memeorandum: Sept. 3: Par or Bogey? (Nate Silver/FiveThirtyEight)

2:25 PM ET, September 4, 2012

Top Items:

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: Michelle Malkin, Rumproast, Hot Air, Pirate's Cove, Riehl World News, Wake up America, americanthinker.com, Weasel Zippers, The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, The Rightnewz, UrbanGrounds, GOP 12, Datechguy's Blog, Grim's Hall, Politico, The Other McCain and Jammie Wearing Fools

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Democrats Say U.S. Is Better Off Than Four Years Ago — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A day after fumbling a predictable and straightforward question posed by Mitt Romney last week — are Americans better off than they were four years ago — the Obama campaign provided a response on Monday …

Discussion: The Week, CBS News, The Hill, USA Today, Swampland, News Desk, Obama Isn't Working, Washington Post and The Caucus

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
President says Romney camp running against ‘fictional’ Obama

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, CNN, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and neo-neocon

Daily Mail:

Democrats set to move Obama's big speech from 74,000-seater outdoor stadium to 20,000-seater indoor arena — Democrats are poised to avoid the danger of President Barack Obama accepting his party's nomination before a partially-empty stadium by shifting his speech to an indoor arena and citing ‘severe weather’.

Discussion: Riehl World News, The Moderate Voice, Freedom's Lighthouse, The Rightnewz, Associated Press, Jammie Wearing Fools and Vodkapundit

Dion Lefler / Wichita Eagle:

Kansas delegates head to N.C. for Democratic convention — Off the top of her head, Pat Lehman can't remember exactly how many Democratic National Conventions she's been to. — “I'm not sure, seven, probably eight, maybe,” she says with a laugh. — But Lehman, the dean …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Weasel Zippers, Washington Free Beacon and Ed Driscoll

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Nelson leads by 7 in Florida Senate race

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

CNN:
Florida Republicans hammer Crist for switch

Discussion: The Rightnewz, Politico and Weasel Zippers

Alexander Burns / Politico: Florida GOP goes up against Crist

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:

If You Think Obama's First Term Was Bad, Imagine a Second — Ben Feller of the Associated Press asked President Barack Obama a good question recently. If Obama wins re-election, Feller said, Republicans are still likely to have a majority in the House. “How is that any different from what we have now?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones and National Review

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

'64 or Bust — In a Bloomberg column, Ramesh Ponnuru makes an argument for Mitt Romney's election that you are going to hear a lot more of soon: it's the only way that partisan gridlock in Washington can be broken. The basic theory is that Republicans will not change from their current …

Discussion: Politico and ECHIDNE of the snakes, more at Mediagazer »

Boston Herald:

Indian delegates seek sit-down with Elizabeth Warren — Tribal activist:'Shame on her' — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Elizabeth Warren can't escape her Cherokee heritage controversy even at this gathering of loyal Democrats, as a contingent of skeptical American Indian delegates …

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse and Jammie Wearing Fools

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Video: Unaccountable - Elizabeth Warren and the Cherokee

Discussion: Politico, Boston Herald, Riehl World News and protein wisdom

Tim Mak / Politico:

Paul Ryan: Obama didn't close the plant — Rep. Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he wasn't suggesting that President Barack Obama was responsible for the closure of an auto plant in Janesville, Wis., during his convention speech last week. — “What they are trying to suggest is that I said Barack Obama …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Hinterland Gazette, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos and The Stranger …

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

Discussion: Gawker, The Impolitic, The Moderate Voice, Mediaite, Booman Tribune, The Hinterland Gazette and Little Green Footballs

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Paul Ryan: Janesville story was about 'Obama's broken promises'

Discussion: CNN

Paul Krugman:

The Fire Last Time — Dean Baker has exactly the right metaphor for journalists asking the really dumb “are you better off” question: … Obama came to office in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The question should be how well he dealt with that crisis …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Hullabaloo and The Confluence

CEPR:
“Are Americans Better Off Today Than They Were Four Years Ago?” The Question That Exposes Incompetent Reporters

Discussion: Associated Press, The New Republic, protein wisdom, National Review, Daily Kos, Hot Air and Crooks and Liars

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:
Are We Better Off? 10 Headlines From September 2008

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Fox News Insider

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: The Gateway Pundit, Althouse, Mediaite, neo-neocon, Truthdig, Washington Examiner and National Review

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:
Source: Mitt camp claims $100M Aug.

Discussion: Questions and Observations, First Read and Outside the Beltway

Business Week:

Exclusive: How Karl Rove's Super PAC Plays the Senate — On Thursday, Aug. 30, the final day of the Republican National Convention, Karl Rove gave a breakfast briefing to a group of about 70 of the Republican Party's most influential donors. As Bloomberg Businessweek reported …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, BuzzFeed, Crooks and Liars, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette and USA Today

KKTV-TV:

11 News Anchor Dianne Derby Interviews President Obama — 11 News Interview President Obama & Romney Sr. Campaign Advisor — It's President Obama's second trip to Colorado within a week and I had a chance to ask him a few questions before he took the stage at CU-Boulder.

Discussion: Reuters, ABCNEWS, The Hill, The Rightnewz, Business Insider, The PJ Tatler, Jammie Wearing Fools and The Hinterland Gazette

Ben Pershing / Washington Post:

Virgil Goode makes presidential ballot in Virginia — Former congressman Virgil Goode Jr. has qualified for the presidential ballot in Virginia, the State Board of Elections ruled Tuesday morning, adding a potential obstacle to Republican Mitt Romney's hopes of winning the pivotal state.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Election 2012

Andrew Cain / Richmond Times-Dispatch: Va. GOP challenges ballot petitions of Goode, Libertarian

David Hill / Washington Times:

Bedbugs an increasing concern at DNC hotels — Charlotte seeing an uptick in pest reports — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You think incumbent politicians are hard to get rid of? Try bedbugs. — The blood-sucking insects have made a resurgence in recent years, including reports of them at nine …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Moe Lane

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Democratic platform again seeks Guantanamo closure — The 2012 Democratic Party platform released Monday night reaffirms President Barack Obama's unfulfilled pledge to close the prison for terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay, but backs away from a 2008 plank suggesting that terror suspects are entitled to a day in court.

Discussion: “The Lid”, Guardian, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Democratic Platform Endorses Taxpayer-Funded Abortions

Discussion: New York Times, BuzzFeed, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Beast, Hot Air, Ricochet Conversations Feed, AEIdeas and Weasel Zippers

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: Babalú Blog and Riehl World News

John Fund / National Review:

The Crack Hotels of the DNC … I can't speak for the delegates or ther foreign dignitaries, but many of the journalists I have spoken with here are appalled at the accommodations in Charlotte to which they were assigned by the DNC. National Review was assigned to two Knights Inn properties.

Discussion: Belmont Club, Babalú Blog, Fausta's Blog, The Daily Caller, Ed Driscoll and Wonkette

Chris Good / ABCNEWS:

Pro-Obama Super PAC Announces Best Fundraising Month — The top outside-money group supporting President Obama raised $10 million in August, logging its best fundraising month yet. — The super PAC known as Priorities USA Action confirmed the total to ABC this morning.

Nicholas Confessore / The Caucus:
Priorities USA Action Reports Record Monthly Donations

Discussion: Ballot Box

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Sept. 3: Par or Bogey? — We're reaching the point of diminishing returns in analyzing Mitt Romney's convention bounce. But we can say two things almost for certain. First, Mr. Romney very probably got a bounce. And second, it's a below-average bounce by historical standards.

Discussion: Latino Decisions, Booman Tribune, GOP 12, Washington Post and Hullabaloo

Mike Zapler / Politico:

Debt to hit $16 trillion as DNC kicks off — Bad timing for Democrats: The gross national debt is set to hit $16 trillion Tuesday as the party's convention gets underway, and Republicans are pouncing. — “This is a grim landmark for the United States,” Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) …