memeorandum: Ben Carson's shockingly weak debate performance (Paul Mirengoff/Power Line)

11:25 AM ET, September 17, 2015

Top Items:

Matt Bai / Yahoo:

Jeb leaves a vacuum. Who fills it? — If you were in Washington watching the Republican debate last night, you might have felt a small tilt in the floor, or heard the plates rattling gently in their cupboards. — That was the sound of the Republican establishment shifting …

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:

Trumped: His 14 most memorable debate lines — <p>Donald Trump did it again. After an explosive first debate in which Trump clashed with the moderators and stole the show, the bomb-throwing frontrunner came out swinging at the second Republican debate in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday.

Discussion: ABC News, The Hill, Weekly Standard, Scared Monkeys, Bloomberg Business and Bloomberg.com news

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

The rest of the field figured out how to make Trump not quite as dominant — SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — Something unusual happened here Wednesday when the Republican presidential candidates met for their second debate: For the first time since he joined the race, Donald Trump wasn't the commanding presence on the stage.

Discussion: US News, Wall Street Journal, Politico, ABC News, WIAT-TV, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Guardian, Political Wire, Business Insider and Washington Post

Michael Warren / Weekly Standard:

Carly's Night — From the beginning of her campaign for president, Carly Fiorina has had to deal with lowered expectations, encapsulated in a frequent question: Aren't you just running for vice president? “People ask that because I'm a woman and I'm not a politician,” she told me earlier this year.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Vox, Slate, Horizons, Real Clear Politics, Taylor Marsh, No More Mister Nice Blog and CNN

Kyle Kondik / Politico:

‘Donald Trump Met His Match in Carly Fiorina’ — 18 political insiders pick the debate's winners and losers — ‘The candidate who made the least of his time was Scott Walker.’ — Wednesday's debate was historic in at least one way: It was the first presidential primary debate in the history …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, International Business Times and Talking Points Memo

Paul Mirengoff / Power Line:

Ben Carson's shockingly weak debate performance — Dr. Ben Carson delivered what I thought was the worst performance in tonight's GOP presidential debate. Make that debates. He performed more poorly in the main event than even George Pataki did in the preliminary one. — Pataki was listless.

Discussion: Hot Air and Betsy's Page

Eli Stokols / Politico:

Trump fails to stampede GOP herd — <p>SIMI VALLEY, Calif. — For once, it wasn't all about Donald Trump.</p><p>While the billionaire businessman continues to dominate the polls, he took serious heat from all sides during the second Republican presidential debate here, with Trump's rivals managing …

Discussion: ABC News, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice and Bloomberg Business

Katie Glueck / Politico:
GOP insiders: Carly crushed it

Discussion: Washington Post and Mock Paper Scissors

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Who Won the Second Republican Presidential Debate?

Discussion: Politico, CBS New York, CNN, BillMoyers.com and New York Times

New York Times:
Candidates Use Second G.O.P. Debate to Taunt Donald Trump

Discussion: Power Line, Vox, Outside the Beltway, Fox News, Politico, The Atlantic and Guardian

Washington Post:
Wednesday's GOP debate transcript, annotated

Discussion: The Pulse 2016, Daily Kos, The Daily Caller, Shakesville, Hit & Run, Common Dreams and Mashable

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
A Trump lie: He tried to expand casino gambling in Florida

Discussion: Bloomberg Business and JustOneMinute

Andrew Romano / Yahoo:
This is the way Trump ends — SAN PEDRO, Calif. — It had all the makings of A Moment.

Discussion: Reason, Liberaland, Washington Post and Betsy's Page

James Nash / Bloomberg Business:
Long Shadow of Donald Trump Dominates Debate He Missed

Discussion: The Hill, Politico and Hot Air

Elizabeth F. Ralph / Politico:
‘Look in the Mirror, Fat Boy’

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, Hit & Run, Hot Air, Talking Points Memo and Wall Street Journal

John Harwood / CNBC:
10 questions for Carly Fiorina

Discussion: Business Insider, The Hill, Washington Post, The Gateway Pundit, Philly.com, Slantpoint, Jezebel, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, No More Mister Nice Blog and Talking Points Memo

Rick Wilson / Politico:
It's Time to Declare War on Donald Trump

Discussion: DownWithTyranny!, Hit & Run, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The Brody File, ABC News and CNBC

Ricochet:
The Debate We Were Supposed to Have

Discussion: Hot Air, Politico and Instapundit

Sarah Kliff / Vox:

Carly Fiorina is wrong about the Planned Parenthood tapes. I know because I watched them. — Carly Fiorina gave a harrowing description of the Planned Parenthood sting videos at Wednesday's Republican debate. She challenged Barack Obama to watch “a fully formed fetus on the table …

Discussion: American Prospect, Slate, Washington Post, Refinery29, Hullabaloo, The Federalist and Mediaite

Alan Fram / Associated Press:

GOP leaders hope Right to Life can help head off shutdown — WASHINGTON (AP) — Hoping to prevent the Republican uproar over the Planned Parenthood videos from snowballing into a government shutdown, GOP leaders are turning to one of Planned Parenthood's most implacable foes: the National Right to Life Committee.

Discussion: Erick on the Radio

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:
CBO: Defunding Planned Parenthood means ‘several thousand’ more births

Discussion: LifeNews.com

Monica Hesse / Washington Post:
Planned Parenthood is a symbol. This is the reality of one Ohio clinic.

Discussion: The Daily Signal, LifeNews.com and The Federalist

Brent Budowsky / The Hill:

Biden-Warren in 2016? — Until now, my position regarding the 2016 campaign has been to support Hillary Clinton for president and to be extravagantly friendly toward Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his supporters, who embody the heart, soul and idealism of the Democratic Party at its best.

Discussion: Politico

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:
Hillary Clinton Is Stuck In A Poll-Deflating Feedback Loop

Discussion: NewsBusters, Bloomberg View and Instapundit

KDFW:

Lewisville Whataburger employee fired for not serving officers — LEWISVILLE, Texas - A Whataburger employee has been fired after turning away two North Texas police officers from a Lewisville location. — Officers Michael Magovern and Cameron Beckham were working off-duty security …

Discussion: Consumerist, Texas Monthly, Daily Mail, Christian Science Monitor, WQAD-TV, The Daily Caller and Fox News Insider

Alex Griswold / Mediaite:
Texas Burger Joint Under Fire For Refusing to Serve Police Officers

Discussion: Scared Monkeys, Daily Mail, BizPac Review, The Daily Caller and John Hawkins' Right Wing News

The Hill:

Obama invites suspended Muslim teen to the White House — A Texas teenager who was suspended from school for bringing a homemade clock to class received a 21st century invitation from President Obama on Wednesday to visit the White House. — Instead of making a traditional phone call …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Dallas Morning News and Gawker

Thomas D. Williams, Ph.D. / BREITBART.COM:
White House Invites Several Opponents of Catholic Teaching to Greet Pope Francis

Discussion: Religion News Service, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, LifeNews.com, Naked Politics and Bloomberg Business

Florida Times Union:

Parents of Lonzie Barton arrested in Baker County on drug charges Wednesday night — The parents of Lonzie Barton face drug charges after they were taken into custody Wednesday night in Baker County following an investigation over the last month that involved three separate drug buys, Sheriff Joey Dobson said.

Discussion: Daily Mail

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

GOP debate ratings appear to set new CNN record — Wednesday's GOP debate appears to be the highest-rated event in CNN's history, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings. — The prime time debate averaged a 14.7 household rating, indicating that 1 in 7 American homes with TVs tuned in.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mashable and The Daily Caller

Milo Yiannopoulos / BREITBART.COM:

Sexbots: Why Women Should Panic — Sex with robots will be ‘the norm’ in 50 years, say experts. Men are considering the prospect with curiosity and a sense of humour. But academics and feminists are terrified and calling for them to be banned. Let me tell you why.

Discussion: Rush Limbaugh and Joe.My.God.