memeorandum: Chuck Norris threatens ‘1,000 years of darkness’ if Obama wins (Stephen C. Webster/The Raw Story)

8:30 AM ET, September 4, 2012

Top Items:

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:

President says Romney camp running against ‘fictional’ Obama — President Obama accused Republicans of distorting his record, claiming that Mitt Romney was running against a “fictional Barack Obama.” — Republicans “have spent a lot of time creating a fictional Barack Obama who is supposedly taking …

Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:

Obama's Enthusiasm Deficit Could Soon Haunt Him — Just as Mitt Romney's challenge last week at the Republican National Convention was to connect on a personal level with voters and make them comfortable with the idea of him sitting in the Oval Office, President Obama's challenge this week …

Discussion: Questions and Observations, Connecting.the.Dots and Power Line

David Maraniss / Washington Post:
Obama finds key asset in Bill Clinton's support

Discussion: The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed, New York Magazine and New Yorker

Susan Page / USA Today:
Interview: Obama says GOP drawing ‘a fictional Barack Obama’

Discussion: Associated Press

Michael D. Shear / The Caucus:
G.O.P. Seizes on a Question: Are You Better Off Than You Were 4 Years Ago?

Discussion: New York Times, CBS News, Los Angeles Times, FiveThirtyEight, NationalJournal.com, The Ed Show and Newsy

Politico:

Right rallies for ‘Empty Chair Day’ — The right rallied on Labor Day to celebrate “National Empty Chair Day,” a show of solidarity with Clint Eastwood after his rambling address to an invisible President Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention last week.

Henry J. Gomez / Plain Dealer:
AFSCME President (and Cleveland native) Lee Saunders goes Eastwooding with Ohio Democrats

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and protein wisdom

Peter Slutsky / Change.org:
Democrats: Ask Betty White to Introduce President Obama at the DNC

Discussion: ABCNEWS, USA Today, Moonbattery, Newsy, Truthdig, Associated Press and New York Magazine

BuzzFeed:
Labor Brings Its Frustrations To Charlotte

Discussion: Slobber And Spittle and Weasel Zippers

Michelle Malkin:
National Empty Chair Day photo album, part II

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Mental Recession

Elizabeth Hartfield / ABCNEWS:

Democrats Keynote Speaker Is San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro — The Democrats will open their convention tonight with a keynote speaker who is young, Hispanic and little known outside of his home city of San Antonio, Texas. — For Mayor Julian Castro, 37, tonight could be a spring board to national prominence.

Discussion: Politico, The New Republic and Washington Free Beacon

Paul J. Weber / Associated Press:

DNC Keynoter Castro Follows Mother's Tougher Path — San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro is a rising star in the Democrats' firmament with a collection of mostly favorable media profiles, a landslide re-election last year and speculation about whether he'll become the governor of Texas or even the country's first Hispanic president.

Discussion: Politico

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:

Jewish Democrats on the defensive — Popular in Politics … “It's the message every one of you have heard,” said Irs Foreman, the man in charge of Jewish affairs for the Democratic National Committee. “that the president is awful on Israel.” After which he quickly added that the message was totally untrue.

Discussion: Israel Matzav

Byron Tau / Politico:
DNC chair: GOP diversity ‘superficial’

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

CNN:
Party leaders split on ‘better off’ question

Discussion: Politico, The Gateway Pundit and The Hill

Stephen C. Webster / The Raw Story:

Chuck Norris threatens ‘1,000 years of darkness’ if Obama wins — A video released this weekend by action movie hero Chuck Norris claims that America faces “1,000 years of darkness” if President Barack Obama is reelected. — “If we look to history, our great country and freedom are under attack …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Little Green Footballs and The Hinterland Gazette

Tim Mak / Politico:

Report: Hillary Clinton aide voting Romney — Top Clinton confidant Douglas Band has said that he will vote for Republican Mitt Romney, according to a report in The New Yorker, apparently a move to strengthen Hillary Clinton's position in the Democratic Party.

Discussion: Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and Riehl World News

Associated Press:

Dems bring in crowds by the busload to fill stadium for Obama speech — Sept. 2, 2012: A man walks near a sand sculpture created in the likeness of President Obama in downtown Charlotte, N.C.AP — CHARLOTTE, N.C. - College students from across North Carolina will arrive in Charlotte by the busload.

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Freedom's Lighthouse, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Weasel Zippers, The Rightnewz and Nice Deb

Kevin Bogardus / The Hill:
Unions dig in for Obama despite disappointment with his record

Discussion: The Raw Story

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Source: Romney camp says it raised $100 million in August — Mitt Romney raised $100 million in August, his campaign told bundlers last week in Tampa. — Romney campaign finance director Spencer Zwick revealed the tally during an event with top fundraisers on the sidelines …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Directorblue / Doug Ross:

That Roar You Hear in the Distance May Be a Tidal Wave Building — I truly believe that the American people — all races, all creeds, all colors, all religions, all income levels — are marshaling together to try to save this Republic in November — first and foremost, by rejecting the Cloward-Piven Democrat Party.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Nice Deb and Israel Matzav

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Madeleine Albright: 'I Can't Understand Why Any Woman Would Want To Vote For Mitt Romney' … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Ann Romney, DNC Convention, Madeleine Albright, RNC Convention, Romney Campaign, Secretary Albright, Women's Voices, Albright, Mitt Romney 2012, Romney Gender Gap …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Truthdig and National Review

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:

CNN Host Dismantles Grover Norquist's Anti-Tax Argument: ‘This Is A Wish, Not A Plan’ — CNN's Fareed Zakaria challenged Grover Norquist's opposition to tax increases during an interview on Sunday, insisting that the anti-tax zealot's opposition to higher taxes — gospel which the GOP has adopted …

Jse / CBS San Francisco:

KCBS Exclusive: California Dems Leader Compares GOPs To Nazi Joseph Goebbels — CHARLOTTE, N.C. (KCBS) — The Chairman of the California Democratic Party already had political pundits, delegates and rivals buzzing a day before the Democratic National Convention formally opened in Charlotte …

Discussion: Politico, Power Line, Mediaite, New York Magazine and The Fix

Joe Garofoli / blog.sfgate.com:
CA Dem chair John Burton apologizes for comments invoking Goebbels about GOP “telling the big lie” (VIDEO) (AUDIO)

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Obama gives himself ‘incomplete’ grade on economic policy — President Obama gave himself an “incomplete” when asked in Colorado over the weekend to grade his first term. — “I would say incomplete,” Obama told Colorado's KKTV 11, in an interview aired Monday evening.

Discussion: KKTV-TV and Jammie Wearing Fools

Sheldon Alberts / The Hill:

Hill Poll: Voters say second term undeserved, country is worse off — A majority of voters believe the country is worse off today than it was four years ago and that President Obama does not deserve reelection, according to a new poll for The Hill. — Fifty-two percent of likely voters …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, GOP 12, Politico, Obama Isn't Working, Pirate's Cove and Washington Post

Daniel J. Mitchell / Townhall.com:

Johnny Depp Flees France Over Tax Hikes — I'm a bad person. I know it's not nice to take joy in the misery of others, but I can't help but smile when I see a story about bad news in France. — In my defense, this is not because of hostility to French people, who have always been friendly to me.

Discussion: Riehl World News