memeorandum: Poll: Warren opens up 6-point lead over Brown in Mass. Senate race (Peter Schroeder/Ballot Box)

10:35 PM ET, September 16, 2012

Top Items:

Inside the campaign: How Mitt Romney stumbled — Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney's top strategist, knew his candidate's convention speech needed a memorable mix of loft and grace if he was going to bound out of Tampa with an authentic chance to win the presidency.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Philly.com

Nancy Pelosi / CNN:
TRENDING: Pelosi says Ryan pick makes it easier for Dems to take House

Discussion: Politico and Booman Tribune

ABCNEWS:

Ambassador Susan Rice: Libya Attack Not Premeditated — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi was not premeditated, directly contradicting top Libyan officials who say the attack was planned in advance.

Discussion: American Power, CBS News, The Gateway Pundit, The Fix, Outside the Beltway, Doug Ross, Newsy, Power Line, Atlas Shrugs, Wake up America and Taylor Marsh

ABCNEWS:

Ambassador Susan Rice: U.S. Not ‘Impotent’ in Muslim World — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told me this morning on “This Week” that the United States is not “impotent” in the face of violent anti-American protests sweeping the Muslim world.

Discussion: JOSHUAPUNDIT, Fox News Insider, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette, The PJ Tatler, Riehl World News and BREITBART.COM

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Rice contradicts Libyan account, says attack was not premeditated

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Betsy's Page and Washington Examiner

Leila Fadel / NPR:
Consulate Attack Preplanned, Libya's President Says

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard and The Right Scoop

Jeffrey Goldberg / The Atlantic Online:

Happy New Year, Puppet Masters — This morning I came across a tweet from Blake Hounshell, the managing editor of Foreign Policy Magazine, that read, in its entirety: “Oy.” This “oy” was followed by a link to today's column by Maureen Dowd, in which she claims that “neocon” …

Discussion: Bloomberg

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

Neocons Slither Back — PAUL RYAN has not sautéed in foreign policy in his years on Capitol Hill. The 42-year-old congressman is no Middle East savant; till now, his idea of a border dispute has more likely involved Wisconsin and Illinois. — Yet Ryan got up at the Values Voter Summit …

Discussion: Commentary Magazine, Balloon Juice, Hullabaloo, Taylor Marsh, The Mahablog, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Monthly, Daily Kos, Connecting.the.Dots, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Vox Popoli, Prairie Weather and Pressing Issues

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Maureen Dowd meets anti-Semitism charge — New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd set the Jewish political community on fire today with a column about the Republican ticket's foreign policy proposals that, according to her critics, peddled anti-Semitic imagery.

Discussion: Swampland, Mother Jones and Gawker

The Future of Capitalism:
Maureen Dowd on Neoconservatives

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

Benjamin Netanyahu To NBC: Those Who Believe Iran Should Have Nukes ‘Set A New Standard For Human Stupidity’ — During his tour of several Sunday morning American talk shows, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told NBC's Meet the Press that Iran is guided by fanaticism with no rationality …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Outside the Beltway, The Other McCain, The Lonely Conservative and nation.foxnews.com

Pema Levy / Talking Points Memo:

Netanyahu: People Are ‘Drawing Me Into The American Election’ — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied accusations from critics that he is trying to influence the U.S. presidential election, despite escalating his demands that the United States draw a “red line” …

Discussion: CNN, The Reality-Based Community and Associated Press

CNN:
On ‘red lines,’ Obama and Romney appear in agreement

Discussion: The Raw Story, Politico, Crooks and Liars and The Hill

Associated Press:

WEIGHING OFFER, CHICAGO TEACHERS REMAIN ON STRIKE … CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago teachers uncomfortable with a tentative contract offer decided Sunday to remain on strike, insisting they need more time before deciding whether to end an acrimonious standoff with Mayor Rahm Emanuel …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and The Lonely Conservative

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Report: Teachers union to continue strike

Discussion: Associated Press

Chicago Teachers Union:
House of Delegates to review new contract language this Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times, Daily Kos, The Raw Story, Taylor Marsh and New York Times

Peter Schroeder / Ballot Box:

Poll: Warren opens up 6-point lead over Brown in Mass. Senate race — Elizabeth Warren has opened up a 6-point lead against Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) in their hotly contested senatorial race, according to a new poll. — The poll, from the Western New England University Polling Institute …

Robert Rizzuto / Union-News:
Poll: Elizabeth Warren opens 6-point edge on Scott Brown in Massachusetts Senate race

Discussion: The Political Carnival, Taylor Marsh and Hullabaloo

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Romney Camp Decides: The Economy Isn't Enough — “It's not enough just to criticize,” says Ryan. Agrees an aide: “We have to bring more to the table.” — OLDSMAR, Fla. — Mitt Romney's campaign for president appears to have quietly abandoned its guiding assumption …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Hot Air and Riehl World News

Jeff Mason / Reuters:

Obama crams for debates, works on being concise — (Reuters) - On long flights to swing states in the West and late nights at the White House after his children have gone to bed, President Barack Obama is cramming like a student for a test that could determine his political future. — The subject?

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Hill

BREITBART.COM:

BREAKING: VIDEO PURPORTS TO SHOW US AMBASSADOR DRAGGED FROM BENGHAZI CONSULATE — YouTube user “Abdalgadar Fadi” has uploaded a video on the arabic language version of the video sharing site purporting to show US Ambassador Christopher Stevens dragged from the consulate in Benghazi.

Discussion: Power Line, Doug Ross, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and The Gateway Pundit

Susie Madrak / Crooks and Liars:

Deja Vu, 1988: Protesters Throw Bombs Over Religious Film — While listening to all the outraged right wing rantings about free speech and how Muslims were a separate, primitive class of religion for their outraged and violent response in Libya to the deliberately provocative work …

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Hullabaloo