memeorandum: Jesse Jackson Jr.: Political candidate and subject of many unanswered questions (Manuel Roig-Franzia/Washington Post)

11:45 AM ET, October 16, 2012

Top Items:

Elise Labott / CNN:

Clinton: ‘I take responsibility’ for security ahead of Benghazi attack — Lima, Peru (CNN) — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the buck stops with her when it comes to who is to blame for security ahead of a deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

mccain.senate.gov:

U.S. Senator John McCain - Arizona — Filter by: — STATEMENT BY SENATORS McCAIN, GRAHAM AND AYOTTE ON SECRETARY CLINTON'S COMMENTS THIS EVENING ON BENGHAZI ATTACK — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) …

Discussion: Washington Post, The Ulsterman Report, Mediaite, The Hinterland Gazette, Power Line, Washington Examiner, Jammie Wearing Fools and Mother Jones

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:
Hillary Clinton To Obama In 2008: “The Buck Stops In The Oval Office”

Discussion: Mediaite, Hot Air, The Hinterland Gazette, Althouse and Weekly Standard

Greta Van Susteren / Gretawire:
FNC's Wendell Goler just interviewed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton …

Discussion: Power Line, Weasel Zippers, Weekly Standard and Jihad Watch

CBS News:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes “responsibility” for Benghazi attack

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Bloomberg, National Review, The Agonist, The Heritage Foundation, Mediaite and Business Insider

Bruce Kesler / Maggie's Farm:
Hillary Doesn't Get Obama Off The Hook

Discussion: Mediaite, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS, The Gateway Pundit and The PJ Tatler

John Heilemann / New York Magazine:
If Obama wins, it may be because the former president saved his presidency …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Politico and Marbury

Kos / Daily Kos:

Daily Kos/SEIU State of the Nation poll: Romney's best numbers of the week — Public Policy Polling for Daily Kos & SEIU. 10/12-14. Likely voters. MoE ±2.5% (10/4-7 results) … Obama 46 (47) — Romney 50 (49) — At a time when other polls are moving back in the president's direction …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …, Taylor Marsh, AEIdeas, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, The Hinterland Gazette, The Strata-Sphere, Business Insider and The PJ Tatler

Quinnipiac University:

Release Detail — October 16, 2012 - Romney Closing In On Obama In Pennsylvania, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Casey-Smith Senate Race Too Close To Call — Watch Video: Assistant Director Tim Malloy discusses poll results — Clip Information and Download: — FLV File - For Website (1920x1080 / 50.8MB)

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Weekly Standard, Washington Wire, Gallup, CNN, Boston Globe, Ballot Box, Jammie Wearing Fools, Hot Air, Business Insider, Morning Call, The Lonely Conservative, Hotline On Call and First Read

Howard Berkes / NPR:

Poll: Romney Near Landslide In Rural Swing Counties — As Mitt Romney and President Obama get ready for their second debate, a new bipartisan survey shows a surge for Romney in a key voter group following their first debate Oct. 3. — The random cell phone and landline poll …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Politico and National Review

USA Today:

Swing States poll: Women push Romney into lead — IN THE SWING STATES, THE POWER OF WOMEN — A new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll of the Swing States shows Mitt Romney with a lead among likely voters as he strengthens his standing with women in the nation's top battlegrounds.

Bloomberg:

Electric Car Battery Maker A123 Systems Files Bankruptcy — A123 Systems Inc. (AONE), a maker of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries for electric cars, filed for bankruptcy after failing to make a debt payment that was due yesterday. — The company listed assets of $459.8 million and debt …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Heritage Foundation, Forbes, The Gateway Pundit, National Review, Jammie Wearing Fools and Pirate's Cove

Eric Savitz / Forbes:

A123 Files For Bankruptcy; Sells Auto Assets To Johnson Controls (Updated) — A123 Systems has filed for bankruptcy protection in federal court in Wilmington, Delaware, Bloomberg reports. Late yesterday, the battery company had warned that it was about to default on several loan issues …

Discussion: emptywheel, NewsBusters.org blogs and BizzyBlog

Bloomberg: A123 May Seek Bankruptcy as Company Sees Cash Shortage

Matt Cover / CNSNews:

Obama: ‘We Got Back Every Dime’ of Bailout; CBO: Bailout Will Lose $24 Billion — (CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama said on Thursday that “we got back every dime we used to rescue the financial system.” — According to the Congressional Budget Office, however, the government will lose about $24 billion on the bailout.

Discussion: The Heritage Foundation, Betsy's Page, Weasel Zippers, The Other McCain, UrbanGrounds and protein wisdom

Josh Gerstein / Politico: 5 unmet promises of President Obama

Felicia Sonmez / Election 2012:

Charity president unhappy about Paul Ryan soup kitchen ‘photo op’ — Paul Ryan and his wife Janna wash pots at St. Vincent De Paul dining hall. (Associated Press) — The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group's Youngstown soup kitchen …

Mark Leibovich / New York Times:

Paul Ryan Can't Lose — On a Monday night in late September, Paul Ryan sat on the edge of a couch in his suite at the Cincinnatian Hotel, his left fist clenched so tightly around the neck of his bottle of Miller Lite that I could see the veins bulging in his hands.

Discussion: Marbury

Wall Street Journal:

The Wizard of Obama — The president didn't just lose a debate. He lost an entire image of genius and control. — After President Reagan's listless performance in the first presidential debate of 1984 raised speculation that he was too old for the job, the Gipper took command in the second debate.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Lonely Conservative and Politico

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:
Team Obama Looks For Debate Redemption

Discussion: Election 2012

Associated Press:

5 Things to Watch for in Presidential Debate — Five things to watch for when President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney meet in their second debate: — 1. A REBOUND? After taking a drubbing in the first debate, Obama's under big pressure to step up his game Tuesday night.

Discussion: Pirate's Cove and No More Mister Nice Blog

CNN:
Romney to get first question at debate

Discussion: The Hill

Bruce Bartlett / Economix:

Romney's Tax Plan and Economic Growth — Bruce Bartlett held senior policy roles in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and served on the staffs of Representatives Jack Kemp and Ron Paul. He is the author of “The Benefit and the Burden: Tax Reform - Why We Need It and What It Will Take.”

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Bloomberg, New York Times and Daily Kos

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Oct. 15: Distracted by Polling Noise — Monday was an orderly day in the polls. — National polls showed a modestly favorable trend for President Obama, allowing him to gain slightly in our forecast. (Mr. Obama's chances of winning the Electoral College are now 66.0 percent …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, The New Republic and Ballot Box

Mark Halperin / The Page:

The Romney Scenario — Here's why some Democrats are worried tonight. If Romney wins the three Southern battlegrounds (FL, NC, and VA) and OH, he is at 266 electoral votes. Leaving the other five battlegrounds unallocated, that means Obama would be at 237 and Romney would only need to win …

Discussion: Guardian, Da Tech Guy's Blog and Hot Air

H. Ross Perot Sr / Des Moines Register:

H. Ross Perot: We can't afford Obama — Our country faces a momentous choice. The fact is the United States is on an unsustainable course. At stake is nothing less than our position in the world, our standard of living at home and our constitutional freedoms. — That is why I am endorsing Mitt Romney for president.

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Guardian and CNN

Associated Press:

Ex-Sen. George McGovern, who lost presidency to Nixon in historic landslide, in hospice care — PIERRE, S.D. — Longtime former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, the Democratic presidential candidate who lost to President Richard Nixon in a historic landslide, has moved into hospice care near his home in South Dakota, his family said Monday.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hotline On Call and Outside the Beltway

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Election-Year Stakes Overshadow Nuances of Libya Investigation — CAIRO — After a month of conflicting statements and partisan criticism, the circumstances surrounding the attack that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11, 2012, have become clouded …

Discussion: JustOneMinute, No More Mister Nice Blog and Prairie Weather

Alexander Burns / Politico:

Romney adviser plays down Pennsylvania and Michigan polls — The Romney campaign doesn't intend to “blow smoke” about flipping big, Democratic-leaning swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, despite a string of polls showing relatively close races in both states, a senior Romney adviser said.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Michael Barbaro / The Caucus:

Romney Is Attacked by His Father's Longtime Aide — A longtime aide to George W. Romney issued a harshly worded critique of Mitt Romney, accusing him of shifting political positions in “erratic and startling ways” and failing to live up to the distinguished record of his father, the former governor of Michigan.

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Connecting.the.Dots, Liberal Values and FREEDOM EDEN

Rebecca Leber / ThinkProgress:

Koch Industries Warns 45,000 Employees Of ‘Consequences’ If They Don't Vote For Republicans — The Koch brothers' $60 million pledge to defeat President Obama — along with their political network's $400 million spending — make them two of the most influential conservatives this election.

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, theGrio and NY Daily News

Lanny Davis / The Hill:

Advice to President Obama for Tuesday night's debate — Dear Mr. President: — I disagree with most of the advice you have been getting regarding what you should do in Tuesday night's debate, as I do with the analysis from the same critics from my fellow liberals in the Democratic Party regarding …

Discussion: PJ Media