memeorandum: Arlen Specter, 82, Dies; Former Senator From Pennsylvania (Sheryl Gay Stolberg/New York Times)

2:50 PM ET, October 14, 2012

Top Items:

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times:

Arlen Specter, 82, Dies; Former Senator From Pennsylvania — WASHINGTON — Arlen Specter, the irascible senator from Pennsylvania who was at the center of many of the Senate's most divisive legal battles — from the Supreme Court nominations of Robert H. Bork and Clarence Thomas to the impeachment …

Discussion: Hit & Run

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

Arlen Specter dies; he was Pennsylvania's longest-serving senator — View Photo Gallery — Former senator Arlen Specter dies: Specter, who represented Pennsylvania in the Senate from 1981 to 2011, died Sunday at his home in Philadelphia from complications of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was 82.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway and Stinque

Joe Sterling / CNN:

Arlen Specter dead at 82 — (CNN) — Former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter — who embodied a dying breed of liberal Republicanism, switching to the Democratic Party at the twilight of his political career — died after a lengthy battle with cancer, his family announced Sunday.

Discussion: Towleroad News #gay

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Arlen Specter, former Pa. senator, dies at 82

Discussion: Politico

Ed Henry / Fox News:

Obama camp tips hand on debate, hints president will attack Romney on Bain — FILE: Oct. 3, 2012: President Obama and Mitt Romney shake hands with Ann Romney after the first presidential debate at the University of Denver, in Denver.AP — WILLIAMSBURG, VA. - As President Obama began …

Discussion: PoliPundit.com and The PJ Tatler

Ben Geman / Ballot Box:

Axelrod defends White House on Libya, says Romney seeking to ‘exploit’ issue — President Obama's senior campaign adviser David Axelrod on Sunday defended the administration's handling of the consulate attack in Libya, accusing Mitt Romney of trying to “exploit” the issue.

Discussion: Politico and CNN

Margaret Talev / Bloomberg:
Libyan Ambassador's Death Not a Political Issue, Says Dad

Discussion: The Political Carnival, The Raw Story and Mediaite

John Hinderaker / Power Line:
What Happened In Benghazi — The State Department has released …

Discussion: Atlas Shrugs, National Review and BuzzFeed

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Obama bites the hand that feeds him

Discussion: Wizbang, The Gateway Pundit and Fausta's Blog

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:

GOP Senator Denies Indisputable Facts On Obama's Employment Record — On ABC News' This Week Sunday morning, anchor Jake Tapper pressed GOP Sen. Rob Portman (OH) on Paul Ryan's false claim during the Vice Presidential debate that the unemployment rate is higher today then when Obama took office.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland

Jake Tapper / ABCNEWS:

Sen. Rob Portman: Romney ‘Probably’ Could Win Election Without Winning Ohio — Speaking to me this morning on “This Week,” Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney could “probably” win the White House without a victory in the Buckeye State, a feat that no other Republican has accomplished.

Discussion: Washington Wire and The Hinterland Gazette

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama leads 51-46 in Ohio

Discussion: American Power, Examiner, Outside the Beltway, Ballot Box and Booman Tribune

Sam Youngman / Reuters:
Romney closing gap in Ohio as poll numbers, crowds rise

Discussion: Da Tech Guy's Blog, The Other McCain and Scared Monkeys

David Rose / Daily Mail:

Global warming stopped 16 years ago, reveals Met Office report quietly released... and here is the chart to prove it — The figures reveal that from the beginning of 1997 until August 2012 there was no discernible rise in aggregate global temperatures — This means that the 'pause …

Discussion: Power Line, Riehl World News, Chicago Boyz, Ricochet Conversations Feed, Watts Up With That? and Instapundit

Chrystia Freeland / New York Times:

The Self-Destruction of the 1 Percent — IN the early 14th century, Venice was one of the richest cities in Europe. At the heart of its economy was the colleganza, a basic form of joint-stock company created to finance a single trade expedition. The brilliance of the colleganza …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Middle Earth Journal, Daily Kos and The Mahablog

Andy Sullivan / Reuters:

Obama grabs wide lead among those who have already voted: Reuters/Ipsos poll — (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are neck and neck in opinion polls, but there is one area in which the incumbent appears to have a big advantage: those who have already cast their ballots.

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:

Romney's plan to dump Bernanke sparking anxiety on Wall Street — Mitt Romney's promise to replace Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke if elected president is stirring anxiety among some financial analysts — who fear such a move could send the nation's markets tumbling.

Discussion: bustardblog, Prairie Weather and The New Republic

Mercury News:

California's retiring state workers cash in vacation for big bucks — They could leave their hearts in San Francisco — or any of the Golden State's other big vacation spots — but thousands of California's state workers won't even leave their desks. — An analysis of the last three years …

Discussion: Doug Ross

Andrew Kirell / Mediaite:

SNL's VP Debate: Belligerent Biden, Tough Gal Raddatz, And Water-Guzzling Ryan — Tonight's Saturday Night Live opened with a spoof of Thursday night's vice-presidential debate between Vice President Joe Biden and GOP challenger Paul Ryan, sparring no one and hitting everything …

more at Mediagazer »

Keith Laing / Ballot Box:

Gibbs: Obama will explain why Romney policies ‘bad for this country’ — Senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs promised Sunday that he would be more aggressive in his second debate with Republican nominee Mitt Romney this week. — Obama and Romney are set to square off in their second …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Politico and Wake up America

Felicity Barringer / New York Times:

A Grand Experiment to Rein In Climate Change — LEGGETT, Calif. — Braced against a steep slope, Robert Hrubes cinched his measuring tape around the trunk of one tree after another, barking out diameters like an auctioneer announcing bids. “Twelve point two!” “Fourteen point one!”

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and Hullabaloo