memeorandum: Mitt Romney ‘47 percent’ recording may have been illegal (Tony Romm/Reuters)

6:15 PM ET, September 18, 2012

Top Items:

SECRET VIDEO: On Israel, Romney Trashes Two-State Solution — At a private fundraiser, the GOP candidate calls Middle East peace “almost unthinkable” and says he would “kick the ball down the field.” — At the private fundraiser held May 17 where Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney candidly spoke …

William Kristol / Weekly Standard:

A Note on Romney's Arrogant and Stupid Remarks — So we have in 2012 two presidential candidates who—when they thought they were speaking privately to their fellow 1 percenters—have shown contempt for fellow Americans. — Here's Barack Obama, on April 6, 2008, in San Francisco:

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, National Review, his vorpal sword, The Daily Beast, The Hill, Ballot Box, Hit & Run, First Read, The Daily Dish, Ricochet Conversations Feed, The Maddow Blog, The Reality-Based Community, American Prospect, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and Dave Winer

David Corn / MoJo Articles:

WATCH: Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser — Mitt Romney wanted the full tape. Here it is. — On Monday and Tuesday Mother Jones published exclusive video that captured Mitt Romney speaking to donors at a May 17 fundraiser, which was held at the home of private equity mogul Mark Leder.

David Brooks / New York Times:

Thurston Howell Romney — In 1980, about 30 percent of Americans received some form of government benefits. Today, as Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute has pointed out, about 49 percent do. — In 1960, government transfers to individuals totaled $24 billion.

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:

Sen. Brown denounces Romney comments — Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) came out in opposition to Mitt Romney's controversial remarks on the “47 percent.” — Brown, who has been distancing himself from elements of the Republican Party, joins GOP Senate candidate in Connecticut Linda McMahon in coming out against the statements.

Discussion: CNN, GOP 12, Linda McMahon for Senate 2012, Mediaite, The Maddow Blog and Guardian

Rush Limbaugh:

A Golden Opportunity for Mitt Romney — RUSH: I tell you, I really hope that Mother Jones pulls down that Romney video pretty fast. Well, what he said about the Palestinians not wanting peace, that's got the media as riled up as anything. The Palestinians are sacred to some people …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

CNN:

Eastwood: If they were ‘dumb enough to ask me...’ — (CNN) - Clint Eastwood isn't taking much time to reflect on his unique endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at last month's Republican National Convention, after all he says if they're “dumb enough” to ask him, they'll take what they get.

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, ABCNEWS and Washington Monthly

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:

Conservatives Agree: Romney's Wrong — Plenty of conservatives are pushing back against the worldview espoused by Mitt Romney in his “arrogant and stupid' remarks at a private fundraiser earlier this year. — The conservative case against Romney's analysis is multi-pronged.

Discussion: Economix, The Daily Caller, The New Republic, Mediaite, Plunderbund, Power Line, Hit & Run and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:

The Right Is Wrong to Pin Obama's Edge on Welfare State — A lot of conservatives are puzzled that polls show the presidential election is even close, let alone that most show Barack Obama ahead. So convinced are they that Obama has failed that they think he ought to be out of the running.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hit & Run, National Review, Power Line, The Daily Beast, Spectator, The Daily Caller and The Atlantic Online

David Frum / The Daily Beast:
The Sinister Message Behind Romney's “Gaffe”

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Hullabaloo

Michael Walsh / National Review:
Mitt's Gettysburg Moment

Discussion: Slate, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Washington Monthly and Wake up America

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Romney Has Support Among Lowest Income Voters

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Hinterland Gazette and AEIdeas

David Corn / Mother Jones:
Romney “47 Percent” Fundraiser Host: Hedge Fund Manager Who Likes Sex Parties

NBC's Michael Isikoff / First Read:
How the Romney video leaked: For Carters, it was personal

Discussion: Election 2012, Pat Dollard and emptywheel

Joe Coscarelli / New York Magazine:
How Jimmy Carter's Grandson Helped Leak the Secret Romney Fund-raiser Video

Discussion: Mashable!, Business Insider, Belmont Club, ABCNEWS, NY Daily News, Washington Wire, neo-neocon, The Raw Story, Election 2012, Politico, NewsBusters.org, National Review, Associated Press and Guardian

Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
Romney's theory of the “taker class,” and why it matters

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Conservatives Agree: Romney's Right

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Guardian and The Daily Beast

Jim Treacher / The Daily Caller:
OMG, you guys, it's all over! … I can see why Democrats are so offended.

Discussion: Guardian

Michael Barbaro / The Caucus:
How the Romney Campaign Scrambled to Respond to Secret Video

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly, New York Times, Business Insider and Daily Kos

Erick Erickson / RedState:
Treat the Press as Enemy Collaborators

Discussion: National Review

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Real Romney Captured on Tape Turns Out to Be a Sneering Plutocrat

Discussion: Capitol Watch, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Online, American Prospect, Salon, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Washington Wire, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Maddow Blog, Washington Post, emptywheel, Daily Kos, Economist's View, The Daily Beast, Scared Monkeys and Patchwork Nation

Jim Tankersley / NationalJournal.com:
Romney's ‘47 Percent’ Talk Explains His Struggles with Swing Voters

Discussion: Washington Post, The Atlantic Online, The Visible Measures Blog, Politico, Mother Jones, Hit & Run, Firedoglake, Guardian, Washington Wire and First Read

ExtraTV.com:
Clint Eastwood on RNC Speech: I Wouldn't Be Afraid to Do It Again

Discussion: Gothamist and TMZ.com

Tony Romm / Reuters:

Mitt Romney ‘47 percent’ recording may have been illegal — The secretly recorded video of Mitt Romney decrying the “47 percent” of Americans who won't vote for him might run afoul of state law that bars eavesdropping. — The rules in Florida — where Romney spoke at a private fundraiser …

Discussion: Politico and NewsBusters.org blogs, more at Mediagazer »

BuzzFeed:
Romney Defends Leaked Comments, Hits Obama For 1998 “Redistribution” Line

Discussion: New York Magazine and Business Insider

Ben Smith / BuzzFeed:
The Long Strange Leak Of Mitt Romney's 47% Video

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, more at Mediagazer »

Ian Millhiser / ThinkProgress:

BREAKING: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Puts Voter ID Law In Jeopardy — Last month, a Pennsylvania trial judge upheld that state's Voter ID law, in an opinion that relied at least in part on Nineteenth Century precedent which claimed that vote suppressing laws may be permissible to protect against 'rogues …

Discussion: Firedoglake and emptywheel

Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo:
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Casts Doubt On Voter ID Law

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Angela Couloumbis / Philly.com:
Pa. Supreme Court orders more review on voter ID law

Discussion: ACS Blog, The Maddow Blog and The Raw Story

Washington Post:

Post Poll: Obama up 8 points over Romney in Virginia — President Obama continues to hold a clear lead over Mitt Romney in Virginia, a new Washington Post poll shows, buoyed by enthusiastic support rivaling what he marshaled in 2008 to snap the Democrats' four-decade losing streak in the state.

Discussion: GOP 12, CNN, Politico, Outside the Beltway, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Daily Kos and Ballot Box

Sarah Chayes / Los Angeles Times:

‘Innocence of Muslims’ doesn't meet free-speech test — U.S. 1st Amendment rights distinguish between speech that is simply offensive and speech deliberately tailored to put lives and property at immediate risk. — A scene from the 14-minute video trailer for the film “Innocence of Muslims …

Discussion: L.A. NOW, Washington Monthly, Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Hit & Run, more at Mediagazer »

Fox News:

Protester dies after inhaling fumes from burning American flag — Burning an American flag proved fatal for a Pakistani protester, who reportedly died from inhaling fumes from the ignited icon of independence. — Some 10,000 people rallied this week in Lahore, the capital of the Punjab province …

Phil Vinter / Daily Mail:
Pakistani man dies after inhaling fumes from burning American flags at anti-Islam film rally

Discussion: Flopping Aces and The Daily Caller

Rich Lowry / National Review:

Romney's Comment — There are many problems with it starting with the fact, as has already been pointed out in here, that he jumbled together three different groups (the almost half of the country that's going to support Obama no matter what; the roughly half of households that get government benefits …

Discussion: American Prospect

Richard C. Dujardin / The Providence Journal:

Cranston bans ‘father-daughter’ dances as violation of state law — CRANSTON, R.I. — In a move that has taken some parents by surprise, the school department has announced that it is banning traditional “father-daughter” and “mother-son” activities, saying they violate state law. — Supt.

Discussion: Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jonathan Easley / Ballot Box:

Gallup poll: Obama's convention bump gone, lead down to 1 point — President Obama's small bounce in the polls following the Democratic National Convention has all but vanished in Tuesday's Gallup daily tracking poll. — Obama takes 47 percent support among registered voters over Romney's 46, according to the poll.

Discussion: CNN, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Weasel Zippers and Ricochet Conversations Feed

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

FiveThirtyEight Forecast: G.O.P. Senate Hopes Slipping — Democrats are now favored to retain control of the Senate when the new Congress convenes in January, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast, breaking a summer stalemate during which control of the chamber appeared about equally likely to go either way.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Alan Colmes' Liberaland