memeorandum: U.S. to Fund Pro-American Publicity in Iraqi Media (Washington Post)

11:10 AM ET, October 3, 2008

Top Items:

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:

CBS Poll: More Uncommitted Voters Saw Biden As Winner — UPDATED CBS News and Knowledge Networks have conducted a nationally representative poll of 473 uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's vice presidential debate. — After the first presidential debate …

CNN:

Transcript of Palin, Biden debate — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The vice presidential candidates, Democratic Sen. Joe Biden and Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, debated in St. Louis, Missouri, Thursday night. Gwen Ifill of PBS was the debate moderator. Here is a transcript of that debate:

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Shotgun, Crooks and Liars, Washington Monthly, The Impolitic, Guardian, Israel Matzav, NewsBusters.org, The Democratic Daily, Tax Foundation, VetVoice, GetReligion, JustOneMinute and TalkLeft

David Brooks / New York Times:

The Palin Rebound — There are some moments when members of a political movement come together as one, sharing the same thoughts, feeling the same emotions, breathing the same shallow breaths. One of those occasions occurred Thursday night when Republicans around the country crouched nervously behind …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, TPMCafe, Commentary, Eunomia, www.redstate.com and Stop The ACLU

FactCheck.org:

FactChecking Biden-Palin Debate — The candidates were not 100 percent accurate. To say the least. — Biden and Palin debated, and both mangled some facts. — Palin mistakenly claimed that troop levels in Iraq had returned to “pre-surge” levels. Levels are gradually coming …

Discussion: The FactCheck Wire and Real Clear Politics

CNN:

Poll: Biden wins debate, Palin exceeds expectations — (CNN) - A national poll of people who watched the vice presidential debate suggests that Democratic Sen. Joe Biden won but also hints that Republican Gov. Sarah Palin exceeded expectations. — The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

Discussion: UPI, Daily Kos, TalkLeft, TIME.com, DownWithTyranny!, American Power and Ben Smith's Blogs

Tom Shales / Washington Post:

Palin Takes On A New Foe: Her Image — Sarah Palin looked as though she had prepared for her appearance at the vice presidential debate last night by studying Tina Fey's impressions of her on “Saturday Night Live.” She twinkled and winked and piled on the perkiness, a “darn right” here and an “I'll betcha” there.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, DownWithTyranny!, The New Republic, Commentary, Top of the Ticket, Stop The ACLU, Greg's Opinion and Betsy's Page

Roger Simon / The Politico:

You betcha Sarah Palin can debate — ST. LOUIS — Sarah Palin was supposed to fall off the stage at her vice presidential debate Thursday evening. Instead, she ended up dominating it. — She not only kept Joe Biden on the defensive for much of the debate, she not only repeatedly attacked Barack Obama …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, TPM Election Central, Crooks and Liars, Salon, NY Daily News, The Caucus, American Prospect, The Corner, The Huffington Post and Toby Harnden's blog listings

Debate Facts / JohnMcCain.com:

Joe Biden's 14 Lies — 1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted “the exact same way” as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY. — 2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran.

Discussion: Hot Air, QandO, www.redstate.com and Say Anything

New York Times:

The Vice-Presidential Debate — We cannot recall when there were lower expectations for a candidate than the ones that preceded Sarah Palin's appearance in Thursday night's vice-presidential debate with Joseph Biden. After a series of stumbling interviews that raised serious doubts …

Discussion: Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, ProgressPolitics and Prairie Weather

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
D'OH — Watching the debate I noticed that Biden referred …

Discussion: Media Matters for America, The Corner, The E&P Pub and The Poor Man Institute

Dan Balz / Washington Post:
Palin Delivers, But Doubts Linger

Discussion: New York Times, GretaWire, Opinions You Should Have, MSNBC and Guardian

Frank James / The Swamp: Biden won independents in VP debate

Marisa Katz / Washington Post:
The VP Debate: The Strangest I've Ever Seen

Discussion: Guardian, Midwest Voices, Washington Wire, AMERICAblog News and PoliBlog (TM)

Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
Keeping Up With Biden

Discussion: Weekly Standard and www.redstate.com

Marc Ambinder:
Other Takes: Polls Give It To Biden; Luntz Focus Group Likes Palin

Discussion: The Huffington Post, pandagon.net, Slate, Power Line, Ross Douthat and Washington Post

Gateway Pundit:
Monster Rally Greets Palin Like a Super Bowl Champ After Debate!

Discussion: Pajamas Media, TigerHawk, Wizbang and Power Line

Stephen Dinan / Washington Times:
Biden gets veep role wrong

Discussion: Hot Air and Betsy's Page

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Live-Blogging The Veeps

Discussion: Obsidian Wings, Crooks and Liars, Marc Ambinder, Riehl World View, Lonewacko, Megan McArdle, At-Largely and Althouse

Michael Goldfarb / JohnMcCain.com:
Article 1: Don't Ask Joe

Discussion: Oliver Willis and Michelle Malkin

Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
In Debate, G.O.P. Ticket Survives a Test

Discussion: The Politico, Boston Globe and Washington Post

Wall Street Journal:
Palin the Populist — Joe Biden was no match for “Joe Six-Pack.”

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS

Michael J. Totten / Commentary:
Joe Biden's Alternate Universe

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Pam's House Blend, Power Line, culturekitchen, Fausta's Blog and Wizbang

Joanna Weiss / Boston Globe:
Rivals shine, Palin a bit more brightly

Discussion: www.redstate.com

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Post-VP Debate Thoughts

Discussion: The Opinionator, Outside The Beltway, Open Left, Daily Kos, Washington Post and Whiskey Fire

CBS News:
CBS Poll: Uncommitted Voters Say Biden Won

Discussion: Washington Post, NewsBusters.org and Democratic Strategist

Los Angeles Times:

Schwarzenegger to U.S.: State may need $7-billion loan — In a letter obtained by The Times, the governor warns that tight credit has dried up funds California routinely relies on and it may have to seek emergency aid within weeks. — SACRAMENTO — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Marc Ambinder, Talking Points Memo, Salon and Political Machine

CNN: California may need $7 billion federal loan

Russell Roberts / Wall Street Journal:

How Government Stoked the Mania — Housing prices would never have risen so high without multiple Washington mistakes. — Many believe that wild greed and market failure led us into this sorry mess. According to that narrative, investors in search of higher yields bought novel securities …

Discussion: QandO, Commentary and Econlog

Washington Post:
Lobbyist Hired by Freddie Mac to Work on McCain Is Now Senator's Aide

Discussion: Think Progress, Matthew Yglesias and TPM Election Central

Stephen Labaton / New York Times:

Agency's '04 Rule Let Banks Pile Up New Debt, and Risk — “We have a good deal of comfort about the capital cushions at these firms at the moment.” — Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, March 11, 2008. — As rumors swirled that Bear Stearns faced imminent collapse …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, QandO, Sister Toldjah, A Tiny Revolution and Oliver Willis

David Leonhardt / Economix:

Jobs Report Underlines Economic Decline — The government is out with more bad economic news this morning: The job market began to deteriorate even before the financial crisis reached a more serious stage two weeks ago. — Employers cut 159,000 jobs in September, more than twice …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Washington Independent and AMERICAblog News

Charles Krauthammer / Real Clear Politics:

Hail Mary vs. Cool Barry — WASHINGTON — Krauthammer's Hail Mary Rule: You get only two per game. John McCain, unfortunately, has already thrown three. The first was his bet on the surge, a deep pass to David Petraeus who miraculously ran it all the way into the end zone.

Discussion: marbury