Top Items:
Mark Halperin / The Page:
Moderator Role Under Scrutiny — Before the Debate — In a rare example of political unity, both the Romney and Obama campaigns have expressed concern to the Commission on Presidential Debates about how the moderator of the Tuesday town hall has publicly described her role, TIME has learned.
Washington Post:
Presidential contest tight nationally ahead of second debate — On the eve of their second debate, President Obama and challenger Mitt Romney remain locked in a virtual dead heat nationally, with Republicans showing increased enthusiasm for their nominee after his big win in the first debate …
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James Hohmann / Politico:
Battleground Poll: Mitt more likable — Mitt Romney is finally getting his Sally Field moment: They like him. At least more than they used to. — President Barack Obama clings to a 1-percentage-point national lead in a head-to-head matchup with the GOP nominee, but the first presidential debate …
Discussion:
CNN, First Read, Washington Wire, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, LifeNews.com, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, National Review, Hot Air, AEIdeas and ABCNEWS
BuzzFeed:
Wisconsin Senate Candidate's Son Says We “Have The Opportunity” To Send Obama Back To Kenya — Jason Thompson, the son of former Governor and Wisconson Senate candidate Tommy Thompson, speaking this morning at a brunch attended RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said that “we have the opportunity …
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JSOnline:
Tommy Thompson's son calls for sending Obama back ‘to Kenya’
Tommy Thompson's son calls for sending Obama back ‘to Kenya’
Discussion:
Booman Tribune and Taylor Marsh
Tommy Christopher / Mediaite:
Fear-Chucker: Fox Contributor Mark Sanford Says Obama To ‘Throw A Lot Of Spears’ At Debate
Fear-Chucker: Fox Contributor Mark Sanford Says Obama To ‘Throw A Lot Of Spears’ At Debate
Discussion:
iOwnTheWorld.com, Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake and Weasel Zippers
Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Oct. 14: Breaking the State-National Poll Stalemate — For the last week or so, we have been hoping to decode a confusing polling landscape. President Obama still appeared to hold a narrow Electoral College lead on the basis of state-by-state surveys, while national polls were suggestive …
Discussion:
skippy the bush kangaroo and The Daily Dish
Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
How Romney can win — and how Obama can avoid it — One thing Obama urgently needs to prevent during tomorrow's debate is this: He can't allow Mitt Romney to become the candidate of change in this race. And that may be in the process of happening. — In an interview this morning …
Discussion:
The Daily Dish and Taegan Goddard's …
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David E. Sanger / New York Times:
Jihadists Receiving Most Arms Sent to Syrian Rebels — WASHINGTON — Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups …
Discussion:
Wired, The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Via Meadia, emptywheel, Prairie Weather and Jihad Watch
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Jackson Diehl / Washington Post:
How Obama bungled the Syrian revolution
How Obama bungled the Syrian revolution
Discussion:
Power Line, The Daily Dish, Right Wing News and Mother Jones
Igor Volsky / ThinkProgress:
Top Romney Surrogate Says Romney ‘Should Be Exploiting’ Libya Incident For Political Gain — Top Mitt Romney surrogate Rudy Giuliani admitted that the GOP is accusing President Obama of covering up the violence that led to the death of an American ambassador in Libya for political gain.
Discussion:
The Raw Story
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Justin Sink / The Hill:
Giuliani: White House ‘trying to cover up this scandal’ in Libya until after election
Giuliani: White House ‘trying to cover up this scandal’ in Libya until after election
Discussion:
Politico, Instapundit and Jammie Wearing Fools
Piers Morgan / Daily Mail:
He's one of the least principled politicians I've met. But I believe Mitt Romney might just save America — Scroll down for video — An extraordinary political earthquake struck America this week. Mitt Romney, widely assumed to be the ‘best of a weak bunch’ of Republican candidates …
Discussion:
NewsBusters.org blogs, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Hinterland Gazette and The Gateway Pundit
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New York Times:
No Shame — There are many unanswered questions about the vicious assault in Benghazi last month that killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. And Congress has a responsibility to raise them. But Republican lawmakers leading the charge on Capitol Hill seem …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, The PJ Tatler, The Hinterland Gazette, National Review and AMERICAblog
Wall Street Journal:
Jackson Is Subject of Criminal Probe — Federal prosecutors and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are in the final stages of a criminal probe into allegations that Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. misused campaign money to decorate his house, according to people familiar with the matter.
Discussion:
NBC Bay Area, Gawker, The Hinterland Gazette, New York Magazine, Politico and Hotline On Call
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Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
Report: Feds probe Rep. Jackson Jr. over use of campaign funds
Report: Feds probe Rep. Jackson Jr. over use of campaign funds
Discussion:
Outside the Beltway
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Gary Johnson Libertarian Candidate Worries Republicans — When he was running for the Republican presidential nomination last year, Gary Johnson, the former two-term Republican governor of New Mexico, drew ridicule from mainstream party members as he advocated legalized marijuana and a 43 percent cut in military spending.
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Maddow Blog and No More Mister Nice Blog
Jonathan Martin / Politico:
The 3 states that may decide the election — With less than a month until Election Day, the primary battlefields for the presidential campaign can be found in just three states: Ohio, Florida and Virginia. — In these big three, home to a combined 60 electoral votes …
Discussion:
Alan Colmes' Liberaland
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Death By Ideology — Mitt Romney doesn't see dead people. But that's only because he doesn't want to see them; if he did, he'd have to acknowledge the ugly reality of what will happen if he and Paul Ryan get their way on health care. — Last week, speaking to The Columbus Dispatch …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather, Forbes and The Incidental Economist
Daniel Strauss / Ballot Box:
Poll finds Akin with slight lead over McCaskill — Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo.) leads Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in his bid for the Senate by a slim margin, according to a new poll. — Wenzel Strategies, a Republican leaning pollster, found Akin leading McCaskill 49 to 45 percent with 7 percent undecided.
Discussion:
Mediaite
BuzzFeed:
Making Mitt: The Myth Of George Romney — The Republican nominee's father didn't walk out of the '64 convention. And George Romney didn't teach Mitt that you lose by being honest — he taught him that you change your positions to win. — Everyone agrees: Mitt Romney is not like his father.
Discussion:
The Hinterland Gazette and AMERICAblog
Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:
Axelrod bobs and weaves over Obama's level of engagement the day of the Benghazi attack — Today on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace pressed David Axelrod on the question of how soon, and in what ways, President Obama tried to get to the bottom of the nature of the attack in Benghazi.
Associated Press:
JUMP FROM SPACE'S EDGE PROVIDES COLLECTIVE MOMENT … ROSWELL, N.M. (AP) — Felix Baumgartner stood alone at the edge of space, poised in the open doorway of a capsule suspended above Earth and wondering if he would make it back alive. Twenty four miles below him, millions of people were right …
Discussion:
Poynter, The Heritage Foundation, Mediaite, Guardian, Taylor Marsh, Towleroad News #gay, TechCrunch and BBC