memeorandum: Napolitano: Executive order on cybersecurity is ‘close to completion’ (Jennifer Martinez/The Hill)

9:50 AM ET, September 20, 2012

Top Items:

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Obama Ahead with Stronger Support, Better Image and Lead on Most Issues — Democrats Narrow Engagement Gap — OVERVIEW — At this stage in the campaign, Barack Obama is in a strong position compared with past victorious presidential candidates. With an eight-point lead …

Discussion: Reuters, Talking Points Memo, Bangor Daily News, National Review, Business Insider, Connecting.the.Dots, Political Watch, CNN, Prairie Weather, Firedoglake, Ballot Box, Weekly Standard, Politico, Little Green Footballs and Gallup

Jonathan Martin / Politico:

Romney at Univision: I'm about the ‘100 percent of America’ — CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Mitt Romney, recognizing the damage to his campaign, Wednesday night backed off his statement from earlier this year that he wouldn't contend for the support of the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay income taxes.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mediaite, Hot Air, CNN, Taylor Marsh, US Politics and The Daily Caller

Reuters:

Romney rescue plan: More Mitt — BOSTON - More Mitt. — After taking a beating for comments he privately wishes he never made and from conservative critics he wishes he could muzzle, Mitt Romney and his campaign are settling on a rescue plan to show more of him - in ads, speeches and campaign appearances.

Discussion: US Politics, KDVR.com, ABCNEWS, TheBlaze.com, Washington Wire and Politico

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Really Bad News For Mitt From Pew

Discussion: CANNONFIRE, skippy the bush kangaroo, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Frank Newport / Gallup:
Voters' Reaction to Romney's “47%” Comments Tilts Negative

Discussion: Washington Wire, Daily Kos, Politico, Donklephant, Balloon Juice, Outside the Beltway, 24Ahead, The Fix, Little Green Footballs and Election 2012

Mario Trujillo / Ballot Box:
Thompson's lead dissolves in Wisconsin

Discussion: Politico, CNN, GOP 12, The Caucus and The Hill

Associated Press: Romney Comments Bring Battleground-States Debate

Washington Examiner:

The Obama you don't know — Few if any of his predecessors took the oath of office with higher public hopes for his success than President Obama on Jan. 20, 2009. — Millions of Americans hailed his election as an end to partisanship, a renewal of the spirit of compromise and a reinvigoration …

Discussion: National Review and The Lonely Conservative

Jeff Dunetz / “The Lid”:

Report Blows HUGE Hole In Obama's Fake Biography — The Washington Examiner has investigated the narrative given to us by Barack Obama and the Democratic party and found it filled with lies. The truth is the president had a privileged up-bringing, went to the best schools throughout his life.

Discussion: The Other McCain and The Rightnewz

Ian Swanson / The Hill:

Pawlenty to take over as Financial Services Roundtable CEO — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will take over one of K Street's most prestigious jobs as CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable. — The group announced Thursday morning that the former GOP candidate for president …

Discussion: Washington Wire, Hotline On Call, Election 2012 and The Raw Story

CNN: Pawlenty takes post at Financial Services Roundtable

Fox News:

Al Qaeda, ex-Gitmo detainee involved in consulate attack, intelligence sources say — Intelligence sources tell Fox News they are convinced the deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was directly tied to Al Qaeda — with a former Guantanamo detainee involved.

Discussion: The Jawa Report, American Spectator, The Gateway Pundit, nation.foxnews.com, “The Lid”, Pundit & Pundette, World Affairs Journal blogs, protein wisdom and Atlas Shrugs

Wynton Hall / BREITBART.COM:
EXCLUSIVE: OBAMA REVERSES POSITION ON INTEL BRIEFS, DROPS IPAD FOR LIVE MEETINGS

Discussion: CNSNews and Israel Matzav

Fox News Insider:
FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: Intel Sources Say Libya Attack Tied to Al Qaeda and Ex-Gitmo Detainee Sufyan Ben Qumu

Discussion: The Hill, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard, The Long War Journal and Jammie Wearing Fools

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
Obama official: Benghazi was a terrorist attack

Discussion: Hot Air, The Hill, Scared Monkeys, JOSHUAPUNDIT, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard, Weasel Zippers, Wake up America, The Rightnewz, Taylor Marsh, World Affairs Journal blogs, Speak With Authority, Jammie Wearing Fools, Nice Deb and Reuters

Ed Payne / CNN:

Source: Slain ambassador Stevens said he was on al Qaeda list — (CNN) — In the months leading up to his death, U.S. Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, worried about what he called the never-ending security threats in Benghazi and mentioned his name was on an al Qaeda hit list, a source familiar with his thinking told CNN.

Discussion: Reuters, Weasel Zippers, The Rightnewz and The Jawa Report

Kevin Cirilli / Politico:
Cindy Lee Garcia sues anti-Muslim filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula

Discussion: Associated Press

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP: Reid's Mitt-bashing broke rules — Republicans say Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) flouted the spirit of ethical prohibitions against political activity on federal property Wednesday after he ripped Mitt Romney on the Senate floor. — They say Reid, who in July accused Romney …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
Romney Tape Leaves Senate GOP Leaders Speechless

Discussion: Mediaite and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Obama's Lead Looks Stronger in Polls That Include Cellphones — As I observed on Tuesday, and as The New Republic's Nate Cohn also found, Barack Obama seems to have received a much clearer bounce in some types of polls than others. — Although there are exceptions on either side …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

ZIP / Weasel Zippers:

Obama's Campaign Manager Tweets Out Super Creepy Pic Of Himself - Update: Make Your Own Jim Messina Meme... Would you let this man within a hundred feet of your children? — Update: Messina is now officially a meme. I made this one. You can make yours here.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Nice Deb, Doug Ross and Michelle Malkin

Stephanie Cutter / Twitchy:
ForAll cult fail: Cutter, Natalie Portman, Leto kick off; Jim Messina's pic creeps everyone out

Discussion: Ed Driscoll and The Lonely Conservative

Jennifer Martinez / The Hill:

Napolitano: Executive order on cybersecurity is ‘close to completion’ — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano on Wednesday said the cybersecurity executive order that the White House is drafting is “close to completion.” — At a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing …

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation

Jana Winter / Fox News:
EXCLUSIVE: Probe of Secret Service prostitution scandal may cite White House advance staff involvement

Discussion: Hot Air

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:

Romney Toes Conservative Line On Immigration, Refers To ‘Illegal Aliens’ — At a Univision candidate forum in Florida Wednesday, Mitt Romney squirmed under a barrage of questions on his immigration policy, mostly sticking to his conservative positions. He even used the hot-button term …

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Huffington Post, ABCNEWS, The Lonely Conservative and Rumproast

Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress: NEWS FLASH — ASKED 4 TIMES, ROMNEY WON'T SAY IF HE'LL MAINTAIN …

Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar / Associated Press:

Tax penalty to hit nearly 6M uninsured people — WASHINGTON (AP) — Nearly 6 million Americans — significantly more than first estimated— will face a tax penalty under President Barack Obama's health overhaul for not getting insurance, congressional analysts said Wednesday. Most would be in the middle class.

Discussion: Hit & Run, The Lonely Conservative, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Outside the Beltway, CBO's Publications, Sister Toldjah, The Volokh Conspiracy and Washington Free Beacon

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Is Barack Obama America's Most Dishonest Politician? — A lot of politicians are dishonest, but Barack Obama may be in a league by himself. He appeared on the David Letterman show last night, and Letterman asked him about the national debt (somewhat surprisingly). Obama's answer was a masterpiece of prevarication.

Discussion: Betsy's Page, Weekly Standard, GayPatriot, Whiskey Fire, UrbanGrounds, Business Insider and Ed Driscoll

Romina Boccia / The Heritage Foundation:
Obama: Don't Worry About $16 Trillion Debt

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, RealClearPolitics Video Log, Weasel Zippers, The Gateway Pundit and The Lonely Conservative

Joe Battenfeld / Boston Herald:

UMass/Herald poll: Scott Brown in slight lead vs. Warren — U.S. Sen. Scott Brown has moved into a narrow lead over rival Elizabeth Warren while his standing among Massachusetts voters has improved despite a year-long Democratic assault, a new UMass Lowell/Boston Herald poll shows.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Jammie Wearing Fools, Election 2012 and WBUR

Michelle Jamrisko / Bloomberg:

More Americans Than Forecast Filed Jobless Claims — More Americans than forecast filed applications for unemployment benefits last week, adding to concern the labor market is slackening. — Jobless claims decreased by 3,000 in the week ended Sept. 15 to 382,000, Labor Department figures showed today in Washington.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative

James Taylor / Forbes:

Antarctic Sea Ice Sets Another Record — Antarctic Iceberg (Photo credit: NOAA's National Ocean Service) — Antarctic sea ice set another record this past week, with the most amount of ice ever recorded on day 256 of the calendar year (September 12 of this leap year).