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

11:15 AM ET, October 23, 2015

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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: Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Slantpoint, Daily Kos, The Gateway Pundit, ThinkProgress and ABC News

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, The Week and Hullabaloo

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: Washington Monthly, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Shakesville, Taylor Marsh, National Review, Daily Kos, Bloomberg View, NBC News, Poynter., Washington Post, ThinkProgress, CNN and Towleroad

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

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

5 takeaways from Clinton's marathon Benghazi testimony — If getting yelled at for hours without losing your cool is a requirement for the presidency, Hillary Clinton checked the box on Thursday. Clinton studiously avoided another exasperated outburst like her 2013 comeback to Senate Republicans …

Discussion: Political Insider blog, Political Wire and Bloomberg Business

Annie Karni / Politico:

Clinton emerges stronger for next phase of campaign — After a difficult summer slog, Hillary Clinton appears to be back on top.The week began with Bernie Sanders, her chief Democratic rival, getting devastatingly lampooned by Larry David on "Saturday Night Live …

Erick Erickson / Erick on the Radio:
The Benghazi Hearing Should Not Be, But Is, A Waste of Time

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and PoliticusUSA

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

Discussion: Mother Jones

New York Times:
Benghazi Panel Engages Clinton in Tense Session

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

Washington Post:
The GOP's unfortunate Benghazi hearing

Discussion: New York Times, The Slot, The Week and Fox News

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

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, RedState, Independent Journal and The Gateway Pundit

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

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

Chuck Ross / The Daily Caller:
Hillary Told Daughter Chelsea That Terrorists Were Behind Benghazi Attack The Night It Happened [VIDEO]

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The PJ Tatler and Hit & Run

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
GOP lands no solid punches while sparring with Clinton over Benghazi

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Select Committee on Benghazi …, The Week, Benghazi Research Center, TalkLeft, Mother Jones, whorunsGov and Power Line

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

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

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, Bloomberg Business, Power Line, Bloomberg.com news, ABC News, Political Wire, Daily Kos and The Week

John Wagner / Washington Post:

Lincoln Chafee ends Democratic bid for president — Democratic presidential hopeful Lincoln Chafee announced Friday that he is withdrawing from the race, ending a bid that had failed to gain any traction. — Chafee, a former governor and U.S. senator from Rhode Island …

Discussion: Front Page Magazine and American Spectator

Lincoln Chafee for President 2016:

CHAFEE WITHDRAWS FROM 2016 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL RACE — Washington, DC - Governor Lincoln Chafee announced today he is withdrawing from the 2016 Democratic Presidential race during a speech delivered at the 22nd Annual National Issues Conference of the Women's Leadership Forum.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint and Balloon Juice

CNN:
Lincoln Chafee drops out of Democratic primary race

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Hot Air and Towleroad

Alan Rappeport / New York Times:
Lincoln Chafee Plans Update to His Campaign

Discussion: WPRI-TV, OnPolitics, Fox News and The Week

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, LifeNews.com, Mediaite, Independent Journal, Political Wire and Daily Mail

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, Scared Monkeys, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, Balloon Juice and Bloomberg.com news

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 and Political Wire

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

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

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

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

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

German Lopez / Vox:

Watch: President Obama explains what “all lives matter” gets wrong — President Barack Obama on Thursday gave a strong defense of Black Lives Matter, arguing that the movement's concerns about racial disparities in the criminal justice system are legitimate.

Discussion: Liberaland

Nancy A. Youssef / The Daily Beast:

U.S. Soldier Killed by ISIS, Pentagon Won't Call It Combat — A U.S. service member dies in combat in Iraq—for the first time in four years. But the military still insist this is a relatively risk-free “training” mission. — An American service member was fatally shot during …

Discussion: Defense One, The Long War Journal, RedState and New York Times

Reuters:
U.S. serviceman killed in hostage rescue mission in Iraq

Discussion: Mother Jones, Washington Post and The Week

Josh Lederman / Associated Press:

Obama vetoes $612 billion defense bill in rebuke to GOP — WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama vetoed a sweeping $612 billion defense policy bill Wednesday in a rebuke to congressional Republicans, and insisted they send him a better version that doesn't tie his hands on some of his top priorities.

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding and Erick on the Radio