Top Items:
Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
GOP debate: Early numbers suggest record audience — Early overnight Nielsen ratings suggest that Thursday's Republican debate was not just the most-watched primary debate in history — it may have been twice as big as the previous record-holder. — The debate on Fox News …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, FOX News Radio, OnPolitics, WSJ, The Gateway Pundit, Mashable, National Review, Daily Mail, Jezebel and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »
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Joshua Green / Bloomberg Business:
Fox News Couldn't Kill Trump's Momentum and May Have Only Made It Stronger — Judging by Thursday's electric debate, he may have sensed his true opponent before anyone else had a clue: the network. — t joshuagreen — A few hours before Thursday's Fox News debate, a friend of Donald Trump's confided to me that Trump was nervous.
Discussion:
Politico, NBC News, Shadowproof, Washington Post, Bloomberg View, New York Magazine, Business Insider and The Week
Eliza Collins / Politico:
7 things Trump said that would have destroyed any other GOP candidate — Donald Trump has said things publicly that seemingly no other candidate could have gotten away with. Criticize Sen. John McCain for being captured during the Vietnam War? Check. Call women he doesn't like fat pigs?
Discussion:
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, CNN and BuzzFeed
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
From Trump on Down, the Republicans Can't Be Serious — This was, according to many commentators, going to be the election cycle Republicans got to show off their “deep bench.” The race for the nomination would include experienced governors like Jeb Bush and Scott Walker …
Discussion:
The Daily Banter, Diane Ravitch's blog and Prairie Weather
Frank Bruni / New York Times:
A Foxy, Rowdy Republican Debate — The first question to Chris Christie was about the nine credit downgrades that New Jersey had suffered since he became its governor. — Ben Carson was reminded of his domestic-policy blunders, of his foreign-policy blunders, of a whole raft of loopy statements …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, No More Mister Nice Blog and Liberaland
Glenn Thrush / Politico:
The GOP debate: 7 takeaways — The first Republican debate of 2016 turned out to be an empty-calorie joy ride. — Takeaway 1: Jeb Bush was meh. Getty — That was fun. Now what? — The first Republican debate of 2016 was an empty-calorie joy ride, thanks to Donald Trump …
Discussion:
The Hill and John Hawkins' Right Wing News
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Donald Trump: Megyn Kelly ‘behaved very nasty to me’ — CLEVELAND — Donald Trump says he didn't get a fair shake. — Speaking in the spin room behind the debate stage, Trump said the questions he received from the moderators Thursday night “were far tougher” than those asked of the other candidates.
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Winners and losers from the first Republican presidential debate — The top 10 Republicans running for their party's presidential nomination debated for the first time Thursday night in Cleveland. It was amazing in every sense of the word and I loved every minute of it.
Discussion:
New York Magazine, Slate, The Week, FiveThirtyEight, Betsy's Page, Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler and Guardian
Mark Hensch / The Hill:
Graham: Trump questions were an ‘inquisition’ not a debate
Graham: Trump questions were an ‘inquisition’ not a debate
Discussion:
CNN, Politico and Instapundit
Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:
Trump: Fox News Questions “Not Nice,” “Inappropriate”
Trump: Fox News Questions “Not Nice,” “Inappropriate”
Discussion:
The Hill, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, ABC News, Daily Kos, BizPac Review, Guardian, Liberaland, Raw Story, The Jawa Report, Hot Air, Naked Politics, Washington Post, Politico and New York Times
Dylan Byers / Politico:
Donald Trump lunched with Fox's Roger Ailes
Donald Trump lunched with Fox's Roger Ailes
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo and BuzzFeed
Chuck Schumer / Medium:
My Position on the Iran Deal — Every several years or so a legislator is called upon to cast a momentous vote in which the stakes are high and both sides of the issue are vociferous in their views. — Over the years, I have learned that the best way to treat such decisions is to study …
Discussion:
New York Post, USA Today, Washington Post, The Daily Caller, Foreign Policy, The Federalist, The Atlantic, The Daily Signal, The Hill, Politico, Bloomberg View, Daily Kos, Gothamist, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Hot Air, Algemeiner.com, Tablet Magazine, Israel Matzav, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, Mashable, US News, NBC News, CBS New York, Mediaite, BuzzFeed, NPR, Business Insider, Fox News and Slantpoint
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Julian Hattem / The Hill:
MoveOn rips Schumer on Iran, says Dems should find ‘a new leader’ — The liberal activist group MoveOn is assailing Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) for his decision, announced late Thursday night, to oppose the nuclear deal with Iran. — “Our country doesn't need another Joe Lieberman in the Senate …
Discussion:
ABC News and National Review
New York Times:
Opposing Iran Nuclear Deal, Chuck Schumer Rattles Democratic Firewall
Opposing Iran Nuclear Deal, Chuck Schumer Rattles Democratic Firewall
Discussion:
JustOneMinute and The Right Pundit
Kristina Wong / The Hill:
GOP candidates take turns bashing Obama's Iran deal
GOP candidates take turns bashing Obama's Iran deal
Discussion:
ABC News, Politico, Washington Post and Algemeiner.com
Charles Schumer / New York Post:
Why I'm opposing the Iran nuclear deal
Why I'm opposing the Iran nuclear deal
Discussion:
Washington Free Beacon
Bloomberg Business:
Oops: Jeb's Website Publishes, Then Deletes, Attacks on Walker, Rubio — The former Florida governor's campaign describes the attacks as “draft pages.” — Jeb Bush's official campaign website on Thursday briefly featured two separate sections attacking two top Republican rivals …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Wire and Politico
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Nate Cohn / New York Times:
Winners at the G.O.P. Debate Did Not Include Bush and Trump
Winners at the G.O.P. Debate Did Not Include Bush and Trump
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, FiveThirtyEight and Political Wire
Jim Geraghty / National Review:
Trump Alters the Way the Rest of the Field Is Perceived
Trump Alters the Way the Rest of the Field Is Perceived
Discussion:
alicublog, Bloomberg Business, Politico and Hit & Run
Chad Livengood / Detroit News:
Recordings: State rep asked aide to hide relationship — Lansing — State Rep. Todd Courser planned the distribution of a fictional email alleging he had sex with a male prostitute in a bid to conceal his relationship with Rep. Cindy Gamrat, according to audio recordings obtained by The Detroit News.
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Daily Kos, Fusion, Washington Post, Associated Press, Jezebel, Raw Story, Right Wing Watch and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Clinton dismisses debate, rips GOP on voting rights — Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton dismissed the first GOP-sanctioned debate Thursday before ripping into the Republican presidential field over voting rights. — During an interview on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio program …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly and Mediaite
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Liz Kennedy / American Prospect:
The Voting Rights Act at 50: Why We Still Need It — All of It
The Voting Rights Act at 50: Why We Still Need It — All of It
Discussion:
Lawyers' Committee …
TIME:
Transcript: Read the Full Text of the Primetime Republican Debate — Ten Republican presidential candidates met in Cleveland for a primetime debate on Fox News. — At the debate, real estate mogul Donald Trump, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio …
Discussion:
Daily Kos, RedState, The Atlantic, The Federalist, Jaltcoh, Defense One, Hullabaloo and Althouse
KLTV-TV:
Judge sentences East Texas man to get married or face jail time — An East Texas couple says their choice to marry when they wanted to was taken away by a criminal court judge. — In July, a Smith County judge sentenced Josten Bundy to get married to his 19-year-old girlfriend as part of his probation …
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, LiberalAmerica.org, Mediaite and Raw Story
James C. McKinley Jr / New York Times:
18-Year-Old Sentenced to Five Years for Robbing Man, 84, She Met on Dating Site — A teenager who with her twin sister robbed an octogenarian they met on an Internet dating site was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison. — The woman, Shaina Foster, 18, had pleaded guilty to one count …
Discussion:
Jezebel and New York's PIX11