memeorandum: U.S. Is Debating Ways to Shield Syrian Civilians (New York Times)

3:05 PM ET, October 23, 2015

Top Items:

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

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: Wall Street Journal, NBC News, Washington Post, New York Times, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, Independent Journal, LifeNews.com, The Daily Caller, Mediaite, The Week and Daily Mail

Lawrence Brinton / National Review:

Jeb Bush Is Toast

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

Eli Stokols / Politico:

Jeb Bush slashes pay, spending as campaign struggles — Jeb Bush on Friday ordered a wholesale restructuring of his struggling campaign after suffering miserably in the polls despite massive spending and a deep donor network.The campaign will cut payroll costs by 40 percent …

Discussion: The Federalist, Washington Monthly, The Daily Banter and Conservative Intelligence …

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

Bloomberg.com news:

Ben Carson Reacts to His Lead in Iowa Polls — Bloomberg's Mark Halperin and John Heilemann sit down with Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson to get his take on being the new frontrunner in Iowa and how he might handle Donald Trump. The full interview will air Friday on “With All Due Respect” at 5 p.m. ET.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and Politico

Eliza Collins / Politico:
Megyn Kelly to Jeb Bush: Will you drop out?

Discussion: RedState and The Week

Katie Glueck / Politico:
Insiders: Trump nomination looking more likely

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News

Caitlin Cruz / Talking Points Memo:
Jeb's Campaign Downsizes Staff At HQ And Cuts Payroll By 40 Percent

Discussion: The Week

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

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

Trip Gabriel / New York Times:
Democrats' Iowa Dinner Will Have the Sizzle of a Convention

Discussion: Des Moines Register and Political Wire

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, Associated Press, Hullabaloo, The Week, ThinkProgress and CNN

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

She Knew All Along — The House hearing on Benghazi reveals that Hillary Clinton's spin about the attack was a politically expedient fiction. — Thanks to Hillary Clinton's Benghazi testimony on Thursday, we now understand why the former secretary of state never wanted anyone to see her emails …

Discussion: neo-neocon and The Federalist

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, addictinginfo.org, Daily Kos and Washington Post

Byron York / Washington Examiner:
Benghazi bust — Share Tweet Reddit Digg Mail Print SMS More

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post, New York Times, Betsy's Page, alicublog, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, Slantpoint, Daily Kos, Washington Free Beacon, National Review, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit and ThinkProgress

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

Discussion: New York Post, Politico, Talking Points Memo, naked capitalism, Bloomberg Business, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA and New York Times

Washington Post:
The GOP's unfortunate Benghazi hearing

Discussion: Shakesville, The Slot, The Week and Weekly Standard

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

Discussion: Bloomberg.com news and Bloomberg Business

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
Hillary Clinton triumphed at the Benghazi hearing by not losing her cool

Discussion: Associated Press, Fox News Insider, whorunsGov and TalkLeft

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

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

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

Molly Ball / The Atlantic:
Why Did Lincoln Chafee Even Run?

Discussion: Daily Wire

CNN:
Lincoln Chafee drops out of Democratic primary race

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Front Page Magazine and American Spectator

Taryn Luna / BostonGlobe.com:

Staples founder Thomas Stemberg dies at 66 — Thomas G. Stemberg, who cofounded Staples Inc. and invented the office superstore, died Friday at his home in Chestnut Hill, two years after he was diagnosed with gastric cancer. He was 66. — His death was confirmed by his son, Will Stemberg.

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Hit & Run, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Washington Times, National Review and bradford-delong.com

The Weather Channel:

Catastrophic Landfall Expected in Mexico Friday; Patricia Becomes Strongest Hurricane Ever Recorded — {{wxnodeVideo.video.current.description + " “}} — A potentially catastrophic landfall is expected Friday evening as a very powerful and dangerous Hurricane Patricia moves towards Mexico's Pacific coast.

Discussion: Vox, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Mashable, New York Times, CNN, Outside the Beltway, John Hawkins' Right Wing News and KFOR-TV

NBC News:

Hurricane Patricia: Strongest Storm Ever Measured to Hit Mexico — Hurricane Patricia became the strongest storm ever measured on the planet early Friday with experts warning it could trigger 39-foot waves along Mexico's coast and “life-threatening” flash flooding.

Discussion: Shakesville, Common Dreams and Towleroad

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 and Althouse

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

Boehner appoints woman to lead Planned Parenthood investigation — Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) will chair the new select committee investigating Planned Parenthood, Speaker John Boehner announced Friday. — Blackburn will be the second House GOP committee chairwoman …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo