memeorandum: Democrats have a growing debate problem on their hands (Chris Cillizza/Washington Post)

10:15 AM ET, September 21, 2015

Top Items:

Political Split Awaits Pope Francis on Eve of U.S. Visit — WASHINGTON — Pope Francis will arrive at a military base outside the capital on Tuesday afternoon to open his first visit to the United States, and President Obama will be there to welcome him. It is a gesture the president …

Discussion: NBC News and Slate

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

GOP braces for Pope Francis — The pope has become a political football. — Republicans want to use Pope Francis's visit to Congress this week — the first-ever by a pontiff — to highlight their opposition to abortion rights. — Democrats, meanwhile, hope the pope will lend new momentum …

Melinda Henneberger / Bloomberg Business:
Pope Francis' Political Critics Are Missing Something Fundamental

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Politico and The Daily Caller

Confidential / New York Daily News:
Susan Sarandon worries Pope Francis will be assassinated during New York visit

Discussion: Raw Story

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Poll: Clinton's lead over Sanders grows — If Joe Biden doesn't enter the race, Clinton's lead would grow to nearly 2-to-1 over Bernie Sanders — Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton's lead in the Democratic presidential primary race has grown — and if Vice President Joe Biden decides to stay …

Discussion: New York Times, Daily Mail, Political Wire, NBC News, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times and Washington Times

edwardklein.com:

OBAMA READY TO ENDORSE BIDEN—WITH CONDITIONS — The talk in Democratic Party circles is that Barack Obama has told Joe Biden that he is prepared to endorse him for president if, in return, Biden promises to let Obama have a final say in the choice of his vice presidential running mate.

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Democrats have a growing debate problem on their hands

Discussion: Vox, KUSA-TV and New York Times

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:

Carson doubles down on no Muslims in the White House — Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson is standing by his view that a Muslim should not be president of the United States, telling The Hill in an interview on Sunday that whoever takes the White House should be “sworn in on a stack of Bibles, not a Koran.”

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, NBC News, The Gateway Pundit, New Yorker, Bloomberg Business, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BREITBART.COM, The Moderate Voice, No More Mister Nice Blog and Liberaland

Des Moines Register:

Cruz: Excluding Muslims from presidency is unconstitutional — It would be unconstitutional to disqualify a Muslim from the presidency because of religion, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Sunday. — “You know, the Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Mediaite

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Bernie Sanders knocks Ben Carson for saying he wouldn't support a Muslim president

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint and Mediaite

Bradford Richardson / The Hill:
Sanders scolds Carson for Muslim remark

Discussion: Raw Story

Eric Bradner / CNN:
Ben Carson: U.S. shouldn't elect a Muslim president

Discussion: Pamela Geller and Slantpoint

Martin Pengelly / Guardian:
Ben Carson says no Muslim should ever become US president

Discussion: Refinery29 and Outside the Beltway

Daily Mail:

Lord Ashcroft's David Cameron biography is the political book of the decade — Today we lift the lid on the extraordinary feud between David Cameron and a billionaire Tory donor that has triggered the most explosive political biography of the decade. — In the dynamite book …

Discussion: The Independent, Spectator, Business Insider, Metro.co.uk and Guardian

Daily Mail:

Drugs, debauchery and the making of an extraordinary Prime Minister: For years rumours have dogged him. Now, the truth about the shockingly decadent Oxford days of the gifted Bullingdon boy — The door was always shut, but anyone walking past might have caught a whiff of the sweet musky smell …

Discussion: Guardian, Mashable and Boing Boing

Daily Mail:
Cameron and an obscene act with a dead pig's head! …

Discussion: Never Yet Melted and The Daily Caller

Shane Harris / The Daily Beast:

Exclusive: This Is the ISIS Intel the U.S. Military Dumbed Down — The intelligence pros said killing certain ISIS leaders might not diminish the group and that airstrikes might not be working. The bosses didn't like those answers—not at all. — Senior intelligence officials …

Discussion: Pamela Geller, Instapundit and NO QUARTER USA NET

Fredrick Kunkle / Washington Post:

Cancer-stricken children, parents ejected from park near White House — The U.S. Secret Service ordered hundreds of parents and their cancer-stricken children out of Lafayette Square on Saturday night, barricading the park for at least two hours and disrupting the group's plans for a candlelight vigil …

Discussion: Twitchy

Joseph Goldstein / New York Times:

U.S. Soldiers Told to Ignore Afghan Allies' Abuse of Boys — KABUL, Afghanistan — In his last phone call home, Lance Cpl. Gregory Buckley Jr. told his father what was troubling him: From his bunk in southern Afghanistan, he could hear Afghan police officers sexually abusing boys they had brought to the base.

Discussion: Washington Post, Joe.My.God., Hot Air, Jihad Watch and Clayton Cramer

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

Scott Walker Mounts a Last Stand in Iowa — It's been a thrilling—and harrowing—roller coaster ride for Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. — First, the Republican presidential candidate suddenly rose and broke from the pack with a well-received speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit in January …

Discussion: Business Insider