memeorandum: Axelrod Won't Rule Out Biden Being Dropped, Tells Joke Instead (Daniel Halper/Weekly Standard)

8:40 PM ET, August 16, 2012

Top Items:

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

White House says Obama will stick with Biden as running mate — President Obama has no intention of getting rid of Vice President Biden as his running mate, the White House said Thursday. — Republicans are being “ridiculous” and are trying to “distract attention” with their focus …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, CNN, The Impolitic, 2012 Decoded, Little Green Footballs, Fox News, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, Jammie Wearing Fools, Algemeiner.com, The Lonely Conservative, neo-neocon, The PJ Tatler and Conservatives4Palin

Joe Biden / WDBJ-TV:

Radford business owner declines request from Joe Biden's entourage to stop in store — The owner of Crumb and Get It says he doesn't agree with the Obama administration's policies. — Vice President Joe Biden visits Danville, Floyd, Wytheville — Republicans seize on Biden's ‘put you back in chains’ comment

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Is Today the Day? — Perhaps further fueling speculation that Barack Obama may replace Joe Biden on the Democratic presidential ticket with, say, Hillary Clinton, take a look at part of the president's schedule for today: — 10:15AM THE PRESIDENT and THE VICE PRESIDENT receive the Presidential Daily Briefing

Discussion: Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Hot Air, Fox News, National Review, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, HillBuzz.org, TBogg, BLACKFIVE, Mail Online, Power Line, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, his vorpal sword, Wonkette, Althouse and People.com

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Axelrod Won't Rule Out Biden Being Dropped, Tells Joke Instead — President Barack Obama's closest political adviser, David Axelrod, would not rule out dropping Vice President Joe Biden from this year's presidential ticket when asked about the rumors this morning on MSNBC. — “All right.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and RedState

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

Mission Impossible: Managing Joe Biden — BLACKSBURG, Va. — The most emotionally powerful minute of Joe Biden's two-day swing through rural Virginia almost didn't happen. — After the vice president paid a solemn visit Wednesday to the memorial honoring the victims of the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, The Fix, Guardian, FishbowlDC, Little Green Footballs, White House Dossier, Mediaite, National Review, The Hinterland Gazette, Weekly Standard, Taylor Marsh and Poynter

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
In Ohio, Ryan zings Biden over latest gaffe

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Jesse Jackson: Joe Biden uproar ‘not helpful’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Mike Lupica / NY Daily News:
Joe Biden comes across as a ball and chain in 2012 election, but President Obama won't dump …

Discussion: National Review and Weekly Standard

Jonathan Martin / Politico:
Mission Impossible: Managing Joe Biden

Discussion: Mediaite and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Paul Ryan / CNN:

CNN Electoral Map: Wisconsin moves to true “toss up” — (CNN) - CNN Thursday turned the important battleground state of Wisconsin from “lean Obama” to true “toss up” on its electoral map, in the wake of Mitt Romney's naming of House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, a seven term congressman from the Badger state, as his running mate.

Discussion: Business Insider, Hot Air, BuzzFeed, USA Today, Politico, Riehl World View and National Review

Ginger Gibson / Politico:
Mitt Romney tries to explain Medicare stance

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN and ABCNEWS

Chris Moody / Yahoo! News:
For my birthday, Paul Ryan gave me a chili dog, I gave him a Medicare question

Discussion: BuzzFeed

First Read:
Ryan has tough words for China, contradicting 2010 vote

Discussion: 2012 Decoded and ThinkProgress

Rich Lowry / Politico:
Give 'em hell, Mitt!

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN and Cold Fury

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:
ANALYSIS: Paul Ryan's First Week

Discussion: CNN, Politico, Firedoglake and ABCNEWS

Andrew Rafferty / First Read:
Santorum says government forcing Catholics to sin

Discussion: Daily Kos, ThinkProgress and The Hinterland Gazette

BuzzFeed:

Romney: I've Never Paid Less Than 13% In Taxes — Calls a reporter's questions about his tax returns “small-minded.” — From the press pool, here's what Romney said when asked about his tax returns:

Discussion: Mediaite, The Maddow Blog, Gawker, Taylor Marsh and Shakesville

BuzzFeed:

Reid Dismisses Romney Tax Claim — “We'll believe it when we see it,” says spokesman in response to Romney's assertion Thursday that he's paid at least 13% of his income in taxes every year for the last decade. — Image by J. Scott Applewhite / AP — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office …

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Truthdig

Emily Friedman / ABCNEWS:
Mitt Romney Says He Never Paid Less Than 13 Percent In Taxes

Discussion: New York Magazine and p m carpenter's commentary

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Mitt Romney seeks to shift the tax return debate

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, The Maddow Blog and Wonkette

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
Romney Says 'I've Paid at Least 13%' in Taxes in Past Decade

Discussion: Booman Tribune, New York Times, Capital New York, White House Dossier and The Political Carnival

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:
Mitt Romney: ‘I Never Paid Less Than 13 Percent’ In Taxes

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Reality-Based Community and Swampland

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Romney says he paid at least 13 percent in federal taxes every year

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and ThinkProgress

Mark Potok / Hatewatch:

SPLC: Family Research Council License-to-Kill Claim ‘Outrageous’ — Editor's Note: The following statement may be attributed to Mark Potok, Senior Fellow of the Southern Poverty Law Center and editor of its Intelligence Report and Hatewatch blog. — Yesterday's attack on the Family Research Council …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress and Towleroad News #gay

Chris Geidner / BuzzFeed:

Perkins: Groups Gave Shooter “License” To Attack Family Research Council — “Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center that have been reckless in labeling organizations ‘hate groups’ because they disagree with them on public policy …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, msnbc.com, American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, Truth Wins Out, rightwingwatch.org, Steve Rothaus' Gay …, Towleroad News #gay, Equality Matters and Hot Air

Associated Press:
Man held without bond after first court appearance in shooting at conservative group HQ

Discussion: livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com, Fox News, Washington Post, New York Magazine, rightwingwatch.org and Joe. My. God.

David Fahrenthold / Washington Post:

Artur Davis, who backed Obama in 2008, to speak at GOP convention — Former congressman Artur Davis, who officially seconded President Obama's nomination at the 2008 Democratic convention, said Wednesday that he will cap a remarkable political metamorphosis by addressing the Republican convention …

Discussion: NO QUARTER, The New Republic, Investor's Business Daily, BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, americanthinker.com, Politico, The Fix and The Political Carnival

Brian C. Mooney / The Boston Globe:
Obama's costly investment not yielding new voters

Discussion: Politico, The PJ Tatler and Firedoglake

Artur Davis / National Review:
Obama's Hidden-Hand Politics

Discussion: Reuters, The Spectacle Blog and AEIdeas

Redanddead / Red & Dead:

Letter from the Editor in Chief — I, Polina Marinova, have resigned as the editor-in-chief from The Red & Black, the student newspaper covering the University of Georgia. The Red & Black's top editors, design staff, photo staff and reporters walked out of the newspaper building this afternoon.

Discussion: Balloon Juice, The Reality-Based Community, Poynter and JIMROMENESKO.COM, more at Mediagazer »

Karah-Leigh / Athens Daily News:
Red & Black student staffers walk out

Discussion: Red & Dead, The Raw Story, Gawker, Sense of Events, JIMROMENESKO.COM, Poynter, Instapundit and Inside Higher Ed, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:

Ryan On Medicare Cuts: “We Would Never Have Done It In The First Place” — He explains why he included in his budget cuts to planned spending that he's now running against. — Ryan spoke briefly about Medicare over lunch at The Original Hot Dog Shoppe in Warren, Ohio. — Via: Pool

Discussion: The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, The New Republic, American Prospect, Daily Kos, Washington Post and The Hinterland Gazette

Shushannah Walshe / ABCNEWS:
Paul Ryan Set to Appear With Mom at World's Largest Retirement Community, Defend Medicare Plan

Discussion: Hot Air and Wall Street Journal

Ben Shapiro / BREITBART.COM:

MSNBC'S TOURÉ: ROMNEY ENGAGED IN ‘NIGGERIZATION’ OF OBAMA — MSNBC's Touré, a supposed racial expert who can spot racism in most inanimate objects, most Yiddish phrases, and all English words, has now declared that Mitt Romney is engaged in the “niggerization” of Barack Obama.

Discussion: Power Line, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post

Louis Woodhill / Forbes:

General Motors Is Headed For Bankruptcy — Again — President Obama is proud of his bailout of General Motors. That's good, because, if he wins a second term, he is probably going to have to bail GM out again. The company is once again losing market share, and it seems unable to develop products …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Washington Free Beacon, Hot Air and Jammie Wearing Fools

New York Times:

Ecuador Grants Asylum to Assange, Defying Britain — CARACAS, Venezuela — Ecuador said on Thursday that it had decided to grant political asylum to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Mr. Assange has been holed up for two months in the Ecuadorean embassy in London …

Discussion: Guardian, CNN, Reuters, Firedoglake, The Atlantic Online, TechCrunch, The Spectacle Blog, Media Decoder, Towleroad News #gay, New York Magazine, News Desk, americanthinker.com, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Gawker and BBC, more at Mediagazer »

BBC:
Assange granted asylum by Ecuador

Discussion: Guardian, The New Republic, News Desk, Outside the Beltway, The Heritage Foundation, Ricochet Conversations Feed, National Updates, Crooks and Liars and National Review, more at Mediagazer »

DealBook:

No Criminal Case Is Likely in Loss at MF Global — A criminal investigation into the collapse of the brokerage firm MF Global and the disappearance of about $1 billion in customer money is now heading into its final stage without charges expected against any top executives.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hot Air, Rolling Stone, Outside the Beltway, Forbes, The Awl, Michelle Malkin, New York Magazine, emptywheel, Brad DeLong, The Jawa Report, Clayton Cramer's Blog and Jammie Wearing Fools

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

President Obama Takes Questions from People Mag, Entertainment Tonight, Disses White House Press Corps — President Obama hasn't formally taken questions from the White House press corps in more than two months, while on the campaign trail in Iowa yesterday he made time for reporters from People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight.