memeorandum: Foreign policy bigwigs: Trump risking war with Iran (Nahal Toosi/Politico)

3:50 PM ET, September 23, 2018

Top Items:

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Record number of voters oppose Kavanaugh nomination — Voter support for Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court is down in the wake of Christine Ford's assault allegations, as more believe her than him. — Currently, 40 percent of voters would confirm Kavanaugh …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Vox, The Guardian, Outside the Beltway, Shareblue Media, POLITICUSUSA, Conservative News Today, Political Wire, The Daily Caller, Washington Post and Splinter

Mark Murray / NBC News:

NBC News/WSJ poll: Democrats hold the advantage in November's elections — But the same poll shows that Republican enthusiasm about the upcoming election has increased, drawing nearly even with Democrats. — Poll: Democrats open largest margin-ever over GOP in Congressional preference

Discussion: TheBlaze and Political Wire

Ian Kullgren / Politico:

Graham: Ford's testimony won't change my vote — Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday the testimony of Brett Kavanaugh's accuser won't change his mind, no matter what she says. — “You can't bring it in a criminal court, you would never sue civilly, you couldn't even get a warrant,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace.

Discussion: USA Today, Splinter, Florida Politics, Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, Outside the Beltway, The Week, HuffPost, Breitbart, The Guardian, Townhall and Raw Story

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:

Kavanaugh Was Supposed to Be a Midterm Boon for G.O.P. Not Anymore. — SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — No Republican Senate candidate has been as aggressive in using the Supreme Court nomination of Brett M. Kavanaugh as a political weapon as Josh Hawley, the Missouri attorney general who is in an intensely tight race …

Discussion: Mother Jones, NY State of Politics, Refinery29, Raw Story, TheBlaze, AOL, POLITICUSUSA, Axios, Taylor Marsh, HuffPost, Breitbart and Daily Kos

Philip Rucker / Washington Post:

The party of men: Kavanaugh fight risks worsening the Trump GOP's gender problem — The Republican Party's fight to save President Trump's embattled Supreme Court nominee amid allegations of sexual assault has surfaced deep anxieties over the hypermasculine mind-set that has come to define the GOP in the nation's roiling gender debate.

Discussion: Raw Story, Hullabaloo, Splinter and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Hayley Miller / HuffPost:

GOP Rep. Says Brett Kavanaugh Allegations Amount To ‘Character Assassination’ — “If that's the new standard, no man will ever qualify for the Supreme Court again,” Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said of Christine Blasey Ford's sexual assault claims. — Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) …

Discussion: Des Moines Register, Talking Points Memo and McClatchy Washington Bureau

Naomi Lim / Washington Examiner:

Democrats poised to grill Brett Kavanaugh on drinking, partying in high school — Democrats are poised to ask questions about the drinking culture of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's high school when the judge faces the Senate Judiciary Committee following a sexual misconduct allegation.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and Front Page Magazine

Eliot A. Cohen / The Atlantic:

The Crisis of the American Elites — Judith Butler and Ed Whelan have probably never met. And if they did, we may be quite certain that they would have very little use for one another. After all, what does the professor of comparative literature, author of (among other works) …

Ariane de Vogue / CNN:
Senate Judiciary Committee contacts Ford's friend about party

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
Sick to Your Stomach? #MeToo

Discussion: Althouse

Quint Forgey / Politico:
Hirono: ‘I believe’ Kavanaugh accuser

Discussion: ABC News, Washington Post, Shareblue Media and Breitbart

Washington Post: Kavanaugh accuser will testify Thursday in front of Senate Judiciary Committee

Associated Press:
Kavanaugh accuser commits to hearing

Discussion: Mother Jones and Breitbart

CNN:
McConnell called Trump to say Kavanaugh tweets weren't helpful

Discussion: Politico, Mother Jones, Talking Points Memo, Deadline and Political Wire

Emily Zanotti / Daily Wire:
WATCH: Sen. Mazie Hirono Says She Doubts Kavanaugh's Credibility Because He's A Conservative Judge

Discussion: Townhall, Hot Air and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion

Paul Sperry / New York Post: How Feinstein is conspiring to destroy Kavanaugh

Washington Post:
Kavanaugh accuser will testify Thursday in front of Senate Judiciary Committee

Discussion: New York Times, Political Wire, The Gateway Pundit, Politico, POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and Associated Press

Politico: Republicans boot their headaches until after midterms

Politico:
Gun reform groups ramp up midterm efforts

Discussion: Associated Press, Raw Story and Political Wire

John McCormack / Weekly Standard:
Blasey Ford's Female Classmate, Her Last Named Witness, Doesn't Recall Ever Attending Party With Kavanaugh

Discussion: RedState, Conservative News Today, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Wire and twitchy.com

Burgess Everett / Politico:
Woman denies attending party where alleged Kavanaugh assault occurred

Discussion: Philly.com, RedState, Washington Free Beacon, Daily Wire and Breitbart

Nahal Toosi / Politico:

Foreign policy bigwigs: Trump risking war with Iran — President Donald Trump is risking a potential war with Iran unless he engages the Islamist-led country using diplomacy, not just pressure tactics, dozens of prominent U.S. foreign policy, intelligence and national security figures argue in a new public statement.

Discussion: The Guardian

Kris Schneider / ABC News:
'I've never heard' President Trump's Cabinet members discuss removing him from office: Nikki Haley

Discussion: NBC News, One America News Network and Breitbart

Associated Press:
At UN, unrepentant Trump set to rattle foes, friends alike

Discussion: Politico

Washington Post: For Nikki Haley, a lower profile as Trump heads back to the U.N.

Reuters:
Trump lawyer Giuliani says Iran's government will be overthrown

Discussion: Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, New York Post, Breitbart, The Guardian, Vox and Mediaite

Dana Blanton / Fox News:

Fox News Poll: Health care boosts Democrats in upcoming midterm elections — There is a deluge of bad news for Republicans in the latest Fox News poll. — Most voters are unhappy with the direction the country is taking. Majorities disagree with President Trump on the border wall, and extra tax-cut cash is nowhere to be seen.

J. Patrick Coolican Star / Star Tribune: Tough news for GOP in Minnesota Poll

CBS News: House control edges toward Democrats - CBS News poll

Eppc / Ethics & Public Policy Center:

Statement from EPPC's Board of Directors — The board of the Ethics and Public Policy Center convened a special telephonic meeting on Friday, September 21, 2018. After the meeting, Edward Whelan, who has led EPPC with integrity and excellence for many years, offered his resignation in light …

John Harwood / CNBC:

GOP heading for midterm wipeout as ‘blue wave’ scenario gives Democrats a 12-point generic ballot lead: NBC-WSJ poll — The new NBC News-Wall Street Journal survey, taken six weeks before Americans head to the polls, shows Democrats leading Republicans by 52 percent to 40 percent for control of Congress.

Discussion: The American Conservative

Janet Hook / Wall Street Journal: More Voters Want Democrats to Control Congress, New Poll Shows

Frank Bruni / New York Times:

Is This Man the Antidote to Donald Trump? — Maybe one superrich old white guy from New York can save us from another superrich old white guy from New York. — It takes a billionaire to know a billionaire. — What if it also takes a billionaire to take down a billionaire?

Discussion: CNN

Kate Gibson / CBS News:

Colin Kaepernick is Nike's $6 billion man — The heat Nike has taken over its controversial advertising campaign featuring former NFL start Colin Kaepernick seems to have had another effect: burnishing the iconic brand's appeal to investors. — Nike shares have surged 36 percent on the year …

Discussion: TheBlaze

Amy B Wang / Washington Post:

Man accused of kidnapping woman and masturbating on her is given ‘one pass,’ won't go to prison — A man in Alaska who was accused of kidnapping a woman from a gas station, choking her until she passed out, then masturbating over her has accepted a plea deal that will mean he does not spend any time in prison.

Discussion: The Root

New York Post:

College professors allegedly sold drugs, ‘pimped’ out students … Veteran professors at the Manhattan school renowned for training future crime-fighters ran a lawless den of depravity called “the swamp,” where they allegedly used and sold drugs, and “pimped” out and sexually preyed on students …

Discussion: New York Times and The Daily Beast

Michael Goodwin / New York Post:

The ‘deep state’ leaves Trump with no good options — President Trump is not generally given to understatement, but he soft-pedaled problems at the Department of Justice. There is, he said Friday, a “lingering stench” there. — A “stench” doesn't describe the situation. A snake pit is more like it.

Discussion: Politico