memeorandum: US underemployment is not as bad as you think (Masa Serdarevic/FT Alphaville)

1:45 PM ET, October 9, 2012

Top Items:

Inside the campaign: The Romney rebellion — For months, Ann Romney and her eldest son, Tagg, were dutifully supportive of the political professionals running Mitt Romney's campaign. All the while, their private frustration was mounting. — Shortly before the final debate, it finally boiled over.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Moderate Voice, Washington Monthly, NY Daily News, TBogg, The Daily Caller, Wonkette, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, GOP 12, Taylor Marsh, Washington Free Beacon, The Hinterland Gazette and White House Dossier

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Did Obama Just Throw The Entire Election Away? — The Pew poll is devastating, just devastating. Before the debate, Obama had a 51 - 43 lead; now, Romney has a 49 - 45 lead. That's a simply unprecedented reversal for a candidate in October. Before Obama had leads on every policy issue …

Kos / Daily Kos:

Daily Kos/SEIU State of the Nation poll: Romney takes the lead in post-debate period — Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos & SEIU. 10/4-7. Likely voters. MoE ±2.72% (9/27-30 results) … Obama 47 (49) — Romney 49 (45) — That's a pretty disastrous six-point net swing in just a week …

Discussion: Israel Matzav, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Maddow Blog, Weasel Zippers, Business Insider, Althouse and The Strata-Sphere

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Romney surges past Obama in second poll — Mitt Romney has overtaken President Obama in a Public Policy Polling survey released on Tuesday. — Romney won 49 percent support from likely voters in the poll, compared to 47 percent for Obama. — It's the first time all year Romney has led in the poll …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Outside the Beltway, The Hinterland Gazette, Instapundit, Jay Bookman, The PJ Tatler and Prairie Weather

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

The Pew Poll and Confirmation Bias — In the Daylight Video, I was reacting to the first look at the aggregators this morning, which showed plenty of gloating among conservatives about favorable poll numbers for Romney late yesterday, but just as much panic and even despair among Democrats.

Discussion: American Prospect, The Reality-Based Community and Business Insider

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Oct. 8: A Great Poll for Romney, in Perspective

Discussion: The New Republic, Outside the Beltway, Princeton Election Consortium, The Fix, Guardian, Examiner and blog.sfgate.com

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:
Romney's Strong Debate Performance Erases Obama's Lead

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Power Line, Firedoglake, Politico, The Huffington Post, Guardian, Business Insider, PoliticusUSA, The Reaction, The Caucus, Bloomberg, The New Republic, Online NewsHour, The Other McCain, Detroit Free Press, Washington Examiner, Questions and Observations, Marbury, The Fix, The Page, The Daily Beast, AEIdeas, Poynter, The Week, Da Tech Guy's Blog, Scared Monkeys, Sweetness & Light, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Weekly Standard, Israel Matzav, Sky News, Outside the Beltway, Newsy, Hullabaloo, Weasel Zippers, Brad DeLong, Hot Air, Prairie Weather, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The People's View, American Power, No More Mister Nice Blog, Gawker, Washington Wire, Mediaite, Wonkette, CNN, New York Times, Althouse, Taylor Marsh, PolicyMic, Washington Monthly, Maggie's Farm, New York Magazine, Planet Washington, American Spectator and Taegan Goddard's …

Sesame Workshop / The Sesame Workshop Blog:

Sesame Workshop Response to Campaign Ads — Sesame Workshop is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization and we do not endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns. We have approved no campaign ads, and as is our general practice, have requested that the ad be taken down.

Discussion: New York Magazine, American Spectator, The Daily Caller, Weasel Zippers, Mashable!, Mediaite, Cagle Post, Business Insider, The Fix, Washington Free Beacon, The Hinterland Gazette, Taylor Marsh and TVNewser

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Team Obama Big Bird ad mocks Mitt — ...and by serious, we mean not at all serious. — The Obama campaign is out this morning with a goofy video of the Big Bird variety, mocking Mitt Romney, as the president has put it, as going easy on Wall Street but heavy on Sesame Street.

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, nation.foxnews.com, Taylor Marsh, Weekly Standard, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Moe Lane, The PJ Tatler and GOP 12

David Dayen / Firedoglake:

Obama Ad About Big Bird Cannot Find One Prominent Wall Street Criminal Prosecuted By Administration — This is an amusing ad by the Obama campaign, poking fun at Mitt Romney's comment in the first debate about eliminating funding for PBS and Big Bird. President Obama has been getting …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Riehl World News and Moe Lane

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
Sesame Street asks Obama camp to take down Big Bird attack ad

Discussion: American Spectator, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler and Business Insider

William Kristol / Weekly Standard: Sesame Street Liberalism

CNN:
Team Romney word on the street for Big Bird tactics: ‘Troubling’

Discussion: The People's View

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
New Obama ad uses Big Bird to hit Romney on deficit, Wall Street

Discussion: Politico, GOP 12, ABCNEWS, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Riehl World News, Pundit & Pundette, Gawker, The Lonely Conservative and The Powers That Be

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life:

“Nones” on the Rise — One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation — Executive Summary — The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace. One-fifth of the U.S. public - and a third of adults under 30 - are religiously unaffiliated today …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Whispers in the Loggia, Via Meadia, Talking Points Memo, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Guardian, Mother Jones, Taylor Marsh, Newsy, The Daily Beast, Prairie Weather and FOX8.com

Michelle Boorstein / Washington Post:
One in five Americans reports no religious affiliation, study says

Discussion: Washington Wire and Althouse

BuzzFeed:

Paul Ryan Gets Testy And Ends Interview — When asked about guns and taxes in an interview with ABC12 in Flint, Michigan. Campaign: “Eventually you're going to see a local reporter embarrass himself.” — Source: youtube.com — Update: Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck tells BuzzFeed …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Althouse, Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, FishbowlDC, The Fix, New York Magazine, Mother Jones, PoliticusUSA, AMERICAblog, Angry Black Lady Chronicles, The PJ Tatler, The Raw Story and Towleroad News #gay

Juana Summers / Politico:
Paul Ryan spars with reporter

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Daily Caller, Hot Air, ABCNEWS and White House Dossier

Hollie McKay / Fox News:

Actress Stacey Dash hit with racially-charged attacks after endorsing Romney — March 7, 2010: Actress Stacey Dash arrives at the 18th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Award Viewing Party in West Hollywood, California.REUTERS — “Clueless” star Stacey Dash recently tweeted …

Discussion: protein wisdom, Sister Toldjah, NewsBusters.org blogs and The Lonely Conservative

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Romney 49%, Obama 47% Among Likely Voters — Registered voter trend suggests Obama is recovering from post-debate drop — PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney holds a slight edge over Barack Obama — 49% to 47% — in Gallup's initial “likely voter” estimate, encompassing interviews from Oct. 2-8.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, The New Republic, Talking Points Memo and Christian Science Monitor

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
A Popularity High for Romney - but Ditto for Obama

Discussion: ABCNEWS, GOP 12, Taegan Goddard's … and Smartypants

New York Times:

With New Vigor, Romney Resets Ohio Campaign — COLUMBUS, Ohio — If one place is emerging as a test of Mitt Romney's ability to capitalize on a new dynamic in the presidential race, it is Ohio, where he is intensifying his advertising, deploying more troops and spending four of the next five days.

Discussion: First Read, The Maddow Blog, Hotline On Call and Prairie Weather

Stephen Gandel / Fortune:

Welch can't take the heat: I quit — The former top GE executive says he will no longer write for Fortune following coverage of his jobs conspiracy tweet. — FORTUNE — Jack Welch has left our building, metaphorically that is. — Welch said he will no longer contribute …

Discussion: The Hill, Business Insider, JIMROMENESKO.COM and New York Magazine, more at Mediagazer »

New York Post:

Thug puts us on hook for 16G — Feds will pay for jailed terror fiend's hands — We're giving this hatemonger a hand — and probably two. — Taxpayers will foot the bill to replace radical Islamic preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri's infamous hooks, The Post has learned.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Daily Mail, Jihad Watch, americanthinker.com and New York Magazine

Wall Street Journal:

Goldman Turns Tables on Obama Campaign — When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, no major U.S. corporation did more to finance his campaign than Goldman Sachs Group Inc. — This election, none has done more to help defeat him. — Prompted by what they call regulatory attacks …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The New Republic and Business Insider

Jibran Ahmad / Reuters:

Taliban shoot 14-year old Pakistani peace campaigner — (Reuters) - Taliban gunmen in Pakistan shot and seriously wounded on Tuesday a 14-year-old schoolgirl who rose to fame for speaking out against the militants, authorities said. — Malala Yousufzai was shot in the head and neck …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, The Lede, Weasel Zippers, Associated Press and New York Magazine

Daniel Newhauser / Roll Call:

Blue Dogs Brace for Another Drubbing — The House Blue Dog Coalition, still reeling from 2010 elections that cut its ranks in half, looks likely to sustain additional losses this year that would cast doubt on the group's influence in the 113th Congress. — The number of Blue Dogs grew …

Discussion: americanthinker.com

Patrick Caldwell / American Prospect:

Debate Prep with Joe — Even presidents need a little practice from time to time, something immediately clear to anyone who tuned into last week's debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Obama, busy with his day job of running a country, had supposedly been skimping on debate preparation sessions.

Discussion: Election 2012

BuzzFeed:

Why Harry Reid Hates Mitt Romney — The majority leader becomes the lead attack dog. “Distaste for Romney whom he thinks lacks any foundational principles or spine.” — DENVER, Colo. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's scathing attacks on everything from Mitt Romney's personal integrity …

Discussion: Balloon Juice

U.S. News:

Jerry Sandusky gets 30 to 60 years for child sex abuse — Former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse, was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison. NBC's John Yang reports. — New in this version: Comments from judge, Sandusky, victims, attorneys and Penn State