memeorandum: Egypt and Yemen, at U.N., Urge Curbs on Free Speech (Neil MacFarquhar/New York Times)

9:50 PM ET, September 26, 2012

Top Items:

Sorry, But Mitt Romney's Nickname Is Not “The Stench” — Not everyone grasped that Paul Ryan isn't really going around referring to Mitt Romney as “Stench,” as a Politico satire suggested. “Yes, the Stench!” exclaims O'Donnell. — When Roger Simon wrote in Politico Wednesday that Paul Ryan's …

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:

Romney Campaign Now Says They Probably Won't Do Their Tax Cuts After All — WESTERVILLE, OH - SEPTEMBER 26: Republican U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney arrives at a campaign rally at Westerville South High School September 26, 2012 in Westerville, Ohio.

Discussion: Firedoglake, TaxVox, The Daily Beast and Brad DeLong

Garance Franke-Ruta / The Atlantic Online:

Mitt Romney's ‘Them’ Problem — Presidential elections are decided in the first-person plural and the second person. Anyone operating in the third person is in trouble. — Mitt Romney's campaign on Wednesday released an ad featuring the candidate speaking straight to the camera …

Discussion: Shakesville

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Romney camp goes all in on ad touting concern for ordinary Americans — A Democrat familiar with ad buy information tells me that starting Friday, the new ad the Romney campaign rolled out today will begin airing at full throttle in all of Romney's media markets in nine swing states, and it will be the only Romney ad running in them.

Discussion: Politico, Daily Kos, The Caucus, Weekly Standard, The Stranger …, Business Insider and Virginia Politics

Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:

How To Not Be Funny: Roger Simon's Bad Joke Winds Up Humilitating Half of the Left-Wing Universe — Politico's Roger Simon (not to be confused with PJMedia's Roger L. Simon) tried to be funny. — One of the biggest problems with online media is that it provides a potentially massive venue …

Discussion: Nice Deb

Bloomberg:

Politico's Paul Ryan Satire: The Joke's on Them — A report this morning by Politico chief political correspondent Roger Simon includes this bombshell about Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan: … The “stench” reference comes from a quote that Craig Robinson …

Discussion: New York Times, The Daily Caller, Rumproast, Mediaite, Instapundit, Gawker, Althouse, Jammie Wearing Fools, The Maddow Blog, The Moderate Voice and Politico

Jon Cohen / The Fix:
Most are negative about Mitt Romney's “47 percent” comments

Discussion: Truthdig, American Spectator, The Daily Beast, Outside the Beltway, Mother Jones, Taegan Goddard's … and Election 2012

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Defiant Romney: 'I'm going to win Ohio, become the next president' — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday he was unconcerned by new polls that showed him trailing by double digits in the crucial swing state of Ohio, and pledged that he would win both the state and the presidency.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, CNN, Politico and The Democratic Daily

CNN:

Obama steps up Romney jabs in Ohio — Kent, Ohio (CNN) - Buoyed by a string of recent polls suggesting his lead in Ohio is nearing double digits, President Barack Obama crisscrossed the crucial battleground state on Wednesday and sharpened his attacks on rival Mitt Romney's “47%” comments.

Discussion: Politico

Erick Erickson / RedState:

On Polls and Polling — I do not believe the polls are all wrong. I do not believe there is some intentional, orchestrated campaign to suppress the GOP vote by showing Mitt Romney losing. I actually believe that Mitt Romney trails Barack Obama. I think Republicans putting their hopes in the polls all being wrong is foolish.

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, HillBuzz.org and GOP 12

Quinnipiac University:

Obama Has Big Leads In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times Swing State Poll Finds — Watch Video: Assistant Director Tim Malloy discusses poll results — Clip Information and Download: — FLV File - For Website (1920x1080 / 61.7MB)

Discussion: Politico, The Huffington Post, ABCNEWS, Washington Wire, The Buzz Florida Politics Feed, The Fix, Business Insider, Weekly Standard, Firedoglake, The Other McCain, Battleground Watch, GOP 12 and Public Policy Polling

New York Times:
Polls Show Obama Is Widening His Lead in Ohio and Florida

Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:
Morning Jay: Are the Polls Tilted Toward Obama?

Discussion: Nice Deb, American Power, Princeton Election Consortium, National Review, americanthinker.com, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Monkey Cage, The Lonely Conservative, PoliPundit.com, Battleground Watch, BuzzFeed, The Daily Dish and Gallup

Peter Hamby / CNN:
Why Romney is losing must-win Ohio

Discussion: Mediaite, Battleground Watch, Daily Kos, Washington Post, Booman Tribune, Ballot Box, The Raw Story, GOP 12, Associated Press, American Prospect and Politico

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:
JUICED: PRO-OBAMA POLLS RELY ON RECORD DEM TURNOUT

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh, Doug Ross, Da Tech Guy's Blog and Israpundit

Jim Geraghty / National Review:
This Morning's Polls Project More Heavily Democratic Electorates Than in 2008

Discussion: CBS News, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Battleground Watch and Weasel Zippers

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Sept. 25: Romney's Narrow Path Without Ohio

Discussion: The New Republic, National Review, Spectator, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, American Prospect, The Week, Mediaite, Towleroad News #gay, American Spectator, The Other McCain and The Fix

Tim Graham / NewsBusters.org blogs:

CNN and MSNBC Pundit Arrested for Vandalizing Anti-Muslim Ad In N.Y. Subway System — The New York Post reported Egyptian-American columnist Mona Eltahawy has been arrested for defacing an anti-Muslim ad in the New York subway system. The video shows her spraying pink paint on the ad while a supporter of the ad tries to block her.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative and Atlas Shrugs

New York Post:
EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Activist busted after defacing anti-Islam ad in Times Sq. station

Discussion: Algemeiner.com, FP Passport, The Gateway Pundit, Wake up America, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Jihad Watch, Atlas Shrugs and Mondoweiss

Conor Friedersdorf / The Atlantic Online:

Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama — The case against casting a ballot for the president — even if you think he's better than Mitt Romney — Tell certain liberals and progressives that you can't bring yourself to vote for a candidate who opposes gay rights, or who doesn't believe in Darwinian evolution, and they'll nod along.

Discussion: Liberal Values, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Gawker, Outside the Beltway, Crooked Timber, The Agonist, Hit & Run and Marginal Revolution

Taegan Goddard's Political Wire:

Extra Bonus Quote of the Day — “Frankly at this early stage, polls go up, polls go down.” — Mitt Romney, quoted by ABC News, apparently not aware the election is 41 days away.

Discussion: Balloon Juice

Michael Falcone / ABCNEWS: Mitt Romney: ‘Pleased With Some Polls, Less So With Other Polls’

Eli Lake / The Daily Beast:

WE KNEW IT WAS AL QAEDA — Sources say intelligence agencies knew within a day that al Qaeda affiliates were behind the attacks in Benghazi, Libya—they even knew where one of the attackers lived. Eli Lake reports. — Within 24 hours of the 9-11 anniversary attack on the United States consulate …

New York Times:
Clinton Cites Clear Link Between Qaeda Affiliate and Attack in Libya

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Althouse and The Daily Caller

Aaron Blake / The Fix:

National Republicans re-open door to spending money on Akin — The National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a statement Wednesday clarifying its support for Rep. Todd Akin in the Missouri Senate race and suggesting it might spend money to help elect him, after saying a month ago that it would not do so.

Discussion: Slate, Outside the Beltway, Mother Jones, Taylor Marsh, Dependable Renegade, Daily Kos, Hotline On Call and AEIdeas

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
Democrats On NRSC's Todd Akin Change Of Heart: We Knew It

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Associated Press, Guardian and Lawyers, Guns & Money

BuzzFeed:

Mormons Plan To Fast For Romney — Conservative Mormons circulate an e-mail calling for a day of fasting and prayer on September 30th for Romney to do well in the debates. Asking God to rain blessings on a struggling candidacy. — Mitt Romney and his wife Ann arrive for services …

Discussion: Mediaite, Firedoglake and New York Magazine

Colin Campbell / Politicker:

Obama Campaign Trying to Distract Staff From Awesome Poll Numbers — President Barack Obama's reelection campaign is currently sitting pretty, at least as far as the polls go. Survey after survey of key swing states, including the two crucial contests in Ohio and Florida …

Discussion: The Reaction

Jeff G. / protein wisdom:

My “mental health” problems, revealed! — Note: Inside baseball. Read at your own peril. — Some folks on Twitter yesterday expressed concern/confusion/dismay over my repeated and pointed attempts to contact both Michelle Malkin and Allah Pundit — with limited success.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money

First Read:

Romney: Massachusetts health care law is proof of empathy — TOLEDO, OH — Mitt Romney on Wednesday pointed to the health care reform law he enacted as governor of Massachusetts as proof of his empathy and care for the American people. — In an interview with NBC News …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Business Insider

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Murphy leads by 6 in CT-Senate race — PPP's newest poll of the Connecticut Senate race finds Democrat Chris Murphy expanding his lead to 6 points over Republican foe Linda McMahon, 48-42. Last month he led 48-44. — There's no doubt Murphy's image has taken a hit over the course of this campaign.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Ballot Box and Politico

Bill Carter / Media Decoder:

‘Today’ Producer Says Ouster of Ann Curry Was His Choice — Updated — For the first time since removing Ann Curry from “Today” on NBC, the show's executive producer on Wednesday defended that decision and sought to define the cause of its recent ratings setbacks, including the end of its 16-year weekly winning streak.

Discussion: Hollywood Reporter, Deadline.com, New York Magazine, Mediaite, Poynter, JIMROMENESKO.COM and NY Daily News, more at Mediagazer »

Megan Garber / The Atlantic Online:

A Conversation With Randall Munroe, the Creator of XKCD — Q: What would happen if a beloved web comic created a series of ... physics explainers? — Randall Munroe began his career in physics working with robots at NASA's Langley Research Center. He is famous, however …

Discussion: io9

Sam Stanton / Sacto 9-1-1:

UC pepper-spray settlement about $1 million — By Sam Stanton, Denny Walsh and Andrea Gallo — The University of California regents have agreed to pay out roughly $1 million to end a lawsuit over last November's pepper spraying of UC-Davis students, part of a deal that also calls …

Discussion: KXTV, Joe. My. God., New York Magazine and The Raw Story

David A. Graham / The Atlantic Online:

Will This Video Sink Tommy Thompson's Wisconsin Senate Hopes? — Footage from June shows the GOP candidate promising to “do away with Medicaid and Medicare.” — Memo to Republicans: Just stay away from cameras, all cameras. And if you can, travel back in time and implement this advice in April or so.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Daily Kos

Charlie Spiering / Washington Examiner:

Popular in Politics — This July we confidently predicted that California Gov. Jerry Brown's decision not to exempt President Obama's high-speed rail plan from the California Environmental Quality Act marked the beginning of the project's slow demise. Specifically, we reasoned:

Discussion: Power Line and ProfessorBainbridge.com

New York Times:

European Markets Jolted Amid Protests in Greece and Spain — ATHENS — After a period of relative calm, European markets shuddered once again on Wednesday as protests erupted across Greece and demonstrators surrounded the Spanish Parliament for a second day to protest the austerity program of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Guardian, Calculated Risk, CNN, Reuters, The Lede, Slate, World, Via Meadia and Newsy

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

FARRAKHAN and RAMSEY CLARK Hold Meeting With Ahmadinejad (Photos) — Guess who's coming to dinner? — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with religious leaders and social groups in New York City on Tuesday night. — Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan and former Democratic …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers