memeorandum: Aftermath of Kaine-Pence debate pits reality against alternate reality (David Weigel/Washington Post)

4:25 PM ET, October 5, 2016

Top Items:

Michael Levenson / BostonGlobe.com:

Bill Weld says he will focus his fire on Donald Trump — The Libertarian vice presidential candidate, William F. Weld, said Tuesday that he plans to focus exclusively on blasting Donald Trump over the next five weeks, a strategic pivot aimed at denying Trump the White House and giving himself a key role in helping to rebuild the GOP.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Salon, Hot Air, Mediaite and Talking Points Memo

Monmouth University:

Monmouth University Polling Institute — Ohio — Tight Race for Prez; Portman Widens Senate Lead — Kasich's anti-Trump stand still popular — West Long Branch, NJ - Hillary Clinton holds a slim 2 point lead over Donald Trump in the perennial battleground state of Ohio, compared to a 4 point lead in mid-August.

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Times, Hot Air, The Week, Politicus USA and Politico

Fairleigh Dickinson University:

VP Picks Favored More than Trump and Clinton in Fairleigh Dickinson University National Poll; — Results Put Clinton Over Trump by Double Digits — In the race for the White House, the most recent national survey of likely voters from Fairleigh Dickinson University's PublicMind finds …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Red Alert Politics, Washington Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, Politicus USA and Political Wire

David Weigel / Washington Post:

Aftermath of Kaine-Pence debate pits reality against alternate reality — FARMVILLE, Va. — The first and last vice presidential debate of 2016 was not just a clash of candidates, but a clash of realities — and of two theories about how media and politics work.

Discussion: New York Times, The Gateway Pundit, neo-neocon, Mother Jones, The Root, BizPac Review and Heat Street

LeftOfCenter / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

He-Men Of Fox News: Emasculated Because Kaine Said ‘Person’ — So the morning after on Fox, Tucker Carlson goes on a rant against gender-neutral language. At the VP debate, Senator Tim Kaine proclaimed himself as “Hillary Clinton's right-hand person,' and Tucker is sure that's proof …

Discussion: The Nation

Katie Rogers / New York Times:

‘That Mexican Thing’ Takes On Life After the Debate — In the grand digital tradition of American political debates, the audience tends to seize upon singular phrases or gestures that, at least for a few hours, seem to define the evening's discussion. — After Tuesday evening's vice …

Discussion: Vox, Business Insider, Infowars, USA Today, Medium, Fox News, Political Wire, Breitbart, Independent Journal Review, Mother Jones, Wired, Mediaite, The Federalist, CBS New York, Althouse and Hullabaloo

Margaret Hartmann / New York Magazine:

Libertarian VP Candidate Bill Weld Gives Up, Will Focus on Preventing Trump Presidency — As some presumably small portion of Americans sat through a dull debate between the Republican and Democratic vice presidential nominees on Tuesday night, a far more interesting drama was unfolding within the Libertarian ticket.

Discussion: Hit & Run, New Urban Legends, Towleroad and The Week

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:

The Mike Pence vs. Tim Kaine vice-presidential debate transcript, annotated — Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence met face-to-face for the first time Tuesday night, as the running mates took part in the only vice-presidential debate of the 2016 election.

David Frum / The Atlantic:

Mike Pence Pretends That Trump Never Happened — They call it the debate that meant nothing. That's true if your mind is focused on November 8, as most minds are. But if you care to gaze a little further into the future than that, Tuesday night's vice-presidential debate revealed something big …

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Reports suggest Donald Trump is unhappy with Mike Pence for winning the VP debate — How will Trump react to Pence upstaging him? — Here's a question you wouldn't normally have to ask after a vice presidential candidate turned in a widely praised debate performance …

Discussion: Politico, Little Green Footballs, Salon, WRIC-TV, alan.com, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, AOL, Hullabaloo, RedState and Politicus USA

Henry C. Jackson / Politico:
6 things Trump definitely said that Pence claimed he didn't

Discussion: alan.com, The Atlantic, CNN, The Huffington Post, Washington Post, McClatchy Washington Bureau, Los Angeles Times, The Week, Media Matters for America, Mother Jones, AOL, Washington Monthly, Vox and Guardian

Peter Schroeder / The Hill:
RNC: Kaine interrupted over 70 times

Discussion: BuzzFeed, ABC News, Politico, Scared Monkeys, Business Insider, Mediaite, Washington Free Beacon, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, FiveThirtyEight and AOL

Washington Post:
Mike Pence struggles to defend the indefensible

Discussion: Hillary Clinton 2016, BuzzFeed, Talking Points Memo, New York Times, Chicago Tribune, CNNMoney, CNN, Daily Kos, Media Matters for America, Hit & Run, Vox, Media Matters for America and Mashable

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Can Mike Pence's Denial of Reality Work for Him?

Discussion: Politico, Washington Post and The Week

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Insiders: Pence outclassed Trump

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill, Mediaite, The Week, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Vox, ThinkProgress, ABC News, Hot Air, 24Ahead and MichelleMalkin.com

Frank Bruni / New York Times:
Mike Pence's Galling Amnesia

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times

CNN:
Pence edges Kaine in VP debate instant poll

Discussion: Washington Post, The Times of Israel, Washington Examiner, Hot Air, Infowars, National Review and Independent Journal Review

Judd Legum / ThinkProgress:
Kaine lost the night but won the morning

Discussion: Slate, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo and Business Insider

Philip Elliott / TIME:
Why Mike Pence Didn't Defend Donald Trump

Discussion: Business Insider

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
Republicans pine for Pence at top of ticket

Discussion: RT, Washington Post, New York Magazine and National Review

Louis Nelson / Politico:
Trump's campaign manager denies he's irked at being upstaged by Pence

Discussion: ABC News, Hot Air and Vox

Alex Weprin / Politico:
VP debate ratings lowest since 2000

Discussion: Independent Journal Review and Vox

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
The internet loses it after Pence accuses Kaine of ‘whipping out that Mexican thing again’

Discussion: Vox, CNN, Business Insider, TheBlaze.com and Balloon Juice

New York Times:

N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets — WASHINGTON — The F.B.I. secretly arrested a National Security Agency contractor in recent weeks and is investigating whether he stole and disclosed highly classified computer codes developed to hack into the networks of foreign governments …

U.S. Department of Justice:
Government Contractor Charged with Removal of Classified Materials and Theft of Government Property

Discussion: The Verge, Mother Jones and Techdirt

Andrew Bieszad / Walid Shoebat:

Hurricane Matthew Is The Wrath Of God Poured Out On The Cities Of Orlando And Savannah For Supporting The Evil Sodomites — Hurricane Matthew is approaching the Florida Atlantic coast and is set to be the largest storm in almost a decade. Meteorologists, weather enthusiasts …

Discussion: Towleroad, PinkNews and Joe.My.God.

CNN:
Hurricane Matthew: US evacuations begin ahead of storm

Kyle Mantyla / Right Wing Watch:
Shoebat.com Contributor Says God Sent Hurricane Matthew To Stop Orlando Gay Pride Event

Discussion: Metro Weekly and CNN

Michelle Fields / The Huffington Post:

Conservative News Darling Is Falling Apart, Staff Says — Glenn Beck's The Blaze was once the envy of other right-leaning sites. Not anymore. — WASHINGTON Glenn Beck's website The Blaze is coming apart, suffering from a lack of editorial direction, staff attrition and internal discord, according to sources inside the news outlet.

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Libby Nelson / Vox:

Fox News fit an impressive number of offensive Asian stereotypes into 5 minutes — Fox News' Jesse Watters went to New York's Chinatown to ask people what they thought of Donald Trump and Chinese-American relations for The O'Reilly Factor. — Or at least that's what he said he was doing.

Discussion: Asian American Journalists …, CNNMoney, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, Media Matters for America, The Diplomat, Jezebel and TVNewser

Luke O'Neil / Esquire:
This Racist Fox News Video Is, Uh, Pretty Racist

Discussion: The Federalist and Daily Kos

Caitlin MacNeal / Talking Points Memo:

WATCH: Megyn Kelly Reminds Conway Why Trump Polls Poorly With Women — In a post-debate interview on Tuesday night, Fox News' host Megyn Kelly pushed Donald Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway to defend the Republican nominee's low poll numbers with women, telling Conway that women …

Discussion: The Week

Callum Borchers / Washington Post:
Donald Trump sniped at Megyn Kelly as the vice presidential debate began

Discussion: Vox, BizPac Review, Daily Kos, WJHL, New York Magazine, USA TODAY College, NPR, Joe.My.God., WAVY-TV, Mashable and mrctv.org/videos

CBS Pittsburgh:

Massive Fireball Streaks Across East Coast, Prompts Plane Crash Fears — PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - A massive fireball lit up the skies across parts of the East Coast and Canada Tuesday night, leading many to panic over fears of a plane crash. — Phones lit up at police offices and newsrooms across …

Discussion: Sputnik International and New York's PIX11

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

Al Gore to campaign for Clinton, hoping to galvanize young voters on climate change — Former vice president Al Gore will start campaigning for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, according to individuals briefed on the plan, in an effort to mobilize young voters who see climate change as a key issue.

Discussion: New Republic, Washington Free Beacon, The Daily Caller, The Week and Talking Points Memo

Daniel Strauss / Politico:
Al Gore to hit campaign trail for Clinton

Discussion: New York Magazine, RedState, Vox, Daily Wire and Towleroad

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:

Momentum shifts in battle for Senate — Democrats are seizing on Sen. Kelly Ayotte — 's (R-N.H.) remarks at a debate that Donald Trump — is “absolutely” a role model for children as a pivotal moment in the race for the Senate majority. — The Democrats see Ayotte's comments …

Discussion: Politico, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Associated Press and alan.com