memeorandum: Obama Camp Touts Romney's Debate Strength (Benjy Sarlin/Talking Points Memo)

2:45 PM ET, September 4, 2012

Top Items:

Sheldon Alberts / The Hill:

Hill Poll: Voters say second term undeserved, country is worse off — A majority of voters believe the country is worse off today than it was four years ago and that President Obama does not deserve reelection, according to a new poll for The Hill. — Fifty-two percent of likely voters …

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Democrats Say U.S. Is Better Off Than Four Years Ago — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A day after fumbling a predictable and straightforward question posed by Mitt Romney last week — are Americans better off than they were four years ago — the Obama campaign provided a response on Monday …

Discussion: The Week, CBS News, The Hill, USA Today, Swampland, News Desk, Obama Isn't Working, Washington Post and The Caucus

Meghashyam Mali / The Hill:
President says Romney camp running against ‘fictional’ Obama

Discussion: NationalJournal.com, USA Today, The Daily Beast, Weasel Zippers, Mediaite, Washington Post, Taylor Marsh, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, CNN and neo-neocon

Daily Mail:

Democrats set to move Obama's big speech from 74,000-seater outdoor stadium to 20,000-seater indoor arena — Democrats are poised to avoid the danger of President Barack Obama accepting his party's nomination before a partially-empty stadium by shifting his speech to an indoor arena and citing ‘severe weather’.

Discussion: Riehl World News, The Moderate Voice, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, Freedom's Lighthouse, The Rightnewz, Conservatives4Palin, Associated Press, Jammie Wearing Fools and Vodkapundit

Dion Lefler / Wichita Eagle:

Kansas delegates head to N.C. for Democratic convention — Off the top of her head, Pat Lehman can't remember exactly how many Democratic National Conventions she's been to. — “I'm not sure, seven, probably eight, maybe,” she says with a laugh. — But Lehman, the dean …

Discussion: BuzzFeed, Weasel Zippers, Washington Free Beacon and Ed Driscoll

Alexander Bolton / Ballot Box:
Senate Democrats not counting on money from President Obama

Discussion: Politico

CNN:
Florida Republicans hammer Crist for switch

Discussion: The Rightnewz, Politico and Weasel Zippers

Kenneth P. Vogel / Politico:
Source: Mitt camp claims $100M Aug.

Discussion: The Caucus, The Other McCain, Questions and Observations, First Read and Outside the Beltway

Ramesh Ponnuru / Bloomberg:

If You Think Obama's First Term Was Bad, Imagine a Second — Ben Feller of the Associated Press asked President Barack Obama a good question recently. If Obama wins re-election, Feller said, Republicans are still likely to have a majority in the House. “How is that any different from what we have now?

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Mother Jones and National Review

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:

'64 or Bust — In a Bloomberg column, Ramesh Ponnuru makes an argument for Mitt Romney's election that you are going to hear a lot more of soon: it's the only way that partisan gridlock in Washington can be broken. The basic theory is that Republicans will not change from their current …

Discussion: ECHIDNE of the snakes and Politico, more at Mediagazer »

Boston Herald:

Indian delegates seek sit-down with Elizabeth Warren — Tribal activist:'Shame on her' — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Elizabeth Warren can't escape her Cherokee heritage controversy even at this gathering of loyal Democrats, as a contingent of skeptical American Indian delegates …

Discussion: The Other McCain, The Gateway Pundit, Althouse and Jammie Wearing Fools

William A. Jacobson / Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion:
Video: Unaccountable - Elizabeth Warren and the Cherokee

Discussion: Politico, Boston Herald, Riehl World News and protein wisdom

David Hill / Washington Times:

Bedbugs an increasing concern at DNC hotels — Charlotte seeing an uptick in pest reports — CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You think incumbent politicians are hard to get rid of? Try bedbugs. — The blood-sucking insects have made a resurgence in recent years, including reports of them at nine …

Discussion: Election 2012, The Daily Caller and Moe Lane

John Fund / National Review:

The Crack Hotels of the DNC … I can't speak for the delegates or ther foreign dignitaries, but many of the journalists I have spoken with here are appalled at the accommodations in Charlotte to which they were assigned by the DNC. National Review was assigned to two Knights Inn properties.

Discussion: Belmont Club, Babalú Blog, Fausta's Blog, The Daily Caller, Ed Driscoll and Wonkette

Paul Krugman:

The Fire Last Time — Dean Baker has exactly the right metaphor for journalists asking the really dumb “are you better off” question: … Obama came to office in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. The question should be how well he dealt with that crisis …

Discussion: The Maddow Blog, Hullabaloo and The Confluence

CEPR:
“Are Americans Better Off Today Than They Were Four Years Ago?” The Question That Exposes Incompetent Reporters

Discussion: Associated Press, The New Republic, No More Mister Nice Blog, National Review, protein wisdom, Daily Kos, Hot Air and Crooks and Liars

Zack Beauchamp / ThinkProgress:
Are We Better Off? 10 Headlines From September 2008

Discussion: The Political Carnival and Fox News Insider

Ben Pershing / Washington Post:

Virgil Goode makes presidential ballot in Virginia — Former congressman Virgil Goode Jr. has qualified for the presidential ballot in Virginia, the State Board of Elections ruled Tuesday morning, adding a potential obstacle to Republican Mitt Romney's hopes of winning the pivotal state.

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Daily Kos and Election 2012

Andrew Cain / Richmond Times-Dispatch: Va. GOP challenges ballot petitions of Goode, Libertarian

Business Week:

Exclusive: How Karl Rove's Super PAC Plays the Senate — On Thursday, Aug. 30, the final day of the Republican National Convention, Karl Rove gave a breakfast briefing to a group of about 70 of the Republican Party's most influential donors. As Bloomberg Businessweek reported …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, BuzzFeed, Crooks and Liars, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette and USA Today

Tim Mak / Politico:

Paul Ryan: Obama didn't close the plant — Rep. Paul Ryan said Tuesday that he wasn't suggesting that President Barack Obama was responsible for the closure of an auto plant in Janesville, Wis., during his convention speech last week. — “What they are trying to suggest is that I said Barack Obama …

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Hill, The Hinterland Gazette, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNN, Daily Kos and The Stranger …

KKTV-TV:

11 News Anchor Dianne Derby Interviews President Obama — 11 News Interview President Obama & Romney Sr. Campaign Advisor — It's President Obama's second trip to Colorado within a week and I had a chance to ask him a few questions before he took the stage at CU-Boulder.

Discussion: Reuters, ABCNEWS, The Hill, AEIdeas, The Rightnewz, The PJ Tatler, Business Insider, Jammie Wearing Fools, The Hinterland Gazette and Public Policy Polling

Daniel J. Mitchell / Townhall.com:

Johnny Depp Flees France Over Tax Hikes — I'm a bad person. I know it's not nice to take joy in the misery of others, but I can't help but smile when I see a story about bad news in France. — In my defense, this is not because of hostility to French people, who have always been friendly to me.

Discussion: Babalú Blog and Riehl World News

Sam Stein / The Huffington Post:

Madeleine Albright: 'I Can't Understand Why Any Woman Would Want To Vote For Mitt Romney' … REACT: — FOLLOW: — Ann Romney, DNC Convention, Madeleine Albright, RNC Convention, Romney Campaign, Secretary Albright, Women's Voices, Albright, Mitt Romney 2012, Romney Gender Gap …

Discussion: The Gateway Pundit, Althouse, Mediaite, neo-neocon, Truthdig, Washington Examiner and National Review

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:

Why the Obama campaign is cautiously confident in victory — The Romney campaign makes a strong case that he may well prevail in November. As Mark Halperin summarized: “Team Romney remains convinced that voters crave a more concrete form of hope and change, and that the anemic economy …

Discussion: Booman Tribune

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:

GOP Senate Candidate Supports Life Sentences For Rape Victims Who Obtain Abortions — Rep. Rick Berg (R-ND), the candidate for Senate from North Dakota, once voted for a bill that would have made any woman who obtained an abortion guilty of a homicide crime — even if it were in the case of rape or incest.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Little Green Footballs, BuzzFeed and Mock, Paper, Scissors

Bruce Golding / New York Post:

Naked gal gets deal on a suit: 15G for Times Sq. bust — NOW BUY SOME CLOTHES! Zoe West, busted for stripping down during a body-painting exhibition in Times Square last year has won a settlement in her false-arrest lawsuit. — A nude model busted for dropping her drawers during …

Discussion: New York Magazine and The Jawa Report

Josh Ong / The Next Web:

Here's how to check if your Apple device UDID has been compromised by the AntiSec leak — If you're worried that you might own one of the 1 million Apple devices that have had their UDIDs leaked by AntiSec, reportedly from a breach of an FBI agent's laptop, our rockstar tech team has put together a tool to help you check.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, cortesi, Gizmodo, Gawker, Wired, The Raw Story, Mashable!, MOTHERBOARD, emptywheel, Marco.org and VentureBeat

Annals of Internal Medicine Current Issue:

Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?: A Systematic Review — Crystal Smith-Spangler, MD, MS; Margaret L. Brandeau, PhD; Grace E. Hunter, BA; J. Clay Bavinger, BA; Maren Pearson, BS; Paul J. Eschbach; Vandana Sundaram, MPH; Hau Liu, MD, MS, MBA, MPH …

Discussion: BBC, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Raw Story, Healthland, Guardian, Newsy, New York Times and Boing Boing

Paul Campos / Salon:

America's new culture of corruption — In America today, crime pays — if you're powerful. Just look at the MF Global and CIA torture cases — Former MF Global Holdings Ltd. Chairman and CEO Jon Corzine is sworn in on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011 …

Discussion: Unqualified Offerings and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Thor Christensen / Dallas Morning News:

Hank Williams Jr. lashes out at ‘Muslim’ Obama and gays at Stockyards Music Festival — Hank Williams Jr. performs at the Stockyards Music Festival in Fort Worth on Sunday, September 2, 2012. (Kelley Chinn/Special Contributor) — of — FORT WORTH — Hank Williams Jr. prides himself …

Discussion: Riehl World News and The Raw Story

Nate Silver / FiveThirtyEight:

Sept. 3: Par or Bogey? — We're reaching the point of diminishing returns in analyzing Mitt Romney's convention bounce. But we can say two things almost for certain. First, Mr. Romney very probably got a bounce. And second, it's a below-average bounce by historical standards.

Discussion: Latino Decisions, Booman Tribune, GOP 12, Washington Post and Hullabaloo

Benjy Sarlin / Talking Points Memo:

Obama Camp Touts Romney's Debate Strength — CHARLOTTE — Raising expectations for your opponent ahead of a debate is an ancient political art, and a supremely confident Obama team almost pulled it off on Tuesday. — “Gov. Romney did about 30 debates last year, we expect him to do very well …

Discussion: First Draft

Tom Jensen / Public Policy Polling:

Nelson leads by 7 in Florida Senate race — The Florida Senate race is one of the strangest in the country this year. Bill Nelson has middling approval numbers, with only 35% of voters approving of him to 42% who disapprove. Usually an incumbent in that kind of position would be doomed for defeat.

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …