memeorandum: Court: Super PACs can be named after candidates (Josh Gerstein/Politico)

2:15 PM ET, August 2, 2016

Top Items:

Michael D. Shear / New York Times:

Obama Says Republicans Should Withdraw Support for Trump — WASHINGTON — In his strongest denouncement of Donald J. Trump so far, President Obama on Tuesday said Mr. Trump was “unfit to serve as president” and urged the leaders of the Republican Party to withdraw their backing for his candidacy.

Discussion: Political Wire, The American Spectator and Joe.My.God.

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

Obama Hammers GOPers Distancing Themselves From Trump's Khan Attacks — President Obama on Tuesday called out Republicans who distanced themselves from Donald Trump's attacks on Khizr and Ghazala Khan, but who have not withdrawn their endorsement of the GOP nominee.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Daily Kos and Booman Tribune

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

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 …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, BuzzFeed, The Week, The Resurgent, Daily Kos, Taylor Marsh, Salon, CNN, Hit & Run, Senator John McCain, Arizona, Media Matters for America, Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, New York Magazine, The San Diego Union …, ABC News and twitchy.com

Jonathan Swan / The Hill:

Paul Ryan: We're in fight to ‘retake the soul’ of the Republican Party — (R-Wis.) told a donor audience convened by the billionaire Koch brothers that conservatives are in a fight to “retake the soul” of the Republican Party. — “We have to do a better job of taking the moral high ground …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Washington Post

Nolan D. McCaskill / Politico:

President Obama calls Trump ‘woefully unprepared’ for the presidency — President Barack Obama on Tuesday challenged Republicans to abandon Donald Trump, a candidate he argued is “woefully unprepared” for the presidency. — Obama blasted Trump for his rhetoric, including his recent spate …

Discussion: ABC News and Hit & Run

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: Talking Points Memo, The Atlantic, CNN, USA Today, Media Matters for America, NPR and National Review

Sahil Kapur / Bloomberg:
Trump Says He'll Spend More Than $500 Billion on Infrastructure

Discussion: Hit & Run

Arlette Saenz / ABC News: President Obama: Donald Trump Is ‘Unfit to Serve as President’

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:
To the Go-Along Republicans — Memo to Paul Ryan …

Discussion: Washington Times, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Tennessean.com, Washington Post and Paul Nehlen

Mark Weiner / Syracuse Post-Standard:

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: Washington Post, New York Times, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, The Nation, ThinkProgress, Independent Journal Review, Outside the Beltway, Politico, WND, Balloon Juice and Daily Kos

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: ABC News, BuzzFeed, Washington Post, Mother Jones, Mediaite, Guardian, Real Clear Politics, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Business Insider and CNN

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.

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: Washington Monthly, WSB-TV, The Week and Salt Lake Tribune

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:
GOP Rep. Says He'll Vote For Clinton: Trump Is A ‘National Embarrassment’

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

Nick Gass / Politico:
Republican Rep. Richard Hanna will vote for Clinton

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Magazine, AOL and Hot Air

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, ABC News, Talking Points Memo, CNBC, AOL, The Colorado Independent, Daily Kos, Politicus USA, New York Magazine, The Week, Mediaite, Joe.My.God. and The Mahablog

Jeremy Diamond / CNN:
Trump gifted Purple Heart, says he ‘always wanted’ one

Discussion: The Atlantic, The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller

Nick Gass / Politico:
Trump: ‘I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier’

Discussion: ABC News

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

Geoffrey Dickens / NewsBusters:

DOUBLE STANDARD: Khizr Khan Receives 50x More Coverage Than Pat Smith on ABC, CBS, NBC — Two weeks ago at the Republican National Convention (RNC) a grieving mother blasted Hillary Clinton for the debacle of the 2012 Benghazi attack. Last Thursday, at the Democratic National Convention …

Discussion: Mediaite

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 and bradford-delong.com

Howard Kurtz / Fox News:
Khan and Smith: How the media are treating two grieving parents

Discussion: BizPac Review, Campaign for America's Future, Washington Post, American Thinker and The Daily Caller

Wall Street Journal:

NYPD Commissioner William Bratton to Announce Resignation — Bratton, 68, will be replaced by Chief of Department James O'Neill. — New York City police Commissioner William Bratton will announce on Tuesday that he is resigning and will be replaced by Chief of Department James O'Neill …

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Fox News and The Daily Caller

Amber Jamieson / Guardian:
New York City protesters demand police commissioner Bill Bratton be fired

Discussion: NPR, New York Post, 89.3 KPCC, The Root and Mediaite

Jeff Donn / Associated Press:

Medical benefits of dental floss unproven — HOLMDEL, N.J. (AP) — It's one of the most universal recommendations in all of public health: Floss daily to prevent gum disease and cavities. — Except there's little proof that flossing works. — Still, the federal government …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Verge, FOX31 Denver, The Week and Mother Jones

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Clinton campaign reports nearly $90 million raised in July — Hillary Clinton raised nearly $90 million between her campaign and joint fundraising committees with the national and state parties in July, setting her up to enter August — and the campaign's home stretch — with more than $58 million on hand.

Discussion: Daily Kos and Washington Post

Ali Vitali / NBC News:
Trump Calls Clinton ‘The Devil,’ Boasts About Meager $35 Million July Fundraising Haul

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Politico

Lisa Barrington / Reuters:

Rescuers say toxic gas dropped on Syrian town where Russian helicopter shot down — A Syrian rescue service operating in rebel-held territory said on Tuesday a helicopter dropped containers of toxic gas overnight on a town close to where a Russian military helicopter was shot down hours earlier.

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Washington Free Beacon

The Daily Beast:
Why Did Russia Send ‘The Terminator’ on a Humanitarian Mission in Syria?

Discussion: Instapundit, RT and The Week

Ben Kamisar / The Hill:

Trump: There's something ‘phony’ about these polls — cast doubt on general election polls that show him trailing Hillary Clinton — , calling those polls “phony.” — “I see some great polls — I see one from the Los Angeles Times, just came out, where were ahead by 4 or 5 points.

Discussion: Joe.My.God.

McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:

The Religious Right's Dangerous Bet On Trump — On July 17, 2015, Donald Trump received a caps lock-heavy campaign memo from one of his advisers containing instructions on how to communicate with a voter species that was especially exotic to the candidate at the time.

Discussion: RedState and Political Insider blog

Timothy Cama / The Hill:

Trump: Wind power ‘kills all your birds’ — bashed renewable energy sources Monday night, saying solar power doesn't work well and wind turbines kill birds. — The GOP presidential nominee has stated his preference for coal and natural gas, and has previously said that solar power …

Discussion: ThinkProgress and Raw Story