memeorandum: There's always someone out there willing to make the GOP's fascism seem respectable (John Stoehr/The Editorial Board)

11:15 AM ET, November 2, 2021

Top Items:

POLITICO Playbook: Youngkin's crowds dwarf McAuliffe's on election eve — DRIVING THE DAY — TERRY MCAULIFFE wanted GLENN YOUNGKIN and DONALD TRUMP to campaign together so badly that when it didn't happen, McAuliffe simply invented a Youngkin-Trump event that didn't exist.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, National Review, Talking Points Memo, Bloomberg, Fox News, CNN, Althouse, New York Times and Washington Post

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump, the billionaire family and the bull semen baron who divides them — Pete Ricketts, the governor of Nebraska and scion of one of the most powerful megadonor families in the Republican Party, had a pressing request for Donald Trump: Please stay out of my home-state politics.

Discussion: Raw Story

David Corn / Mother Jones:

Republicans Are Already Claiming the Virginia Election Has Been Rigged — Fight disinformation. Get a daily recap of the facts that matter. Sign up for the free Mother Jones newsletter. — This is how it's going to be forever: Republicans and conservatives will claim that any election they lose is fraudulent.

Discussion: National Review, Mediaite, CNBC, Raw Story, HuffPost, Breitbart, Daily Kos, LifeNews.com and Digby's Hullabaloo

Axios:

New GOP brand: Trump Light — Win or lose in today's Virginia governor's race, Glenn Youngkin has created a new template for Republican candidates running in competitive races in the Trump era. — Why it matters: Republicans, with swing states set to dictate Senate control in 2022 …

Discussion: Washington Post, Forbes and Althouse

Cliff Owen / ABC News:

Virginia's 2021 gubernatorial election results — Former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, faces Republican Glenn Youngkin. — Virginia's off-year gubernatorial race is always seen as the first major political test for both parties following a presidential election.

Discussion: Fox News, Insider, Wall Street Journal, Popular Information, Washington Examiner, RedState, CNN, National Review, Raw Story, The Hill, Washington Post, The Daily Wire and Politico

Politico:

Not it: Democrats dodge blame for stalled agenda as McAuliffe teeters — Terry McAuliffe could go down in Virginia's gubernatorial race Tuesday, and neither congressional liberals nor centrists want to take the blame. — Democrats fear losing the marquee race in a state President Joe Biden won …

Discussion: HotAir, The Federalist, CNN, The Hill, Axios, CBS News and New Republic

Washington Examiner:

For Democrats, all Republicans are Trump — In 2012, sitting Vice President Joe Biden, the current president and leader of the Democratic Party, told a crowd that Mitt Romney wanted to restore slavery and enslave black people. — If Biden could say something that completely deranged …

Discussion: Insider, Reason, Associated Press and Real Clear Politics

Rich Mendez / CNBC: GOP pollster sees likely Republican win in Virginia governor race — and says it will be a bad omen for Democrats

Politico:
5 things to watch when Virginia votes

Discussion: NBC News, Fox News, HotAir, Associated Press, ABC News, Washington Post, Eduwonk and ABC7

NBC News:
Virginia Election Day 2021: What to watch for in the governor's race

Discussion: New York Times, CNN, The Hill, Financial Times, NPR, New York Post, Raw Story, USA Today, Al Jazeera, Washington Examiner, Fox News, WTOP and One America News Network

Sabato's Crystal Ball:
A Last Word on Virginia — Dear Readers: Join us Thursday, Nov. 4 from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m …

Discussion: The Guardian, Bloomberg, RedState, National Review, The Western Journal, BizPac Review, Inside Elections, HotAir, The Daily Caller, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Hill, Townhall, Mediaite, Slate and Political Wire

Jeff Amy / Associated Press:

Georgia official: Trump call to ‘find’ votes was a threat — ATLANTA (AP) — Donald Trump was threatening Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger when he asked him to help “find” enough votes to overturn his loss in Georgia to Democratic President Joe Biden, Raffensperger writes in a new book.

Discussion: The Hill and Raw Story

USA Today:
Brad Raffensperger, GOP target of Trump ire in Georgia, warns of potential for more election violence

Discussion: Insider

Washington Post:
Democrats not only have to pass their social spending package. They also have to sell it

Discussion: Alabama Daily News

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:
NBC News Poll: 50 percent of Republicans doubt their vote will be counted accurately

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Political Wire, Insider, The Western Journal and USA Today

New York Post:

Here's how many NYPD cops are on unpaid leave over vax mandate — Only a few a dozen NYPD members were placed on unpaid leave Monday after refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine — but thousands of unvaccinated employees remain on the job with pending exemption requests, the city's top cop said.

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement, HotAir and Alternet.org

New York Times:

9,000 Unvaccinated N.Y.C. Workers Put on Unpaid Leave as Mandate Begins — Mayor Bill de Blasio said thousands more did get the shot and that the first day of the vaccine mandate went smoothly, without significant service disruptions. — Hundreds of firefighters called in sick in what appeared to be an organized protest.

Discussion: Politico

Denise Chow / NBC News:

White House announces new methane regulations, kicking off global pledge — Biden calls climate change challenge of our collective lifetime — GLASGOW, Scotland — The Biden administration on Tuesday announced plans to introduce some of the nation's strongest regulations against methane emissions …

Discussion: HotAir, Al Jazeera, UPI and Fox News

Catherine Rampell / Washington Post:
America's inaction on climate is getting embarrassing

Discussion: Washington Times and The White House

Lisa Friedman / New York Times:
Biden Administration Moves to Limit Methane, a Potent Greenhouse Gas

Discussion: HuffPost, CBS News, Washington Post, Human Events, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal

Matthew Chapman / Raw Story:

Photos show QAnon believers gathering in Dallas — where they believe JFK Jr. will reveal he's still alive — On Monday night, believers in the QAnon conspiracy theory congregated for a mass gathering at the AT&T Discovery Plaza in Dallas, Texas. — According to reporter Steven Monacelli …

Discussion: Crooks and Liars

Adam Gabbatt / The Guardian:

Republican senator Josh Hawley worries feminism has driven men to ‘pornography and video games’ … The effort to combat toxic masculinity in the US has led men to consume more pornography and play more video games, the Missouri senator Josh Hawley claimed in a speech to a group of Republicans.

Discussion: Forbes, Alternet.org, Daily Kos, Mediaite, Crooks and Liars and The Federalist

Jonathan Edwards / Greenwich Time:
Sen. Josh Hawley says liberals' attacks on manhood are driving men to pornography and video games

Discussion: The Hill

Aaron Sibarium / Washington Free Beacon:

Yale Law Diversity Director at Center of ‘Traphouse’ Controversy Got an Anti-Semite Invited to the Yale Law Journal — The Yale Law School administrator caught on tape pressuring a student to apologize for an allegedly racist party invitation pushed the Yale Law Journal to host a diversity trainer …

Discussion: Reason, Law & Liberty and Power Line

Jonathan Tamari / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

Senate candidate Sean Parnell's wife testified that he tried to choke her and hit their children — BUTLER, Pa. — The estranged wife of Sean Parnell — the candidate endorsed by former President Donald Trump to be the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania …

Discussion: BizPac Review, Morning Shots, Washington Post, Talking Points Memo, Alternet.org, Associated Press, Raw Story, Rolling Stone, The Hill, Mediaite, Forbes, Insider and HotAir

Lachlan Markay / Axios:

Scoop: FEC lets foreigners finance U.S. ballot fights — The Federal Election Commission has ruled foreign donors can finance U.S. referendum campaigns, opening the door to foreign spending on fights over high-profile policy issues, Axios has learned. — Why it matters: Foreign nationals …

Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam / Reuters:

Dozens killed and wounded as blasts and gunfire hit Kabul hospital — At least 25 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in an attack on Afghanistan's biggest military hospital on Tuesdaywhich saw two heavy blasts followed up by gunmen assaulting the site in central Kabul, officials said.

Discussion: Al Jazeera

Christopher Hutton / Washington Examiner:
16 people killed in blast at Afghan military hospital

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, BBC, The Guardian and One America News Network

Pilar Melendez / The Daily Beast:

The Risky Move That Could Save Kyle Rittenhouse—or Doom Him — The alleged far-right vigilante has to prove he was scared when he killed—and there's one simple way to do that. — Kyle Rittenhouse's highly anticipated and politically polarizing murder trial began on Monday.

Discussion: New York Post, Raw Story and CNN

John Stoehr / The Editorial Board:

There's always someone out there willing to make the GOP's fascism seem respectable — It's hard to pick one apologist to pick on. — It's election week. So it bears repeating. The race for Virginia governor is not going to tell us much about next year's congressional elections.

Nick Surgey / Documented:

Manchin's Secret Meeting With Coal Barons and Climate Deniers at a Luxury Golf Resort — As Manchin is held responsible for blocking key climate provisions in Build Back Better, his personal and financial ties to the coal industry have faced increasing scrutiny

Discussion: HuffPost, Salon and New Republic

Ken Dilanian / NBC News:

Gun dealers sell parts, ammo using anti-Biden meme 'Let's go, Brandon' — It arose from a crowd chant at the NASCAR racetrack in Talladega, Ala. — Gun dealers are marketing weapon parts and ammunition using a right-wing slogan widely understood as code for profanity directed at President Joe Biden.

Discussion: Breitbart, RedState, Page Array, Fox News, The Federalist, NOQ Report, Townhall, Mediaite, Twitchy, Insider and Instapundit

Scott McDonald / Newsweek: Video of Trump Laughing During 'Let's Go Brandon' Chant at World Series Seen Over 8M Times

Michael Rubin / Washington Examiner:

Questioning the climate science orthodoxy in Glasgow — Signing an executive order in his first week in office, Joe Biden declared, “We have a narrow moment to pursue action at home and abroad in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of that [climate] crisis.”

Amy Harmon / New York Times:

BIPOC or POC? Equity or Equality? The Debate Over Language on the Left. — For those pushing for changes in society on race and other issues, words matter. They can also muddle. — In California, a Black college freshman from the South is telling a story about his Latino friends …

Discussion: Fortune

Laura Silver / Pew Research Center:

More people globally see racial, ethnic discrimination as a serious problem in the U.S. than in their own society — Concerns about racial and ethnic discrimination are widespread in most of the 17 advanced economies surveyed by Pew Research Center this spring.

Discussion: Washington Post, Raw Story and UPI