memeorandum: Exclusive: Hillary Clinton plans midterm blitz (Maggie Haberman/Politico)

5:50 PM ET, October 3, 2014

Top Items:

Matthew Continetti / Washington Free Beacon:

The Case for Panic — Deadly, irrational, and determined, the intruder snuck across a weakened perimeter. Eluding capture, the intruder was detained only after missteps and close calls. The spin began soon after the threat was isolated. Information was selectively leaked.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, his vorpal sword, Talking Points Memo, Weekly Standard, alicublog, BuzzFeed, The Daily Caller, Betsy's Page, Instapundit, Hot Air and Washington Examiner

Jonathan Topaz / Politico:

CDC chief on Ebola: We can't shut the border — Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Friday said restricting travel between the U.S. and West Africa would likely “backfire” and put Americans more at risk of contracting Ebola.

Discussion: msnbc.com, Shot in the Dark, Outside the Beltway, Vox Popoli, New York Times, The PJ Tatler, Townhall.com and Washington Post

Michaeleen Doucleff / NPR:
No, Seriously, How Contagious Is Ebola?

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The New Republic, Guardian, New York Times and Associated Press

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
Ebola becomes political fight

Discussion: New York Magazine, ThinkProgress and Daily Kos

Gabrielle Canon / Mother Jones:
Budget Cuts “Eroded Our Ability to Respond” to Ebola, Says Top Health Official

Discussion: The Daily Beast, The Mahablog, BillMoyers.com, Daily Kos, Americans Against the …, Campaign for America's Future and The Huffington Post, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:
Delay in Dallas Ebola Cleanup as Workers Balk at Task

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Daily Caller, Joe For America, Associated Press and Washington's Blog

Maggie Haberman / Politico:

Exclusive: Hillary Clinton plans midterm blitz — Hillary Clinton has mapped out much of her political schedule through Election Day, an itinerary that focuses on helping Senate candidates and includes trips to a half-dozen states, including Kentucky and presidential early states Iowa and New Hampshire …

Discussion: CNN, Taylor Marsh, Washington Post, Deadline, Political Insider blog and The PJ Tatler

James Hohmann / Politico:

Are big three senate races slipping from Dems? — It's been the most remarkably enduring story line of Election 2014: three Democratic senators defying their states' deep red complexion and their president's abysmal approval ratings to stay competitive in races that should have, on paper, been lost long ago.

Discussion: Washington Post, Power Line and Wall Street Journal

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:
The GOP's Midterm Strategy Is a Lot Like “Seinfeld”

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Fox News Insider and Washington Post

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Charles Krauthammer: The real reason winning the Senate matters

Discussion: National Review

Jonathan Allen / Bloomberg:

Bogus Congressman Said to Get Backstage at Obama Event — An unidentified man posing as a member of Congress made it into a secure area backstage at President Barack Obama's appearance at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner in Washington Sept. 27, according to a White House official.

Discussion: New York Magazine, CANNONFIRE, Talking Points Memo, Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon and National Review

John Fund / National Review:

Obama's Éminence Grise — As the Obama administration crashes and burns, insiders begin to blame Valerie Jarrett. — Are significant chunks of the mainstream media in despair over Barack Obama? This past week, Obama used 60 Minutes to attempt to shift blame for the failure …

Discussion: Ed Driscoll, Power Line, JustOneMinute and The PJ Tatler

Alex Roarty / National Journal:
Ebola Scare, Secret Service Enter Campaign Politics

Discussion: WRAL-TV, No More Mister Nice Blog and Daily Kos

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

The Return of the GOP Hawks — Not that they ever really left. — The Republican flirtation with dovish noninterventionism is over. It wasn't much of a fling. — For five years, we've been hearing that foreign policy and national security issues would split the Republican party.

Discussion: CNN, Hit & Run, Hot Air, The Daily Caller, OnPolitics, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg View, Outside the Beltway, No More Mister Nice Blog, Talking Points Memo, Politico and American Spectator

Daniel Larison / The American Conservative:

Lindsey Graham: The Embodiment of Everything Wrong with the GOP — Reading this Stephen Hayes report was good for a laugh: … Graham is kidding himself if he thinks he could be the nominee, so I'm not sure what the point of this would be. The likely 2016 field will already be filled with reliably hawkish candidates.

Discussion: The Dish

Reuters:

Has Kim Jong-Un lost control of North Korea? Pyongyang is on lockdown and nation's former intelligence officer says Kim has ALREADY been overthrown — A former North Korean counter-intelligence officer has claimed that Kim Jong-Un is no longer in control of the nation and is now just a ‘puppet leader’.

Discussion: ABC News and Power Line

Keegan Hamilton / VICE News:
Former Top Official Says Kim Jong-un Is No Longer in Control of North Korea

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Hot Air and New York Magazine

Jeff Greenfield / The Daily Beast:

A Loss by Pat Roberts in Kansas? Actually, Not So Bizarre — Yes, every Kansas senator since 1940 has been a Republican. But Pat Roberts is in trouble for the same reasons incumbents usually are. — In December 1930, in the depths of the Great Depression, Kansas voters chose Democrat George McGill …

Andrew Dugan / Gallup:
Kansas: GOP Has Numbers Advantage, but Support Drops

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Washington Post

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Colo. Ed Board Member: Give U.S. Credit For Voluntarily Ending Slavery — A member of Colorado's state Board of Education argued that the fact that the United States voluntarily ended slavery proved “American execptionalism” and this perspective should be taught to students in a recent Facebook post …

Discussion: KUSA-TV, Denver Post, Little Green Footballs, TheDenverChannel.com and Raw Story

Mariano Castillo / CNN:

ISIS video claims to show beheading of Alan Henning; American threatened — (CNN) — A short video released by ISIS on Friday shows the apparent beheading of British aid worker Alan Henning. — Before he is killed, Henning speaks to the camera, referencing the British Parliament's decision to join the bombing campaign against ISIS.

Discussion: Hot Air and National Review

Politico:

David Perdue: ‘I spent most of my career’ outsourcing — David Perdue has run aggressively as a “job creator,” touting his record as a top executive with Fortune 500 companies as the chief selling point in his Georgia Senate campaign. — Yet during a controversial chapter in his record …

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Monthly and Daily Kos

Tyler Durden / Zero Hedge:

Labor Participation Rate Drops To 36 Year Low; Record 92.6 Million Americans Not In Labor Force — While by now everyone should know the answer, for those curious why the US unemployment rate just slid once more to a meager 5.9%, the lowest print since the summer of 2008 …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop and Vox Popoli

Daniel Strauss / Talking Points Memo:

EXCLUSIVE: GOPer Ernst Backed Arresting Feds Over Obamacare In 2012 Survey — State Sen. Joni Ernst, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, once said she would support legislation that would allow “local law enforcement to arrest federal officials attempting to implement” Obamacare.

Discussion: American Prospect, ThinkProgress, Daily Kos and National Review

New York Times:

Protest Camps in Hong Kong Come Under Assault — HONG KONG — Pro-democracy protesters in two parts of Hong Kong came under assault on Friday from men seeking to break apart their encampments, surrounding them and tearing down their tents. — The protesters said the attackers were pro-government gangs …

Discussion: BBC, Daily Signal, New York Magazine, Bloomberg View, The Dish, Mashable, Firedoglake and Lawfare

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

McAuliffe aide offered job to daughter of Democrat who left VA state legislature — Remember the saga of Phillip Puckett? The Virginia state Senator resigned in June, flipping control of the state legislature back to Republicans just when Gov. Terry McAuliffe needed to win a tough vote …

Discussion: National Review and RedState