memeorandum: HHS Secretary Sebelius to campaign ‘in her personal capacity’ for Obama in NH this week (John DiStaso/unionleader.com)

12:15 AM ET, September 27, 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, The Daily Beast, TaxVox 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 and Connecting.the.Dots

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: New York Times, Daily Kos, Politico, The Caucus, The Stranger … and Business Insider

Bloomberg:
Politico's Paul Ryan Satire: The Joke's on Them

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

Ace / Ace of Spades HQ:
How To Not Be Funny: Roger Simon's Bad Joke Winds Up Humilitating Half of the Left-Wing Universe

Discussion: The Reality-Based Community and Nice Deb

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

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

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

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, American Power, The Week, HillBuzz.org and GOP 12

CNN:
Obama steps up Romney jabs in Ohio

Discussion: Politico

Rush Limbaugh:

Don't Let Bogus Polls Depress You — RUSH: Folks, there are a couple of polls out there today that are just outrageous. One is the CBS/New York Times poll. The other is the Washington Post poll. I'm telling you: They are irresponsible. They are designed to do exactly what I have warned …

Discussion: Nice Deb, Doug Ross and Politico

Quinnipiac University:
Obama Has Big Leads In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac University/CBS News/New York Times Swing State Poll Finds

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

Discussion: National Review, Doug Ross, Da Tech Guy's Blog, Israpundit, Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

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 New York Post

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

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

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’

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

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:

Democrats On NRSC's Todd Akin Change Of Heart: We Knew It — Color Missouri Democratic Party chair Mike Sanders unsurprised. As news broke that the NRSC was reconsidering its support for Rep. Todd Akin's Senate candidacy Wednesday, Saunders told reporters his party never expected Republicans …

Discussion: Associated Press and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Aaron Blake / The Fix:
National Republicans re-open door to spending money on Akin

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

Evan McMorris-Santoro / Talking Points Memo:
NRSC Takes A Fresh Look At Todd Akin

Discussion: Politico, ThinkProgress, Ballot Box, Guardian, New York Magazine and Little Green Footballs

Ruby Cramer / BuzzFeed:

Conservative Polling Alternative Plans Expansion — Dean Chambers, the man behind Unskewedpolls.com, looks to “unskew” the media and politics. His numbers have given Republicans “a boost of confidence.” — Chambers designed this graphic for his blog to demonstrate why he believes …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Hot Air and Examiner

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / New York Post:

If the Greens are to Bam's right ... It's a hell of a thing when the nominee of the far-left Green Party espouses a stronger work ethic than the President of the United States. But that's what we've come to. — For all the talk sparked by Mitt Romney's remarks about the 47 percent …

Discussion: alicublog

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

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: Firedoglake, Mediaite and New York Magazine

Philip Dorling / Sydney Morning Herald:

US calls Assange ‘enemy of state’ — WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange addresses a UN in event in New York via video link from the Ecuadorian embassy in London. — THE US military has designated Julian Assange and WikiLeaks as enemies of the United States - the same legal category …

Discussion: Guardian

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, Business Insider and Alan Colmes' Liberaland

John DiStaso / unionleader.com:

HHS Secretary Sebelius to campaign ‘in her personal capacity’ for Obama in NH this week — MANCHESTER — President Barack Obama's campaign will bring Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to the state on Friday and Saturday to speak at grassroots events in Durham, Portsmouth, Laconia, Concord, Nashua, Derry and Keene.

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, LifeNews.com, Washington Examiner and The PJ Tatler

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

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

Ahmadinejad meets with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrahkan — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with the Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and other religious leaders Tuesday, according to an English translation of the Iranian president's webpage posted Wednesday.

Discussion: New York Post, ABCNEWS, Belmont Club and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
FARRAKHAN and RAMSEY CLARK Hold Meeting With Ahmadinejad (Photos)

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

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

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 and JIMROMENESKO.COM, 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

George Bennett / Palm Beach Post:

“Questionable” Palm Beach County voter registration forms forwarded to state attorney for review — The Republican Party of Florida is dumping a firm it paid more than $1.3 million to register new voters, after Palm Beach County Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher flagged 106 “questionable” …

Discussion: Salon, The Impolitic, The BRAD BLOG, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo and Naked Politics

Matthew Sheffield / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Quinnipiac Pollster Admits: ‘Probably Unlikely’ That Electorate Will Feature Massive Dem Skew — With no manufactured outrage to hammer Mitt Romney at the moment, liberal journalists are now eagerly touting a series of polls which appear to show President Obama pulling away from the GOP nominee in several key states.

Discussion: Da Tech Guy's Blog and The PJ Tatler

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:

AP editor cites Bachmann fact-checking ‘quota’ — Fourteenth in a series of endless, tireless, exhaustive, hairsplitting, obsessive, resounding, never-before-attempted and conclusive posts on the fact-checking industry. — In a panel of fact-checking all-stars this morning at the National Press Club …

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos