memeorandum: Russia Demands U.S. End Support of Democracy Groups (David M. Herszenhorn/New York Times)

10:00 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, 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, 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, Reuters, Guardian, Campaign Stops, American Spectator, Swampland, Truthdig, The Moderate Voice, World, THEROOT.COM, Sweetness & Light, Donklephant, Mediaite, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Hot Air, The Democratic Daily, Twitchy, Los Angeles Times, Washington Wire, Business Insider, National Review, Talking Points Memo, The Week, The Hill, Mashable!, RedState, Power Line, CNN, Taking Note, The Raw Story, ABCNEWS, The Visible Measures Blog, Gawker, BBC, The Huffington Post, Media Decoder, Hullabaloo, bizjournals, Real Clear Politics, NewsBusters.org blogs, Wonkette, The Gateway Pundit, The Lede, Fortune, The Daily Beast, Red Alert Politics, Taylor Marsh, First Read, VentureBeat, Nice Deb, Dave Winer, 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) — 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: 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: Associated Press, americanthinker.com, Michelle Malkin, Twitchy, Moe Lane, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire and Mediaite

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, Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Dish

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Morning Call, Talking Points Memo and Washington Post

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

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

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 Heritage Foundation, The Gateway Pundit, Gawker and The Lonely Conservative, more at Mediagazer »

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

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

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

New York Times:
Chicago Teachers' Union Votes to End Strike

Discussion: Via Meadia and New York Magazine

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

Discussion: Firedoglake, Reuters, HillBuzz.org, The Daily Beast, Business Insider, Weasel Zippers, The Glittering Eye, 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: The Reaction, Business Insider, 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, more at Mediagazer »

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

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

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

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

Will Englund / Washington Post:

Vladimir Putin says of Mitt Romney: At least he's direct — View Photo Gallery — Vladimir Putin has been watching the U.S. election campaign and says Romney sounds like an open and sincere man. Click here to see photographs of Vladimir Putin.

Discussion: Riehl World News

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:
Russia Demands U.S. End Support of Democracy Groups

Discussion: Via Meadia

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.