memeorandum: Citing Drought, U.S. Expects Lowest Corn Yield in 17 Years (Ron Nixon/New York Times)

12:35 PM ET, August 10, 2012

Top Items:

Mike Allen / Politico:

Exclusive: Obama to include Republicans in hard-hitting convention — Advisers to President Barack Obama are scripting a Democratic National Convention featuring several Republicans in a prime-time appeal to independents — and planning a blistering portrayal of Mitt Romney as a heartless aristocrat who …

Discussion: CNN, The Caucus, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Washington Post, Connecting.the.Dots, Towleroad News #gay, The Political Carnival, The Hill and Jammie Wearing Fools

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News poll: Obama's lead grows as Romney's support slips — Mitt Romney has had a tough couple of weeks on the campaign trail — and it shows in the latest Fox News poll. After a barrage of campaign ads, negative news coverage of his overseas trip and ongoing talk about his tax returns …

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

Obama Is Ahead, but Is He Winning? — The polls put the incumbent in the lead, but there are plenty of reasons for Republicans to be optimistic — and Democrats to be jittery. — Reuters — Three months remain until election day, and President Obama narrowly leads in nearly every national poll.

Discussion: Brad DeLong

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Romney May Have No Choice But to Pick Paul Ryan — Conservative anxiety has stalked Mitt Romney since the outset of his presidential campaign, expressing itself in a series of hopes that a nominee who was not Romney might win, and then, after his nomination became inevitable …

BuzzFeed:

Conservative Group Launches “Dump Romney” Campaign — “Disgusting and highly inappropriate,” says Ron Paul's campaign manager. Also a bit late in the game. — A group called “Jews and Christians Together,” which backed Rick Santorum in the Republican primary, is sending a memo …

Discussion: Daily Kos, Influence Alley, ABCNEWS, Joe. My. God., The Hinterland Gazette, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Impolitic

Kos / Daily Kos:

It's Jon Huntsman Sr, right Harry? — Harry Reid's source. Probably. — Harry Reid has a Republican source who has told him that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes in 10 years. Who could he possibly known that would have that information? Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's dad sounds like the likely source.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Moderate Voice, BuzzFeed, New York Magazine, Prairie Weather, The Maddow Blog, Booman Tribune and The Hinterland Gazette

Wall Street Journal:

The Postmodern President — The challenge is finding anything his campaign says that is true. — President Obama spent his formative years in academia, so he's no doubt familiar with postmodernism, the literary theory that rejects objective reality and insists instead that everything …

Discussion: Betsy's Page

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:

Harry Reid's Mitt Romney Tax Source A Republican, Says Top Aide … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Elections 2012, Harry Reid , Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Video, Mitt Romney Tax Returns, Harry Reid Mitt Romney, Harry Reid Mitt Romney Tax Returns, Harry Reid Source, Mitt Romney 2012 …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, The Impolitic, CANNONFIRE, Mediaite, The Reaction, Newsy, Ballot Box, The Political Carnival, The New Republic, Gawker, Mother Jones, Hot Air and Balloon Juice

The Onion:

‘Romney Murdered JonBenét Ramsey,’ New Obama Campaign Ad Alleges — CHICAGO—With campaign rhetoric becoming increasingly heated and both presidential nominees releasing more attack ads, a new 30-second spot from the Obama campaign this week accuses his opponent Mitt Romney of committing …

Discussion: RedState, americanthinker.com, New York Magazine, Washington Wire and Washington Post

Dylan Byers / Politico:
MSNBC: Romney a ‘yes,’ Obama ‘no’

Discussion: Power Line, CNN, Chicago Tribune, AEIdeas, Business Insider and The Daily Beast

Mike McIntire / New York Times:

In Real Estate Deal, Romney Made His Loss a Couple's Gain — MISSOURI CITY, Tex. — Look closely and it is there, sandwiched between Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners II and D3 Family Bulldog Fund: the mortgage on Timothy and Betty Stamps's modest home on Gentle Bend Drive here.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, National Review, The Daily Caller, Pundit & Pundette, New York Magazine, Power Line, The Caucus and Riehl World View

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

Republican Party Chairman: Americans Who Want Romney To Release More Tax Returns Are The New Birthers — RNC Chairman Reince Priebus compared the overwhelming majority of Americans — including a growing number of Republicans — calling on Mitt Romney to release his tax returns to birthers …

Discussion: The Raw Story and CNN

CNN:
CNN Poll: Obama holds 7-point lead over Romney

Discussion: American Spectator, Talking Points Memo, The Lonely Conservative, Newsy, No More Mister Nice Blog, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Liberal Values, Taylor Marsh, Politico, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice, The Hinterland Gazette, National Review, Taegan Goddard's …, USA Today and Joe. My. God.

CNN:
CNN Poll: Optimism on the economy drops

Discussion: Politico

Wall Street Journal:

Noonan: A Nation That Believes Nothing — Romney doesn't need to talk about America becoming like Europe—he needs to warn us about America becoming like California. — It's been a week marked by mistakes, some new and some continuing. — The pro-Obama Super PAC ad that essentially blames Mitt Romney …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, No More Mister Nice Blog and Smartypants

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:

The Killing — The Massachusetts multimillionaire who won his party's nomination largely on perceptions of “electability” had become the target of a ferocious blitz of negative advertising. Partisans and media decried many of the attacks as misleading or false.

Discussion: Politico, The Caucus and ABCNEWS

Byron Tau / Politico:
Obama camp acknowledges knowing man's story (Updated)

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, The Strata-Sphere, First Read, Right Wing News, The Caucus, Politicker, iOwnTheWorld.com, American Power, Wake up America and Investor's Business Daily

Justin Sink / The Hill:
Romney pressures President Obama to denounce controversial cancer ad

Discussion: TechPresident, The Daily Caller, ABCNEWS, BuzzFeed and The 1600 Report

Super User / gzlegalcase.com:

There Will Be A “Stand Your Ground” Hearing in the George Zimmerman Case — Since the beginning, there has been a rush to judgment in the case against George Zimmerman. Since the first day of his involvement, Mr. O'Mara has emphasized that people should be patient and wait for the evidence …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, Scared Monkeys, newsfeed.time.com, Business Insider and NPR

Rene Stutzman / Orlando Sentinel:
Can Zimmerman win ‘stand your ground’ hearing?

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos and Outside the Beltway

Associated Press:

Justice Dept. says it won't prosecute Goldman Sachs or its employees in financial fraud probe — WASHINGTON — The Justice Department said Thursday it won't prosecute Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs or its employees in a financial fraud probe. — In a written statement …

Discussion: Firedoglake, Taylor Marsh, DealBook, Balloon Juice and emptywheel

Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Not Seeking Goldman Charges

Discussion: MarketBeat, Capital New York, Washington Examiner, DealBook and Outside the Beltway

Fareed Zakaria / Time:

The Case for Gun Control — After the ghastly act of terrorism against a Sikh temple in Wisconsin on Aug. 5, Americans are pondering how to stop gun violence. We have decided that it is, in the words of New York Times columnist David Brooks, a problem of psychology, not sociology.

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Questions and Observations and newsfeed.time.com, more at Mediagazer »

Ron Nixon / New York Times:

Citing Drought, U.S. Expects Lowest Corn Yield in 17 Years — WASHINGTON — This year's corn yield is projected to be the lowest since 1995, according to an Agriculture Department report that sharply cut production estimates for some major crops because of damage from the nation's worst drought in 56 years.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Green

Matt Katz / Philly.com:

Christie calls anti-Muslim conservatives “bigots” — The following video hasn't gotten any attention in the mainstream press, but it has lit a fire on right-wing web sites. — The shaky, grainy 16-minute speech was shot by an attendee during an Iftar dinner - the evening meal during Ramadan - at the governor's mansion two weeks ago.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Balloon Juice and ThinkProgress

Matthew Rosenberg / New York Times:

Attacker in Afghan Uniform Kills 3 U.S. Soldiers — KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan police officer shot and killed at least three American Special Forces soldiers on Friday after inviting them for a meal at a check post in southern Afghanistan, an Afghan official said, in what appeared …

Discussion: The Agonist and Outside the Beltway

CNN: Official: Man in Afghan security uniform kills 3 US troops

Ta-Nehisi Coates / New York Times:

Romney's Side Course of Culture — When Mitt Romney asserted last week that “culture does matter,” he settled into a pose that was more triumphalist than anthropologist. Romney had begun by asserting that culture explained the difference in G.D.P. between Israel and the Palestinian Authority …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Monthly and Mediaite

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

The case against reelection — There are two ways to run against Barack Obama: stewardship or ideology. You can run against his record or you can run against his ideas. — The stewardship case is pretty straightforward: the worst recovery in U.S. history, 42 consecutive months …

Discussion: Power Line and Mediaite