memeorandum: Michelle Obama won't take on GOP (Lois Romano/Politico)

5:10 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 …

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: The Daily Beast and Mother Jones

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

Major Garrett / NationalJournal.com:

Obama's Invisible Second-Term Agenda — Obama walks down the steps of Air Force One during his arrival on Saturday in Aurora, Colo. — Democrats are incredulous that Mitt Romney didn't mention U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan during his nomination acceptance speech.

Discussion: Hot Air and National Review

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Democrats Say U.S. Is Better Off Than Four Years Ago

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, The New Republic, FiveThirtyEight, Hot Air, CBS News, The Hill, Swampland, News Desk, USA Today, Obama Isn't Working, Washington Post and The Caucus

Brian Beutler / Talking Points Memo:
Republicans Scoff At White House Theory That Obama Victory Will Break GOP ‘Fever’

Discussion: Grist

CNN:
CNN Poll: Did Romney get a convention bounce?

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Fix and Election 2012

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

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

CNN:
Florida Republicans hammer Crist for switch

Discussion: The Rightnewz, Weasel Zippers and Politico

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 Hill, Daily Kos, The Hinterland Gazette, CNN, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Stranger …

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Obama will watch first lady's Charlotte speech from the White House

Discussion: CNN and Politico

Lois Romano / Politico:
Michelle Obama won't take on GOP

Discussion: CNN, New York Times, Associated Press, Swampland, Washington Post, New Orleans Times-Picayune and Washington Wire

Adele Hampton / Ballot Box:
Obama campaign continues to harp on Mitt Romney's taxes in new ad

Discussion: Politico

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

Debbie Wasserman Schultz: Israeli ambassador called GOP “dangerous for Israel” … CHARLOTTE - Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz claimed on Monday that Israel's ambassador to the United States has accused Republicans of being “dangerous” to Israel by criticizing President Obama's record.

Discussion: Commentary Magazine, Power Line, Weasel Zippers, Israel Matzav, The Gateway Pundit, AEIdeas, Mediaite and The Right Scoop

Washington Free Beacon:
Pro-Israel Language Removed From Democratic Party Platform

Discussion: Politico, Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, Guardian and Washington Examiner

Jeff Dunetz / “The Lid”:
Democrats Strip Pro-Israel Language From Platform

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Weekly Standard, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Israel Matzav, The Gateway Pundit and Weasel Zippers

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, Daily Kos, The Hinterland Gazette, The Hill, Gawker and USA Today

Nicole Belle / Crooks and Liars:
Haley Barbour: 'I Would Love For Christie To Put A Hot Poker To Obama's Butt'

Discussion: Yall Politics

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, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Rightnewz, Freedom's Lighthouse, The Moderate Voice, Conservatives4Palin, Jammie Wearing Fools and Vodkapundit

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: Election 2012, The Daily Caller and Moe Lane

David Brody / The Brody File:

Exclusive: Democrats Drop ‘God’ From Party Platform — Guess what? God's name has been removed from the Democratic National Committee platform. — This is the paragraph that was in the 2008 platform: — “We need a government that stands up for the hopes, values, and interests of working people …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, Outside the Beltway, The Gateway Pundit and LifeNews.com

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: The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, First Read, Taylor Marsh and Election 2012

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

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, The Other McCain, iOwnTheWorld.com, 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

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

GOP Senate Candidate Supports Life Sentences For Rape Victims Who Obtain Abortions — Rep. Rick Berg (R-ND), the candidate for Senate from North Dakota, once voted for a bill that would have made any woman who obtained an abortion guilty of a homicide crime — even if it were in the case of rape or incest.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Wonkette, Little Green Footballs and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
North Dakota Senate Candidate Voted To Make Abortion In Case Of Rape, Incest Carry Life Sentence

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Why the Obama campaign is cautiously confident in victory — The Romney campaign makes a strong case that he may well prevail in November. As Mark Halperin summarized: “Team Romney remains convinced that voters crave a more concrete form of hope and change, and that the anemic economy …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Bruce Golding / New York Post:

Naked gal gets deal on a suit: 15G for Times Sq. bust — NOW BUY SOME CLOTHES! Zoe West, busted for stripping down during a body-painting exhibition in Times Square last year has won a settlement in her false-arrest lawsuit. — A nude model busted for dropping her drawers during …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared, New York Magazine and The Jawa Report

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Elevator Speech — Why did God put Barack Obama on this earth? If you had asked that question between his 2004 convention address and his 2008 campaign, the answer could have been summarized in a short elevator speech. — Obama was here to heal our politics, to move us beyond …

Discussion: Taking Note, Grist, Washington Wire, BillMoyers.com and Connecting.the.Dots

Josh Ong / The Next Web:

Here's how to check if your Apple device UDID has been compromised by the AntiSec leak — If you're worried that you might own one of the 1 million Apple devices that have had their UDIDs leaked by AntiSec, reportedly from a breach of an FBI agent's laptop, our rockstar tech team has put together a tool to help you check.

Discussion: cortesi, Gizmodo, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story, Newsy, Gawker, Wired, Mashable!, MOTHERBOARD, emptywheel, VentureBeat and Marco.org

Hunter Walker / Politicker:

Pro-Romney Super PAC Launches Anti-Gay Marriage Ad to Snag Southern Swing State Votes — A still from the “New Morning” ad. (Photo: YouTube) — GASTONIA, NC — A super PAC with ties to evangelist leader Gary Bauer is trying frighten would-be Obama supporters in at least one Southern swing state …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Advocate, BuzzFeed, FiveThirtyEight, The New Civil Rights Movement, GOP 12 and The Maddow Blog

Annals of Internal Medicine Current Issue:

Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?: A Systematic Review — Crystal Smith-Spangler, MD, MS; Margaret L. Brandeau, PhD; Grace E. Hunter, BA; J. Clay Bavinger, BA; Maren Pearson, BS; Paul J. Eschbach; Vandana Sundaram, MPH; Hau Liu, MD, MS, MBA, MPH …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, New York Times, BBC, The Raw Story, Healthland, Guardian, The Volokh Conspiracy, Boing Boing and Newsy

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 …