Top Items:
Washington Free Beacon:
Cutter: Benghazi Is Only an Issue ‘Because of Romney and Ryan’ — Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said Thursday that the “entire reason” the terrorist attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi that killed four Americans has “become the political topic it is” is because Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan talk about the attack.
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Wall Street Journal:
Obama and the L-Word — ‘Liar’ is potent and ugly—with a sleazy political pedigree. — The election campaign of the 44th U.S. president is now calling another candidate for the American presidency a “liar.” This is a new low. It is amazing and depressing to hear this term being used …
Domenico Montanaro / First Read:
NBC/WSJ/Marist poll: Romney gains in key swing states — A week after President Barack Obama's lackluster debate performance, Republican challenger Mitt Romney has made some gains in three key swing states among those most likely to vote, according to the latest round of NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls.
Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Stephanie Cutter Says Libya Is A Political Topic “Because Of Mitt Romney And Paul Ryan”
Stephanie Cutter Says Libya Is A Political Topic “Because Of Mitt Romney And Paul Ryan”
Discussion:
GOP 12, The Spectacle Blog and The PJ Tatler
Roger Ebert / Roger Ebert's Journal:
Who do you believe—Mitt, or your lyin' memory?
Who do you believe—Mitt, or your lyin' memory?
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette, Politico and Weasel Zippers
Maggie Haberman / Politico:
Sources: Ryan to be called ‘mister,’ not ‘congressman,’ at debate (Updated) — When Paul Ryan and Joe Biden take the debate stage tonight in Danville, Ky., the form of address the debate moderator is supposed to use with the VP's opponent is “mister” instead of “congressman,” two sources confirmed to POLITICO.
Discussion:
Taegan Goddard's …, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Maddow Blog and New York Magazine
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Ezra Klein / Washington Post:
What I learned debating Paul Ryan — In February 2010, I sat down to talk health-care policy with Rep. Paul Ryan. Ryan wasn't yet the lion of the right that he is today, but he had a reputation as an unusually wonkish legislator, and he didn't disappoint.
Discussion:
PolicyMic, No More Mister Nice Blog, GOP 12, The Daily Caller, ProPublica and The Daily Dish
David Weigel / Slate:
Can Joe Biden Save Barack Obama?
Can Joe Biden Save Barack Obama?
Discussion:
New York Magazine, CNN, PolicyMic, The Atlantic Online and The Week
Belinda Luscombe / LightBox:
Paul Ryan: All Pumped Up for His Closeup
Paul Ryan: All Pumped Up for His Closeup
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, Mashable and No More Mister Nice Blog
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Oct. 10: Is Romney Leading Right Now? — Polling since the debate in Denver last week has generally been very strong for Mitt Romney. But there have also been a couple of rays of hope for Democrats and President Obama. — One hypothesis is that Mr. Romney's debate bounce was initially very strong, but has since faded some.
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Dana Milbank / Washington Post:
Letting us in on a secret — When House Republicans called a hearing in the middle of their long recess, you knew it would be something big, and indeed it was: They accidentally blew the CIA's cover. — The purpose of Wednesday's hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee …
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John Podhoretz / New York Post:
An ‘Appropriate’ fiasco — Bizarre testimony on Libya
An ‘Appropriate’ fiasco — Bizarre testimony on Libya
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics, Betsy's Page, Power Line, americanthinker.com, Washington Post and ABCNEWS
Sarah Bufkin / The Huffington Post:
Jason Chaffetz Admits House GOP Cut Funding For Embassy Security: ‘You Have To Prioritize Things’
Jason Chaffetz Admits House GOP Cut Funding For Embassy Security: ‘You Have To Prioritize Things’
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Liberty Street, New York Times, The Lede and protein wisdom
Rep. Mike Kelly / Washington Times:
Libya security cut while Vienna embassy gained Chevy Volts
Libya security cut while Vienna embassy gained Chevy Volts
Discussion:
BREITBART.COM, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, The Heritage Foundation, The Daily Caller, CNSNews and The Jawa Report
Joe Vardon / The Columbus Dispatch:
He tells ‘Dispatch’ those with pre-existing condition would have chance to get insurance — A Mitt Romney administration overhaul of President Barack Obama's health-care law would provide those without insurance who have a pre-existing condition the opportunity to gain coverage …
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Rebecca Leber / ThinkProgress:
Romney: 'We Don't Have People Who Die Because They Don't Have Insurance' — Mitt Romney doubled down on his suggestion that uninsured Americans can find the care they need in emergency rooms, telling The Dispatch that people will always receive the treatment they need, and do not die or suffer because they can not pay for care.
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, The Daily Beast and Shakesville
Ryan J. Reilly / Talking Points Memo:
DNC Fires Employee Featured In James O'Keefe Video — The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday fired a Texas staffer who appeared to offer to help someone figure out how to vote simultaneously in two states in undercover video released by conservative activist James O'Keefe.
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, BuzzFeed, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Watchdog News
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Matthew Boyle / The Daily Caller:
DNC fires Obama campaign staffer for assisting voter fraud attempt
DNC fires Obama campaign staffer for assisting voter fraud attempt
Discussion:
The PJ Tatler, Wake up America and Doug Ross
Margaret Sullivan / The Public Editor's Journal:
Why Wasn't Libya Hearing on Page A1 of The Times? — Stories about Wednesday's Congressional hearing on Libya were prominently displayed on the front pages of major newspapers throughout the United States on Thursday morning. — The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, for example …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org, National Review, Mediaite and New York Times
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Dylan Byers / Politico:
New York Times: Nothing ‘significantly new’ in ‘politicized’ Libya hearings
New York Times: Nothing ‘significantly new’ in ‘politicized’ Libya hearings
Discussion:
Hot Air
Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:
Video: Unions Fine Members Who Don't Show Support for Elizabeth Warren — A GOP source sends along this video, shot by a Republican tracker, of a union member supporting Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren outside of a debate Wednesday night in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Discussion:
The Lonely Conservative and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
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Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Warren up 6, Obama up 14 in Massachusetts
Warren up 6, Obama up 14 in Massachusetts
Discussion:
Daily Kos and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion
Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:
Data Massaging Continues: Initial Claims Tumble To 339K Lowest Since 2008, Far Below Lowest Expectation — This is just getting stupid. After expectations of a rebound in initial claims from 367K last week (naturally revised higher to 369K), to 370K (with the lowest of all sellside expectations at 355K) …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, protein wisdom, The PJ Tatler, The Right Scoop and The Lonely Conservative
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
GOP Plans Congressional Investigation Into September Jobs Number Conspiracy — House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Fox News on Wednesday that he would hold hearings into the September job numbers, buying into a widely-discredited conspiracy theory that President Obama faked …
Discussion:
Mother Jones, The Maddow Blog, Business Insider and New York Magazine
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Arthur Delaney / The Huffington Post:
Darrell Issa Looking Into September Jobs Report [UPDATE]
Darrell Issa Looking Into September Jobs Report [UPDATE]
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Fox Business Video and Daily Kos
Sarah Parnass / ABCNEWS:
Getting to Know ABC News VP Debate Moderator Martha Raddatz — Martha Raddatz has interviewed world leaders and four-star generals, walked among the injured after the devastating earthquake in Haiti and twice flown in an F15 fighter jet over Afghanistan — but Thursday night she faces a new challenge …
Discussion:
Politico, ABCNEWS, The Daily Beast, The Daily Caller and Election 2012
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Jonathan Lai / Philly.com:
Romney calls girl at center of T-shirt controversy — Mitt Romney called Samantha Pawlucy on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the campaign confirmed by email this morning. — The Romney campaign will not be issuing a formal statement, according to spokeswoman Kate Meriwether, who declined to provide details.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, Riehl World News and Election 2012
John Sides / The Monkey Cage:
Romney's Pivot to the Center Hasn't Worked. (But It Didn't Need To.) — Perhaps you've heard about Romney's pivot to the center in last week's debate—what it means, whether it will work, how Obama is responding, etc. Yesterday, Bill Clinton described his reaction to Romney's performance thusly: “Wow, here's old moderate Mitt.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Mother Jones, Via Meadia, Wonkblog and The Daily Dish
Talking Points Memo:
Obama: Romney Now ‘Severely Kidding’ About Past Positions — In a notably sharper stump speech on Thursday, President Obama attacked Mitt Romney for his shifting positions on taxes, health care and education by using the Republican's own descriptor as “severely conservative.”
Discussion:
GOP 12, Discourse.net and Taylor Marsh
Jay Cost / Weekly Standard:
Morning Jay: Politics and the Gallup Poll — Since about the beginning of President Obama's tenure, the Gallup poll has generally been one of the least positive polls for the Democratic party. This has prompted outrage and pressure from the left—even from presidential advisor David Axelrod.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Polling Matters, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Hot Air and americanthinker.com
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Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
Obama approval rating gets a boost after Gallup tweaks its polling methodology
Obama approval rating gets a boost after Gallup tweaks its polling methodology
Discussion:
Weasel Zippers
Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:
Bus Driver Tells 12 Year-Old He Should Have Been Aborted Because of Romney Yard Sign — A bus driver told a 12 year-old student that he should have been aborted because his family had a Romney-Ryan sign in their yard. — Freedom Eden reported: … UPDATE: The bus driver was fired after the report on Mark's show.
Discussion:
FREEDOM EDEN, Fox News, LifeNews.com, americanthinker.com, Wake up America, Instapundit, Riehl World News and Weasel Zippers
Sean Higgins / Washington Examiner:
Obama campaign refers to liberal bloggers as “tinfoil hat crowd” — The Obama campaign referred to several major liberal bloggers as the “tinfoil hat crowd” in a statement to Fox News Wednesday. The campaign was responding to the cable channel's request for a comment on an Internet conspiracy theory many of them had promoted.