memeorandum: 43% Expect Better Economy if Romney Wins; 34% Say Same of Obama (Rasmussen Reports)

5:15 PM ET, September 27, 2012

Top Items:

From video to terrorist attack: a definitive timeline of administration statements on the Libya attack — “We are still doing an investigation.” — In any kind of confused overseas event, initial reports are often wrong. But the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi …

Wall Street Journal:

The Libya Debacle — The more we learn, the more Benghazi looks like a gross security failure. — In his United Nations speech on Tuesday, President Obama talked about the September 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya and declared that “there should be no doubt that we will be relentless …

Discussion: CNN, Mediaite, Hot Air, Politico, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit and Weekly Standard

Fox News:

US officials knew Libya attack was terrorism within 24 hours, sources confirm — U.S. intelligence officials knew within 24 hours of the assault on the U.S. Consulate in Libya that it was a terrorist attack and suspected Al Qaeda-tied elements were involved, sources told Fox News …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Macsmind, Power Line, The PJ Tatler, Weasel Zippers, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Blazing Cat Fur and Los Angeles Times

Katie Pavlich / Townhall.com:
Carney: We Didn't Lie About Libya, We Just Had Different Facts At the Time

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Mediaite and Weasel Zippers

First Read:
First Thoughts: Obama's closing ad (with 40 days to go)

Discussion: National Review, The Fix, The Daily Caller, Weekly Standard, Taylor Marsh and Connecting.the.Dots

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:
Did Obama lie about the embassy attacks?

Discussion: iOwnTheWorld.com, The Heritage Foundation, americanthinker.com, Right Wing News and American Power

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Bombshell: Obama Administration Deleted State Dept. Memo From Internet After Discovering Al-Qaeda …

Discussion: Victory Girls Blog

David Corn / Mother Jones:

NEW ROMNEY VIDEO: In 1985, He Said Bain Would “Harvest” Companies for Profits — This clip shows the young CEO focusing on businesses as targets for his investors, not as job creators or community stakeholders. — Campaigning for the presidency, Mitt Romney has pointed to his stint …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, The Moderate Voice, Hullabaloo, The Impolitic, ABCNEWS, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Addicting Info, Mediaite, Taylor Marsh, Taegan Goddard's … and Mother Jones

Jesse Drucker / Bloomberg:

Romney ‘I Dig It’ Trust Gives Heirs Triple Benefit — In January 1999, a trust set up by Mitt Romney for his children and grandchildren reaped a 1,000 percent return on the sale of shares in Internet advertising firm DoubleClick Inc. — If Romney had given the cash directly …

Discussion: Mother Jones, CANNONFIRE and Brad DeLong

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Brutal new Obama ad features Mitt Romney and the 47 percenters — The Obama campaign has not sent this ad to national reporters, but I'm told it will air in the seven key swing states. It is a brutal shot at Mitt Romney's videotaped remarks about the freeloading 47 percent …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Moderate Voice, Politico, Daily Kos, Gothamist, Ballot Box, Business Insider and The Hinterland Gazette

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Sept. 26: Could 2012 Be Like 2008? — There's no point in putting it gently: Mitt Romney had one of his worst polling days of the year on Wednesday. — It began with a series of polls from The New York Times, CBS News and Quinnipiac University, released early Wednesday morning …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online and New York Times

Molly Ball / The Atlantic Online:

Obama's Brutal New ‘47 Percent’ Ad — In a new commercial airing heavily in swing states, the entire script is Romney's leaked comments about “entitled,” government-dependent “victims.” — CANTON, Ohio — The Obama campaign didn't put out a press release announcing this new TV ad Thursday …

Discussion: GOP 12, New York Magazine, Taylor Marsh and The Caucus

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Mitt Romney to ‘fact check’ Obama in debate — Mitt Romney plans to turn himself into a one-man truth squad during the first presidential debate next week, casting President Barack Obama as someone who can't be trusted to stick to the facts or keep his promises.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Alexander Burns / Politico:
Obama's two-minute, direct-to-camera ad

Discussion: CNN, The Impolitic, Taylor Marsh and Israel Matzav

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Obama's Biggest Opponent Is the Truth

Discussion: his vorpal sword and The Lonely Conservative

Daniel Halper / Weekly Standard:

Shock Photos of Netanyahu at U.N. from AP, Reuters — Two shocking photos coming off the wire of Benjamin Netanyahu addressing the United Nations moments ago. — The first is from the Associated Press: — Associated PressAssociated Press — The second is from Reuters: — ReutersReuters

Toby Harnden / Daily Mail: Obama WILL speak to Netanyahu but only on the phone and a day AFTER Hillary Clinton meets him in New York

Julian Pecquet / The Hill:
Netanyahu to aim fiery UN address at both Obama, Israeli public

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Weasel Zippers

Jason Hancock / Midwest Democracy:

Todd Akin says Claire McCaskill is not as ‘ladylike’ as 2006 — JEFFERSON CITY - More than a month after his comments about “legitimate rape” nearly derailed his campaign for U.S. Senate, Republican Todd Akin said Thursday that it has become clear to him that he will triumph over Democratic incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill this fall.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNN, BuzzFeed, Politico, Taylor Marsh, Daily Kos, Mediaite, The Maddow Blog, Hotline On Call, Election 2012, The Raw Story and The Fix

CNN:

TRENDING: Samuel L. Jackson: ‘Wake the F*** up’ for Obama — (CNN) - Actor Samuel L. Jackson entered the political fray this week, starring in a new web video that parodies his own audio recording of the mock children's book, “Go the F*** to Sleep.” — This time, however …

Discussion: The Hill, Politico and Washington Wire

Tara Palmeri / New York Post:
WATCH: Samuel L. Jackson debuts profanity-laced pro-Obama ad

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, iOwnTheWorld.com, The Hinterland Gazette and Washington Examiner

Virginia / CNN:
Romney hammers Obama over sluggish GDP numbers

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Hot Air and Politico

Nicholas Confessore / The Caucus:

Soros Gives $1 Million to Democratic ‘Super PAC’ — The billionaire George Soros is committing $1 million to Priorities USA Action, the “super PAC” supporting President Obama, two people with knowledge of the decision said Thursday, a significant donation that could help spur further contributions …

Discussion: CNN, Ballot Box, New York Times, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon, The PJ Tatler and Washington Examiner

Travis Waldron / ThinkProgress:

Phoenix Mayor Attempts To Live On A Food Stamp Budget: 'I'm Tired, And It's Hard To Focus' — When local activist groups challenged Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton to live on a food stamp budget for a week to mark Hunger Awareness Month, he took them up on the offer and found out just how hard it was.

Discussion: Shakesville, Hullabaloo, Feministing and The Huffington Post

Bureau of Labor Statistics:

CES Preliminary Benchmark Announcement — In accordance with usual practice, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is announcing the preliminary estimate of the upcoming annual benchmark revision to the establishment survey employment series. The final benchmark revision will be issued on February 1 …

Discussion: Calculated Risk, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Los Angeles Times, Washington Examiner, The Daily Beast, Economix, Wonkblog, Business Insider, Daily Kos, New York Magazine, The Maddow Blog, Oregon Office … and Mother Jones

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:
New Jobs Numbers Put Obama In Net Job Growth Territory

Discussion: The Stranger …

The Fix:

Why Mitt Romney isn't going to get blown out — It's easy amid a slew of swing state and national polling that shows President Obama opening up a high single-digit lead over Republican challenger Mitt Romney to conclude that we could be witnessing an electoral blowout in the making.

Discussion: Hotline On Call, National Review, AEIdeas, Ballot Box, The Daily Caller and The Hill

Washington Post:
Medicare working to boost Obama in swing states, poll finds

Discussion: Mother Jones, Orlando Sentinel and Election 2012

BuzzFeed:

Romney's Supporters Reject His Soft Line On Obama — A failed golfer-president, not Che Guevera Lite? Shouts of “No!” in Toledo. — Image by Brian Snyder / Reuters — TOLEDO, Ohio — Mitt Romney covered a lot of territory Wednesday — rhetorically and geographically …

Discussion: The Impolitic, Outside the Beltway and GOP 12

NY Daily News:

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad soaks up Manhattan high life, his underlings go on shopping spree at discount chains Payless, Costco, Walgreens and Duane Reade — Visiting delegation rack up on shampoo, soap and vitamins. One visitor debated dropping $40 for kids' shoes at Fifth Ave.

Discussion: The Lede, Gothamist, Algemeiner.com, Fausta's Blog, New York Magazine and Althouse

ACLU:

New Justice Department Documents Show Huge Increase in Warrantless Electronic Surveillance — Justice Department documents released today by the ACLU reveal that federal law enforcement agencies are increasingly monitoring Americans' electronic communications, and doing so without warrants …

Discussion: Electronic Frontier Foundation, Firedoglake, emptywheel, Forbes, The Verge and Law Blog

Hotline On Call:

The Politics of Beer: Stay Nonpartisan, My Friends — Americans who most often drink Dos Equis are in the middle-of-the-road while drinkers of Heineken's flagship brand are strongly Democratic. Samuel Adams drinkers are strongly Republican, and more likely to vote.

Discussion: ABCNEWS, Hit & Run and Washington Examiner

William J. Bennett / CNN:

Why you shouldn't vote for Obama — The latest from the campaign trail … (CNN) — It has been said that a democratic republic such as ours is a do-it-yourself enterprise. People change the course of this country through conversation, debate and, eventually, consensus.

Discussion: National Review

David Kirby / Cato @ Liberty:

Poll Shows Romney Winning High Water Mark for Libertarian Vote — In a recent article on TheBlaze, Reason's Matt Welch, FreedomWork's Matt Kibbe, and David Boaz, speculated whether Romney can win over libertarians. As we've shown in previous studies, libertarians represent a key swing vote that decides elections.

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Hullabaloo