memeorandum: French Magazine Runs Cartoons That Mock Muhammad (Nicola Clark/New York Times)

10:50 AM ET, September 19, 2012

Top Items:

Michael Barbaro / The Caucus:

A Mood of Gloom Afflicts the Romney Campaign — SALT LAKE CITY - Mitt Romney's traveling press secretary walked to the back of the candidate's plane midflight on Tuesday and teasingly asked a pair of journalists in an exit row if they were “willing and able to assist in case of an emergency.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hit & Run, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos, Connecting.the.Dots, Wonkette and Balloon Juice

James Taranto / Peggy Noonan's Blog:

Time for an Intervention — What should Mitt Romney do now? He should peer deep into the abyss. He should look straight into the heart of darkness where lies a Republican defeat in a year the Republican presidential candidate almost couldn't lose. He should imagine what it will mean for the country …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Page, Wall Street Journal, Mediaite, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Business Insider, US Politics, The Daily Beast, alicublog, CNN and Brad DeLong

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS:

Romney Tapes Give Way To The Not-So-Calm After The Storm (The Note) — NOTABLES: — ROMNEY TAPES GET THE SUPER PAC TREATMENT: That didn't take long. The pro-Obama super PAC, Priorities USA Action, is quick out of the starting gate this morning with a new television ad featuring footage …

Discussion: Albuquerque Journal, USA Today, Althouse, Talking Points Memo, American Spectator and The Daily Caller

Susan Page / USA Today:

Poll: In 2-point presidential race, Romney trips over 47% — The good news for Republican challenger Mitt Romney: After three rocky weeks, he remains within striking distance of President Obama in the battleground states that matter most. The bad news: His latest misstep could upend that.

Discussion: National Review and The Daily Dish

Christian Heinze / GOP 12: AP: Obama 47% Romney 46%

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Obama 48%, Romney 46% in Swing States

Discussion: Politico, Ballot Box, americanthinker.com and CNN

Associated Press:
AP-GfK poll reveals demographic divides driving close contest for the presidency

Discussion: Hot Air

Associated Press:
POLL: OBAMA JOB APPROVAL RISING, RACE STILL TIGHT

Discussion: First Read and The Fix

Mark Murray / First Read:
NBC/WSJ poll: Obama leads Romney nationally by 5 points

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Politico, The Daily Beast, Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, Ballot Box, Taylor Marsh and Datechguy's Blog

Mitt Romney / USA Today:

I'll deliver recovery, not dependency — Since our founding, America has promoted personal responsibility, the dignity of work and the value of education. Those values made our nation the hope of the earth and our economy the envy of the world. — Efforts that promote hard work …

Discussion: Politico, The Hill, AEIdeas, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Election 2012

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:

MEMORANDUM — Location — To: Interested Parties — Re: Two Visions for America — 48 days remain until Election Day. As the choice voters face comes into greater focus, the different visions that Mitt Romney and Barack Obama have for America are becoming more sharply defined.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Daily Kos

Daniel Strauss / Ballot Box:
Romney campaign memo: Obama's vision is ‘a government-centered society’

Discussion: CNN

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:

Critical audio gap in “complete” Romney tape released by Mother Jones (Update - Corn responds, 1-2 minutes missing) — David Corn of Mother Jones released the “complete” audio and video of the secretly recorded Mitt Romney speech at a private fundraiser. — Yet the complete audio and video is not complete.

Discussion: The Spectacle Blog, NewsBusters.org blogs, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, Mashable!, Wonkette, New York Magazine, Washington Post and Business Insider

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.

Discussion: American Prospect, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Boston Globe, New York Magazine, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, Guardian, Reuters, Campaign Stops, Truthdig, The Moderate Voice, World, THEROOT.COM, Swampland, Sweetness & Light, Donklephant, Suburban Guerrilla, The Democratic Daily, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Twitchy, Hot Air, National Review, Washington Wire, Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Hill, CNN, Mashable!, Power Line, The Raw Story, Taking Note, ABCNEWS, Gawker, BBC, Hullabaloo, Real Clear Politics, bizjournals, The Huffington Post, The Visible Measures Blog, NewsBusters.org blogs, Wonkette, The Lede, Media Decoder, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, The Daily Beast, Taylor Marsh, Red Alert Politics, First Read, Dave Winer, VentureBeat, Nice Deb, emptywheel, Outside the Beltway, Mother Jones and The Hinterland Gazette, more at Mediagazer »

Benny Johnson / TheBlaze.com:
IS THE SECRET VIDEO OF ROMNEY AT FUNDRAISER REALLY UNEDITED? WE MAY HAVE PROOF OTHERWISE

Discussion: Associated Press, Hot Air, Pat Dollard, Red Alert Politics, americanthinker.com, Michelle Malkin, Moe Lane, Twitchy, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire and Mediaite

Jesse Helfrich / The Hill:

Romney's missteps could cost party the Senate, strategists say — Republicans believe Mitt Romney's mistakes could prevent them from winning back the Senate. — Romney's failure to close the gap with President Obama less than 50 days before the election, as well as a variety of high-profile gaffes …

Discussion: Prairie Weather

Reuters:
Romney woes jangle GOP nerves

Discussion: Politico and TheBlaze.com

Alexandra Jaffe / Ballot Box:
Sen. Brown denounces Romney comments

FRANCE 24:

France to close embassies in fear of cartoon backlash — France announced Wednesday it will close 20 embassies across the Muslim world on Friday after French weekly Charlie Hebdo published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed naked, amid growing unrest over an anti-Islamic film that has left dozens dead.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Gawker, The Lonely Conservative and Althouse, more at Mediagazer »

Nicola Clark / New York Times:
French Magazine Runs Cartoons That Mock Muhammad

Discussion: BBC, Blazing Cat Fur and The Hinterland Gazette

Nicholas Vinocur / Reuters:
French weekly fuels Mohammad row with cartoons

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and emptywheel

Rick Ungar / Forbes:

Chicago Teachers Suspend Strike — But Who Won? — . (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife) — The membership of Chicago's striking teachers union has voted overwhelming to suspend their strike and go back to work effective Wednesday morning. — The vote, with 98 percent in support of suspension …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Chicago Tribune:
Chicago teachers anxious as union meets on contract offer

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Glittering Eye, Reuters, HillBuzz.org, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, Eduwonk, Washington Examiner and Washington Free Beacon

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:

Mitt Romney's ‘Severe Conservatism’ — “I was a severely conservative Republican governor,” Mitt Romney told the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2012. — Severely conservative? — Conservatives snickered. “I may be a little giddy here,” Rush Limbaugh said.

Discussion: Salon, The Reaction, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, The Week, The Daily Dish, Politico, The New Republic and CBS News

BuzzFeed:

Ann Romney: Mitt Doesn't Disdain The Poor — The saddest rapid response... The Romney campaign just uploaded a video with the title “Ann Romney to FOX31: Mitt Doesn't Disdain the Poor.” UPDATE: Apparently the campaign has removed the video from their official account. — Zeke Miller — an hour ago

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Mediaite, Swampland and US Politics

Elisabeth Rosenthal / New York Times:

Arctic Resources, Exposed by Warming, Set Off Competition — NUUK, Greenland — With Arctic ice melting at record pace, the world's superpowers are increasingly jockeying for political influence and economic position in outposts like this one, previously regarded as barren wastelands.

Discussion: Gawker, Booman Tribune, World and American Power

Investor's Business Daily:

Romney's Right—Palestinians Have Rejected Peace — Mideast: Maybe you heard the kerfuffle over Mitt Romney's comments about those who don't pay taxes. But you likely didn't hear his other remarks — that Palestinians don't really want peace. He was right about that, too.

Emmanuel Touhey / Healthcare:

The IRS and healthcare: A heavy lift — Now that the Supreme Court has issued its ruling on the Affordable Care Act, many are taking a closer look at how the law will be implemented, including at the new enforcement duties given to the IRS. The Government Accountability Office has said the IRS faces “a massive undertaking.”

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

The Daily Caller:

Romney must own ‘47 percent’ argument 100 percent of the time — We ran into two well-known political reporters in the lobby of a building in downtown Washington yesterday. It was late in the afternoon, but both radiated energy and good cheer. Before rushing off to their cable news appearances …

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Sept. 18: Obama's Bounce Erodes in Two Tracking Polls — President Obama has been on the decline in the FiveThirtyEight forecast. On Tuesday, his chance of winning the Electoral College dropped to 72.9 percent, from 74.8 percent on Monday. Mr. Obama is now well off his peak in the forecast …

Discussion: ABCNEWS

Philip Klein / Washington Examiner:

CRS report: number of able-bodied adults on food stamps doubled after Obama suspended work requirement … Obama administration officials have insisted that their decision to grant states waivers to redefine work requirements for welfare recipients would not “gut” the landmark 1996 welfare reform law.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation and Washington Free Beacon

Fred Thys / WBUR:

WBUR Senate Poll: Warren Leads Brown By 5 — BOSTON — A WBUR poll of 507 likely Massachusetts voters (PDFs — topline, crosstabs) finds Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren leading Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, 45 percent to 40 percent. The survey has a 4.4 percent margin of error.

Discussion: Politico, Hotline On Call, Taegan Goddard's …, Election 2012 and The Fix

Robert Costa / National Review:

Romney Campaign Borrowed $20 Million — Before the Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee in all but name. By law, however, he could only spend primary donations until he officially became nominee. To increase cash flow during the interregnum, the Romney campaign borrowed $20 million.

Discussion: The Hill, The Fix, The Caucus, Washington Post, New York Magazine and Election 2012

ABCNEWS:

Pakistani Accused of Blasphemy Over Prophet Film — Pakistani officials say they have opened an investigation into a businessman who has been accused of blasphemy after refusing to join protests over an anti-Islam video and allegedly trying to convince others also not to take part.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools