memeorandum: Obama campaign launches swing-state radio ads blasting Romney-Ryan budget (Justin Sink/The Hill)

11:45 AM ET, August 20, 2012

Top Items:

Romney: Akin's ‘Inexcusable’ Comment — In a phone interview this morning, Mitt Romney told National Review Online that Representative Todd Akin's recent comment on rape is “inexcusable.” — “Congressman's Akin comments on rape are insulting, inexcusable, and, frankly, wrong,” Romney said.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, GOP 12, Guardian, Ballot Box, Daily Kos, USA Today, First Read, Mediaite, The Caucus, Wall Street Journal and The Raw Story

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Akin Comments Could Swing Missouri Senate Race — In my review of Senate races last week, I classified Representative Todd Akin of Missouri, who won the Republican primary earlier this month, as a very slight favorite over the Democratic incumbent in the state, Claire McCaskill.

Discussion: First Read, The Daily Dish, The Political Carnival, The Caucus and The Hinterland Gazette

Alexander Burns / Politico:

DNC email ties Romney to Todd Akin — In an email to supporters sent overnight, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz went after Missouri Rep. Todd Akin's comments about whether women get pregnant from “legitimate rape,” and attempted to discredit the whole Republican Party and GOP presidential ticket in a condemnation of Akin's views:

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Washington Examiner and Taegan Goddard's …

David Catanese / Politico:

Todd Akin's rape remark has GOP fretting — Rep. Todd Akin's damning statement that victims of “legitimate rape” rarely get pregnant is just the latest in a string of unforced errors by the GOP Senate candidate that has Republicans fretting about his chances of beating Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Discussion: CNN, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, The Maddow Blog, Talking Points Memo and Prairie Weather

Dana Loesch / BREITBART.COM:
AKIN ON ‘LEGITIMATE RAPE’: “I MISSPOKE”

Discussion: Erick's blog, Mediaite, LifeNews.com, The Other McCain, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Looking Spoon Blog

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
How Todd Akin And Paul Ryan Partnered To Redefine Rape

Discussion: Shakesville, Talking Points Memo, The Huffington Post, The Raw Story, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Hinterland Gazette and Philly.com

Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:
A Canard That Will Not Die: ‘Legitimate Rape’ Doesn't Cause Pregnancy

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Associated Press, Physicians For Life, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Daily Beast, Balloon Juice, The Fix, The New Civil Rights Movement and Washington Post, more at Mediagazer »

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Republican Senate Nominee: Victims Of ‘Legitimate Rape’ Don't Get Pregnant

CNN:
Romney and Ryan disagree with Akin rape remark, says campaign

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Todd Akin for U.S. Senate 2012, Hot Air, The Strata-Sphere, The Page, Conservatives4Palin, The Political Carnival and Los Angeles Times

New York Times:
Senate Candidate Provokes Ire With ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment

Discussion: The Caucus, News Desk, Left In Alabama, Politicker, Washington Examiner, GOP 12, Informed Comment, FOX2now.com, Talking Points Memo, Gothamist, The New Civil Rights Movement, Politico and Feministing

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill: Romney campaign criticizes Akin remarks on rape, abortion

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:
GOP Senate Candidate: Victims Of ‘Legitimate Rape’ Won't Become Pregnant

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Ballot Box, Politico, Talking Points Memo and Firedoglake

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Akin On ‘Legitimate Rape’ Comment: ‘I Misspoke’

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, rubber hose, Show Me Progress, Religion Dispatches, The New Civil Rights Movement, Connecting.the.Dots, First Read, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars and Little Green Footballs

Charles Jaco / FOX2now.com:
The Jaco Report: August 19, 2012

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, The New Civil Rights Movement, Washington Examiner, News Desk, Mother Jones, The Caucus, 2012 Decoded, Hotline On Call, The Hinterland Gazette, ABCNEWS, Newsy, Business Insider and TBogg

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:
Democrats Link Akin To Romney-Ryan: ‘The Real Issue’ Is The GOP

Discussion: Democratic National Committee, Applesauce, National Review and Betsy's Page

Politico:

Exclusive: GOP scolded after drinking, nudity in Israel — The FBI probed a late-night swim in the Sea of Galilee that involved drinking, numerous GOP freshmen lawmakers, top leadership staff - and one nude member of Congress, according to more than a dozen sources, including eyewitnesses.

Midwest Democracy:
Kansas congressman Yoder apologizes for swimming nude in Sea of Galilee

Discussion: The Hill, ABCNEWS and The Hinterland Gazette

Politico:
Exclusive: FBI probed GOP trip with drinking, nudity in Israel

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and Runnin' Scared

Glenn Thrush / Politico:

POLITICO e-book: Obama campaign roiled by conflict — President Barack Obama's campaign team, celebrated four years ago for its exceptional cohesion and eyes-on-the-prize strategic focus, has been shadowed this time by a succession of political disagreements and personal rivalries that haunted the effort at the outset.

Discussion: Election 2012, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Marbury, Right Wing News, Althouse, Washington Examiner and Jammie Wearing Fools

New York Post:
See no evil — One of President Obama's advisers took money …

Discussion: protein wisdom

Los Angeles Times:

‘Top Gun’ director Tony Scott jumps to his death from L.A. bridge — Tony Scott, a director known for ‘Top Gun’ and a producer, jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro without hesitation, witnesses tell police. — Director and producer Tony Scott jumped to his death …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, L.A. NOW, Deadline.com, Scared Monkeys, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, The Hinterland Gazette, Taylor Marsh and American Power

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

An Unserious Man — Mitt Romney's choice of Paul Ryan as his running mate led to a wave of pundit accolades. Now, declared writer after writer, we're going to have a real debate about the nation's fiscal future. This was predictable: never mind the Tea Party, Mr. Ryan's true constituency …

Discussion: Prairie Weather and The Hinterland Gazette

Niall Ferguson / The Daily Beast:

Niall Ferguson: Hit the Road, Barack — The president has broken his promises, and Romney-Ryan's path to prosperity is our only hope. — I was a good loser four years ago. “In the grand scheme of history,” I wrote the day after Barack Obama's election as president, “four decades is not an especially long time.

Paul Krugman:
Unethical Commentary, Newsweek Edition

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Weasel Zippers, The Daily Beast, Brad DeLong, Daily Kos, Business Insider, NewsBusters.org blogs and Chicago Boyz

Manu Raju / Politico:

Donald Trump gets ‘surprise’ convention role — The Donald is gearing up for Tampa. — When the Republican National Convention kicks off next Monday, Donald Trump will have a “surprise” role on its first day, people familiar with the matter said Sunday evening.

Discussion: Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and Towleroad News #gay

Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:

Former union boss at Occupy event: Our goal is to ‘overthrow the capitalist system and build communism’ [VIDEO] — Former Amalgamated Transit Union local 689 president Mike Golash, now an “Occupy” movement organizer, was caught on tape Sunday revealing his political goals …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Lonely Conservative, The Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain and moonbattracker.com/wordpress

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

Romney Campaign Works Feverishly to Project Relaxed Image — TAMPA, Fla. — They hail from the Broadway stage, the control rooms of NBC and the design studios that created sleek sets for Oprah Winfrey and Jon Stewart. — Their craft is slick packaging and eye candy that audiences consume by the millions.