memeorandum: Carney lambasts Romney for ‘desperate efforts’ on Obama video (Amie Parnes/The Hill)

2:30 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: ABCNEWS, New York Magazine, Politico, Hit & Run, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Times, The Lonely Conservative, Connecting.the.Dots, Daily Kos, Wonkette, Reuters, Patterico's Pontifications, Balloon Juice and Ballot Box, 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, The Caucus, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, American Spectator, 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: ABCNEWS, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Political Watch, Politico, Sister Toldjah, Wake up America, AEIdeas, Mediaite, Election 2012, The Hill, The Daily Beast, The Future of Capitalism and Daily Kos

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, Shakesville and US Politics

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Mitt Romney's ‘Severe Conservatism’

Discussion: First Read, emptywheel, The Maddow Blog, The Reaction, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Post, Election 2012, The Daily Dish, The Week and The Huffington Post

Mitt Romney for President of the United States …:
MEMORANDUM

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

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.

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: GOP 12, Associated Press, Wonkette, The Lonely Conservative, emptywheel, Wizbang, Examiner, The Spectacle Blog, Mediaite, Twitchy, Conservatives4Palin, NewsBusters.org blogs, Patterico's Pontifications, Los Angeles Times, Washington Wire, Mashable! and Taylor Marsh

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Romney video missing ‘one to two minutes’ — The videos of Mitt Romney's remarks at a May fundraiser, released in full by Mother Jones yesterday, omit “one to two minutes” of the candidates remarks, the journalist who obtained the video told POLITICO. — The omission comes between parts …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Naked DC and The Hill

James Monteleone / Albuquerque Journal:

Gov. Martinez critical of Romney's ‘47 percent’ — Gov. Susana Martinez today rejected Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's remarks that Republicans this fall can't woo “47 percent” of voters because they're too dependent on government services. — Martinez, who was asked to speak …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, The Hill, Politico and The Hinterland Gazette

Joan Walsh / Salon:
Does Paul Ryan regret his choice?

Discussion: The Maddow Blog

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

Discussion: Politico

Mark McKinnon / The Daily Beast:
Mark McKinnon on Why Time Is Running Out for Mitt Romney

Discussion: Mario Piperni dot Com, Boston Globe and The Hill

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Maybe Romney answer was “inelegant” only because Mother Jones didn't disclose that part of tape was missing

Discussion: 24Ahead, Swampland, JOSHUAPUNDIT, BBC and Washington Post

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: CNN, Politico and Prairie Weather

Scott Wong / Politico:
Heller knocks Romney over ‘47 percent’

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Maddow Blog

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:
CNBC Poll: 75% Agree With Romney's 47% Comments

Discussion: Hit & Run and UrbanGrounds

Reuters:
Romney woes jangle GOP nerves

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Maddow Blog, Politico, Daily Kos and TheBlaze.com

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: Washington Wire, Washington Post, CNN, GOP 12, ABCNEWS, Firedoglake, The Fix, First Read, Ballot Box and The Hinterland Gazette

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

ap-gfkpoll.com:

AP-GfK Poll: Obama job approval numbers back up above 50 percent, but race with Romney still tight — WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans are feeling markedly better about the country's future and about Barack Obama's job performance, but the president's re-election race against Republican Mitt Romney remains …

Discussion: Sweetness & Light, First Read, Politico and Washington Post

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

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

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: iOwnTheWorld.com, Moonbattery, The Heritage Foundation, The Lonely Conservative, UrbanGrounds and Washington Free Beacon

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: Gallup, CBS News, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, The Fix, National Review, First Read and The Daily Dish

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: Guardian, The Hinterland Gazette, Swampland, Mediaite and US Politics

the MoJo / MoJo Articles:

Full Transcript of the Mitt Romney Secret Video — Additional highlights include Romney mocking immigration and pondering how he'd exploit a pre-election hostage crisis. — Below is a complete transcript, produced by Mother Jones, of the entire unedited Romney videos that we published on Tuesday.

Discussion: Questions and Observations, BillMoyers.com, Mediaite, World, Althouse, Mother Jones, JOSHUAPUNDIT and ABCNEWS

Scott Keyes / ThinkProgress:

GOP Congressional Candidate Says Mideast Turmoil Is Because Of ‘Girly Men’ In The White House — A Republican congressional nominee laid the blame for turmoil in the Middle East on “girly men” in the White House. — North Carolina State Sen. David Rouzer (R), the GOP nominee …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Raw Story

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: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, HillBuzz.org, The PJ Tatler, Red Alert Politics, Jammie Wearing Fools, The Right Scoop, Weekly Standard, Moonbattery, Pirate's Cove, Washington Examiner and Vodkapundit

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: The New Republic and ABCNEWS

Hal Dardick / Chicago Tribune:

Moreno relents, will allow Chick-fil-A — He says he's satisfied with LGBT statement of respect … A Chicago alderman who made national headlines during the summer for opposing a Chick-fil-A in his increasingly trendy Northwest Side ward has reversed course, saying he will let the fast-food chain open a store in Logan Square.

Discussion: Reuters, Guardian, Hit & Run, CBS Chicago and Progress Illinois

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.