memeorandum: The GOP blew it with the Benghazi committee, and conservatives know it (John Podhoretz/Daily Kos)

12:25 PM ET, October 23, 2015

Top Items:

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Conservative pundits were not impressed with the GOP's disastrous Benghazi hearing — Hillary Clinton is a top-tier politician who's been the subject of nearly constant national media scrutiny for more than 20 years. She also happens to have worked at the House Judiciary Committee during …

Discussion: Salon, ThinkProgress, The Week and Hullabaloo

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Benghazi bust — Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More — There's a reason Benghazi Committee chairman Rep. Trey Gowdy offered Hillary Clinton the chance to testify in a private, closed hearing. And there's a reason Clinton wanted to appear in an open setting, with the whole world watching.

Discussion: Politico, alicublog, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, Daily Kos, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, ThinkProgress and Washington Post

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:

Trey Gowdy Says His 11-Hour Benghazi Hearing Didn't Reveal Anything New — Hillary Clinton had nothing better to do anyway.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Daily Kos, addictinginfo.org and Washington Post

Erick Erickson / Erick on the Radio:

The Benghazi Hearing Should Not Be, But Is, A Waste of Time — There are still, despite a media effort to deny it, a lot we do not know about Libya and Benghazi. Only now do we have Ambassador Stephens' emails. Only recently did we learn that Hillary Clinton was being privately advised …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, New York Post, Raw Story and PoliticusUSA

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg Business:

The Conservative Reviews Are In: Benghazi Hearing a Bust — Some of Hillary Clinton's top critics say she won the day. — To hear Republicans tell it, a series of unfortunate events culminated in a rough day Thursday for the House Benghazi committee, leaving conservatives to wonder …

Discussion: Politico, USA Today, Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times, Shakesville, Taylor Marsh, Select Committee on Benghazi …, Daily Kos, Bloomberg View, NBC News, Poynter., Washington Post, ThinkProgress and CNN

Washington Post:

The GOP's unfortunate Benghazi hearing — THE HOUSE Select Committee on Benghazi further discredited itself on Thursday as its Republican members attempted to fuel largely insubstantial suspicions about Hillary Clinton's role in the 2012 Benghazi attacks. Grilling Ms. Clinton all day …

Discussion: New York Times, The Slot, Weekly Standard and The Week

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:
5 takeaways from Clinton's marathon Benghazi testimony

Discussion: Political Insider blog and Bloomberg Business

Annie Karni / Politico:
Clinton emerges stronger for next phase of campaign

Discussion: Bloomberg Business

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
Washington Examiner's Byron York Says Benghazi Hearing Was A ‘Bust’

Discussion: The Mahablog, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Newsweek and National Review

Stephen Collinson / CNN:
Marathon Benghazi hearing leaves Hillary Clinton largely unscathed

Discussion: addictinginfo.org, The Great Debate, Raw Story, fox13now.com, FOX5 San Diego, WTVR-TV, FOX6Now.com, Washington Free Beacon and WHNT-TV

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:
GOPer Mocks ‘Clinton Doctrine,’ Accuses Her Of Hogging Limelight On Libya

Discussion: Mother Jones

Elizabeth Harrington / Washington Free Beacon:
Feds Have Spent More on Origami Condoms, Fat Lesbian Studies Than on Benghazi Committee

Discussion: Truth Revolt, Betsy's Page, The Last Tradition, Democratic Strategist and Washington Post

New York Times:
Benghazi Panel Engages Clinton in Tense Session

Discussion: Washington Post, BuzzFeed, Daily Kos, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, Liberal Values, Talking Points Memo, Fox News, Hollywood Life, Althouse and The Mahablog

RealClearPolitics:
Rep. Jim Jordan vs. Hillary Clinton: Why Did You Tell Egyptians Benghazi Was a Terrorist Attack …

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, RedState, The Daily Caller, Independent Journal, Hit & Run and The Gateway Pundit

Gail Collins / New York Times:
Hillary and Benghazi — When Americans are killed in a terror attack …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Jennifer Jacobs / Des Moines Register:

Iowa Poll: Carson surges to 9-point lead; Trump slides — Donald Trump is the biggest loser in the new Iowa Poll. — The pious Ben Carson has plowed past the braggadocious New York businessman to take the front-runner crown, unseating Trump as the most popular choice for president among …

Discussion: NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, New York Times, LifeNews.com, The Week, Independent Journal, Mediaite and Daily Mail

Bloomberg Business:

Jeb Bush Orders Across-the-Board Pay Cuts for Struggling Campaign — Bush's advisers, under pressure from their donors and from falling and stagnant poll numbers, came to the conclusion that a course correction was essential. — michaelcbender — MarkHalperin

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Daily Kos, Business Insider and Washington Monthly

John McCormick / Bloomberg Business:

Carson Surges Past Trump in Latest Bloomberg Politics/Des Moines Register Iowa Poll — Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has moved into a dominant position in Iowa, surpassing former front-runner Donald Trump as evangelical Christians begin to coalesce around him in the state that will cast the first 2016 nomination ballots.

Discussion: RedState, Politico, Trail Blazers Blog, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Scared Monkeys, Outside the Beltway and Bloomberg.com news

Eliza Collins / Politico:

Megyn Kelly to Jeb Bush: Will you drop out? — Jeb Bush may be struggling to break double digits in recent polls, but the former Florida governor said Thursday night that he's sticking around for the long haul.Noting that Donald Trump had vowed to drop out of the presidential race …

Discussion: The Week

Eli Stokols / Politico: Jeb Bush slashes pay, spending as campaign struggles

Lawrence Brinton / National Review:
Jeb Bush Is Toast

Discussion: RedState, The Week, Hot Air and Real Clear Politics

Jason Millman / Politico:
Dr. Ben Carson's prescription: Abolish Medicare

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Allen B. West and Balloon Juice

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Lincoln Chafee ends quixotic presidential bid — Democratic presidential candidate Lincoln Chafee, always a long shot, dropped out of the race for his party's nomination on Friday morning. "As you know I have been campaigning on a platform of Prosperity Through Peace," …

Discussion: Mother Jones, Power Line, Bloomberg Business, ABC News, Bloomberg.com news, Political Wire, Daily Kos, The Week and VICE

Lincoln Chafee for President 2016:
CHAFEE WITHDRAWS FROM 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL RACE

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Daily Caller, Slantpoint, twitchy.com and Balloon Juice

John Wagner / Washington Post:
Lincoln Chafee ends Democratic bid for president

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and American Spectator

CNN:
Lincoln Chafee drops out of Democratic primary race

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Ben Swann's Truth In Media, Hot Air and Towleroad

Anna Palmer / Politico:

McConnell presses Paul to focus on Senate bid — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and his allies are quietly ratcheting up pressure on Rand Paul to pay more attention to his Senate reelection next year — and less to his flagging 2016 presidential candidacy. So far …

Discussion: Washington Post

Lauren French / Politico:
The fragile marriage of Ryan and the Freedom Caucus

Discussion: New York Times, Belmont Club and Outside the Beltway

Jake Sherman / Politico:
Ryan offers concession to House Freedom Caucus

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, BuzzFeed, Bloomberg.com news, Weekly Standard, Hot Air, PoliticusUSA and ABC News

John Podhoretz / Daily Kos:

The GOP blew it with the Benghazi committee, and conservatives know it — Ooh, it's wonderful seeing conservatives deflate as the committee hearing goes on.

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES

New York Times:

Conservative PACs Attack Republicans, and It Pays — WASHINGTON — The petitions that started surfacing online over a year ago were as incendiary as they were urgent, begging recipients to sign up to “Boot Boehner,” “Dump McConnell,” “Drop a Truth-Bomb on Kevin McCarthy” and “Fire Paul Ryan.”

Discussion: Jay Bookman

Lee Smith / Weekly Standard:

Obama Got Punked — It will be some time before it's clear whether the story of Ahmed Muhammad, aka “clock boy,” has a happy ending. After being arrested last month under suspicion of bringing a bomb disguised as a clock to his Texas high school, the 14-year-old won the world's sympathy …