Top Items:
James Pethokoukis / AEIdeas:
The awful, awful August jobs report — This was not the employment report either American workers or the Obama campaign were hoping for. A huge miss. It shows the U.S. labor market remains in a deep depression, generating few jobs and little if no income growth. As IHS Global Insight puts it:
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Jonathan Bernstein / Washington Post:
Disappointing jobs report unlikely to change presidential contest — Today's unemployment report was disappointing: only 96,000 jobs created last month, and revisions reducing the previous two months by 40,000, it was not only well below expectations but, more importantly, below what the economy needs to do to get people back to work.
White House.gov Blog:
The Employment Situation in August
The Employment Situation in August
Discussion:
CBS DC, The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air, The Rightnewz, Wake up America, Washington Examiner and The National Memo
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Obama puts positive spin on jobs report
Obama puts positive spin on jobs report
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Politico and The Right Scoop
Bill McBride / Calculated Risk:
August Employment Report: 96,000 Jobs, 8.1% Unemployment Rate
August Employment Report: 96,000 Jobs, 8.1% Unemployment Rate
Discussion:
Business Insider, CNBC, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly and Econbrowser
Paul Miller / pineconearchive.com:
Eastwood says his convention appearance was ‘mission accomplished’ — AFTER A week as topic No. 1 in American politics, former Carmel Mayor Clint Eastwood said the outpouring of criticism from left-wing reporters and liberal politicians after his appearance at the Republican National Convention …
Discussion:
Gawker, Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Caucus, Guardian, Election 2012, ThinkProgress, emptywheel, Deadline.com, AEIdeas, ABCNEWS, Wake up America, newsfeed.time.com, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, New York Magazine, CNN, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Daily Kos, The Jawa Report, Chicago Boyz, Moe Lane, Althouse, PopWatch, Business Insider, NewsBusters.org, Babalú Blog, Macsmind, Riehl World News, USA Today, National Review, Weasel Zippers, The Hill, The Maddow Blog, Washington Examiner, The PJ Tatler, Jammie Wearing Fools, Gothamist, iOwnTheWorld.com, Towleroad News #gay and Moonbattery
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Tim Mak / Politico:
Clint Eastwood explains the ‘empty chair’
Clint Eastwood explains the ‘empty chair’
Discussion:
BuzzFeed, Outside the Beltway and The Rightnewz
Ben Armbruster / ThinkProgress:
Romney On Omitting U.S. Troops From RNC Speech: ‘You Talk About Things You Think Are Important’ — Romney giving his speech to the Republican National Convention — In an interview with Fox News this afternoon, Mitt Romney shot back at critics who complained that he didn't mention Afghanistan …
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Daily Kos, US Politics and Shakesville
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Twitter Blog:
DNC2012 Night 3: Obama's speech sets records — Today's highly-anticipated event in Charlotte was the single biggest day of both conventions. President Barack Obama's (@BarackObama) acceptance speech at #DNC2012 set a new record for political moments on Twitter, with 52,756 Tweets per minute coming just after its conclusion.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Politico, The Next Web, Queerty, Hollywood Reporter, Mediaite, TechCrunch, CBS Los Angeles, AllThingsD and Associated Press, more at Mediagazer »
Justin Sink / The Hill:
Romney: Obama's acceptance speech was ‘extraordinarily disappointing’
Romney: Obama's acceptance speech was ‘extraordinarily disappointing’
Discussion:
Politico
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Obama sets tweets-per-minute record
Obama sets tweets-per-minute record
Discussion:
CNN, The New Republic, PopWatch, ThinkProgress, The Daily Beast, The Political Carnival and The Next Web
BuzzFeed:
Romney Endorses Ultraconservative Congressman — Rep. Steve King takes a hard line on issues like abortion and Islam. The Obama campaign seizes opportunity to cast Romney as extreme on social issues. — Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney …
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Washington Monthly and Election 2012
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Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:
Firebrand Steve King tells Siouxland not to doubt Romney's faith in Jesus
Firebrand Steve King tells Siouxland not to doubt Romney's faith in Jesus
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …
Nick Wing / The Huffington Post:
Steve King Nabs Mitt Romney Endorsement, Obama Campaign Pounces
Steve King Nabs Mitt Romney Endorsement, Obama Campaign Pounces
Discussion:
ThinkProgress and The Political Carnival
Frank Newport / Gallup.Com:
Obama Bounces Up to 52% Approval, 48% to 45% Over Romney — President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party look as if they are getting at least a preliminary bounce from their convention. Today's (Friday, Sept. 7) Gallup Daily tracking update puts Obama's job approval rating at 52% …
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Howard Kurtz / The Daily Beast:
Why Obama Went Low Key in His Democratic Convention Speech — The president's more subdued rhetoric is being derided by pundits—but it was carefully vetted with groups of voters. Howard Kurtz reports exclusively on the Obama team's decision not to swing for the fences in Charlotte.
Discussion:
Reuters, Hot Air, Washington Free Beacon and New York Times
Chris Kluwe / Deadspin:
“They Won't Magically Turn You Into A Lustful Cockmonster”: Chris Kluwe Explains Gay Marriage To The Politician Who Is Offended By An NFL Player Supporting It — Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo has spoken out in favor of a Maryland ballot initiative that would legalize gay marriage.
Discussion:
The New Civil Rights Movement, Guardian, Advocate, Towleroad News #gay, Outsports and ThinkProgress
BuzzFeed:
Obama's Message Breaks Through In Swing State Newspapers — An emphasis on the path forward. Lukewarm reception to his speech from pundits doesn't make the headlines. — Andrew Kaczynski — an hour ago — 22 responses
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, The Moderate Voice and BuzzFeed
Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo:
Ohio Secretary Of State Backs Down On Early Voting — After being summoned to court by a federal judge, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted on Friday backed away from his order that would have banned counties from planning for early voting. — Husted's original order had essentially ignored …
Discussion:
msnbc.com
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Wall Street Journal:
The Democrats' Soft Extremism — Obama is out of ideas, and Clinton's speech was unworthy of him. — Barack Obama is deeply overexposed and often boring. He never seems to be saying what he's thinking. His speech Thursday was weirdly anticlimactic. There's too much buildup, the crowd was tired, it all felt flat.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, No More Mister Nice Blog, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, American Power and INSTAPUTZ
Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
Romney's Playing Field Narrows — Mitt Romney's team announced last night, in the immediate wake of the Democratic convention, that it was unleashing a massive swing-state ad blitz. Since the announcement came well before the lousy jobs report, and even before the mixed reviews for Obama's speech …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Guardian, CNN, Outside the Beltway, Library Grape, The Daily Dish, Power Line, The Hill and Fox News
Pat Garofalo / ThinkProgress:
Even Fox News Is Fed Up With Romney Failing To Provide Details Of His Tax Plan — The Romney campaign has so far refused to clarify which tax deductions and loopholes it would eliminate in order to make its huge proposed tax cut for the rich revenue neutral.
Discussion:
The Political Carnival
Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:
Judge To Woman Sexually Assaulted By Cop: ‘When You Blame Others, You Give Up Your Power To Change’ — Last summer, a drunk Arizona police officer named Robb Gary Evans drove himself to a bar, flashed his badge to avoid paying cover at the door, and then walked up behind a woman …
Discussion:
Arizona Daily Sun, ECHIDNE of the snakes and Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Kyle Leighton / Talking Points Memo:
CHART: The Racial Makeup Of Obama, Romney Presidential Coalitions — When it comes to building a winning coalition, President Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney have very distinct paths to victory. Romney is betting on winning big with white voters.
Discussion:
Connecting.the.Dots
Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org blogs:
O'Reilly ‘Stunned’ At Caroline Kennedy's ‘Catholic Woman’ Abortion Remarks — The O'Reilly Factor began last night by broadcasting the convention speech of Caroline Kennedy, who came out and declared “As a Catholic woman,” she supports Obama because “Now isn't the time to roll back the rights …
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers and Babalú Blog
David Gardner / Financial Times:
Separatism threatens the future of Spain — Canadian regional elections seldom set the international pulse racing but this week's victory in Quebec of the separatist Parti Québécois was closely watched in Spain, now facing a revival of Basque and Catalan independence demands.
Yossi Verter / Haaretz:
Reshuffling the deck: Barak now opposes Israeli strike on Iran, sources say — People who have met the defense minister in recent weeks say he cites his objections with the same conviction and skill he used to support an attack just two months ago. — Word is that Defense Minister Ehud Barak …
Discussion:
Jerusalem Post, Firedoglake and Guardian
Steve Benen / The Maddow Blog:
Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XXXIII — The total of Romney falsehoods keeps going up. — First Lady Michelle Obama delivered a beautiful speech at the Democratic National Convention this week, which was very well received. There were a few phrases in particular, though, that seemed to strike a chord.
Discussion:
Applesauce
John Cook / Gawker:
Ask the DNC: Is Romney Ready for the Kill List? — As you may have heard last night, Osama bin Laden is dead, has perished from the earth, is at the bottom of the sea, and is not better off than he was four years ago. The Democrats are trying to pull a Bush on national security …
Discussion:
Hit & Run and The Agonist
Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Jackson Jr. back in Washington DC — Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has left the Mayo Clinic, where he was receiving treatment for bipolar disorder, and is back in Washington D.C. — Rick Bryant, Jackson's chief of staff, confirmed Friday to The Hill that the Illinois congressman had left …