memeorandum: Look in Your Mirror — On Monday, David D. Kirkpatrick … (Thomas L. Friedman/New York Times)

12:40 PM ET, September 19, 2012

Top Items:

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 …

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: New York Magazine, The Lonely Conservative, New York Times, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hit & Run, Politico, Ballot Box, ABCNEWS, Connecting.the.Dots, Reuters, Daily Kos, Wonkette and Balloon Juice, more at Mediagazer »

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: Crooks and Liars, Albuquerque Journal, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, Althouse and The Daily Caller

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: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Wake up America, The Hill, AEIdeas, The Future of Capitalism, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, Daily Kos and Election 2012

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: Examiner, Wizbang, The Spectacle Blog, Mediaite, Patterico's Pontifications, NewsBusters.org blogs, JOSHUAPUNDIT, Washington Post, ABCNEWS, MoJo Articles, Washington Wire, Gawker, Wonkette, Mashable!, Dave Winer, Taylor Marsh and Red Alert Politics, more at Mediagazer »

Benny Johnson / TheBlaze.com:

IS THE SECRET VIDEO OF ROMNEY AT FUNDRAISER REALLY UNEDITED? WE MAY HAVE PROOF OTHERWISE — Tuesday afternoon, the site Mother Jones released what was described as the “full,” “raw and uncut” video of Mitt Romney's comments at a private campaign fundraiser, which has drawn immense criticism from both sides.

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: First Read, The Maddow Blog, emptywheel, The Reaction, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, The Daily Dish, The Week, The Huffington Post and Politico

The Onion:

Romney Apologizes To Nation's 150 Million ‘Starving, Filthy Beggars’ — SALT LAKE CITY—Seeking to limit the fallout from a videotaped speech in which he asserts 47 percent of Americans “pay no taxes” and do not take “personal responsibility and care for their lives,” Mitt Romney hastily called …

Discussion: The Raw Story and US Politics

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:
MEMORANDUM

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

Dylan Byers / Politico:
Romney video missing ‘one to two minutes’

Discussion: Naked DC, The Hill and First Read

Michelle Malkin:
Romney's “secret video” and the Dem politics of “Squirrel!”

Discussion: Associated Press, Media Decoder, his vorpal sword and THEROOT.COM, more at Mediagazer »

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, First Read and The Daily Dish

ap-gfkpoll.com:
AP-GfK Poll: Obama job approval numbers back up above 50 percent, but race with Romney still tight

Discussion: Sweetness & Light

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

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Outside the Beltway and Hot Air

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

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

Quinnipiac University:

Obama Hits 50% In Wisconsin, Virginia; Colorado Is Close, Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News Swing State Poll Finds — Watch Video: Assistant Director Tim Malloy discusses poll results — Clip Information and Download: — FLV File - For Website (1920x1080 / 189.1MB)

Discussion: GOP 12, ABCNEWS, Firedoglake, Washington Post, Ballot Box and The Hinterland Gazette

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

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

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

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

Joan Walsh / Salon:

Does Paul Ryan regret his choice? — Calling Mitt's 47 percent comments “obviously inarticulate,” the would-be VP sounds resentful — Paul Ryan didn't sound like Mr. Loyalty when commenting on Mitt Romney's cruel comments about the 47 percent of Americans who pay no taxes Tuesday to a Reno television station.

Discussion: The Maddow Blog

Dick Durbin / CNN:
Partisan field day: Reid, Durbin on Romney remarks

Discussion: Politico

Will Englund / Washington Post:
Vladimir Putin says of Mitt Romney: At least he's direct

Discussion: Riehl World News

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: Babalú Blog, 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, Hit & Run, Blazing Cat Fur 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: Politico and Prairie Weather

Reuters:
Romney woes jangle GOP nerves

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos and TheBlaze.com

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, Swampland, Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette and US Politics

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: Moonbattery, UrbanGrounds, The Heritage Foundation and Washington Free Beacon

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:

CNBC Poll: 75% Agree With Romney's 47% Comments — UPDATE: The number of people who have taken the CNBC poll has doubled, bringing those who agree with Romney's comments to 76 percent. — As the faux outrage over Mitt Romney's “47%” comments continue to barrel through the airwaves of the old media …

Discussion: Hit & Run, UrbanGrounds and Nice Deb

Katie Glueck / Politico:

Pat Buchanan: President Obama a ‘drug dealer of welfare’ — President Barack Obama is a “drug dealer of welfare,” conservative commentator Pat Buchanan charged in an interview with Fox News's Greta Van Susteren Tuesday night. — “Barack Obama is a drug dealer of welfare,” he said, speaking on “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and The Hinterland Gazette

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

Obama on Letterman: President avoids debt number — David Letterman professes at one point in his discussion with President Obama to be “completely ignorant about politics.” Such a shortcoming, you might suppose, would disqualify the “Late Show” host from quizzing the president on the issues of the day.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler and Ricochet Conversations Feed

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

David Kravets / Wired:

Feds Charge Activist with 13 Felonies for Rogue Downloading of Academic Articles — Federal prosectors added nine new felony counts against well-known coder and activist Aaron Swartz, who was charged last year for allegedly breaching hacking laws by downloading millions of academic articles …

Discussion: Crooked Timber and PointOfLaw Forum