memeorandum: Candy Crowley Draws Complaints From Obama And Romney Campaigns Before Debate (Jack Mirkinson/The Huffington Post)

10:50 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: Mediaite, Power Line, Jammie Wearing Fools, Mother Jones and Washington Examiner

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Hillary Clinton To Obama In 2008: “The Buck Stops In The Oval Office” — The Secretary of State took the fall for the lack of security in Benghazi Monday, but in 2008 told then Senator Obama the “buck stops in the Oval Office.” — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took “responsibility” …

Discussion: Hot Air, Althouse and Weekly Standard

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

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, Bloomberg, The Agonist and The Heritage Foundation

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

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

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

Discussion: Politico and Marbury

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

Discussion: Mediaite, The Gateway Pundit, THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS and Business Insider

Allahpundit / Hot Air:
Hillary: I take responsibility for Benghazi

Discussion: CNN, Roger L. Simon, Outside the Beltway and Patterico's Pontifications

Mario Trujillo / The Hill:
Clinton on Libya attack: ‘I take responsibility’

Discussion: CNN, ABCNEWS, The Caucus and Politico

Monica Langley / Wall Street Journal:
Clinton Accepts Blame for Benghazi

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Washington Post

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 …, Weekly Standard, Hot Air and The Hinterland Gazette

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: Washington Wire, Ballot Box, Jammie Wearing Fools, Hot Air, Business Insider, Boston Globe, The Lonely Conservative, Morning Call, Hotline On Call and First Read

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.

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Oct. 15: Distracted by Polling Noise

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

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

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 …

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

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

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: No More Mister Nice Blog and Pirate's Cove

CNN:
Romney to get first question at debate

Discussion: The Hill

Zeke Miller / BuzzFeed:

Team Obama Looks For Debate Redemption — High stakes tonight at Hofstra. In Denver, “we know we lost the post-debate.” — Stand-ins for Romney, left, and Obama run through a rehearsal with moderator Candy Crowley at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. — Image by David Goldman / AP

Discussion: Election 2012

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Obama-Romney II: Prez needs to win by knockout

Discussion: Wall Street Journal

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, New York Times and Daily Kos

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, New York Magazine and CNN

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 and Hot Air

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

Paul Joseph Watson / Infowars:

New Threats to Riot if Obama Loses Election — Despite the issue receiving national media attention, Obama supporters continue to threaten to riot if Mitt Romney wins the presidential election, raising the prospect of civil unrest if Obama fails to secure a second term.

Discussion: Sense of Events, Mediaite, The Other McCain, Ricochet Conversations Feed and Examiner

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, BizzyBlog and Jammie Wearing Fools

Mark Halperin / The Page:

The 2012 Debates - Memorandum of Understanding Between the Obama and Romney Campaigns — (EARLIER: Moderator Role Under Scrutiny — Before the Debate) — I wrote Sunday about those provisions spelling out the campaigns' conception of the role of the moderator for Tuesday's town hall debate.