memeorandum: Trump's Moral Character and the Election (Wayne Grudem/Townhall.com)

11:15 PM ET, October 9, 2016

Top Items:

Ezra Klein / Vox:

Notes on the garbage fire that is American politics — Every Republican who endorsed and normalized Trump bears part of the blame for this moment. — At 7:26 pm, barely 90 minutes before the second presidential debate, Donald Trump tweeted, “Join me on #FacebookLive as I conclude my final #debate preparations.”

Discussion: mrctv.org/videos, CBS New York, bradford-delong.com, Mashable, The Daily Caller, The Week and twitchy.com

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:

Cooper, Raddatz set to make first questions of debate about Trump tape — The first set of questions at Sunday night's presidential debate will be about Donald Trump's vulgar comments on a newly published 2005 videotape, and the fallout from it. — And Hillary Clinton will get the first question.

Discussion: Vox, Townhall.com, Full Feed, Political Insider blog, The Right Scoop, Mashable, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Liberal Values, twitchy.com and Independent Journal Review

Zack Stanton / Politico:

Trump is wrong: Hillary Clinton did not laugh about the rape of a 12-year-old — “Her client she represented got him off and she is seen laughing on two occasions laughing at the girl who was raped.” — Donald Trump — It is totally false to say that Hillary Clinton laughed about the rape of a 12-year-old.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Little Green Footballs, Vox, New York Magazine, Occupy Democrats and Daily Kos

Madeline Conway / Politico:

Trump hosts surprise panel with Bill Clinton's accusers — Donald Trump, reeling after two days of Republican disavowals and disaffections over a 2005 videotape of him bragging about his ability to get away with sexual assault, attempted to change the subject to his opponent's husband's alleged infidelities.

Discussion: ABC News, Media Matters for America and The Week

Aaron Klein / Breitbart:

EXCLUSIVE — Video Interview: Bill Clinton Accuser Juanita Broaddrick Relives Brutal Rapes — Washington, D.C. - While The Washington Post was busy putting the finishing touches on the release of a video in which Donald Trump boasted about hitting on women, Juanita Broaddrick was in town …

Discussion: New York Times, Vox, RedState, NPR, Political Insider blog, NPR, Business Insider, Hot Air, AOL, BizPac Review, Sputnik International, Law News, The Daily Caller, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, twitchy.com and Joe.My.God.

Dylan Matthews / Vox:

The rape allegation against Bill Clinton, explained — As leaked audio of Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women continued to dominate news coverage and drive prominent Republicans to abandon their presidential nominee leading into Sunday night's debate, Trump was singularly focused …

Discussion: Washington Post, Slate, Balloon Juice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Mashable, The Mahablog, Unfogged and The American Mirror

Jordyn Phelps / ABC News:

Flashback: Donald Trump Called Bill Clinton's Accusers ‘Terrible’ and ‘Unattractive’ and Former President ‘Terrific’ — Over the weekend, Donald Trump has called former President Bill Clinton an abuser of women and Hillary Clinton a bully who intimidated his victims.

Discussion: Washington Post, Mediaite and New York Magazine

New York Times:

Presidential Debate: Here's What You Missed — Right Now: We analyzed in real time the second presidential debate between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton. Plus, here are our fact checks and email exchanges with William Weld, the Libertarian vice-presidential nominee.

Discussion: alan.com, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, Vox, twitchy.com and The Week

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:
Donald Trump used to make light of Bill Clinton's sex scandals. Now they're his main weapon.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Vox, RedState, NBC News, Occupy Democrats, Media Matters for America, Mashable and Mediaite

Maggie Haberman / New York Times:
Inside Trump Tower, an Increasingly Upset and Alone Donald Trump

Discussion: Mediaite, Balloon Juice, Jezebel, ABC News, Politico, Taylor Marsh, The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop, alan.com, Information Liberation and Washington Post

David Weigel / Washington Post:
As Trump mulls attack on Clinton scandals, one source makes him a target

Discussion: Infowars, Media Matters for America and The Daily Caller

David A. Fahrenthold / Washington Post:
Presidential debate takes dark tone as candidates attack each other

Discussion: Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, WCTX-TV, Mashable and ImmigrationProf Blog, more at Mediagazer »

Glenn Thrush / Politico:
5 things to watch in tonight's debate

Discussion: ABC News and AOL

Aaron Klein / Breitbart:
Exclusive Video-Broaddrick, Willey, Jones to Bill Clinton's Defenders: 'These Are Crimes …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, New York Times, New York Magazine, Washington Free Beacon, Political Insider blog, Israpundit and Politico

Andrew Prokop / Vox:
All the ways Trump attacking Hillary Clinton over Bill's sex scandals could go horribly wrong

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, CNBC, twitchy.com, NBC News, The Daily Caller, The Week, Politicus USA, Mediaite, Politico, The Gateway Pundit, Hullabaloo, Daily Kos, Business Insider, Syracuse Post-Standard and Los Angeles Times

ABC News:
Hillary Clinton Will Appeal to Women in Second Debate

Discussion: Politico

Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
Trump Appears With Bill Clinton Accusers Ahead of Debate

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Josh Feldman / Mediaite:
Trump Appears Before Debate with Juanita Broaddrick and Other Clinton Accusers

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit and Raw Story

New York Times:

How NBC Finished Second on the Trump Video Story — Days after a blockbuster video emerged capturing Donald J. Trump, then a reality television host, making vulgar remarks about aggressively kissing and groping women, a question was still reverberating around media and political circles:

Discussion: Washington Post, TVNewser, CNNMoney, Media Matters for America, Politico and Wall Street Journal

Hadas Gold / Politico:
Billy Bush suspended from ‘Today’ show

Discussion: Business Insider and Fox News Insider, more at Mediagazer »

Stephen Battaglio / Los Angeles Times:
Billy Bush, embroiled in Trump tape scandal, is asked to take a break from ‘Today’ show

Discussion: Mediaite and alan.com

Brian Stelter / CNNMoney:
Billy Bush suspended from ‘Today’ show

Discussion: Washington Post, Jezebel, WTVR-TV, The Moderate Voice, Politico, Mediaite and Heat Street, more at Mediagazer »

Marisa Guthrie / Hollywood Reporter:
Billy Bush Will Apologize on Monday's ‘Today’ Show

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications and Heat Street

Julia Jacobo / ABC News:

Trump, Clinton Don't Shake Hands at Debate — Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump refused to shake hands at the start of the second presidential debate in St. Louis. — Instead of sticking with formality and shaking Trump's hand, Clinton merely nodded in his direction, saying, “Hello.”

Discussion: Politico

Julia Jacobo / ABC News:
Clinton on Trump Video: ‘This Is Who Donald Trump Is’

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Sarah Wheaton / Politico:
Clinton says video ‘represents exactly who’ Trump is

Discussion: ABC News

Ezra Klein / Vox:

This is Donald Trump's worst nightmare — At long last, Donald Trump has been un-normalized. — What happened Saturday in American politics was profound, and for Donald Trump, it marks the likely death of his presidential campaign. The permission structure that was slowly …

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, BizPac Review, NBC News, Business Insider and BBC

Madeline Conway / Politico:
Obama denounces Trump's predatory comments, calling him ‘insecure’

Discussion: ABC News and Daily Kos

Byron York / Washington Examiner: Will there be a GOP stampede from Trump? And will it matter?

NBC News:

Exclusive: Inside the Trump Campaign's Moment of Crisis — NEW YORK — Under siege from a growing brigade of Republican officials demanding Donald Trump step down, the candidate's campaign team and dwindling number of allies struggled to respond on Sunday, just hours before a crucial second debate with Hillary Clinton.

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, Politico, Mediaite, CBS New York, Hot Air, NBC News, Guardian, BizPac Review, Political Insider blog, Daily Kos, twitchy.com and RedState, more at Mediagazer »

John Bresnahan / Politico:

House GOP leaders agonize over Trump strategy — House Republican leaders are paralyzed over how to respond to Donald Trump's vulgar comments about women, aware that he could turn against them but also cognizant that the GOP nominee has now put control of the chamber in serious danger.

Jay Caruso / RedState:
Trump's New Post-Video Strategy: Attack Republicans Being Mean To Him

Discussion: The Right Scoop

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:

In Which I Take a Second Look at Hillary Clinton's Paid Speeches — While we pass the time waiting for tonight's debate, I'm going to talk through something else. Yesterday I wrote about one of the emails in the Podesta hack, and basically dismissed it. It was a review of the most …

The Intercept:

EXCLUSIVE: New Email Leak Reveals Clinton Campaign's Cozy Press Relationship — Internal strategy documents and emails among Clinton staffers shed light on friendly and highly useful relationships between the campaign and various members of the U.S. media, as well as the campaign's strategies for manipulating those relationships.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Hot Air, The Gateway Pundit, The Right Scoop, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and RedState

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Fact Check: Trump's wrong on ISIS and Libyan oil — The toppling of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi — at the hands of Libyan rebels aided by U.S. and NATO air power — has led to highly unstable governance as the country's tribes have vied for influence and power.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Mother Jones and Princeton Election Consortium