memeorandum: In The Abuser's House — This was a very, very different kind of debate. (Josh Marshall/Talking Points Memo)

8:25 AM ET, October 10, 2016

Top Items:

Trump's debate plan to seat Bill Clinton's accusers in family box was thwarted — ST. LOUIS — Donald Trump's campaign sought to intimidate Hillary Clinton and embarrass her husband by seating women who have accused former president Bill Clinton of sexual abuse in the Trump family's box …

Discussion: The Atlantic, RedState, Mediaite, The Right Scoop, New York Magazine, NBC News, The Week and Balloon Juice

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

The answer is no: We haven't seen anything quite like this — ST. LOUIS — The question has been asked so many times over the past 16 months of this presidential election that it has become a cliche: Has anyone ever seen anything quite like this? And yet, once again, Donald Trump took Campaign 2016 …

Discussion: Political Wire, The Moderate Voice, WNCT-TV, Washington Free Beacon and Need To Know Network

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: The Gateway Pundit, Fortune, NBC News, The Huffington Post, bradford-delong.com, The Daily Caller, Mashable, twitchy.com, mrctv.org/videos, ABC News, bet.com, CBS New York, Heat Street, The Week, The Atlantic, BizPac Review, New York Magazine and Breitbart

Rosie Gray / BuzzFeed:

Trump Goes Full Breitbart — ST. LOUIS — Donald Trump faced a choice on Sunday. — Ahead of one of the highest-stakes debate situations ever after tape emerged showing Trump making grossly sexist remarks that are so damaging that many top Republicans have abandoned him …

Discussion: Mediaite

Associated Press:

Trump Ally Paid Sexual Assault Victim Critical of Clinton — A sexual-assault victim who is critical of Hillary Clinton and who appeared alongside Donald Trump before Sunday night's debate was paid $2,500 by a political action committee founded by Trump ally Roger Stone.

Discussion: ABC News, Raw Story and Media Matters for America

Andrew Kaczynski / CNN:

Donald Trump used to make light of Bill Clinton's sex scandals. Now they're his main weapon. — In 1999, Trump expressed sympathy for Clinton for having to endure her husband's affairs in public. — (CNN)Under fire for his hot-mic comments in which he boasts about forcing himself upon women …

Discussion: NPR, Washington Post, Guardian, NBC News, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo, Occupy Democrats, Media Matters for America, Mashable, Vox and RedState

Hadas Gold / Politico:
Who paid for Bill Clinton's accusers to travel to the debate?

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, The Daily Caller, AOL, Talking Points Memo and New York Times

Meghan Keneally / ABC News:
Second Presidential Debate: 11 Moments That Mattered

Discussion: Politico and Associated Press

Madeline Conway / Politico:
Trump hosts surprise panel with Bill Clinton's accusers

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

Zack Stanton / Politico:
Trump is wrong: Hillary Clinton did not laugh about the rape of a 12-year-old

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

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
Everything that was said at the second Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton debate, highlighted

Discussion: Hit & Run, Vogue, Advocate, The American Spectator, Occupy Democrats, Information Liberation, Mother Jones, Mashable, WNCT-TV, ThinkProgress, www.wnyc.org, Tennessean.com and The Verge, more at Mediagazer »

John Bresnahan / Politico:
Sources: Ryan discussed revoking Trump endorsement

Discussion: ABC News, The Moderate Voice and Vox

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
At Second Debate, Donald Trump Was the Perfect Republican

Discussion: New York Times, Vox and RedState

Matthew Nussbaum / Politico:
12 most heated moments in an unprecedented debate

Discussion: ABC News

Ezra Klein / Vox: Donald Trump confirmed our worst fears about the kind of president he would be

Fox News:
Trump holds pre-debate press conference with Bill Clinton accusers

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight, BizPac Review and Independent Journal Review

New York Times:
Presidential Debate: Here's What You Missed

Discussion: NBC News, NPR, Real Clear Politics, The Nation, The Daily Caller, Political Insider blog, alan.com, Talking Points Memo, twitchy.com, Vox, New York Magazine and The Week

Kevin Drum / Mother Jones:
We're Live Blogging Round Two of the Presidential Debates

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico, WNCT-TV and The Moderate Voice

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

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

ABC News:
Both Campaigns Spin Debate Performance

Discussion: Politico

Will Jordan / YouGov US Opinion Center News:

Post-debate poll: Clinton 47%, Trump 42% — YouGov interviewed 812 registered voters who watched the debate … Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton clashed for the second time at a town hall-style debate in St Louis, Missouri on Sunday night.

Discussion: Politicus USA, CNN, Political Wire, Daily Kos and The Week

Madeline Conway / Politico:

CNN poll: 57 percent of viewers say Clinton won the debate — A majority of debate viewers polled by CNN — 57 percent — said Hillary Clinton won the second presidential debate on Sunday night in St. Louis. — Thirty-four percent of debate watchers surveyed in the instant poll said Donald Trump won …

Associated Press:

Trump's 'You'd Be in Jail' Debate Jab at Clinton Condemned — Donald Trump says he'll jail opponent Hillary Clinton if he wins the presidency. — The Republican presidential nominee made the threat — an unprecedented break with U.S. political decorum — in the middle of the second presidential debate, held Sunday in St. Louis.

Discussion: ABC News and Politico

Andrew Prokop / Vox:

Polls suggest Hillary Clinton won the 2nd presidential debate — It will be a few more days before we get really methodologically rigorous polls measuring how the electorate felt about the second presidential debate, the impact of which will be intermingled with the Trump leaked tape scandal that broke two days earlier.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Washington Monthly, Business Insider, CBS New York and Independent Journal Review

Ben Schreckinger / Politico:
The 7 nastiest insults of the debate

Discussion: ABC News

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

In The Abuser's House — This was a very, very different kind of debate. Let me begin with a few general observations. — First, I think this was the debate the Breitbart crew - Bannon, Bossie and the rest - wanted from Trump. He hit Bill's history; he was aggressive and slashing …

Claude Brodesser-Akner / New Jersey Online:

Mike Pence cancels N.J. Trump fundraiser scheduled for Monday in Ocean County — TRENTON — Donald Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, has canceled his planned visit to New Jersey scheduled for Monday, several GOP sources tell NJ Advance Media. — Pence, the governor of Indiana …

Discussion: Mediaite and Daily Kos

al.com:

Endorsement: We're with Hillary Clinton. Frankly, Donald Trump's dangerous. — Donald Trump must not be president. — Alabama has voted for every Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan, a man that captured our imagination with a hopeful view of America as a shining city upon a hill.

Discussion: Political Wire

Foreign Policy:
Hillary Clinton for President of the United States

Discussion: Washington Post, Politico and Business Insider, more at Mediagazer »

John Hinderaker / Power Line:

Trump Wins — Some of the rats might want to consider returning to the ship. Donald Trump came through pretty well tonight, mainly because the focus was on the issues. As long as issues are being discussed, Trump wins. — The moderators came out of the box with questions about Trump's 2005 video …

USA Today:

Trump, companies accused of mistreating women in at least 20 lawsuits — One woman sued Donald Trump's Miami resort saying she lost her job because she got pregnant. — Two others claimed they were fired after complaining that co-workers sexually harassed them.

Discussion: alan.com and Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times