memeorandum: Even a Senate victory won't heal GOP divisions (Juan Williams/The Hill)

8:40 AM ET, October 13, 2014

Top Items:

Juan Williams / The Hill:

Even a Senate victory won't heal GOP divisions — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) made news recently by announcing he might run for president in 2016. He later explained that his potential candidacy is less about “personal ambition” than about “concern for where the party is going.”

Discussion: Prairie Weather

David Nather / Politico:

An Obamacare October surprise? — Obamacare premiums aren't rising everywhere. They just have a way of finding the states with the biggest Senate races. And that could be very bad timing for Democrats in two of the party's key contests. — Double-digit rate hikes for individual health insurance plans …

Argus Leader:
Ellis: Why it's a close race for Senate

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Albert R. Hunt / Bloomberg View: Midterm Voters Drown in Dark Money

Kansas City Star:
Greg Orman would bring needed change to the U.S. Senate

Discussion: American Spectator

Bill Carter / New York Times:

Leaning Forward, MSNBC Loses Ground to Rival CNN — Rachel Maddow, the biggest star on the MSNBC cable network, just posted her lowest quarterly ratings results ever. — “Morning Joe,” MSNBC's signature morning program, scored its second-lowest quarterly ratings, reaching an average …

Discussion: RedState, Hot Air, The Daily Caller and New York Magazine

Lauren McGaughy / Texas Politics:

Greg Abbott: Texas gay marriage ban reduces out-of-wedlock births — AUSTIN - Attorney General Greg Abbott says Texas' same-sex marriage ban should remain in place because legalizing it would do little or nothing to encourage heterosexual couples to get married and have children.

Discussion: Liberaland and Raw Story

Steve Quinn / Reuters:
Alaska ban on same-sex marriage ruled unconstitutional

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Jason Easley / PoliticusUSA:

Bernie Sanders Takes Over Sunday Morning And Shreds John McCain's ISIS Warmongering — Sen. Bernie Sanders knocked John McCain off of his usual Sunday morning warmongering turf by following a typical McCain appearance on CNN State Of The Union with a fact laced shredding of McCain's pro-war propaganda.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and FOX News Radio

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:
John McCain: U.S. Needs an Ebola Czar

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:

Krugman: Obama One of ‘Most Consequential’ Presidents in Modern History — New York Times columnist Paul Krugman told ABC News' Jon Karl Sunday morning that President Barack Obama was one of the most consequential commanders in chief in modern history, arguing that his policy accomplishments far outstripped …

Discussion: Liberal Values and FOX News Radio

Fox News:

CDC director: Second case of Ebola in US result of ‘breach of protocol’ — The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a “breach of protocol” caused a health care worker at a Dallas hospital to preliminarily test positive for Ebola. — The health care worker …

Discussion: The Democratic Daily, The Gateway Pundit, Pat Dollard and Patterico's Pontifications

Byron Tau / Politico:
NIH official: ‘The system worked’ on Ebola

Discussion: The Nation and The Hill

Rebecca Kaplan / CBS News:
Shares — The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention …

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, Hot Air, RedState, Trail Blazers Blog, Chicago Boyz and Towleroad News #gay

Evan McMurry / Mediaite:
CDC Director: New Ebola Case Shows There Was ‘Clearly a Breach of Protocol’

Discussion: FOX News Radio, New York Times, Liberal Values and The Hill

John Fund / National Review:

Braced for Voter Fraud in Colorado — Perhaps the most hard-fought Senate race this year will be Colorado's showdown between Democratic senator Mark Udall and Republican congressman Cory Gardner. The RealClearPolitics average of polls in the race shows Gardner holding a lead of 1.3 percentage points.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and Election Law Blog

Chris Matyszczyk / CNET:

Comedy club uses iPad facial recognition to charge by the laugh — A Barcelona comedy club brings rationality to humor. How funny. … This, I imagine, was the sweet sound of the checkout at one Barcelona comedy club, after it took the bold step of charging its customers not for the fun, but for every single sign of humor.

Discussion: Daily Surge and FOX News Radio

Rosa Prince / Telegraph:

Muhammad Ali is so ill from Parkinsons that he cannot speak, his brother says — Rahman Ali at premier of new movie I Am Ali says boxing legend is frail and housebound — He was known as the “Louisville Lip”, thanks to his sharp patter and devastating wit which skewered his opponents both in and out of the ring.

Discussion: Liberaland and FOX News Radio

James Jay Carafano / The National Interest:

Obama's Great Big Ebola Error — “The last time a president tried to make a disease a national-security issue, he helped trigger a global pandemic that killed 50 million people.” — The White House has declared Ebola to be a top national-security concern. That ought to worry Americans.

Bill Scher / Politico:

How Republicans lost the culture war — On Aug. 17, 1992, Pat Buchanan and the Republican Party declared a “culture war ... for the soul of America.” On Oct. 6, 2014, Republicans surrendered. — Twenty-two years ago at his party's national convention, Buchanan thundered, “we stand with …

James Warren / NY Daily News:

President Nixon offered to illegally wiretap Mayor John Lindsay for Gov. Nelson Rockefeller: report — A new biography of Rockefeller, ‘On His Own Terms,’ by Richard Norton Smith reports the proposal, which is based on previously undisclosed material. — WASHINGTON — President Richard Nixon offered …

Discussion: Liberaland and FOX News Radio

New York Times:

U.S. Troops to Use Bases in Turkey — WASHINGTON — Turkey will allow American and coalition troops to use its bases, including a key installation within 100 miles of the Syrian border, for operations against Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq, Defense Department officials said Sunday.

Discussion: Fox News and The Long War Journal