memeorandum: Scozzafava for Owens? — Two tidbits from today's papers give us … (Hotline On Call)

3:25 PM ET, November 1, 2009

Top Items:

A changed race — Owens is best-equipped to represent NNY — Dierdre K. Scozzafava's decision to suspend her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District seat is a shocking development in what had already been an extraordinary race. — In her statement Saturday morning …

Watertown Daily Times:

SCOZZAFAVA THROWS SUPPORT TO OWENS — Scozzafava released the following statement at 2 :06 p.m.: — I want to thank you for your support and friendship. Over the past 24 hours, I have had encouraging words sent to my family and me. Many of you have asked me whom you should support on Tuesday.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Politics Daily, Below The Beltway, Hotline On Call and The Washington Independent

Chris Cillizza / The Fix:

NY-23: Scozzafava Endorses Owens — State Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (R), who dropped from the special election in Upstate New York yesterday, has now thrown her support to Democrat Bill Owens. — “It's not in the cards for me to be your representative, but I strongly believe Bill …

Discussion: The Daily Dish

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Jarrett: GOP ‘more and more extreme’ — White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said Sunday on ABC's “This Week” that the rise of a Conservative Party challenger in a closely watched upstate New York House election shows that the Republican Party leadership is “becoming more and more extreme, and more and more marginalized.”

Discussion: The Swamp, The Moderate Voice, Townhall.com, George's Bottom Line, Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit, National Review, The Reaction and CNN

Tony Romm / The Hill:

GOP nominee endorses Democrat after stepping aside under pressure from right — The Republican in a New York House race that has become a symbol of the divisions within the GOP endorsed her former Democratic rival Sunday, a sharp snub to the third-party conservative who forced her out of the race.

Discussion: National Review

Hotline On Call:

Scozzafava for Owens? — Two tidbits from today's papers give us an indication of where Assemb. Dede Scozzafava (R), who left the NY-23 special election yesterday, wants her supporters to go on 11/3. And, not shockingly, it's not accountant Doug Hoffman (C).

Discussion: The Strata-Sphere and Riehl World View

Elizabeth Benjamin / The Daily Politics:
Dede's Democratic Preference?

Discussion: Gates of Vienna, The Washington Independent and TPMDC

Charles Franklin / Pollster.com:
NY23 Siena Poll Again: Some Hope for Each Side

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's … and The Daily Dish

Dede for Congress:
A Message from Dede — Dear Friends and Supporters:

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Syracuse Post-Standard, Macsmind, The Strata-Sphere, Swampland, Watertown Daily Times, GayPatriot and Blogcritics

Frank Rich / New York Times:
The G.O.P. Stalinists Invade Upstate New York

Washington Post:
Republican Scozzafava pulls out of House race in New York

Discussion: The Nation, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, Paul Mulshine, PostPartisan, Cato @ Liberty, Connecting.the.Dots, Erick's blog and The Politico

Michelle Malkin:
NYT columnist Frank Rich has the heebie-jeebies

Discussion: The Other McCain

Glenn Harlan Reynolds / Washington Examiner:
It's the follow-through that matters in New York's special race

Discussion: CNN, Commentary and Riehl World View

Little Green Footballs:

Doug Hoffman: The Glenn Beck Candidate — What exactly does Doug Hoffman stand for? And who is he standing with? Would you believe ... Glenn Beck? — At the endorsements page of Doug Hoffman For Congress, we find a link to the “Gold List” at 912candidates.org, consisting of politicians who have …

Discussion: The Washington Independent

Greg Gordon / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

How Goldman secretly bet on the U.S. housing crash — WASHINGTON — In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing prices …

Discussion: ParaPundit, The Confluence, Newshoggers.com, naked capitalism, The Impolitic and Prairie Weather

Jeff E. Schapiro / Richmond Times-Dispatch:

McDonnell extends advantage in Times-Dispatch poll — Republican Bob McDonnell appears poised to win the governorship and lead a GOP sweep Tuesday, ending nearly a decade of reverses for his party, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch Poll. — McDonnell is favored by 53 percent …

Discussion: Virginia Politics, Scared Monkeys, Politics Daily, The Hill, TPMDC and Washington Post

Dan Zak / Washington Post:

Obamas give out treats, fruit to White House trick-or-treaters — The first lady was dressed as a leopard, with a smear of eyeliner, fuzzy ears and a spotted orange-and-black top. The president was dressed as a middle-aged dad, with a black cardigan, checkered shirt and sensible brown slacks.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Below The Beltway, Hullabaloo and Althouse

David M. Herszenhorn / New York Times:

Alan Grayson, the Liberals' Problem Child — WASHINGTON — On paper, Representative Alan Grayson, a freshman Democrat from Florida, seems a bit stiff: degrees from Harvard and Harvard Law; a résumé that includes clerking for the United States Court of Appeals under Judges Antonin Scalia …

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Washington Monthly, Suburban Guerrilla, Sweetness & Light and The washington times Blogs

Joe Gandelman / The Moderate Voice:

Italian Police Release Mafia Hit Video: Double Deja Vu? — The issue in the United States of how bystanders react — or do not react — to a crime that has unfolded before them has now emerged in Italy, on a somewhat smaller scale in an incident that seems right out of The Godfather, The Sopranos or GoodFellas.

Discussion: Hot Air

BBC:

Afghanistan poll in disarray after pull-out — President Hamid Karzai's rival in the second round of the Afghan presidential election has announced in Kabul that he is withdrawing from the poll. — “I will not participate in the election,” Dr Abdullah told supporters …

Discussion: Informed Comment, Mudville Gazette, Guardian, The Moderate Voice, The Agonist and Neptunus Lex