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

9:45 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: ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Albuquerque Journal, Hit & Run, Connecting.the.Dots, Daily Kos 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, Ricochet Conversations Feed, US Politics, The Daily Beast, alicublog and Brad DeLong

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

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)

Discussion: NewsBusters.org blogs, Washington Wire, Mashable! and Wonkette

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

Discussion: americanthinker.com, Michelle Malkin, Associated Press, Twitchy, Moe Lane, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire and Mediaite

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

Discussion: The Caucus, Politico, The Week, NewsBusters.org blogs and BuzzFeed, more at Mediagazer »

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama 48%, Romney 46% in Swing States — Twenty-two percent of swing-state voters could change their vote preference — PRINCETON, NJ — Registered voters in key 2012 election swing states remain closely divided in their presidential vote preferences, with 48% supporting President Barack Obama and 46% Mitt Romney.

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

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: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, National Review, ABCNEWS, Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Dish

Christian Heinze / GOP 12:

AP: Obama 47% Romney 46% — The AP adds its name to national polls suggesting that Barack Obama's convention bounce has drifted away like a political dandelion. — Among likely voters, the president picks up 47% of respondents, while Mitt Romney wins 46%.

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

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

CBS News:
Poll: Obama leads in Virginia, Wisconsin; Tight in Colorado

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Morning Call and Washington Post

New York Times:
Obama Holds Edge Over Romney In Wisconsin, Poll Shows

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Fix, The Caucus and Prairie Weather

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

Discussion: New York Magazine, Politico and The Hinterland Gazette

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 — If political campaigns have nine lives, nervous Republicans feel Mitt Romney has used up at least eight. — While insisting the party is still short of full-fledged panic, the video of Romney disparaging Americans who don't pay income taxes …

Discussion: Politico and TheBlaze.com

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

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.

John Whitesides / Reuters:
Romney struggles to steady campaign after secret videos

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, Examiner, Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler, NewsBusters.org blogs, The Young Turks … and Swampland

James Taranto / Wall Street Journal:
47 Skidoo — Uh-oh, Romney's lost the election again.

Discussion: Slate, Washington Wire and Scared Monkeys, more at Mediagazer »

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:
Romney Defends Blunt Comments Captured on Video

Discussion: Washington Times, The Hill, The Caucus, Hot Air, Media Decoder, ABCNEWS, Althouse, Guardian, CNN and The Lede, more at Mediagazer »

Nicholas Vinocur / Reuters:

French weekly fuels Mohammad row with cartoons — (Reuters) - A French magazine ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad on Wednesday by portraying him naked in cartoons, threatening to fuel the anger of Muslims around the world who are already incensed by a film depiction of him as a womanizing buffoon.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and emptywheel

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

Discussion: BBC, Blazing Cat Fur and The Hinterland Gazette

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

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: Mitt Romney for President …, The Hill, Daily Kos, Mediaite and Election 2012

Amie Parnes / The Hill:

Obama to Romney: ‘You have to work for everyone’ as president — President Obama on Tuesday lectured Mitt Romney for “writing off a big chunk of the country” in his first remarks about the GOP presidential nominee's controversial statements at a closed-door fundraiser.

Discussion: Pat Dollard

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:
Obama: 'There's More Than Enough Blame to Spread Around'

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Christopher Keating / Hartford Courant:

UConn/Hartford Courant Poll Shows McMahon, Murphy In Dead Heat — With nearly 30 percent of voters still undecided, Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Chris Murphy are locked in a statistical dead heat in the race for U.S. Senate, according to a new University of Connecticut-Hartford Courant poll.

Discussion: Capitol Watch, Ballot Box and Hotline On Call

Mark Davis / WCTX-TV:
McMahon launches second Senate campaign

Discussion: Daily Kos, Politico, The Daily Caller, Mediaite and Capitol Watch

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: Business Insider, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, The Week, The Daily Dish, Politico and The New Republic

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

Beyoncé & Jay-Z host NY Bam ba$h — WASHINGTON — Nix the flags and the podium. Cue the opulent 18-foot tower of gold-bottled French champagne. — When President Obama addresses an elite roster of hipsters and multimillionaires, including hosts Beyoncé and Jay-Z …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers and Jammie Wearing Fools

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, Taegan Goddard's …, Election 2012 and The Fix

Rosalind Rossi / Chicago Sun Times:

Chicago Public Schools teachers' strike over — The Chicago teachers' strike is over. — The Chicago Teachers Union's House of Delegates voted Tuesday to end its strike after seven days, meaning classes will be in session Wednesday for 350,000 Chicago Public Schools students.

Discussion: Joanne Jacobs, Daily Kos and Taylor Marsh

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

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

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: Booman Tribune, World and American Power