memeorandum: Conflict-of-interest concerns raised as Obama races to implement health reform (Alexander Bolton/The Hill)

8:55 PM ET, November 3, 2012

Top Items:

Obama campaign struggles to explain ‘revenge’ remark — CINCINNATI — A seemingly offhand utterance from President Obama has turned into a major point of contention between the two campaigns, as Team Obama tries to explain what the president meant when he told a crowd of supporters that “Voting is the best revenge.”

Discussion: Hot Air, ABCNEWS, his vorpal sword, The Lonely Conservative, American Power and Riehl World News

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Obama's November Blunder — One of Barack Obama's problems is that he is not a very accomplished public speaker. When he veers away from his teleprompter, which you pretty much have to do on the stump, his instincts are poor and he tends to get into trouble.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Scared Monkeys, Washington Post, National Review, GayPatriot and Weekly Standard

Alexander Burns / Politico:

AFF poll: Minnesota a toss-up — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are separated by just 1 point in Minnesota, effectively making the race there a toss-up, according to polling taken for the conservative American Future Fund. — Romney takes 46 percent of the vote to Obama's 45 percent in the poll …

Jeremy Herb / Ballot Box:
Obama assails Romney on Jeep ads in Ohio

Discussion: Taylor Marsh and CNN

UTSanDiego.com:

MOTHER OF SEAL: ‘I BELIEVE THAT OBAMA MURDERED MY SON’ — A father and a mother used the word “murder.” A brother said he won't second-guess decisions made in the heat of battle. — The families of three Americans killed in the Sept. 11 U.S. consulate attack in Benghazi, Libya …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Gateway Pundit and National Review

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

News Outlets Held Back Detail Of Benghazi Attack At CIA's Request … REACT: — FOLLOW: — The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Wash Post, Benghazi, ABC News, Ambassador Chris Stevens, Associated Press, Glen Doherty, Media Criticism, Tyrone Woods, Benghazi Media, CIA, Cia Benghazi …

Discussion: The Daily Beast, New York Times and Wired, more at Mediagazer »

Roger Simon / Politico:

‘Swift-Boating’ of Obama fails — Obama should have been destroyed by now. That was the plan. — He was going to be “Swift Boated” in this election, just like John Kerry was in 2004. — It would be about Benghazi, where on Sept. 11 of this year, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

Discussion: The Hinterland Gazette, Riehl World News, Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Daily Kos

Wall Street Journal:
The Fog of Benghazi — What we now know—and still don't—about President Obama's 9/11.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Power Line and Rush Limbaugh

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard: Mysteries of Benghazi

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Nov. 2: For Romney to Win, State Polls Must Be Statistically Biased — President Obama is now better than a 4-in-5 favorite to win the Electoral College, according to the FiveThirtyEight forecast. His chances of winning it increased to 83.7 percent on Friday, his highest figure since …

Discussion: Paul Krugman, BREITBART.COM, PointOfLaw Forum, Battleground Watch, The Atlantic Online, AMERICAblog, Gawker.com, Business Insider, TBogg, Roger Ailes, Rasmussen Reports and neo-neocon, more at Mediagazer »

Politico:

Journalists open wallets for Obama and Romney — Reporters for Romney? Editors for Obama? — Numerous journalists — self-identified reporters, editors and photographers affiliated with established news organizations — contributed money in September and October to the campaigns of President Barack Obama or Mitt Romney.

Discussion: yourobserver.com, more at Mediagazer »

Alex Leary / Tampa Bay Times:
Times/Bay News 9/Herald Florida Poll: Mitt Romney 51, Barack Obama 45

Discussion: Weasel Zippers, Guardian, Business Insider and Hot Air

Mark Murray / First Read:
Polls: Obama stays ahead in Ohio, deadlocked with Romney in Fla.

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere, Battleground Watch, New York Magazine, Prairie Weather, National Review, Cheap Talk and CNN

Gregory Wallace / CNN:
Romney delivers Republican Party weekly address

Discussion: Politico and Ballot Box

Neil King Jr / Wall Street Journal:
Obama Holds Lead in Florida and Ohio Polls

Discussion: Liberal Values, CNN and Politico

John Nolte / BREITBART.COM:

OBAMA'S CLEVELAND RALLY ATTENDANCE 20X LOWER THAN 2008 — Last night, in the cold and with long lines, 30,000 people showed up in Ohio to see Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan. That same day, Obama attracted a meager 2,800. But enthusiasm for President FailureTeleprompter can be judged by more than comparisons with Romney.

Discussion: National Review, GayPatriot, The Greenroom and Power Line

Aamer Madhani / USA Today:
Obama, back in Ohio, slams Romney for auto ad

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and GayPatriot

Dan Friedman / Hotline On Call:

Akin was Arrested at Least Eight Times in 1980's — Missouri Republican Senate candidate Rep. Todd Akin was arrested at least eight times in the 1980s at anti-abortion protests, according to newly obtained records. — That is four arrests in addition to four the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported …

Discussion: The Raw Story, ABCNEWS and Election 2012

Politico:

Exclusive: Christie was Mitt's first choice for VP — One of the most tantalizing subplots of the 2012 campaign has been the curious and sometimes controversial performances of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Now, campaign insiders tell POLITICO that Christie was Mitt Romney's first choice …

Discussion: New York Magazine, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, The Daily Beast, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, The Raw Story, Connecting.the.Dots, Zandar Versus The Stupid, msnbc.com, The Agonist and Gothamist

Juana Summers / Reuters:

Paul Ryan goes dark on local reporters — RENO — In his first eight weeks on the GOP ticket, Paul Ryan blazed his own campaign trail through the living rooms of swing-state voters, sitting for nearly 125 interviews with local television affiliates. — But since the week …

Discussion: The Political Carnival

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Conflict-of-interest concerns raised as Obama races to implement health reform — The Obama administration is relying heavily on outside contractors to implement a core component of healthcare reform as it races to set up a federal health insurance marketplace before 2014.

Discussion: Hot Air and Weekly Standard

Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org blogs:

Bill Maher Warns Romney Supporters: ‘Black People Know Who You Are and They Will Come After You’ — Bill Maher on HBO's Real Time Friday might have said one of the most disgraceful things uttered during the 2012 campaign season. — “If you're thinking about voting for Mitt Romney …

Discussion: Examiner, Doug Ross, Chicago Boyz, Vox Popoli and Conservatives4Palin

Washington Post:

Mitt Romney's campaign insults voters — THROUGH ALL THE flip-flops, there has been one consistency in the campaign of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney: a contempt for the electorate. — How else to explain his refusal to disclose essential information?

Discussion: Politico