memeorandum: George W. Bush administration official announces support for Clinton over Trump (Abby Phillip/Washington Post)

10:45 AM ET, August 8, 2016

Top Items:

McKay Coppins / BuzzFeed:

Anti-Trump Republican Launching Independent Presidential Bid — Key players in the GOP's anti-Trump movement are preparing to launch an independent presidential campaign for Evan McMullin — a CIA veteran and the chief policy director of the House Republican conference — sources close to the effort told BuzzFeed News.

Discussion: Guardian, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, CNBC, Raw Story, Daily Kos, Daily Wire, The Daily Caller, AOL, Mediaite, Hot Air, Business Insider, Independent Journal Review, The Resurgent, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Week, Instapundit and The Slot

Shushannah Walshe / ABC News:

Former CIA Agent to Launch Independent Presidential Bid — Evan McMullin, a 40-year-old former CIA counterterror operative who is now the chief policy director of the House Republican Conference, will run for president as a third-party conservative alternative to Donald Trump, the group backing the candidate told ABC News today.

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and The Week

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

The new Post-ABC poll shows just how badly Donald Trump blew his convention — Conventions are not complicated things. They are a few nights' worth of free media attention, during which each political party can make its best case to voters for the general election.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Resurgent, Electoral-vote.com, Little Green Footballs, Daily Wire, New York Magazine and Outside the Beltway

Patrick Svitek / The Texas Tribune:

George P. Bush, a Trump Holdout, Urges Support For Nominee … Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who has not endorsed Donald Trump, is now asking Texas Republicans to support the party's presidential nominee. — Addressing state GOP activists Saturday, Bush said it was time to put aside …

Discussion: NBC News, Talking Points Memo, Politico, Red Alert Politics, Independent Journal Review, CNN, The Week, New York Magazine, Post On Politics and BizPac Review

Abby Phillip / Washington Post:

George W. Bush administration official announces support for Clinton over Trump — Lezlee Westine, a former aide to President George W. Bush, will support Hillary Clinton for president. — Westine, who served as the Bush administration's White House Director of Public Liaison and deputy assistant …

Discussion: Politico and Occupy Democrats

Frank Lavin / CNN:
Reagan Republican: Trump is the emperor with no clothes

Discussion: Politicus USA

Cyra Master / The Hill:
George P. Bush tells GOP to support Trump: report

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and RedState

Rebecca Savransky / The Hill: Former Reagan political director: I'm voting for Clinton

Andrea Peyser / New York Post:

I can no longer justify calling myself a Trump supporter — MORE FROM: — That's all folks! I'm out. — Embracing the presidential aspirations of Donald Trump was, from the start, an exercise in magical thinking. In my heart, I wanted the smack-talking, hair-challenged …

Discussion: Raw Story and The Week

Ashley Parker / New York Times:

Donald Trump's Diet: He'll Have Fries With That — President Obama is so disciplined that his wife has teased that he eats precisely seven lightly salted almonds each night. — George W. Bush was an exercise buff, obsessed with staying trim by mountain biking and clearing brush at his ranch in Crawford, Tex.

Discussion: The Week

Bloomberg:

Trump to Propose Moratorium on New Financial Regulations — In a speech Monday in Detroit, the Republican presidential nominee will also call for a repeal of the estate tax. — kevcirilli — JenniferJJacobs — Donald Trump will propose a temporary moratorium on new financial regulations …

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, No More Mister Nice Blog and The Week

Wall Street Journal:

Donald Trump Tries a Campaign Reboot — As the GOP nominee slumps in polls, he plans an economic speech in Detroit — Donald Trump is trying to quickly reset his presidential campaign to address worsening poll numbers and growing isolation from influential members of the Republican Party.

Anne Kim / Washington Monthly:

Why Trump Peddles Fear while Hillary Preaches Hope — Los Angeles is a sprawling megalopolis of 10 million people whose violent youth culture has been legendary in pop culture, myth and media. In the past, this reputation was for good cause. In 1990 alone, nearly 500 L.A. teenagers died …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Jim Hoft / The Gateway Pundit:

PHOTOS=> Hillary's Handler Carries DIAZEPAM Pen for Patients Who Experience Recurrent Seizures! — In recent bizarre events on the campaign trail a strange man was noticed at Hillary Clinton's side. — Via Mike Cernovich: … ** Danger and Play has much more.

Discussion: Mike Cernovich Presents … and Vox Popoli

Gabriel Debenedetti / Politico:

Trump fundraising sets off Clinton camp alarms — NEW YORK — Taken aback by the size of Donald Trump's July fundraising haul, Hillary Clinton's campaign is quickly working to beef up its efforts to raise campaign cash before the fall — sending the candidate, running mate Tim Kaine …

Jerry Markon / Washington Post:

As senator, Clinton promised 200,000 jobs in Upstate New York. Her efforts fell flat. — In her presidential bid, Hillary Clinton has made job creation a centerpiece of her platform, casting herself as a pragmatist who would inspire “the biggest investment in new, good-paying jobs since World War II.”

Discussion: Hot Air and The Week

Associated Press:

Iran says it executed nuclear scientist in US spy mystery — TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran executed a nuclear scientist who defected to the U.S. and returned to the Islamic Republic under mysterious circumstances a year later, an official said Sunday, acknowledging for the first time that the …

Discussion: Instapundit, Taylor Marsh, Hot Air, CNN, The Daily Caller, USA Today, Power Line and The Atlantic

Saeed Kamali Dehghan / Guardian:
Iran executes nuclear scientist who returned to country from US

Discussion: National Review, Hot Air, New York Times and New York Magazine

Jacqueline Klimas / Washington Examiner:
Cotton: Clinton discussed executed Iranian scientist on email

Discussion: Daily Mail, Scared Monkeys, AFF, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Israel Matzav, The Gateway Pundit and Pamela Geller

Aaron P. Bernstein / National Review:

Democrats Dismiss Voter-Fraud Worries, but Reality Intrudes — O'Keefe claimed to be Eminem and the Detroit mayor, and poll workers offered him a ballot. — Three federal courts have thrown out voter-ID laws in North Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin in recent days.

news.walmart.com:

Walmart Agrees to Acquire Jet.com, One of the Fastest Growing e-Commerce Companies in the U.S. — Deal Positions Walmart for Expanded e-Commerce Growth and Customer Reach — Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and Jet.com, Inc. today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement for Walmart …

Discussion: New York Times, Washington Post and Mashable

New York Times:

Katie Ledecky Smashes Her Own World Record in 400 Freestyle — After finishing, having roared through the last 50 meters of the 400-meter freestyle at a sprinter's pace, Katie Ledecky turned around to see the scoreboard. It told her what she surely already knew: she had won gold …

Discussion: New York Magazine