memeorandum: They Found Beto O'Rourke's First Album, And It's ... Actually Pretty Good (Andy McDonald/HuffPost)

8:55 AM ET, September 4, 2018

Top Items:

Hours before Kavanaugh nomination hearings, Bush lawyer releases 42,000 pages of documents to Judiciary Committee — Hours before the start of hearings on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, the lawyer for former president George W. Bush turned over 42,000 pages of documents …

Discussion: Politico, Talking Points Memo, Axios, New York Times, Jamie Dupree - AJC, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and emptywheel

Lawrence Hurley / Reuters:

Democrats vow ‘sparks will fly’ over Trump's Supreme Court pick — WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democrats plan to hammer President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over his views on abortion and presidential power in hearings starting on Tuesday, but the conservative judge looks likely to be confirmed.

Discussion: Political Wire

Gary Langer / ABC News:

Public split on Kavanaugh, views on abortion access shift — As his confirmation hearings begin, an ABC News/Washington Post poll finds the public evenly divided on Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court - among the lowest support levels for a high court nominee in polling back to 1987.

New York Times:
Who Is Brett Kavanaugh? — Contrary to what supporters say, he's no originalist.

Discussion: LifeZette

Richard Wolf / USA Today:
‘Sparks will fly’ at Senate confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh

Discussion: Circuit Breaker, The Atlantic and Politico

Justin Wedeking / Washington Post:
No, it's not just theater. Here's what to expect from the Kavanaugh hearings this week

Discussion: New York Times, Politico, Outside the Beltway, The Week and NPR

David Siders / Politico:
Bernie Sanders: Trump is a ‘pathological liar’

Discussion: Washington Post, ABC News, Axios, Breitbart, The Daily Beast, VTDigger and The Hill

Mark Sherman / Associated Press:
Senate hearings to get underway on Trump Supreme Court pick

Discussion: Politico and ABC News

Richard L. Hasen / Slate:
Brett Kavanaugh May Soon Unshackle All Rich Political Donors

Discussion: American Greatness, SCOTUSblog, Wall Street Journal, Hit & Run, Washington Post and ABC News

Trish Turner / ABC News:
Stakes are high for Kavanaugh, Supreme Court, as confirmation hearings begin

Discussion: Yahoo, The Daily Beast and Al Jazeera English

Sopan Deb / New York Times:

New Yorker Festival Pulls Steve Bannon as Headliner Following High-Profile Dropouts — Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump's former chief strategist, will no longer appear as a headliner at this year's New Yorker Festival, David Remnick, the editor of The New Yorker, announced in an email to the magazine's staff on Monday evening.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Guardian, Althouse, USA Today, No More Mister Nice Blog, Sputnik International, France 24 and The Week, more at Mediagazer »

Brian Stelter:
David Remnick's memo to New Yorker staffers about Steve Bannon

Discussion: Mediaite, Consequence of Sound and Axios

Gabe Cohn / New York Times:
Steve Bannon Headlines New Yorker Festival

Discussion: Axios, CNNMoney, Hit & Run, New York Daily News, Daily Wire, Breitbart, Spectator USA, Al Jazeera English, The Guardian, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mashable, Mediaite, HuffPost, Hullabaloo, New Republic and Talking Points Memo, more at Mediagazer »

Benjamin Mullin / Wall Street Journal:
New Yorker Cuts Steve Bannon From Festival Program After Outcry

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit

Erik Wemple / Washington Post:
New Yorker bails on Steve Bannon interview

Discussion: Variety, Raw Story, Mashable and Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

Washington Post:

Poll: Democrats regain clear advantage in midterms shaping up as referendum on President Trump — Two months ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats hold a clear advantage over Republicans in congressional vote support, with antipathy toward President Trump fueling Democratic enthusiasm …

Discussion: Politico, POLITICUSUSA and The Week

Gary Langer / ABC News:

Energized against Donald Trump, Democrats reach +14 in the midterms — With their supporters energized in opposition to Donald Trump, Democrats hold their widest advantage in midterm election vote preferences since 2006, when they seized control of both houses of Congress.

Discussion: Washington Post

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Poll: High-profile Missouri Senate race locked in a dead heat — Key race could hinge on how GOP challenger Josh Hawley is defined in coming weeks. — WASHINGTON — Incumbent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is tied with Republican challenger Josh Hawley, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll …

Chuck Todd / The Atlantic:

It's Time for the Press to Stop Complaining—And to Start Fighting Back — I've devoted much of my professional life to the study of political campaigns, not as a historian or an academic but as a reporter and an analyst. I thought I'd seen it all, from the bizarre upset that handed …

Discussion: Mediaite, more at Mediagazer »

USA Today:

Trouble for Trump? Poll shows midterm election edge for Democrats and female candidates — WASHINGTON - The political landscape for the midterm elections favors Democrats in general and women candidates in particular, a new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll finds, raising the prospect …

Discussion: Political Wire

Brad Reed / Raw Story:

‘Every ad makes me like Beto more’: Ted Cruz's latest attack on Beto O'Rourke for swearing massively backfires — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) put out a new ad attacking Democratic opponent Beto O'Rourke on Monday — and he was quickly buried in mockery. — A new video ad posted …

Discussion: HuffPost and The Week

Andy McDonald / HuffPost:
They Found Beto O'Rourke's First Album, And It's ... Actually Pretty Good

Discussion: Mediaite

Danny Hakim / New York Times:

Mueller's Office Will Grill Him About Roger Stone. He Will Respond With Comedy. — Randy Credico, a comedian and left-wing political activist, has an appointment on Sept. 7. With Robert S. Mueller III. Before a grand jury. Under oath. — And he is planning to do impressions, because that's what he does.

Asawin Suebsaeng / The Daily Beast:

Trump's Top TV Advisers Keep Telling Him: Fire the ‘Shill’ Jeff Sessions Now — The drumbeat has become deafening and, unfortunately for the beleaguered attorney general, it's Trump's favorite pundits making all the noise. — President Donald Trump has a proven track record …

Discussion: ABC News, HuffPost and CNBC

Josh Dawsey / Washington Post:
‘Two easy wins now in doubt’: Trump renews attack on Sessions

Discussion: Raw Story, Axios, New York Post, CNN, New York Times, The Week and The Guardian

Catherine Lucey / Associated Press:
Trump escalates attacks on his attorney general

Discussion: Political Wire, Breitbart, The Republic, Axios and The Daily Caller

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

President Trump has made 4,713 false or misleading claims in 592 days — In the 592 days since he took the oath of office, President Trump has made 4,713 false or misleading claims, according to The Fact Checker's database that analyzes, categorizes and tracks every suspect statement uttered by the president.

Eugene Robinson / Washington Post:

Why Trump is so frantic right now — President Trump's incoherence grows to keep pace with his desperation. These days, he makes less sense than ever — a sign that this malignant presidency has entered a new, more dangerous phase. — I can't be the only one who thinks he sounds less …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

Democrats, Eyeing a Majority, Prepare an Investigative Onslaught — WASHINGTON — House Democrats, increasingly optimistic they will win back control in November, are mining a mountain of stymied oversight requests in preparation for an onslaught of hearings, subpoenas and investigations …

Scott Wilson / Washington Post:

San Francisco, rich and poor, turns to simple street solutions that underscore the city's complexities — SAN FRANCISCO — To the uninitiated, the bright-orange, Tic Tac-size specks scattered on the sidewalks, wedged into the openings of heating grates and piled in small mounds along curbs here are a bit of a mystery.

Darren Rovell / ESPN:

Colin Kaepernick part of Nike's 30th anniversary of ‘Just Do It’ campaign — Colin Kaepernick is back — at least as far as Madison Avenue is concerned. — The former NFL quarterback, who is suing NFL owners for colluding to keep him out of the league, is one of the faces of a new Nike campaign meant …

Discussion: New York Times, Reuters, Yahoo Sports, USA Today, CBS Baltimore, Splinter, AOL, Breitbart, Daily Wire, abc7chicago.com, Washington Free Beacon, Mediaite and TheBlaze

Tim Daniels / Bleacher Report:
Colin Kaepernick Named Face of Nike's 30th Anniversary of ‘Just Do It’ Campaign

Discussion: Washington Post, Townhall, ProFootballTalk, POLITICUSUSA and RedState

Politico:

Gillum raises profile — and cash — in Florida as DeSantis gets quiet — Andrew Gillum fell into money. Ron DeSantis fell off the radar. — In the wake of the racially charged atmosphere that kicked off the general election campaign for Florida governor, the two contenders headed in starkly different directions.