memeorandum: Romney goes positive, negative in new TV ads (Christian Heinze/GOP 12)

11:45 AM ET, September 17, 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.

BuzzFeed:

Romney's New Strategy Turns Right — “This is going to be a base election.” More God, less economy. — Image by Geoff Burke / Getty Images — VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Mitt Romney's campaign has concluded that the 2012 election will not be decided by elusive, much-targeted undecided voters …

Discussion: GOP 12, Shakesville, The Hill, Riehl World News and The Daily Dolt

Politico:

Mitt Romney abruptly shifts strategy — Mitt Romney, sensing an opening in the Middle East mess and catching flak from conservatives for giving too little detail about his policy plans, is rolling out a new and broader strategy to make the election a referendum on “status quo versus change …

Discussion: Washington Wire, CNN, Daily Kos, The Right Scoop and American Spectator

Erick Erickson / RedState:

If The Election Were Held Today Barack Obama Would Win — Contra Dick Morris, Mitt Romney is not winning this election. At least Mitt Romney is not winning the election right now. Conservatives are obsessing over every poll, the turn out models used, and the media bias that is on ful display.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Caller

New York Times:
Amid Discord, Romney Seeks to Sharpen Message

Discussion: GOP 12, USA Today, First Read and The Caucus

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Boston molasses

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Washington Post:
Romney, Obama turn campaign focus back to economy

Discussion: Hot Air

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:

Joe Scarborough On The Entire Muslim World: ‘They Hate Us Because Of Their Religion’ — This morning on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough accused every single person in Muslim and Arab world of hating the United States. According to Scarborough, “if you scratch the surface, and if you gave every street vendor …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and GILL REPORT

Reuters:

Protests erupt in Afghanistan as film anger simmers — Thousands of protesters take to the streets of Kabul, setting cars on fire and shouting “death to America.” — KABUL - Thousands of protesters took to the streets of the Afghan capital on Monday, setting fire to cars and shouting …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Cultural Clash Fuels Muslims Raging at Film — CAIRO — Stepping from the cloud of tear gas in front of the American Embassy here, Khaled Ali repeated the urgent question that he said justified last week's violent protests at United States outposts around the Muslim world.

Discussion: Media Decoder

Leigh Ann Caldwell / CBS News:
McCain: U.S. “is weakened” under Obama

Discussion: Politico, Crooks and Liars, Wake up America and The Agonist

Robert Wright / The Atlantic Online:
Hidden Causes of the Muslim Protests

Discussion: Mondoweiss

David Brody / The Brody File:

Paul Ryan Exclusive: Explains Why Romney Campaign Won't Reveal Tax Loopholes — Below is part of The Brody File exclusive interview with vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan. The interview was done Friday at the Values Voter Summit in Washington DC. — Mandatory Courtesy: CBN News/The Brody File

Discussion: The Daily Dolt, The Raw Story and Taegan Goddard's …

Rana Tanveer / The Express Tribune:

Ultimatum to US: ‘Criminalise blasphemy or lose consulate’ — LAHORE: — Several Muslim parties and a Christian group held rallies on Sunday to protest against a movie released in America. — Around 10,000 people participated in the main rally organised on The Mall by the Tehreek Hurmat-i-Rasool (THR).

Discussion: Forbes, Weasel Zippers and Pirate's Cove

Nate Cohn / The New Republic:

Daily Breakdown: The Bounce Persists Into A Critical Week — During convention season, the polls temporarily provide a less accurate picture of the race as voters sway back and forth on either side of their eventual preference. But this week, the polls are becoming more and more predictive …

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Warren rebounds — Things have been going Elizabeth Warren's way in the Massachusetts Senate race over the last month. She's gained 7 points and now leads Scott Brown 48-46 after trailing him by a 49-44 margin on our last poll. — Warren's gaining because Democratic voters are coming back into the fold.

Discussion: Ballot Box, DownWithTyranny! and Union-News

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

Chicago Tribune:

Chicago teachers strike continues, Emanuel says he will sue to force end — City plans to file injunction to force strike to end — No school Monday; contract talks continue. — Chicago Public Schools will remain closed until at least Wednesday, as union leaders continue to mull …

Discussion: Chicago Sun Times, The Daily Caller, NPR, Taylor Marsh, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Firedoglake, Newsy, CNN and Progress Illinois

Associated Press:
WEIGHING OFFER, CHICAGO TEACHERS REMAIN ON STRIKE

Discussion: CNN, Scared Monkeys, The Heritage Foundation, The Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

Associated Press:

AP: Black Pastors Say ‘Stay Home’ Election Day — More ways to share... Mixx — Stumbled — LinkedIn — Vine — Buzzflash — Newstrust — Technocrati — Forward Article — Some black clergy see no good presidential choice between a Mormon candidate and one who supports gay marriage …

Discussion: americanthinker.com, The Hinterland Gazette and Weasel Zippers

presstv.ir:

Obama can be sued over insulting film: Iran official — A senior Iranian official says US President Barack Obama could face legal action in connection with the production of an anti-Islam movie by an American Jew. — “A complaint could be filed with US courts against Obama for his violation …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit, The Hinterland Gazette and Riehl World News

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:

Morning Jay: How the Media Misrepresents the Race — The gap between the way the media characterizes the presidential race and what is actually happening is growing larger by the day. In particular, we see a systematic emphasis on news items that favor the president and a discounting of evidence that disfavor him.

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

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: The Jawa Report, The Gateway Pundit, Power Line, Atlas Shrugs, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Doug Ross, American Power and Riehl World News

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: Althouse, Mediaite, New York Magazine, Swampland, Mother Jones, Balloon Juice, Gawker, New York Times and Weekly Standard, more at Mediagazer »

Rowena Mason / Telegraph:

Cameron ‘claimed Britain is united against Mitt Romney’ — David Cameron described US Presidential candidate Mitt Romney as having the “unique distinction of uniting the whole of England against him”, a Hollywood movie mogul has said. — Harvey Weinstein, an Oscar-winning producer …

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Citizens United Obama film to air on TV — Citizens United has struck a deal with a dozen television stations to run its hour-long film featuring voters disaffected with President Barack Obama, sending the Republican critique of the incumbent into tens of millions of homes in the lead-up to Election Day …