, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Hullabaloo

Tom Bevan / Real Clear Politics:

Bachmann and Reid: A Troubling Double Standard — Conservatives often complain of two sets of standards in politics: one for Democrats and another for Republicans. Sometime that double standard is imaginary. Often, it's quite real. Consider the events of the last three weeks:

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Maddow Blog, alicublog, BuzzFeed and Capital New York

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Papa John's Founder Warns That Obamacare Will Lead to Imperceptably Small Increase in Pizza Prices … - Pat Robertson's Slam of Atheists for the Sikh Shootings Is Actually a Sign of Progress - Why Do Olympic Track Cyclists Have Such Weird Wheels on Their Bikes?

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Politico and New York Magazine

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
America's Sluggish Recovery

Discussion: Jared Bernstein and Brad DeLong

Liz Alderman / New York Times:

‘Les Riches’ in France Vow to Leave if 75% Tax Rate Is Passed — PARIS — The call to Vincent Grandil's Paris law firm began like many others that have rolled in recently. On the line was the well-paid chief executive of one of France's most profitable companies, and he was feeling nervous.

Discussion: CNBC, americanthinker.com, The Lonely Conservative and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Reuters:

Exclusive: Regulators irate at NY action against Standard Chartered — (Reuters) - The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve were blindsided and angered by New York's banking regulator's decision to launch an explosive attack on Standard Chartered Plc over $250 billion …

Discussion: The Big Picture, emptywheel, FT Alphaville, CNBC and naked capitalism

New York Post:

Jewish gal shows up IOC with a gold salute to Munich 11 — It wasn't a gloved-fist salute from the medal stand, but Jewish-American gymnast Aly Raisman made quite a statement yesterday by winning a gold medal and invoking the memory of the Israeli athletes killed 40 years ago in Munich.

Discussion: Swampland and Althouse

Peter Kafka / AllThingsD:

The New York Times Is About to Say Goodbye to About.com — The New York Times' time with About.com may be coming to an end. The paper has been looking to get rid of the struggling Web site, which produces high-volume, low-cost content, and has a deal in place to sell it to Answers.com.

Discussion: JIMROMENESKO.COM and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »