memeorandum: Johnny Depp Flees France Over Tax Hikes (Daniel J. Mitchell/Townhall.com)

11:20 AM 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: Hot Air, The Moderate Voice, GOP 12, Weasel Zippers, americanthinker.com, The Rightnewz, UrbanGrounds, The Other McCain and Jammie Wearing Fools

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 …

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, CNN and neo-neocon

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: FiveThirtyEight, CBS News, USA Today, Outside the Beltway, News Desk, Washington Post, Obama Isn't Working and The Caucus

CEPR:

“Are Americans Better Off Today Than They Were Four Years Ago?” The Question That Exposes Incompetent Reporters — While the source is not clear, someone developed a simple way to identify incompetent news reporters. If you hear a reporter ask people in President Obama's administration …

Discussion: Associated Press, protein wisdom, The Confluence, Datechguy's Blog, Paul Krugman, National Review, Hot Air, Daily Kos and Crooks and Liars

Charlie Cook / NationalJournal.com:
Obama's Enthusiasm Deficit Could Soon Haunt Him

Discussion: Questions and Observations, americanthinker.com, Power Line, Connecting.the.Dots and Hot Air, more at Mediagazer »

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

Discussion: CNN, Online NewsHour and Associated Press

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

Discussion: Washington Wire, ABCNEWS, Wall Street Journal, ABCNEWS, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Beast, BuzzFeed, New York Times, Daily Kos, New York Magazine and New Yorker

Amie Parnes / The Hill:
Asking voters to look ahead, not backward, is a tough sell for Obama

Discussion: nation.foxnews.com, Pirate's Cove, Wall Street Journal, Politico and ABCNEWS

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: Mediaite, Althouse, GOP 12, neo-neocon, Truthdig, Washington Examiner and National Review

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:

Source: Mitt camp claims $100M Aug. — 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 of the Republican National Convention, according to a source who was present.

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

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:

Paul Ryan: Janesville story was about 'Obama's broken promises' — Paul Ryan continued to defend his Republican National Committee speech that critics said falsely accused President Obama of promising to keep a General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, Ryan's home district, from closing.

Discussion: CNN

Tim Mak / Politico:
Paul Ryan: Obama didn't close the plant

Discussion: Daily Kos

Julie Pace / Associated Press:

First Lady's Focus Is Drawing Contrast With Romney — Michelle Obama rarely mentions Mitt Romney by name. But everything she says during this presidential campaign is meant to draw a contrast between her husband and his Republican challenger. — She implies that Romney …

Discussion: Politico and New York Times

Catalina Camia / USA Today:
Michelle Obama tops 5 things to watch at the DNC

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Heritage Foundation, Pirate's Cove, Taegan Goddard's … and The Hinterland Gazette

Jamie Weinstein / The Daily Caller: Blast from the past: Dukakis to attack Romney's gubernatorial record at DNC

Michael Barone / Washington Examiner:
Jewish Democrats on the defensive

Discussion: Israel Matzav

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

Discussion: CNN, Weasel Zippers and The Hill

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 …

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:
If You Think Obama's First Term Was Bad, Imagine a Second

Discussion: National Review

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Reporters: We loathe 2012 campaign

Discussion: American Prospect, Mother Jones, Mediaite, Poynter, Balloon Juice and Jammie Wearing Fools, 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 Gateway Pundit, Althouse and Jammie Wearing Fools

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

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: The Rightnewz and The Hinterland Gazette

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:
Obama gives himself ‘incomplete’ grade on economic policy

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and Jammie Wearing Fools

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

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: National Review and The Daily Caller

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 Other McCain, The Gateway Pundit, The Mahablog, Nice Deb, Israel Matzav and Bookworm Room

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: National Review, Guardian and Politico

Paul J. Weber / Associated Press: DNC Keynoter Castro Follows Mother's Tougher Path

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Florida GOP goes up against Crist — The 2014 governor's race is more than two years away, but the Republican Party of Florida is already spending real money to run negative ads against Charlie Crist. — The RPOF released an ad this morning featuring clips of Crist branding himself a …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …