memeorandum: First Read: A Last Exit Ramp for the GOP? (NBC News)

11:00 AM ET, August 2, 2016

Top Items:

GOP Rep. Richard Hanna: I'll vote for Clinton; first House member to cross party line — U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, R-Barneveld, says he will vote for Democrat Hillary Clinton for president. Hanna said the GOP nominee, Donald Trump, is unfit to serve. The three-term congressman is shown speaking July 18 …

Discussion: New York Times, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Political Wire, Independent Journal Review, Outside the Beltway, Business Insider, WND, Balloon Juice and Boston Globe

Richard Hanna.JPG / Syracuse Post-Standard:

Rep. Richard Hanna letter: We should all be done with Donald Trump (commentary) — U.S. Rep. Richard Hanna, a three-term Republican from Oneida County, represents the 22nd Congressional District. Hanna is shown speaking last month to firefighters in Binghamton. (Provided photo)

Discussion: Politico, Guardian, Real Clear Politics, Hot Air, Mediaite and Raw Story

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

GOP Rep. Says He'll Vote For Clinton: Trump Is A ‘National Embarrassment’ — Rep. Richard Hanna (R-NY) on Tuesday became the first Republican member of the House to openly say that he plans to vote for Hillary Clinton in November. — Hanna, who is not running for re-election this year …

Discussion: Joe.My.God., The Week and Daily Kos

Eric Bradner / CNN:
First on CNN: Top Jeb Bush adviser leaves GOP, will vote for Clinton if Florida close

Discussion: AOL, Infowars, Florida Politics, Washington Post, ThinkProgress, Breitbart, Daily Kos, Guardian, Rush Limbaugh, Post On Politics, The Atlantic, The Week, The Bob and Chez Show, Hot Air, Shakesville, Mediaite and Raw Story

Stuart Rothenberg / Washington Post:

Will GOP officials jump ship on Trump? — The last couple of weeks have been nothing short of disastrous for the Republican Party. — No, Donald Trump's position in the race hasn't worsened dramatically, nor did the Democratic convention wash away Hillary Clinton's many political warts.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

NBC News:

First Read: A Last Exit Ramp for the GOP? — First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter. — A last exit ramp for the GOP? — Donald Trump's confounding war with a Gold Star family …

Discussion: The Atlantic, USA Today, Hit & Run, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, National Review and Politico

New York Times:

Mr. Trump and Spineless Republicans — Just when it seems that Donald Trump could not display more ignorance and bad judgment or less of a moral compass, he comes up with another ignominy or two. This weekend he denigrated the parents of a fallen American military hero and suggested …

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:

To the Go-Along Republicans — Memo to Paul Ryan: Trump's problem is his character, not his ‘ideas.’ — There's an old saying that in politics there are no permanent victories—and no permanent defeats. Barry Goldwater was crushed in 1964 but the ideas that animated his candidacy found new life in the Reagan Revolution of 1980.

New York Daily News:
The risk of bloody-shirt politics: Khizr Khan, Ghazala Khan, Patricia Smith, Cindy Sheehan and our politics

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog

Ben Shapiro / Daily Wire:
Democrats, Stop Your Unearned Moral Superiority: Hillary's As Bad As Trump

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Reuters:
Trump campaign asks Capitol Hill to back him in Khan controversy

Discussion: Tennessean.com, Political Insider blog, Balloon Juice, Daily Kos, CNBC and Politico

Chuck Muth / Paul Nehlen:
Paul Ryan AGAIN Misrepresents Trump Position, This Time on “Religious Test” Brouhaha

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and The Daily Caller

KUTV-TV:

Utah could vote Democrat for president for first time in 5 decades — (KUTV) The Republican and Democrat national conventions are over and as the dust starts to settle, it looks like Hillary Clinton has a chance to carry Utah in the U.S. presidential election.

Discussion: The Week and Political Wire

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

That poll showing Clinton leading in Utah? It doesn't exist. — The only fitting way for the 2016 campaign to end, after all of the tumult and bizarreness that we've seen over the past 20 months, is for there to be some dramatic result on Election Day. An electoral college tie, maybe.

Discussion: Salt Lake Tribune

NBC News:

Poll: Clinton Support Spikes Following Democratic Convention — Following the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton now leads Donald Trump by 8 points — 50 percent to 42 percent — up from a single-point difference last week, according to the latest NBC News| SurveyMonkey poll.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, RedState, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, Hot Air, TVNewser, Joe.My.God. and AOL

New York Times:

Donald Trump Avoided Draft With a Heel Problem, but the Details Are Murky — Back in 1968, at the age of 22, Donald J. Trump seemed the picture of health. — He stood 6 feet 2 inches with an athletic build; had played intramural football, tennis and squash; and was taking up golf.

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Week, Politicus USA, New York Magazine, Mediaite and The Mahablog, more at Mediagazer »

Kirsten Powers / USA Today:

Trump and feminists should quit blaming Roger Ailes' victims: Kirsten Powers — No, the short-skirted, ‘leggy’ women of Fox News aren't to blame for sexual harassment and they shouldn't have to quit their jobs. — Donald Trump thinks it's “very sad” that women at Fox News are “complaining” …

Discussion: The Atlantic, Guardian, The Daily Caller, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo, The Week, Media Matters for America and Mediaite

Nick Gass / Politico:
Eric Trump: Ivanka wouldn't allow herself to be subjected to sexual harassment

Discussion: Raw Story and Guardian

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Rush Limbaugh renews contract — Rush Limbaugh, the country's best-known conservative talk radio host, has renewed his contract with radio distributor iHeartMedia. — The company called it a “long-term, multi-platform agreement,” but did not disclose any details about the length or value of the contract.

Discussion: Shot in the Dark

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:

Mother of service member booed over Khan question at Pence rally — CARSON CITY, Nevada — The woman, in a quiet voice, stood before the crowd of hundreds at a town hall-style event here with Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and announced that her son serves in the Air Force. The crowd applauded.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Raw Story and The Week

Cristiano Lima / Politico:

Trump blasts New York Times: 'They don't write good' — Donald Trump took aim at yet another venerable news outlet Monday night, saying that The New York Times “is just absolutely a disaster” and “so unfair” to his campaign. — “The media is very unfair.

Discussion: Political Wire

CNN:

With Russia a campaign issue, Clinton gains on foreign affairs — Washington (CNN)Hillary Clinton's post-convention bump extends to enthusiasm about voting and trust on a slew of issues, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll. And on the most prominent foreign policy issue of late …

CNN:
Post-convention poll: Clinton retakes lead over Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, Business Insider, YouGov US Opinion Center News, Wall Street Journal, Hot Air, RedState, The Last Refuge, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Outside the Beltway and Washington Monthly

Jeff Greenfield / Politico:

Doubts Start Creeping In for Democrats — For four days in Philadelphia, almost every comment I heard from Democratic operatives, pollsters and policy wonks reminded me of an old Jackie Mason line about married couples. — “Ask them if they're happy, you get a number. ‘Are you happy?...’ ‘Thirty-one years ... ’”

Discussion: Hot Air and Algemeiner.com

Spiegel Online:

Germans Wonder If Terror Can Be Prevented — Following the attacks in Munich, Würzburg and Ansbach, many are asking how the violence can be stopped. There is an answer to this question, but will it be heard in these turbulent times? By SPIEGEL Staff

Alison Knezevich / Baltimore Sun:

Baltimore County police fatally shoot woman in Randallstown barricade … Baltimore County police say they shot and killed a woman Monday after an hours-long standoff at a home in Randallstown. — A 5-year-old boy involved in the barricade was taken to the hospital with a gunshot wound, but it was not clear who shot the child.

Discussion: NBC News, ThinkProgress, CNN, The Daily Caller, Bearing Arms and The Root

Fred Barbash / Washington Post:

Former Ivy League athlete suspended for alleged sexual assault wins important — and surprising — court victory — Can a male student held responsible by a university for an alleged sexual assault successfully make the case that his fate was the result of sex discrimination against him?

Jonathan Ferziger / Bloomberg:

The Israeli Company That Fenced in Gaza Eyes Trump's Mexico Wall — CEO seeks contract for barrier on Kenya-Somalia frontier — Threats stoke demand for walls to stop terrorism, refugees — The border security business is thriving and that's good news for Magal Security Systems Ltd. boss Saar Koursh.

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Trump: My Position On Keeping Terrorists Out Is What Bothered Khizr Khan — In an interview with a local Ohio television station on Monday, Donald Trump said that Khizr Khan was really bothered by his position on border security — specifically his promise to keep radical Islamic terrorists from entering the country.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, Daily Kos and Little Green Footballs

Yamiche Alcindor / New York Times:

Black Lives Matter Coalition Makes Demands as Campaign Heats Up — More than 60 organizations associated with the Black Lives Matter movement have released a series of demands on Monday, including for reparations. — The list of six platform demands is aimed at furthering their goals …