memeorandum: Koch brothers seek softer image (The Hill)

10:20 AM ET, November 4, 2015

Top Items:

John Podhoretz / New York Post:

The meaning of Ben Carson's stunning rise — It's very meaningful that the surgeon Ben Carson appears to be taking the lead in the polling for the GOP nomination — but not in the ways you might expect. — First, it means Donald Trump has stalled out. Given Trump's standing atop the polls …

Discussion: VodkaPundit

Nick Gass / Politico:

Jeb Bush plummets in latest national poll — Jeb Bush's support among Republicans nationally has plummeted to the low single digits in the latest Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday, as the former Florida governor's campaign seeks to hit refresh with its “Jeb Can Fix It” tour.

Discussion: Bloomberg Business, ABC News, Business Insider, Washington Post, Naked Politics and The Week

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:

Is Ben Carson Running for President? — Or is he running a clever marketing scam? — On February 7, 2013, Ben Carson appeared at a National Prayer Breakfast, where he visibly annoyed President Obama by delivering a right-wing speech denouncing Obamacare and cultural liberalism, and calling for a flat tax based on the biblical tithe.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Florida Politics, Washington Post, The Week, Outside the Beltway, Erick on the Radio, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Review, The Gateway Pundit, bradford-delong.com, Breitbart, Washington Monthly and Mediaite

Yanan Wang / Washington Post:
‘Jeb Can Fix It’ backfires in the hands of Internet meme-makers and trolls

Discussion: All Ablog Austin, NBC News and Tales from the Trail

Jose A. DelReal / Washington Post:
Trump team says his retweet of a Nazi image was an accident

Discussion: Business Insider, The Daily Caller and Mediaite

Mark Murray / NBC News:
Clinton, Carson in Dead Heat in 2016 Matchup, New Poll Finds

Discussion: NBC News, Washington Post, CNN, NewsBusters, Diary of a Mad Voter, Political Wire, Business Insider, Horizons, American Spectator, WANE-TV, ThinkProgress, Hot Air and Shakesville

Brad Mielke / ABC News:
Here at a barn in New Hampshire, Jeb Bush was fired up.

Discussion: Politico and Bloomberg Business

Katherine Driessen / Houston Chronicle:

Houston Equal Rights Ordinance fails by wide margin — Houston's controversial equal rights ordinance failed by a wide margin Tuesday, with voters opting to repeal the law that offered broad non-discrimination protections, according to incomplete and unofficial returns.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, The Federalist, Washington Post and Hit & Run

Russell Berman / The Atlantic:

How Bathroom Fears Conquered Transgender Rights in Houston — Houston would seem, at first glance, an unlikely the site for the gay-rights movement's first major setback since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. — The nation's fourth-largest city has elected …

Discussion: BizPac Review, The PJ Tatler, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, The American Conservative, Trail Blazers Blog, Althouse and Dan Patrick

New York Times:

Houston Voters Reject Broad Anti-Discrimination Ordinance — HOUSTON — A yearlong battle over gay and transgender rights that turned into a costly, ugly war of words between this city's lesbian mayor and social conservatives ended Tuesday in a defeat for supporters of gay rights as voters repealed …

Discussion: John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Hot Air, Above the Law, Vox Popoli, The Week, NPR and Outside the Beltway

Dominic Holden / BuzzFeed:

Why Is The LGBT Movement Struggling To Uphold A Simple Law In Houston? — LGBT groups are scrambling to defend a Houston nondiscrimination law on the ballot on Tuesday. They started with a solid lead and have outspent their rivals by millions of dollars — but polls show the race is getting closer.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, EAGnews.org, AMERICAblog News, Slantpoint and Towleroad

Lana Shadwick / Breitbart:
Perverts Lose in Houston as Voters Say No to Men in Ladies' Rooms

Discussion: ThinkProgress, BuzzFeed and Towleroad

Tampa Bay Times:

Marco Rubio spent lavishly on a GOP credit card, but some transactions are still secret — It has become legend in Florida political circles, a missing chapter in Marco Rubio's convoluted financial story: two years of credit card transactions from his time in the state House …

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Jonathan Easley / The Hill:
GOP candidates move forward with plan for greater debate control

Discussion: Washington Post, Talking Points Memo and Politico

Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
The Republican field has a new target: Marco Rubio

Discussion: Political Wire and PoliticusUSA

Bloomberg Business:
Marco Rubio's Past Immigration Efforts Haunt His Presidential Ambitions

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, Mediaite, Bloomberg View, Washington Post, Washington Monthly, Bloomberg.com news, Breitbart and Daily Mail

Nick Gass / Politico:
GOP campaigns fail to unite around debate demands

Discussion: New York Magazine, Talking Points Memo, CNNMoney, Poynter., The Week and abc7chicago.com, more at Mediagazer »

William McGurn / Wall Street Journal:
Thank You, CNBC — For giving millions of Americans front-row seats …

Discussion: NO QUARTER USA NET

New York Times:

Matt Bevin, Republican, Wins Governor's Race in Kentucky — LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Matt Bevin, a Republican political novice, wealthy Louisville businessman and Tea Party favorite, was elected Kentucky's next governor on Tuesday, a victory that could herald a new era in a state where Democrats …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The State Journal Stories, Washington Post, Raw Story, Business Insider, Courier-Journal, FiveThirtyEight and Towleroad

Kevin Robillard / Politico:
Republican Bevin wins Kentucky governor's race

Discussion: Hot Air, RedState, Scared Monkeys, No More Mister Nice Blog, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Washington Post, Forbes, Outside the Beltway, Hit & Run, Truth Revolt and Bloomberg.com news

John Fund / National Review:
Kentucky's New GOP Lt. Gov. Is Black Tea-Party Activist

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications

Kyle Kondik / Politico:

How Democrats Could Win the House. Really. — Whatever happens in the White House a year from now, it's an article of faith that not much will change in the House, where Republicans have a seeming lock on the majority. — But wait: the ascendancy of Donald Trump and Ben Carson just might have cracked the window open.

Discussion: Political Wire and The Week

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:
McAuliffe's hopes for Senate majority dashed

Discussion: Slantpoint

Denver Post:

Jefferson County Public Schools see new five-member board take over after election — LAKEWOOD — Voters overwhelmingly chose to recall three members of the Jefferson County school board Tuesday night and elected two others to form an entirely new board in Colorado's second-largest school district.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Diane Ravitch's blog

Zeke J Miller / TIME:

Jeb Bush Says He Was Wrong about France's Workweek — “I really did a disservice to the French,” he joked — Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush lightheartedly apologized to the people of France on Tuesday for making fun of their work week during last week's Republican debate.

Discussion: OnPolitics, CNN, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Slantpoint

The Hill:

Ryan refuses to rule out riders on spending bill — New Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on Tuesday refused to rule out attaching legislative policy riders to an omnibus spending bill, foreshadowing a possible confrontation with President Obama next month. — “This is the legislative branch …

Discussion: Politico, Hot Air and Instapundit

The Hill:

Koch brothers seek softer image — The Koch brothers are on a publicity tour to change their image. — Long caricatured by Democrats as shadowy billionaires who buy Republican politicians so they can grow their profits and destroy the environment, Charles and David Koch did on Tuesday something …

Adrienne Lafrance / The Atlantic:

The Chilling Regularity of Mass Extinctions — One thing we know for sure is that conditions on Earth were, shall we say, unpleasant for the dinosaurs at the moment of their demise. Alternate and overlapping theories suggest the great beasts were pelted with monster comets, drowned by mega-tsunamis …

Alan Johnson / The Columbus Dispatch:

Ohioans reject legalizing marijuana — Ohioans pushed a monopoly marijuana-legalization proposal out the door Tuesday by a nearly 2-to-1 vote. — But the question is, will pot make a comeback? — Although Issue 3 was handily defeated, the debate and conversations about the issue …

Discussion: Liberaland, Washington Post, Outside the Beltway, Hit & Run, The Week and NPR

Roger Simon / Politico:

Why are the candidates so afraid of the press? — Just before the doors to the press bus close with a sigh, a tall, tanned man with weathered skin leaps aboard and walks to the rear. — He is wearing a brown suit with a carefully folded white pocket handkerchief. His dark hair is slicked back.