memeorandum: Yanis Varoufakis as a media star (Alberto Mingardi/EconLog)

10:35 AM ET, August 4, 2015

Top Items:

Donald Trump Dominates Republican Field in Pre-Debate Bloomberg Poll — Billionaire Donald Trump is lapping the Republican field, a new Bloomberg Politics national poll shows, as two prominent governors, Chris Christie of New Jersey and John Kasich of Ohio, rank in the top 10 ahead of the first presidential debate.

Discussion: CBS News, New York Times, Politico, Political Wire, Oliver Willis, OnPolitics and FiveThirtyEight

John DiStaso / WMUR:

WMUR poll: Donald Trump surges to top of GOP primary field in NH — Outspoken business exec leads Jeb Bush, 24 percent to 12 percent — For the first time in the 2016 Republican presidential primary campaign, there is a clear Granite State frontrunner. Business executive Donald Trump's …

Discussion: Political Wire, CNNMoney and Real Clear Politics

Eli Stokols / Politico:

New Hampshire Voters First Forum: 5 takeaways — For some GOP candidates, the desperation is beginning to show. — MANCHESTER, N.H. — The candidate forum that drew 14 Republican presidential candidates to New Hampshire Monday night served as a practice round ahead of the first official GOP primary debate …

Discussion: Washington Post, USA Today and Hot Air

Steven Shepard / Politico:
New polls suggest Rick Perry out of debate

Discussion: Fox News, New York Times and Talking Points Memo

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:
Here Are the Polls Fox News Will Use to Select the Candidates for the First GOP Debate

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Talking Points Memo, No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story, Mock Paper Scissors, Mediaite and The Last Refuge

The Hill:

Senate GOP thwarted in effort to defund Planned Parenthood — A measure to defund Planned Parenthood failed in the Senate on Monday in a 53-46 vote, likely punting the issue into the fall debate over preventing a government shutdown. — Republicans fell short of the 60 votes needed …

Discussion: The Federalist and Politico

Brian Beutler / The New Republic:

The Campaign Against Planned Parenthood Is Causing a Headache for Republicans — For two weeks now, an anti-abortion advocacy group has been disclosing footage of Planned Parenthood officials breezily discussing the medical and bureaucratic processes by which they provide aborted fetal tissue to biomedical researchers.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Bloomberg View, Daily Kos, Slate, Hullabaloo and Forbes

Chris Grillot / New Orleans Times-Picayune:
NOFD investigating car fire at Planned Parenthood construction site

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and Oliver Willis

Mike DeBonis / Washington Post:
Republican effort to strip Planned Parenthood funding stalls in Senate

Discussion: Dame Magazine, CNN, Shakesville, Jezebel, RH Reality Check and Washington Free Beacon

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Hillary Clinton comes out in support of Planned Parenthood

Discussion: Weekly Standard, The Hill, Patterico's Pontifications, LifeNews.com, The Daily Signal and Washington Free Beacon

Peter Nicholas / Wall Street Journal:

Hillary Clinton Loses Ground With White Women — WSJ/NBC Poll — Many Democrats have long hoped that Hillary Clinton might expand Barack Obama's electoral coalition by drawing in more white women voters. — A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll suggests she may have a tough time pulling it off.

Discussion: Hot Air

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal:

Unhappy Voters Shake Up Presidential Race — Unsettled electorate gives a lift to antiestablishment candidates, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds — Pollsters Fred Yang and Bill McInturff sit down with WSJ's Jerry Seib to break down the new poll numbers on the 2016 candidates …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNBC and Taylor Marsh

Dana Blanton / Fox News:
Fox News Poll: New high for Trump, new low for Clinton

Discussion: Mediaite, The Week, The Right Scoop and Political Wire

Niall Stanage / The Hill:

Biden challenge to Clinton would face high hurdles — Vice President Biden would have to clear high hurdles to defeat Hillary Clinton if he launched a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. — The biggest one? Carving out a niche — and a reason for his candidacy …

Discussion: Political Wire

John Dickerson / Slate:
Raw Emotion — Joe Biden's “end of summer” decision is near.

Discussion: Liberal Values, Mediaite and Allen B. West

Michael Falcone / ABC News:
The Note: Donald Trump on Top

Discussion: National Journal, Weekly Standard and LifeNews.com

John Cassidy / New Yorker:
Why Biden Would Be a Serious Contender

Discussion: The Week, Hot Air, Fox News and The Atlantic

New York Times:

President Obama's Tough, Achievable Climate Plan — President Obama's Clean Power Plan, announced on Monday, is unquestionably the most important step the administration has taken in the fight against climate change. — It imposes the first nationwide limits on carbon dioxide pollution from power plants …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, The Hill, Washington Post and Daily Kos

Coral Davenport / New York Times:
5 Questions About Obama's Climate Change Plan

Discussion: New York Times, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, The Hill, Washington Post and Slantpoint

Matea Gold / Washington Post:

Charles Koch's focus on ‘injustices’ is fueled by an unlikely partnership — DANA POINT, Calif. — Last month, billionaire industrialist and conservative donor Charles Koch was meeting in his Wichita office with Michael Lomax, president of the United Negro College Fund …

Discussion: OnPolitics, Daily Kos and Jezebel

Philip Eliott / TIME:
Charles Koch Mocks Common Measure of Prosperity

Discussion: Hit & Run, Hot Air and Instapundit

Neetzan Zimmerman / The Hill:

Harvard Lampoon tricks Trump with fake endorsement — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump appears to be the latest victim in the longstanding rivalry between storied humor publication The Harvard Lampoon and its more staid alter ego, The Harvard Crimson.

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite and Raw Story

Mariel A. Klein / Harvard News:
'Poonsters Prank the Crimson—and Dupe Donald Trump

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Week

KC Downey / WMUR:

2 killed in tent collapse at Lancaster fairgrounds, initial reports say — Approximately 15 people injured in accident — Initial reports said two people were killed when a circus tent collapsed at the Lancaster fairgrounds as severe weather moved through the area Monday evening.

Discussion: Fox News, Associated Press, Scared Monkeys and WREG-TV

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:

Scott Walker just got punked at a New Hampshire pizza shop — MANCHESTER, N.H. — Maybe it should have been a tip-off that the two 20-somethings were so overly excited to meet Scott Walker. Like dramatically excited. The young woman was literally bouncing with excitement.

Discussion: The Week, Addicting Info, New York Times and Prairie Weather

Los Angeles Times:

2 immigrants in U.S. illegally are named to Huntington Park commissions — Julian Zatarain always assumed the doors of City Hall were closed to him because he is here illegally, arriving from Sinaloa in 2007 when he was 13. — The 21-year-old college student found other outlets for service …

Discussion: ImmigrationProf Blog

Debbie Meron / CBS Los Angeles:
Huntington Park Councilman To Appoint 2 Undocumented Immigrants As Commissioners

Discussion: Los Angeles Times and The Right Scoop

Alberto Mingardi / EconLog:

Yanis Varoufakis as a media star — I suspect that one of the most enduring legacies of the Greek crisis may be the making of Yanis Varoufakis into a global opinion leader. — It is a curious phenomenon. Varoufakis was the leading Greek negotiator in a round of talks with the European Union …

Discussion: Samizdata and Bloomberg View

ACLU:

S.R. v. Kenton County Sheriff's Office — UNPUBLISHED — The children, an 8-year-old boy and a 9-year-old girl, were so small that the school resource officer, Kenton County Deputy Sheriff Kevin Sumner in Covington, Kentucky, locked the handcuffs around the children's biceps and forced …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Addicting Info, NBC News, Mediaite and Oliver Willis

TMZ.com:

Gwen Stefani Files For Divorce from Gavin Rossdale — FILES FOR DIVORCE — From Gavin Rossdale — EXCLUSIVE — Gwen Stefani has filed for divorce from her husband Gavin Rossdale, TMZ has learned. — Gwen cites irreconcilable differences in her divorce petition, which seeks to end their 13-year-marriage.