memeorandum: Letter Shows Michelle Obama Backing Partial-Birth Abortion (Steven Ertelt/LifeNews.com)

2:55 PM ET, October 23, 2012

Top Items:

Poll: Decisive win for Obama in final debate — PLAY CBS NEWS VIDEO — President Obama scored a clear two-to-one victory against Mitt Romney during the final presidential debate Monday night, according to a CBS News instant poll of uncommitted voters. — Immediately after it wrapped …

Discussion: Slate, The Reality-Based Community, ABCNEWS and msnbc.com

New York Times:

Transcript of the Third Presidential Debate — The following is a complete transcript of President Obama and Mitt Romney's remarks from the third presidential debate in Boca Raton, Fla., on Oct. 22, 2012. (Transcript courtesy of Federal News Service). — BOB SCHIEFFER: Good evening …

Wall Street Journal:

A Perfectly Plausible President — All Mitt needed to do was sound reasonable. He succeeded. — Mitt Romney needed to pass the usual tests for Republican presidential candidates in his debate Monday night with President Obama. — There was the Ford test (alternatively known …

Discussion: The Mahablog, Taylor Marsh, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Washington Wire, Shakesville, americanthinker.com and msnbc.com

BBC:

BBC poll: Rest of world favours Obama — A BBC World Service opinion poll has found sharply higher overseas approval ratings for US President Barack Obama than Republican challenger Mitt Romney. — An average of 50% favoured Mr Obama, with 9% for Mr Romney, in the survey of 21,797 people in 21 countries.

Discussion: Addicting Info, Guardian, Via Meadia, The Hinterland Gazette, The Last Refuge and Taegan Goddard's …

Joe Scarborough / Politico:

Mitt Romney wins debate season — Barack Obama won on points last night. But that victory may not have been enough to undo the damage done to the president by this year's debate season. — President Obama came into the first debate in Denver as a heavyweight champ circling his battered, over-matched foe.

Discussion: CNN, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, msnbc.com, bustardblog and Taking Note

David Martosko / The Daily Caller:

Obama line about horses, bayonets fails fact-check — In a debate exchange Monday night that set Twitter on fire, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney crossed swords over the kinds of equipment and materials the U.S. military uses for modern warfare.

Discussion: Slate, The Gateway Pundit, BREITBART.COM, The Jawa Report, Marbury, Pirate's Cove and The PJ Tatler

Politico:

Paul Ryan jabs President Obama on ‘bayonets’ — Paul Ryan said in an interview that aired Tuesday that he “just doesn't understand” the reference President Barack Obama made to bayonets in Monday night's presidential debate, while Vice President Biden insisted the final face off revealed …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Towleroad News #gay

Fred Barbash / Reuters:

Republicans surprised at Obama comment on spending cuts — (Reuters) - Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress expressed surprise and doubt on Tuesday about President Barack Obama's comment in debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney that the automatic spending cuts set for the new year “will not happen.”

Discussion: The Hill, Politico, Wonkblog and Election 2012

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

TRENDING: ‘Horses and bayonets’ shows Obama's debate strategy — (CNN) - Perhaps it only makes sense that a candidate who prepared for a presidential debate near Colonial Williamsburg would slam Mitt Romney's plan for more Navy ships with the phrase “horses and bayonets.”

Discussion: ABCNEWS, CANNONFIRE, Scared Monkeys, Questions and Observations, Liberal Values, Politico and American Power

CNN:
Romney has ‘stage three Romnesia,’ Obama says

Discussion: Politico

CNN:
CNN Poll: Nearly half of debate watchers say Obama won showdown

Discussion: JustOneMinute, USA Today, msnbc.com, Guardian, Capital New York, BBC, Power Line and Mediaite

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:
Obama wins debate by 11 points in swing states

Discussion: Firedoglake and Towleroad News #gay

Matthew Yglesias / Slate:
Five Misguided Economic Themes in Tonight's Debate

Discussion: Washington Post

CNN:
CNN Poll: Who won the debate?

Discussion: Washington Wire, The Moderate Voice, Taegan Goddard's …, RedState, Daily Kos, Daily Mail, The Daily Beast, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Hit & Run, American Power and The Fix

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Oct. 22: Ohio Has 50-50 Chance of Deciding Election — The supposition that Ohio is the most important state in presidential elections is not always true. The decisive state in the 2000 election, of course, was Florida. (Al Gore also could have won by carrying New Hampshire or Missouri …

Discussion: The Blotter, The New Republic, CANNONFIRE and Angry Black Lady Chronicles

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Romney Says He's Winning — It's a Bluff — In recent days, the vibe emanating from Mitt Romney's campaign has grown downright giddy. Despite a lack of any evident positive momentum over the last week — indeed, in the face of a slight decline from its post-Denver high …

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, American Prospect, Wonkblog, The New Republic, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Agonist and Politico

Jonathan Martin / Reuters:
2012: The battle for 7 states — BOCA RATON, Fla. …

Discussion: PoliticsPA

Michael A. Memoli / Los Angeles Times:

Obama pitches plan for second term in new ad — BOCA RATON, Fla. — President Obama delivers a closing message to voters in a new television ad touting progress over the last four years and sketching the outline of his plan for a new term. — The 60-second spot, which begins with a montage …

Discussion: Mediaite and Taylor Marsh

Mike Allen / Politico:
New Obama book has 2nd-term plan

Discussion: Washington Monthly, NewsBusters.org blogs, CNN, Mediaite, The PJ Tatler and Washington Wire

Matt Vasilogambros / NationalJournal.com:
Obama Lays Out Second-Term Agenda in Booklet, Ad

Discussion: Jammie Wearing Fools, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, Pirate's Cove, Addicting Info, ABCNEWS, Daily Kos, The Page and www2.timesdispatch.com

Doug / RADAR:

Trumped-Up Charges? Republicans Rejected Man's Claims That Obama Sold Cocaine In College — A man claiming to be a close pal to President Obama during college made contact with Republican operatives recently, ready to go public with claims that Obama used and sold cocaine in college, RadarOnline.com is reporting exclusively.

Discussion: Wonkette, Weasel Zippers, The Hinterland Gazette, The Daily Caller and Jammie Wearing Fools

New York Times:

The Final Debate — Mitt Romney has nothing really coherent or substantive to say about domestic policy, but at least he can sound energetic and confident about it. On foreign policy, the subject of Monday night's final presidential debate, he had little coherent to say and often sounded completely lost.

Discussion: Washington Post, Bloomberg, Daily Kos, The Daily Dish, Los Angeles Times, Addicting Info, The Maddow Blog, The Atlantic Online, bigstory.ap.org, Zandar Versus The Stupid and Politico

Charles P. Pierce / Esquire:
Nothing Is Foreign to the Liar Willard Romney Anymore: A Report from the Flippy-Floppy Final Debate of 2012

Discussion: Welcome Back to Pottersville and New York Times

Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:
Romney tags jihadists as enemy, marking shift from Obama, Bush

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Atlas Shrugs, Jerusalem Post and Weasel Zippers

Hollie McKay / Fox News:

Is Anna Wintour pressuring designers to steer clear of Ann Romney? — LOS ANGELES - “Honored to see First Lady Michelle Obama wearing our Spring 2013 dress at the final presidential debate,” boasted the Twitter account of fashion label Thom Browne soon after Monday night's debate.

Discussion: Naked DC, theGrio, Weasel Zippers and Washington Free Beacon

Steven Ertelt / LifeNews.com:
Letter Shows Michelle Obama Backing Partial-Birth Abortion

Discussion: Weasel Zippers

Ryan Grim / The Huffington Post:

Change.org Changing: Site To Work With Corporate, Anti-Abortion, GOP Campaigns, Say Internal Documents … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Michelle Rhee, Advertising, Video, Jonah Edelman, Stand For Children, Advertise Change.Org, Ben Rattray, Change.Org, Change.Org Advertising, Change.Org Petitions …

Discussion: Suburban Guerrilla and Joe. My. God.

Glenn Kessler / Election 2012:

Fact Check: Iran's ‘route to the sea’ — Mitt Romney repeated his contention that Syria is Iran's route to the sea. This is a puzzling claim, considering that Syria shares no border with Iran — Iraq and Turkey are in the way — and that Iran has about 1,500 miles of coastline along …

Discussion: National Review, Daily Kos, News Desk and The Daily Beast

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Obama Unlikely to Get Big Debate Bounce, but a Small One Could Matter — Instant-reaction polls following Monday night's debate in Boca Raton, Fla., judged President Obama to be the winner. — A CBS News poll of undecided voters who watched the debate found 53 percent giving it to Mr. Obama …

Discussion: Wonkblog, American Power, Balloon Juice and Election 2012

Jeff Poor / The Daily Caller:

MSNBC audience boos 9-year-old girl for saying she thinks Romney should win the election [VIDEO] — If you ever wanted a glimpse into potentially just how rabidly left-of-center your average MSNBC viewer is, you had an opportunity this morning during the “What have we learned today?” segment on “Morning Joe.”

RealClearPolitics Video Log:

Krauthammer: Romney Won Unequivocally; Obama's Responses Were Petty — CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: I think it's unequivocal, Romney won. And he didn't just win tactically, but strategically. Strategically, all he needed to do is basically draw. He needed to continue the momentum he's had since …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, blogs.telegraph.co.uk, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Althouse, AEIdeas, The Daily Caller and Betsy's Page

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:

Problem Solved: Romney Aide Says World Court Would Arrest Ahmadinejad — For a candidate who frequently accuses President Obama of kowtowing to the international community, Mitt Romney's aides sure have an optimistic view of the global justice system. A top Romney adviser suggested …