memeorandum: CNN Poll: Democratic advantage grows in race for Congress (Grace Sparks/CNN)

2:20 PM ET, August 15, 2018

Top Items:

Documents Reveal Successful Cyberattack in California Congressional Race — The FBI investigated hacking attempts targeting a Democrat who ran against “Putin's favorite congressman” — WASHINGTON — FBI agents in California and Washington, D.C., have investigated a series of cyberattacks …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA, more at Techmeme »

Carlos Lozada / Washington Post:

I read six sycophantic pro-Trump books — and then I read Omarosa — Hagiographies of the president share seven core traits. — Some are born Trump sycophants. Some achieve Trump sycophancy. And some have Trump sycophancy thrust upon them — since he's a star, they let him do that.

Discussion: CNN, Slate and HuffPost

Alex Horton / Washington Post:

Penn Jillette says Trump used ‘racially insensitive’ language on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ — Penn Jillette is the one who talks. And, boy, did he. — The magician, one half of the comedy-magic duo Penn and Teller (the latter of whom famously keeps silent in performances), was a cast member of …

Discussion: USA Today, Mashable and Hollywood Reporter

Jonathan V. Last / Weekly Standard:

Let's Hope There Is No Tape of Trump Using the N-Word — But if there is ... I hope there isn't a tape of Donald Trump using the N-word in a manner that's clearly meant to be offensive, bigoted, and derogatory. — We've now reached the stage where the existence of such a tape is not proven, but is more than theoretically possible.

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Townhall, Vox, TIME, New York Post, The Western Journal and Crooked Media

Jesse J. Holland / Associated Press: Black Americans aren't buying Omarosa's turn against Trump

Benjamin Wermund / Politico:
Omarosa: DeVos said black college students lack the ‘capacity to understand’ her agenda

Discussion: Axios and Talking Points Memo

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Republicans try to make ‘liberal’ attack line stick in new ad campaign

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Associated Press:
Ex-Trump aides often find a soft landing for staying quiet

Discussion: Salon, The Hill and Hullabaloo

Grace Sparks / CNN:

CNN Poll: Democratic advantage grows in race for Congress — (CNN)Democrats now lead Republicans by 52% to 41% in a nationwide generic Congressional ballot according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS and released Tuesday. The blue lead has increased slightly from eight percentage points …

Discussion: Political Wire

Harry Enten / CNN:

New poll suggests attacks on Nancy Pelosi won't matter in midterms — GOP using Pelosi in ads as a midterms motivator — (CNN)Republican House candidates have attacked their Democratic opponents over their future potential vote to make Nancy Pelosi the speaker of the House again.

Discussion: San Francisco Chronicle, Political Wire, Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Caller News Foundation and The Daily Caller

Chicago Tribune:
Pelosi takes on the roaring economy, and Trump

Discussion: Houston Chronicle

Luppe B. Luppen / Yahoo:

Can Manafort's Team Make a Killer Closure? — ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Paul Manafort's opportunities to attack the weighty federal case against him here have dwindled to a two-hour closing argument. — President Trump's former campaign manager's defense team lost all of the motions it made publicly …

Politico:
Manafort trial Day 12: ‘He is not above the law,’ prosecution argues in closing statement

Discussion: ABC News, UPI and Law & Crime

Washington Post:
Paul Manafort trial Day 12: Prosecutors say Manafort money trail ‘littered with lies’

Discussion: CNBC

CNN:
‘This is a case about lies,’ prosecutor says in Manafort trial closing argument

Discussion: Raw Story and KTLA

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:

The organizer of the Charlottesville rally just got humiliated by his own father — “Get out of my room,” Jason Kessler's father said to him during a live stream. — I reported from the “Unite the Right 2” rally in Washington on Sunday. It was a dreary failure that attracted around 30 people …

Discussion: Raw Story and USA Today

Avery Anapol / The Hill:
White supremacist rally leader gets yelled at by his dad during livestream

Discussion: Political Wire

David Wasserman / The Cook Political Report:

House: Three More GOP Seats Join the Toss Up Column — For Republicans, the 2018 House playing field is a lot like a game of Whack-a-Mole: everywhere they turn, new problems keep popping up in surprising places. In January, we rated 20 GOP-held seats as Toss Ups or worse, including three leaning towards Democrats.

Discussion: Florida Politics

New York Times:

Groundbreaking Night for Women and Diversity, While a Trump Critic Falls — HARTLAND, Wis. — Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor and onetime presidential candidate, was soundly defeated Tuesday in his bid to reclaim the Republican nomination for governor, a remarkable upset …

Discussion: The Daily Banter, JustOneMinute and New Republic

NBC News:
Tim Pawlenty goes down and six takeaways from Tuesday's primaries

Discussion: NPR, The Week and Washington Times

Kevin Robillard / HuffPost:
Trump Is Wreaking Havoc On Republican Governor Primaries

Discussion: Washington Post, New Republic and TheBlaze

Margot Sanger-Katz / New York Times:

New Estimates Show Overdose Deaths Surpassed 72,000, a New High, in 2017 — Fentanyl is a big culprit, but there are also encouraging signs from states that have prioritized public health campaigns and addiction treatment. — Drug overdoses killed more than 72,300 Americans last year …

Discussion: New Republic and Hit & Run

Matthew Yglesias / Vox:

Elizabeth Warren has a plan to save capitalism — She's unveiling a bill to make corporate governance great again. — Elizabeth Warren has a big idea that challenges how the Democratic Party thinks about solving the problem of inequality. — Instead of advocating for expensive …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, twitchy.com, Balloon Juice and The Daily Caller

Jeff Stein / Washington Post:

Huckabee Sanders apologizes for false statement about black employment — White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders apologized late Tuesday for wrongly stating that President Trump has created three times as many jobs for black workers as President Barack Obama did.

Discussion: HuffPost, Shareblue Media, New York Times, Washington Free Beacon, Business Insider, MSNBC, Politico, Splinter, The Week, CNBC, The Root and AOL

adfmedia.org:

Hostility unabated: Colorado seeks to punish cake artist Jack Phillips again — ADF attorneys file suit against state officials — DENVER - Although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June that Colorado cannot treat cake artist Jack Phillips differently than others, state officials have continued …

Discussion: The Daily Signal, The Federalist, Townhall, Law & Crime, RedState, twitchy.com and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Sylvan Lane / The Hill:

Treasury retweets Trump, possibly violating campaign law — The Treasury Department on Wednesday retweeted a post from President Trump — celebrating Republican wins in congressional elections this year, potentially violating federal campaign law. — The department's official Twitter account shared …

Discussion: Politico, Reuters, Splinter, The Western Journal and Axios

Lacey Rose / Hollywood Reporter:

Jim Carrey's (Reluctant) Return to Hollywood: At Home With an Actor, Artist and Trump-Era Agitator — In his first extensive profile in years, the one-time $20 million-a-movie star and current political cartoonist opens up about his disappearance, his personal pain, his outrage and why he's returning …

Discussion: The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

Matt Lewis / The Daily Beast:

Did I Join a Movement That Naturally Attracts Extremists and Kooks? … This week's news about Omarosa secretly taping chief of staff John Kelly and President Donald Trump is yet another reminder of something about Trumpworld: Politics has always attracted eccentric opportunists, but people in this administration are especially weird.

Elaine Ou / Bloomberg:

Your Name Is All Over the Internet. It Doesn't Need to Be. — As more activity is linked to our real names, the stakes seem excessively high. There has to be a better way. — In the 1981 sci-fi novel “True Names,” Vernor Vinge describes a dystopian future in which hackers go to great lengths …

Rochelle Olson / Star Tribune:

Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman says cancer has returned to his lungs, ‘shaken my soul’ — Coleman said his prognosis is not “overly optimistic,” but he will fight on. — TEXT SIZE — The throat and neck cancer that former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman began battling almost three years ago …

Discussion: Political Wire and Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Julia Manchester / The Hill:

White House spokesman: I've never seen an NDA in Trump White House — White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said on Wednesday that he has never seen a nondisclosure agreement in the White House under the Trump administration. — “I can't speak to anybody else. What I can tell you is I've never seen one in this White House.

Discussion: Washington Post

CBS Sacramento:

Trump Supporter Claims Social Distortion Lead Singer Mike Ness Beat Him Up Over Politics — SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Trump supporter claims he was attacked by the lead singer of a punk rock band when he jeered the frontman's political statements. — Tim Hildebrand of Galt says the attack happened …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Gateway Pundit, TheBlaze and Daily Wire

Veronica Stracqualursi / CNN:

Joe Biden cancels Illinois event due to 'doctor's orders' — Biden: President is looking out for himself — Washington (CNN)Former Vice President Joe Biden canceled a planned appearance in Illinois this week because he is sick and “under doctor's orders not to travel,” according to state Democrats.

Discussion: Illinois Democratic …, Chicago Sun-Times, The American Mirror and Talking Points Memo

Travis Gettys / Raw Story:

'The guy's not right': Morning Joe raises new questions about Trump's mental health — MSNBC's Joe Scarborough has been surprised by President Donald Trump's inability to enlarge his support, saying he had believed his former friend's pathological need to be liked would outweigh his other negative personality traits.

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

National Journal:

In A News Vacuum, Politicians Construct Their Own Realities — In the Arizona Senate race, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema avoids the press while Republican Martha McSally attacks the media. And without vibrant local-news coverage, no one cares. — CHANDLER, Ariz.—President Trump's frequent diatribes …

Liam Dillon / Los Angeles Times:

Here's how California became the most secretive state on police misconduct … In the 1970s, Los Angeles police officers were furious that past complaints against them increasingly were making their way into court cases. — So LAPD officials did something radical: They took more than four tons …

Maya Salam / New York Times:

For Online Daters, Women Peak at 18 While Men Peak at 50, Study Finds. Oy. — If you haven't watched “Nanette,” Hannah Gadsby's fearless comedy special on Netflix, do that now. (We'll wait.) — In it, Ms. Gadsby takes on the fragility of masculinity — and at one point drills into Pablo Picasso …

Ted Home / Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Real average hourly earnings down 0.2 percent over the 12 months ending July 2018 — Real average hourly earnings for all employees decreased 0.2 percent from July 2017 to July 2018. The decline in real average hourly earnings combined with the .3-percent increase in the average workweek resulted …

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:

New York City's booming economy is bad news for the far left — Mother always said it's not nice to laugh while others cry, but there are exceptions. One is on display now in New York. — “It's New ‘Work’ City! Record Low Jobless,” read the headline on Page 2 of Tuesday's Post.

Discussion: Fox News, Instapundit, 100PercentFedUp.com and Hot Air

Anne Steele / Wall Street Journal:

Public Radio Networks to Merge in Big Bet on Podcasts — PRI and PRX are joining forces in hopes of becoming a podcasting juggernaut — Public-radio companies PRX and PRI are merging in a bid to capitalize on the surging popularity of podcasts and other digital formats as listeners …

more at Mediagazer »

Jay Nordlinger / National Review:

'You're on your own,' &c. — In the past several days, I have noted three things in the media that bear on the struggle over conservatism. Well, maybe more than three, but I would like to comment on three. This will not be a very fun Impromptus, maybe — but, on the plus side, it'll be brief.