memeorandum: Mitt Romney's Endless ‘Retirement’ Package (John Cook/Gawker)

9:50 PM ET, August 23, 2012

Top Items:

Missouri Senate: McCaskill (D) 48%, Akin (R) 38% — What a difference one TV interview can make. Embattled Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill has now jumped to a 10-point lead over her Republican challenger, Congressman Todd Akin, in Missouri's U.S. Senate race.

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Huckabee digs in behind Akin — Todd Akin hasn't had many high-profile supporters with him in the trenches this week, but Mike Huckabee became an important and emphatic exception Thursday afternoon, sending a message to his own supporters accusing Republican elites of trying to drum a good man out of a winnable Senate race.

Discussion: Power Line, CNN, Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, Mediaite, The Huffington Post, Conservatives4Palin, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Riehl World News, The Raw Story, Election 2012 and Midwest Democracy

Mark Halperin / The Page:

Huckabee Goes All In for Akin — In an email that just went out to his supporters, the former Arkansas governor blasts the GOP establishment and says it is vital for conservatives to stand by his friend Todd. … Big-time DC and Missouri Republicans had hoped Huckabee could be the tool to get Akin to drop out.

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Riehl World News, Mother Jones, The Gateway Pundit, The Other McCain, GOP 12 and National Review

Wall Street Journal:
McCaskill Relishes Akin Flap

Discussion: Riehl World News

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
Akin mess could be watershed moment for conservative movement

Discussion: Mother Jones, Power Line, A plain blog about politics and Washington Monthly

Todd Akin for U.S. Senate 2012:
Akin Campaign Response to Rasmussen Poll

Discussion: National Review, The Gateway Pundit, Politicker, CBS St. Louis, The Hill, Wonkette, Conservatives4Palin, Business Insider and Guardian

Talking Points Memo: Huckabee Backs Akin, Lashes Out At GOP

The Caucus: Even if Akin Wanted to Quit Race, It Would Be Difficult

Caitlin Huey-Burns / Real Clear Politics:
GOP Recasts Path to Senate Majority — Without Missouri

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Washington Monthly, About.com Conservative … and Power Line

John Cook / Gawker:

The Bain Files: Inside Mitt Romney's Tax-Dodging Cayman Schemes — Mitt Romney's $250 million fortune is largely a black hole: Aside from the meager and vague disclosures he has filed under federal and Massachusetts laws, and the two years of partial tax returns (one filed and another provisional) …

Dan Primack / Fortune:

Gawker's worthless ‘Bain files’ — “Confidential” doesn't equal “important.” — FORTUNE — Gawker today published what it's calling The Bain Files, hundreds of pages of audited financials and private placement memoranda for old Bain Capital funds. Let me save you some time …

Discussion: Salon, Gawker, News Desk, FT Alphaville and The Daily Dish

John Cook / Gawker:

The Bain Files: The Documents — Gawker has obtained a large cache of confidential internal financial documents from more than 20 secretive hedge funds and other investment vehicles in which Mitt Romney has stashed his considerable wealth. All told, the partnerships and limited liability …

Discussion: Business Insider and Guardian

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Gawker posts 950 pages of confidential Bain documents

Discussion: Gawker, Algemeiner.com and The Daily Dish

John Cook / Gawker: Mitt Romney's Endless ‘Retirement’ Package

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:

Romney Campaign Forbids Local Reporter From Asking About Akin, Abortion — This post has been updated. — Denver TV reporter Shaun Boyd wanted to ask Mitt Romney about Todd Akin and the abortion controversy roiling the GOP Thursday. But the Romney campaign refused.

Discussion: The Caucus, CBS Denver, Daily Kos and Election 2012

Mike Lillis / The Hill:

Team Obama breaks precedent to try to spoil Romney's convention in Tampa — Bucking protocol, President Obama and the Democrats are planning a full-scale assault on Republicans next week during their convention. — Presidential candidates have traditionally kept a low profile during …

Discussion: Politico, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, CNN, The Impolitic, National Review, American Power, Taylor Marsh, Moe Lane, Jammie Wearing Fools and Fausta's Blog

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Romney prohibits Q's on Akin and abortion

Discussion: The Political Carnival and ThinkProgress, more at Mediagazer »

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
The Morning Plum: The Obama campaign's theory of the presidential race

Discussion: Salon, CNN, American Prospect, Washington Monthly, The Maddow Blog, Prairie Weather, Brad DeLong and The Fix

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
DNC's agenda — Sandra Fluke is now officially on the Obama …

Discussion: LifeNews.com, Power Line, Hot Air, National Review, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Scared Monkeys and Conservatives4Palin

Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Mitt Romney Makes Reporter Agree Not To Ask About Todd Akin Or Abortion

Discussion: Gawker, CBS Denver and First Read

Mark Hemingway / Weekly Standard:
Obama's Risky Convention Gambit

Discussion: Betsy's Page, GOP 12 and Hotline On Call

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News poll: Race for the White House tightens — Less than a week before the Republican convention begins, the race for the White House is a virtual tie. According to a Fox News poll of likely voters, the Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan ticket receives the backing of 45 percent, while the Barack Obama-Joe Biden ticket garners 44 percent.

Discussion: Ballot Box, Politico, RedState and Hot Air

New York Times:
Polls Say Medicare Is Key Issue in 3 Swing States

Discussion: CBS News, CNN, The Political Carnival, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, The Caucus, NewsBusters.org blogs, Washington Wire, Mother Jones, ABCNEWS, ABCNEWS, The Future of Capitalism, USA Today, The Moderate Voice, The BLT, Politico and Election 2012

Colby Itkowitz / Morning Call:
Morning Call/Muhlenberg Poll: Paul Ryan doesn't move race in Pennsylvania

Discussion: Politico, Ballot Box and Election 2012

Quinnipiac University:
Ryan Micro-Bump In Florida, Wisconsin, But Not Ohio, Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Washington Post, First Read, Hotline On Call, Firedoglake, Post on Politics, Ballot Box, USA Today, GOP 12, theGrio, Riptide 2.0, Washington Examiner, The Hinterland Gazette, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and FiveThirtyEight

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Obama Remains Women's Presidential Pick; Romney, Men's

Discussion: The Hill, The PJ Tatler and GOP 12

Michael Grunwald / Swampland:

The Party of No: New Details on the GOP Plot to Obstruct Obama — TIME just published “The Party of No,” an article adapted from my new book, The New New Deal: The Hidden Story of Change in the Obama Era. It reveals some of my reporting on the Republican plot to obstruct President Obama …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Political Carnival

Paul Purpura / New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Rev. Grant Storms, critic of Southern Decadence, convicted of obscenity for public masturbation — The Rev. Grant Storms, the former “Christian patriot” pastor whose marches against homosexuality at New Orleans' Southern Decadence festival briefly put him in the national spotlight …

Discussion: Joe. My. God. and Towleroad News #gay

Rob Kauder / KXLY-TV:

Ambassador Crocker arrested for hit and run, DUI — Author: Jeff Humphrey, KXLY4 Reporter , jeffhu@kxly.com — Ambassador Ryan Crocker, one of the most decorated State Department diplomats in the last half century, was arrested on August 14 by the Washington State Patrol for hit-and-run and DUI in Spokane Valley.

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo and Wonkette

Thomas Burr / Salt Lake Tribune:

Romney says his Mormon tithing shouldn't be public — • Mitt Romney says in a new interview that one of the reasons he's distressed about disclosing his tax returns is that everyone sees how much money he and his wife, Ann, have donated to the LDS Church, and that's a number he wants to keep private.

Discussion: emptywheel, Firedoglake, The Hill, Mediaite, Daily Kos, Business Insider and Election 2012

Justin Fishel / Fox News:

EXCLUSIVE: Bin Laden raid tell-all author revealed, questions raised whether ex-Navy SEALs have freedom of speech — The author of a recently announced insider account of the raid that killed Usama bin Laden has been identified to Fox News as a 36-year-old former Navy SEAL Team 6 member …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite, Mother Jones, BuzzFeed, DCist, Guardian, Media Decoder, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, Wonkette, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, ThinkProgress and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Jamelle Bouie / American Prospect:

Racism Plays a Big Part in our Politics. Period. — If you haven't read it, Ta-Nehisi Coates has a fantastic essay on Barack Obama's relationship to race and racism in the latest issue of The Atlantic. There's too much to quote, but this paragraph captures the thesis:

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Ta-Nehisi Coates / The Atlantic Online:
Fear of a Black President

Discussion: The Other McCain, American Power, Nice Deb and Angry Black Lady Chronicles

Christian Newswire:

Family Groups Urge FOX NEWS to Stop Providing Unchallenged Prime Time to Agitator — Bill O'Reilly ignores repeated requests to drop SPLC's Wayne Besen from show — Contact: Regina Griggs, Executive Director, Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays, 804-453-4737, pfox@pfox.org

Discussion: Americans For Truth, Advocate, Joe. My. God., Towleroad News #gay and rightwingwatch.org

Juana Summers / Politico:

Paul Ryan to Obama: ‘Put up or shut up’ on sequester — FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Speaking south of Fort Bragg military base here, Paul Ryan said the White House should “put up or shut up” and lay out just how painful the sequester will be. — “The House has already passed, as well as the Senate …

Discussion: Hot Air, CNN, Election 2012, The Ulsterman Report and The New Republic

Financial Times:

Republicans eye return to gold standard — The gold standard has returned to mainstream US politics for the first time in 30 years, with a “gold commission” set to become part of official Republican party policy. — Drafts of the party platform, which it will adopt at a convention in Tampa Bay …

Discussion: Paul Krugman, Hullabaloo, Economist's View, Brad DeLong, LewRockwell.com Blog and Business Insider

BuzzFeed:

Obama Supporter Suggests Anti-Mormon Whisper Campaign — “I'm thinking that even though we don't LIKE campaigns to get nasty, we in the south (TN) come to EXPECT it,” a “team member” writes on the campaign Dashboard. The campaign removes the post after an inquiry.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Belmont Club