memeorandum: Portage Democrat John Fisher denounces Republican mailer directing calls to his ailing mother (Alex Mitchell/MLive.com)

8:50 PM ET, October 2, 2014

Top Items:

Shawn McCoy / InsideSources:

IS Exclusive: Secret Service Agent Leaked President's Campaign Stops — As scandal continues to envelop the Secret Service, InsideSources has learned of a security failure leading up to the 2012 election. Multiple sources inside the Romney presidential campaign confirm …

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Mediaite, Guardian and Washington Post

Bryce Covert / The New Republic:
Secret Service Director Julia Pierson Was a Victim of the “Glass Cliff”

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, New Yorker, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Althouse, New York Times, Balloon Juice, The Dish, Shakesville, Twitchy, Politico, Washington Post, ABC News, Instapundit and Bloomberg

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:
How The Washington Post's Carol Leonnig Broke Open The Secret Service Scandal

Discussion: Washington Post, The Daily Caller, InsideSources and The Federalist, more at Mediagazer »

Carol D. Leonnig / Washington Post:
Pierson failed to provide fresh start for Secret Service that administration wanted

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, CNN, Wall Street Journal and Real Clear Politics

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

In just two weeks, Obama proven completely wrong about Ebola — BELTWAY CONFIDENTIAL BARACK OBAMA HEALTH CARE EBOLA — On Sept. 16, President Obama visited the headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The agency is the lead organization …

Discussion: Hot Air and National Review

Lisa Maria Garza / Reuters:
Health Officials Say Up To 100 People May Have Been Exposed To Texas Ebola Patient

Discussion: New York Times, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post and USA Today

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
Rand Paul: What If The 3K Troops Obama Sent To Africa All Catch Ebola?

Discussion: Raw Story and defense.gov

Elise Viebeck / The Hill:
Parents fearing Ebola pull kids from school

Discussion: The PJ Tatler, Scared Monkeys, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and New York Times

Sean Davis / The Federalist:

Neil Tyson's Final Words On His Quote Fabrications: “My bad” — After publishing an embarrassing non-apology on Facebook last week for repeated quote fabrications, planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson took to Facebook again earlier this week to revise and extend his remarks. His full post can be found here.

Discussion: his vorpal sword, RedState, Ed Driscoll and National Review

Scott Wong / The Hill:

Why Boehner is wooing Jeb Bush — It's been a yearlong courtship, but no one quite knows if it will pay off. — For the past year, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has been wooing his longtime friend Jeb Bush to jump into the 2016 presidential race, even as he has shunned potential Tea Party rivals …

Discussion: Washington Post, Yahoo! News, ABC News and Hot Air

Fox News:
Bush on ISIS: America has learned ‘lesson’ about Iraq

Discussion: American Spectator, New York Times and CBS DC

Kendall Breitman / Politico:
George W. Bush: I think Jeb wants it!

Discussion: New York Times, Outside the Beltway and Washington Post

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

28 words that Democrats really wish President Obama didn't say today — President Obama was at Northwestern University on Thursday to deliver an economic speech that, he and his team hoped, would lay out the case for why the public is better off today than they were six years ago — even if they didn't feel it in their everday lives.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Associated Press and Washington Free Beacon

Sabato's Crystal Ball:
Republican Chances of Senate Takeover Are Improving

Discussion: The Dish, The Moderate Voice, National Review, Bloomberg View, Washington Post and Outside the Beltway

Scott Bland / National Journal:
Why Women Are Democrats' Last Best Hope to Salvage the Senate

Discussion: Politico, InsideSources, Washington Post, The Colorado Independent and Democratic Strategist

Ben Mathis-Lilley / Slate:

The IOC Demands That Helped Push Norway Out of Winter Olympic Bidding Are Hilarious — Oslo is dropping out of bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving Almaty, Kazakhstan and Beijing as the only remaining cities seeking to host the event. Why? One reason is that people are starting …

Discussion: Hit & Run

Aviva Shen / ThinkProgress:

Arkansas GOP Outraged About Voter Suppression After Candidate Gets Kicked Off The Voter Rolls — Leslie Rutledge, Republican nominee for Arkansas Attorney General — Arkansas Attorney General candidate Leslie Rutledge is crying foul over the cancellation of her voter registration form.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Republican Lawyer, Matt Campbell's Blue … and Arkansas Matters

Chris Thomas / WWBT-TV:

Henrico teen beaten at school, charged with assault — A Highland Springs High School student is now officially facing assault charges after being brutally attacked at school. Eric spent nine days in the hospital after a fight at Highland Springs High School left him with a long list of injuries.

Discussion: Raw Story, Towleroad News #gay and LGBTQ Nation

USA Today:

Voter registration in Ferguson surges after Brown killing — More than 3,000 people have registered to vote in Ferguson, Mo., since the death of Michael Brown — a surge in interest that may mean the city of 21,000 people is ready for a change. — Since a white police officer shot …

Discussion: Daily Kos and Hullabaloo

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Bill Clinton can save Dems — On Oct. 6 and 7, Bill Clinton will spend two days barnstorming across Arkansas to support Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and other Democrats. This all-out campaign tour will give a strong boost to Pryor's chances for reelection. As the former president continues …

Alana Goodman / Washington Free Beacon:
Donor Blames Harry Reid for Low Approval Ratings, Being Out of Touch

Discussion: America Rising and National Review

Alex Mitchell / MLive.com:

Portage Democrat John Fisher denounces Republican mailer directing calls to his ailing mother — PORTAGE, MI — A local Democratic state House candidate is crying foul after the Michigan GOP sent out campaign mailers this week directing Republicans to call him at a number for his 91-year-old mother's room …

Discussion: Eclectablog, New York Magazine, Raw Story and Mediaite

Russell Wilson / The Players' Tribune:

Let's Talk About It — I used to beat people up. Truthfully, I used to beat people up a lot. Many of you readers probably think I have been Mr. Goody Two-Shoes my whole life, but honestly, I was a bully growing up. In elementary and middle school, I threw kids against the wall.

Discussion: CBSSports.com, ABC News and Mediaite

Leon Panetta / TIME:

How the White House Misplayed Iraqi Troop Talks — Leon Panetta served as the director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2009 to 2011, and as secretary of defense from 2011 to 2013. — As U.S. forces return to Iraq to counter the surging al-Qaeda splinter group Islamic State of Iraq …

Discussion: Fox News and “The Lid”

John B. Judis / The New Republic:

Sam Brownback Supported Wind Farms in Kansas—Until the Koch Brothers Changed His Mind — In Kansas, Governor Sam Brownback has always enjoyed the support of Charles and David Koch of Koch Industries. They have been the single greatest contributor to his campaigns.

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Obama: Obamacare A Threat To Freedom On Fox News But It's Working In Reality — President Barack Obama swiped Fox News in a televised speech on Thursday, in which he mounted an aggressive defense of his economic record. — “There's a reason fewer Republicans are preaching doom on deficits …

New York Times:

JPMorgan Chase Says More Than 76 Million Households Were Compromised in Cyberattack — A cyberattack this summer on JPMorgan Chase compromised more than 76 million household accounts and seven million small-business accounts, making it among the largest corporate hacks ever discovered.

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Daily Caller

Bloomberg:

Fed Critics Say '10 Letter Warning Inflation Still Right — Signatories of a letter sent to then-Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke in 2010 warning of the risks associated with the bank's policy of quantitative easing are standing by their claims — even as the biggest U.S. companies are flourishing …

Discussion: New York Times and Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality