memeorandum: FIRST THOUGHTS: NEEDING A GAME-CHANGER (Domenico Montanaro/MSNBC)

1:55 PM ET, October 7, 2008

Top Items:

Unleashed, Palin Makes a Pit Bull Look Tame — FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 6 John McCain is collapsing in the polls in Florida and other swing states, but Sarah Palin, God bless her, has a solution. — “For me, the heels are on, the gloves are off,” she announced at high noon Monday to a group …

The Huffington Post:

Obama Hatred On Display Again At Palin Rally, Supporter Screams “Treason!” — In the latest instance of inflammatory outbursts at McCain-Palin rallies, a crowd member screamed “treason!” during an event on Tuesday after Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of criticizing U.S. troops.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, Hullabaloo, The Seminal, Taylor Marsh and folo

City Journal:

The Bomber as School Reformer — Back in the early eighties, in an interview with David Horowitz and Peter Collier, Bill Ayers remembered his reaction upon learning that he would not be prosecuted by the government for his bombing spree as a member of the Weather Underground.

Discussion: Pajamas Media, Commentary, Power Line, No Left Turns and Reason

Geoff Earle / New York Post:

OBAMA: NO KNOWLEDGE OF AYERS' TERRORIST PAST — WASHINGTON - Barack Obama's top political adviser said today Obama “didn't know the history” of unrepentant bomber William Ayers' activities in the violent Weather Underground movement when the candidate attended a political event at Ayers' home in 1995.

Discussion: Power Line, The Corner, Moonbattery, Take Our Country Back, QandO, www.redstate.com, Israpundit, Bookworm Room, Political Machine and The Campaign Spot

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

Sarah Palin: Obama's ‘left-wing agenda’ — Sarah Palin, waging the Republican Party's presidential campaign in a state that she and John McCain count on for victory, kept up an assault today on Democratic rival Barack Obama's association with William Ayers, a Chicago education professor and onetime radical war protester in the Sixties.

Discussion: New York Times, Top of the Ticket, FiveThirtyEight.com and No More Mister Nice Blog

Dirty Harry / Dirty Harry's Place:

CNN Ayers Investigation: Obama Lied In Debate — Youtube quote: CNN investigative reporter: “But the relationship between Obama and Ayers went much deeper, ran much longer, and was much more political than Obama said.” — It is the lie that furthers the story. Talk about THE LIE.

Discussion: Hot Air, Weekly Standard, The Corner, Stop The ACLU, THE CITIZENS JOURNAL and Macsmind

David Frum:
“The Chicago Way” — My pals over at the Corner are very excited …

Discussion: American Spectator and Donklephant

Mark Finkelstein / NewsBusters.org:
The Most Clueless Man in Chicago

Discussion: Think Progress, TigerHawk and Emptywheel

Rich Lowry / National Review:
Change vs. Change the Subject

Discussion: Ross Douthat, Blog entry and Outside The Beltway

Mike Soraghan / The Hill:

Barbs traded at hearing on Lehman's fall — Congressional Democrats and Republicans traded accusations Monday over what and whom to blame for the financial crisis amid startling new revelations surrounding the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers investment bank.

Discussion: protein wisdom and Hot Air

Stanley Kurtz / National Review:
Planting Seeds of Disaster

Discussion: JammieWearingFool

Joe Nocera / New York Times: A Day (Gasp) Like Any Other — Is it ever going to end?

Glen Johnson / Associated Press:
Frank says GOP housing attacks racially motivated

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, The Next Right, Political Punch and www.redstate.com

Michael Learmonth / AdAge:

Hulu, NBC Pull SNL Skit — But Political Skits Bringing in Huge Numbers — The presidential campaign has been good for “Saturday Night Live” — and for Hulu.com. In a few short weeks, the first clip of Tina Fey impersonating Gov. Sarah Palin has become the site's most-viewed of all time.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider and JammieWearingFool

Michelle Malkin:
The missing SNL bailout skit — and the Soros connection

Discussion: Terry Ann Online, The Jawa Report, Hot Air, Associated Press, The Foundry, NewsBusters.org, A Tiny Revolution, The Huffington Post, The Poor Man Institute, Clayton Cramer's BLOG, www.redstate.com, Pajamas Media, Fausta's Blog and Pat Dollard

Richard Cohen / Washington Post:

This Debate's Biggest Loser — Reading William Kristol's column in yesterday's New York Times, I discover that Sarah Palin and I have something in common. Kristol, who was once Dan Quayle's chief of staff and therefore, shall we say, has a Mister Rogers approach to certain politicians …

Discussion: The Daily Dish, TalkLeft and The XX Factor

Wall Street Journal:

About That Middle-Class Tax Cut . . . Remember the last time a charismatic Democrat made such a promise? — “It's like déjà vu all over again.” — As John McCain heads into the second round of presidential debates tonight, Yogi Berra's words come to mind.

Discussion: Commentary and Donklephant

David Zaring / Conglomerate:

The Fed Can't Let Section 13 Go — The latest rescue development moves the Fed back to expanding its section 13 discount window powers still further and has absolutely nothing to do with the bailout bill. It is the new initiative whereby the central bank would buy commercial paper directly from issuers.

Discussion: The Washington Independent, D-Day and Firedoglake

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:
For release at 9:00 a.m. EDT

Discussion: The Swamp, Portfolio and The Big Picture

Washington Post:
Fed Moves to Thaw Credit Markets

Discussion: JustOneMinute and TalkLeft

Roger Simon / The Politico:

How McCain could pull this one off — Can John McCain possibly win this thing? Can he actually win in November? — The outlook is bleak: The polls are ugly, the Electoral College map is grim, the economy is getting worse, and McCain's choice of Sarah Palin may have energized the Republican base …

Discussion: Democratic Strategist and Stop The ACLU

CNN:

CNN Polls: New Obama gains in battleground states — WASHINGTON (CNN) - Polls in five key battleground states in the race for the White House released Tuesday suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is making major gains. — The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls of likely voters in Indiana …

Discussion: TPM Election Central and Sister Toldjah

Michael Scherer / Time:
Poll: Obama Gains in States That Went for Bush

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TIME.com and Donklephant

Rob Crilly / Times of London:

Jerome Corsi, anti-Obama author, detained in Kenya — A leading American neo-conservative author has been detained by immigration authorities in Kenya as he tried to launch a book smearing Barack Obama. — Jerome Corsi, of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth fame, was this morning being held after failing to reckon with Obamamania.

Discussion: WorldNetDaily, Fox News, The Swamp, Media Blog and Atlas Shrugs

Tom Odula / Associated Press:
Kenya deporting US author of anti-Obama book

Discussion: Guardian, Gateway Pundit and NewsBusters.org

Attila Girl / Little Miss Attila:

THEATER FRAUD? Sabotage of An American Carol and Its Opening-Week Numbers? — Now this sounds like enemy action. Help me out here, folks. — Mpower pictures and Vivendi are starting to hear complaints about sabotage of An American Carol by employees of theaters that are carrying the movie.

Discussion: Oliver Willis and The Other McCain

Clif / Sadly, No!:
Little Miss Attila Goes To The Movies

Discussion: Shakesville

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

FIRST THOUGHTS: NEEDING A GAME-CHANGER — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann — NASHVILLE, Tenn. — McCain heads into tonight's debate here down in the polls and in need of a game-changer. Three weeks after the Wall Street crisis began …

Discussion: New York Times, MyDD and Spin Cycle

The Huffington Post:

Why McCain's Time With Council Of World Freedom Matters — Read More: John McCain, John Singlaub, Mccain, Mccain Begala, Mccain Communism, Mccain Communist League, Mccain John Singlaub, Mccain u.s. Council Of World Freedom, Meet The Press, Paul Begala, Politics News

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Newshoggers.com, Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, The Politico and Stop The ACLU

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
MCCAIN AND THE U.S. COUNCIL FOR WORLD FREEDOM.... On “Meet the Press” …

Discussion: Spin Cycle, Right Wing Nut House, Associated Press, HorsesAss.Org and Comments from Left Field

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Americans' Satisfaction at All-Time Low of 9% — Dismal rating sets stage for town hall-style debate — USA - Election 2008 - Government and Politics - Most Important Problem - Satisfaction - Americas - Northern America — PRINCETON, NJ — Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John …

William Glaberson / New York Times:

Release of Chinese Muslims Ordered — WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the Bush administration to immediately release 17 Chinese Muslims and allow them to stay in the United States, ruling that they are no longer considered enemy combatants.

Discussion: The Swamp and JammieWearingFool