memeorandum: Romney Seen Pulled 2 Ways Over Economy (Binyamin Appelbaum/New York Times)

10:30 AM ET, August 28, 2012

Top Items:

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Real Romney — The purpose of the Republican convention is to introduce America to the real Mitt Romney. Fortunately, I have spent hours researching this subject. I can provide you with the definitive biography and a unique look into the Byronic soul of the Republican nominee:

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, No More Mister Nice Blog, Mediaite, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Balloon Juice, Jammie Wearing Fools, Outside the Beltway and Discourse.net

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Priorities USA does the disappointment ad — Priorities USA Action is releasing a new commercial today spotlighting a woman who says she was “duped by Mitt Romney” - and not because of his work at Bain Capital. — Back up a minute. One of the staples of Republican messaging this cycle …

Discussion: Washington Wire and Jammie Wearing Fools

Lois Romano / Reuters:
Ann Romney's RNC task: Humanize Mitt

Discussion: TheBlaze.com and Election 2012

CNN:
Dem super PAC moves away from Bain attacks

Discussion: Telegraph

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:
RNC swag bag has Romney book with unaltered health care section

Discussion: The Hill, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed, A plain blog about politics, The Raw Story, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos

John Cook / Gawker:

Leader of Army Plot to Assassinate Obama Apparently Attended the 2008 Republican Convention as a Page — Isaac Aguigui, the Army private and alleged ringleader of a plot to assassinate Barack Obama and “take over” Ft. Stewart in Georgia, apparently served as a page at the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minnesota.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Crooks and Liars, NationalJournal.com, The Hinterland Gazette, emptywheel, www2.tbo.com and Texas on the Potomac

Russ Bynum / Associated Press:

Prosecutor: Ga. murder case uncovers terror plot … LUDOWICI, Ga. (AP) — Four Army soldiers based in southeast Georgia killed a former comrade and his girlfriend to protect an anarchist militia group they formed that stockpiled assault weapons and plotted a range of anti-government attacks, prosecutors told a judge Monday.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, CANNONFIRE, Talking Points Memo, his vorpal sword, Gawker, The Raw Story and The Agonist

Mark Levin / Facebook:

Damn it, defeat this RINO power grab! — Conservatives of all stripes, especially Tea Party activists, this is an attempt to destroy your ability to influence the presidential and vice presidential nomination process in the Republican Party. It is an attempt to eviscerate the input of state parties.

Discussion: Daily Pundit

Jennifer A. Dlouhy / Texas on the Potomac:
Republicans reach rules change deal to avert floor fight with Texans, Ron Paul backers

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Caucus, The Gateway Pundit, FreedomWorks blogs, The Right Scoop and Conservatives4Palin

Jay Bookman:
U.S. troops at Ft. Stewart plotted to kill Obama?

Discussion: Zandar Versus The Stupid

Michelle Malkin:
Floor fight: Grass-roots activists battle attempt to rig GOP convention delegate rules Updated …

Discussion: TexasGOPVote, Conservatives4Palin, Austin American-Statesman, Political Insider, FreedomWorks blogs, Republican Liberty Caucus, BuzzFeed, New York Times, The Caucus, The Gateway Pundit, Twitchy and Outside the Beltway

John Hudson / The Atlantic Wire:
Prosecutors: U.S. Soldiers Plotted to Kill President Obama

Discussion: Angry Black Lady Chronicles, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

Priebus on Chris Matthews: ‘He Made the Case for Us.’ — Shortly before our chat, Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus held a brief press “gaggle” in the media center, and briefly talked about his exchange with Chris Matthews on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” this morning.

Discussion: Politico, NewsBusters.org, “The Lid”, Mediaite, Hot Air and The Moderate Voice

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Chris Matthews defends attack on Priebus: GOP ‘dividing country along racial lines’

Discussion: Mediaite, Ed Driscoll, The Other McCain, Hot Air and The Hill

Geoffrey Dickens / NewsBusters.org:
Newt Takes it to Chris Matthews on His ‘Racist Thinking’

Discussion: Politico, The Lonely Conservative, Scared Monkeys and The Gateway Pundit

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Newt to Chris Matthews: Your thinking can be pretty racist, you know

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

Rush Limbaugh Suggests Obama Manipulated Hurricane Predictions To Get GOP To Cancel Convention — Even President Obama's biggest fans don't think he can make it rain — but Rush Limbaugh does. — On his radio show this afternoon, Limbaugh suggested that President Obama might …

Discussion: Dependable Renegade, Towleroad News #gay and Hullabaloo

Politico:
GOP fears ghost of Katrina at RNC 2012

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, ABCNEWS and Boston Globe

Daniel Strauss / Twitter Room:
Samuel L. Jackson asks why GOP ‘spared’ by tropical storm

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, Twitchy, americanthinker.com and Gawker

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Rush Limbaugh: Hurricane Center is ‘Obama’

Discussion: New York Times, Media Decoder, The Caucus, ABCNEWS, CNN, rightwingwatch.org, Liberal Values, Wonkette, BuzzFeed, Connecting.the.Dots, The Moderate Voice and Alan Colmes' Liberaland, more at Mediagazer »

Rush Limbaugh:
Tracking the Hurricane with the Media

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CNN and Business Insider

Colleen Nelson / Washington Wire:

Who Is Thursday's Mystery Convention Speaker? — TAMPA, Fla. - Republican convention planners appear to have a surprise planned for those tuning in Thursday night. — Buried deep in the convention schedule released Monday is a vague reference to a mystery speaker scheduled for the event's final evening.

Discussion: Townhall.com, JustOneMinute, National Review, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Lonely Conservative and Saint Petersblog

Dan Gross / Philly.com:

Arlen Specter hospitalized with a serious illness, friends confirm — Arlen Specter has been hospitalized with a serious illness, confirm friends of the longtime U.S. Senator. One asked that people keep him in thoughts and prayers. — Specter, 82, announced in 2005 that he had Hodgkin's disease for which he underwent chemotherapy.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys and Outside the Beltway

CNN:

Source: Former Sen. Arlen Specter battling for his life — (CNN) — Former longtime U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter was battling for his life early Tuesday after he was recently diagnosed with a “serious form of cancer,” a source close to his office told CNN. — Specter, who has overcome numerous …

Discussion: Morning Call, PennLive.com and Hotline On Call

Reuters:

GOP still fretting over Mitt's image — TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney signaled in weekend interviews that he is brushing off advice that he attempt a public image makeover this week to make himself more likable and more connected to voters at the human level. — Some of the most experienced …

Discussion: CNN

Reuters:
Mitt Romney RNC: GOP still frets about candidate's image

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Politico:

Who's on the inside track for a Romney Cabinet — Mitt Romney said his Cabinet and White House staff will be stacked with men and women from the business world, but his top advisers sketched out for POLITICO a team compromised of many familiar faces in Washington.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog and Riehl World News

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Security at the RNC: George Orwell Meets a ‘Call of Duty’ Cityscape — At a defining civic event, the establishment is insulated by an army of police officers from protesters camping unseen on a far away corner. — Reuters — Deep inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Raw Story and Prairie Weather

Quinnipiac University:

McMahon By A Nose In Close Connecticut Senate Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Obama Tops Romney By 7 Points — Connecticut likely voters put Republican former wrestling executive Linda McMahon on the right side of a 49 - 46 percent too-close-to-call U.S. Senate race against Democratic U.S …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway and Hotline On Call

Keegan Gibson / PoliticsPA:

Smith Makes Abortion Gaffe (Listen to Audio) — Harrisburg — Republican Tom Smith spoke at the Pennsylvania press club luncheon Monday afternoon The defining moment occurred a few moments after the formal program when, asked about abortion amid a group of reporters, Smith seemed to suggest …

Discussion: Philly.com, Firedoglake, Slate, Talking Points Memo, Truthdig, Crooks and Liars, PennLive.com, Daily Kos, ABCNEWS, Business Insider, The Hinterland Gazette, The Raw Story, Gawker, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway and Hullabaloo

Tara Culp-Ressler / ThinkProgress:
Pennsylvania GOP Senate Candidate: Getting Pregnant From Rape Is ‘Similar’ To Having A Baby Out Of Wedlock

Discussion: Taking Note, The Moderate Voice, Booman Tribune, Wonkette, Daily Kos, Balloon Juice, The Maddow Blog and Taylor Marsh

Mackenzie Weinger / Politico:

Sarah Palin: Dems addicted to ‘hope-ium’ — Sarah Palin on Monday said Democrats who “still have that addiction to the hope-ium” President Barack Obama peddled four years ago need to “open their eyes” and vote for Mitt Romney this November. — “Some of us had [Obama] pegged four years ago.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

New York Post:

Dead voters & a dying democracy? — Americans will fight and die for democracy, but when it comes to the actual business of elections, stuffed ballot boxes and cemetery voters are the subject of jokes more than outrage — though a democracy in which elections are decided by fraudulent votes created …

Discussion: Ricochet Conversations Feed

Binyamin Appelbaum / New York Times:

Romney Seen Pulled 2 Ways Over Economy — WASHINGTON — When Mitt Romney declared during his unsuccessful campaign for the Senate in 1994 that the federal minimum wage should rise with inflation, a break with Republican doctrine, both Democrats and Republicans accused him of pandering to Massachusetts voters.

Discussion: Washington Wire and The Hinterland Gazette