memeorandum: Signs of divine intervention for Republicans? (Dana Milbank/Washington Post)

12:35 PM ET, August 22, 2012

Top Items:

In Exclusive Interview, Paul Ryan Distances Self From Todd Akin — CARNEGIE (KDKA) — In Congressman Paul Ryan's first interview in Pennsylvania, Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick reacted strongly to Congressman Todd Akin's comment than women who are raped rarely get pregnant.

Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, GOP 12, The Moderate Voice, New York Times, ABCNEWS, The Maddow Blog, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, New York Magazine, First Read, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, The Raw Story and The Caucus

George Stephanopoulos / ABCNEWS:

Todd Akin Opens Door to Possible Exit — Here's what Missouri Congressman Todd Akin said when I asked if he was in the race to stay - even if it looked like he would lose and possibly cost Republicans control of the Senate. — “Well George, I'm never going to say everything that could possibly happen.

Discussion: TODAY on the Trail, Mediaite, Michelle Malkin, americanthinker.com, Power Line and Taegan Goddard's …

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

Advice Regarding Akin — My advice, for what it's worth, to conservatives and Republicans desperate to see Todd Akin off the ballot in Missouri: You've made your point. You've bewailed and denounced and threatened. Now it's time to hearken to the words of Lincoln, in his great Temperance Address …

Discussion: Moe Lane

Brian Tashman / rightwingwatch.org:
Bryan Fischer Says Todd Akin is Like a Victim of Rape

Discussion: Shakesville, Wonkette, Mediaite, Talking Points Memo, Towleroad News #gay, Daily Kos, The New Civil Rights Movement, The Raw Story and Religion Dispatches

Los Angeles Times:
Todd Akin touts support from crusader who espoused theories on rape

Discussion: The Hill, Zandar Versus The Stupid, Lynn Sweet, naked capitalism, American Power, Plunderbund, The Daily Dish, Washington Wire and The Gateway Pundit

Gregory J. Krieg / ABCNEWS:
Todd Akin Defies Mitt Romney and Stays in Missouri Senate Race

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, Politico, KFVS-TV, FishbowlDC and The Other McCain

Mark Murray / First Read:

NBC/WSJ poll: Heading into conventions, Obama has four-point lead — After Mitt Romney selected his vice presidential running mate, and just days before the political conventions kick off next week, President Barack Obama maintains his advantage in the race for the White House, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, News Desk, Business Insider, theGrio, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, The New Republic, Zandar Versus The Stupid, The Page, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, Politico, American Power, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Gawker, myFOXDetroit.com and Public Policy Polling

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:
AP-GfK poll shows White House race still tight

Discussion: Hot Air and Ballot Box

Mark Murray / First Read:
NBC/WSJ poll: Voters split on Ryan

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, theGrio, The Political Carnival, The Hinterland Gazette, Election 2012, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hullabaloo

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama continues to lead in Virginia

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Ballot Box

Wall Street Journal:
In Tight Race, Romney Faces Hurdles

Discussion: Washington Wire, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and CNN

CNN:

As Isaac churns up reminder of Gustav, GOP planners say they're ready — (CNN) - Four years ago Hurricane Gustav brought the first night of the Republican National Convention in land-locked St. Paul, Minnesota to a halt. — Today, RNC-goers are bracing for déjà vu all over again.

Discussion: Washington Post, Newsy and Outside the Beltway

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Ledbetter, Baldwin, Longoria to address Dem convention

Discussion: The Political Carnival and JSOnline

BuzzFeed:
Eva Longoria To Speak At Democratic Convention

Discussion: Joe. My. God.

CNN: More women: DNC announces new speakers

Ron Paul / CNN:
Ron Paul delegates set to strike deal with RNC

Discussion: Politico, Bangor Daily News, The Lonely Conservative, americanthinker.com, Associated Press, The Daily Caller, Outside the Beltway, A plain blog about politics and The Political Carnival

Dana Milbank / Washington Post:

Signs of divine intervention for Republicans? — Has God forsaken the Republican Party? — Well, sit in judgment of what's happened in the past few days: — A report comes out that a couple dozen House Republicans engaged in an alcohol-induced frolic, in one case nude, in the Sea of Galilee …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Washington Wire, Boston Globe, Althouse, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, The Fix and No More Mister Nice Blog

Jeffrey Smith / Salon:
Eleven reasons Akin didn't quit

Discussion: Religion Dispatches, Show Me Progress, Washington Monthly, First Read, Conservatives4Palin, Roll Call, Politico, Hot Air, minx.cc and The Huffington Post

Manu Raju / Politico:
Todd Akin's looming campaign of isolation

Discussion: Washington Post, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, AEIdeas, New York Times and The Hill

Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:

Rick Santorum: Here Are the Reasons That Romney Might Lose — The former senator is heading to Tampa to speak on behalf of his former rival. He tells Howard Kurtz what Romney must avoid if he is to beat Obama. — Rick Santorum has a simple formulation for how the 2012 election will turn out.

Discussion: The Hill, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hinterland Gazette

Prince Harry / TMZ.com:

Prince Harry — Naked Photos of Las Vegas Rager Leaked — During Vegas Rager — Prince Harry put the crown jewels on display in Vegas this weekend ... getting BARE ASS NAKED during a game of strip billiards with a room full of friends in his VIP suite. — It all went down Friday night during …

Discussion: Guardian, Telegraph, Towleroad News #gay, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller, Gawker, BuzzFeed, Newsy and Joe. My. God.

Jackie Calmes / New York Times:

Costs Seen in Romney's Medicare Savings Plan — WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney's promise to restore $716 billion that he says President Obama “robbed” from Medicare has some health care experts puzzled, and not just because his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, included the same savings in his House budgets.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, Daily Kos, Guardian, First Read, Prairie Weather, Paul Krugman, Politico, Talking Points Memo and The Caucus

Chris Chase / USA Today:

Oklahoma kindergartner banned from wearing Michigan shirt — An Oklahoma City kindergartner was forced to turn his University of Michigan shirt inside out last week because it violated a city ban on any apparel not supportive of the state's college teams. — Cooper Barton, 5, comes from a family of Michigan fans.

Discussion: WXYZ-TV and Hit & Run

CBO's Publications:

An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022 — For fiscal year 2012 (which ends on September 30), the federal budget deficit will total $1.1 trillion, CBO estimates, marking the fourth year in a row with a deficit of more than $1 trillion.

Discussion: Washington Wire, Washington Examiner, Business Insider and The Demos Blog

Jim McElhatton / Washington Times:

Labor Department spends stimulus funds for ads during Olbermann, Maddow shows — Contract shows no new jobs were created — The Labor Department paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal stimulus funds to a public relations firm to run more than 100 commercials touting …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Scared Monkeys, The Gateway Pundit, Pundit & Pundette, The Heritage Foundation, protein wisdom, Pirate's Cove, The Mental Recession and Jammie Wearing Fools

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

We Need a ‘Conservative’ Party — There has been lots of talk that Paul Ryan's nomination ensures that we'll now have a “real” debate about the role of government. That's actually funny. The bar for this campaign is so low that we celebrate the fact that it might include a serious debate …

Matt Miller / Washington Post:

The rise of the ‘Drawbridge Republicans’ — As Republicans head toward next week's convention something extraordinary has come into view now that their ticket is complete. — Mitt Romney came from wealth and went on to build his own quarter-of-a-billion dollar fortune.

Discussion: Angry Bear

Noah Rothman / Mediaite:

Jake Tapper Tells Ingraham ‘Media Helped Tip The Scales’ In 2008 — In an interview on Tuesday with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, ABC News' White House correspondent Jake Tapper addressed many of the concerns that Republicans have with the media. Tapper said that he was concerned …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Washington Examiner, Politico, Taylor Marsh, The Impolitic and The Rightnewz

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Tapper: Media Failing Country

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, americanthinker.com and Jammie Wearing Fools

New York Times:

What the G.O.P. Platform Represents — Over the years, the major parties' election-year platforms have been regarded as Kabuki theater scripts for convention week. The presidential candidates blithely ignored them or openly dismissed the most extreme planks with a knowing wink as merely …

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Prairie Weather and The Talking Dog

James Hohmann / Politico:
GOP rejects rape exception in platform

Discussion: CNN, NewsBusters.org, The Caucus, Guardian, his vorpal sword, Connecting.the.Dots, iOwnTheWorld.com, Scott Brown for US Senate and Mother Jones

Reuters:

Consider keeping Bernanke, top Romney adviser says — (Reuters) - Ben Bernanke received an unlikely defense of his work at the U.S. Federal Reserve by a top Mitt Romney adviser, who said on Tuesday that he should be considered for a third term as chairman. — Glenn Hubbard …

Discussion: AEIdeas

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Obama Is Likely Getting the Monetary Policy He Wants

Discussion: National Review, A plain blog about politics and Mother Jones

Con Coughlin / Telegraph:

Iran's supreme leader orders fresh terror attacks on West — Iran's Supreme Leader has ordered the country's Revolutionary Guards to intensify its campaign of terror attacks against the West and its allies in retaliation for supporting the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs