memeorandum: Former Sen. McGovern, 1972 Dem presidential candidate, dies aged 90 (Jonathan Easley/The Hill)

9:20 AM ET, October 21, 2012

Top Items:

U.S. Officials Say Iran Has Agreed to Nuclear Talks — WASHINGTON — The United States and Iran have agreed for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Hot Air, Guardian, Booman Tribune, Israpundit, TBogg, BBC, The Agonist, The Political Carnival, NewsBusters.org blogs, Towleroad News #gay, Wizbang, The Raw Story, New York Magazine and The PJ Tatler

BuzzFeed:

Iran News Will Shift Debate Focus — “A gift for Mitt.” — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center is escorted by technicians during a tour of Tehran's research reactor centre. — Image by Iranian President's Office / AP — The New York Times report Saturday that the U.S …

Discussion: Israpundit and The Agonist

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Former Sen. McGovern, 1972 Dem presidential candidate, dies aged 90 — Former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern died at a hospice in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on Sunday, at the age of 90. — McGovern's family announced his passing in a statement, first reported by the Associated Press.

Discussion: Politico

Nancy Cordes / CBS News:

George McGovern, proud liberal, dead at 90 — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — Former Sen. George McGovern, the three-time Democratic presidential candidate who won his party's nomination in 1972 on an anti-war platform but lost in a landslide to President Richard Nixon, has died. He was 90.

Discussion: The PJ Tatler and LewRockwell.com Blog

CNN:

George McGovern, an unabashed liberal voice, is dead — Former Sen. George McGovern, 90, died on Sunday morning. McGovern was the Democratic nominee for president in 1972. He ran against incumbent Richard Nixon and won only 17 electoral votes to Nixon's 520.

Discussion: Conservatives4Palin

Jeff Zeleny / New York Times:

Cash Flood Allows Fight to the Finish for Electoral Votes — ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — At this late stage of the presidential race, President Obama and Mitt Romney are being spared one decision that has weighed heavily on many candidates in previous campaigns: choosing which hard-to-win battleground states to abandon.

Matt Viser / The Boston Globe:

Presidential predictors puzzled by tossup states — WASHINGTON — With just over two weeks before voters head to the polls, the presidential campaigns are bearing down on the same swing states that have been the focus for the past year, but they are using different prescriptions for several battlegrounds.

Discussion: Politico

Daily Mail:

Republicans bracing for ‘October surprise’ as Gloria Allred ‘prepares for Romney revelation’ — Republicans are bracing themselves for Gloria Allred to make a potentially damaging revelation about Mitt Romney, just weeks before the election. — The pro-President Obama lawyer is rumoured …

Discussion: The Lonely Conservative, Instapundit and The Hinterland Gazette

Walsten / RADAR:
Republicans Try To Stop Gloria Allred As Mitt Romney ‘October Surprise’ Drama Builds

Discussion: CANNONFIRE

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

BREAKING: FOX News Contributor & HuffPo Loon Ryan Clayton Frogmarched From “Hating Breitbart” Premier — BREAKING REPORT: — Last night at the premier of Hating Breitbart in Washington DC, FOX News contributor and Huffington Post writer Ryan Clayton was escorted from the theater.

Discussion: Riehl World News, The Huffington Post, The Other McCain and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Jerusalem Post:

New FJP leader in Egypt calls for Sharia law — Saad al-Katatny elected head of Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, says goal is to “institute Islamic Sharia law.” — Saad al-Katatny was elected chairman of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party, Egyptian media reported Friday.

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Josh Rogin / Foreign Policy:
New poll: Egyptians turning toward Iran, want nuclear weapons

Discussion: Doug Ross and The Lonely Conservative

Carlo Muñoz / The Hill:

Military voters still face trouble at polls — U.S. service members stationed overseas in Afghanistan and elsewhere may miss their opportunity to vote in the upcoming presidential election, despite the Pentagon's efforts to ensure their ballots are counted.

Plain Dealer:

On the basis of sound leadership, re-elect Obama: endorsement editorial — Four years ago, this newspaper's editorial board enthusiastically endorsed Barack Obama, then a young senator from Illinois, for president of the United States. As much as we admired the long and courageous service …

Discussion: CNN and The Hinterland Gazette

Penny Starr / CNSNews:

Libya Grand Mufti: Remove References to Democracy and Religious Freedom From School Textbooks — (CNSNews.com) - The Libya Herald reported on Thursday that the “Fatwa Office” has asked the Ministry of Education in Libya to remove passages related to democracy and freedom of religion from school textbooks.

James Rosen / Wall Street Journal:

The Three Benghazi Timelines We Need Answers About — Every White House sooner or later succumbs to the temptation to cover up an embarrassment. — 'I do not think," Nixon campaign aide Jeb Magruder told the Senate Watergate committee in the spring of 1973, “there was ever any discussion that there would not be a coverup.

Discussion: American Power, Betsy's Page and Power Line