memeorandum: NewsmaxZogby Poll: Obama Edges Out Romney in Florida, 47%-44% (David Alliot/NewsMax.com)

1:30 PM ET, October 18, 2012

Top Items:

A TURN OF THE PAGE FOR NEWSWEEK — After 80 years in print, the newsmagazine adopts an all-digital format. — We are announcing this morning an important development at Newsweek and The Daily Beast. Newsweek will transition to an all-digital format in early 2013.

David Carr / Media Decoder:
Newsweek to Cease Print Publication at End of Year

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog and Eschaton, more at Mediagazer »

Ed Kilgore / Washington Monthly:
Out-Of-Print — In the least surprising media news of the year …

Discussion: Corporate Intelligence and The Daily Caller

TMZ.com:

CNN Tries to Blunt Romney Criticism Over Candy Crowley — Tries to Blunt Romney — Criticism Over Candy — EXCLUSIVE — CNN's Managing Editor sent an email around the office today, praising Candy Crowley and trying to blunt criticism that she was unfair to Mitt Romney.

Discussion: Mediaite, National Review, The Daily Caller, Wake up America and NewsBusters.org blogs

Dylan Byers / Politico:

Soledad O'Brien: Obama ‘up 15’ in Virginia — Some CNN viewers may be under the impression that President Barack Obama is leading Gov. Mitt Romney by 15 points in Virginia. — This morning, CNN's Soledad O'Brien told Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell “pre-debate polling shows that the president was up 15 points in the state of Virginia.”

Discussion: Mediaite

John Hinderaker / Power Line: CNN Explains — TMZ says it has obtained an email …

Caroline May / The Daily Caller:

Report: Welfare government's single largest budget item in FY 2011 at approx. $1.03 trillion — The government spent approximately $1.03 trillion on 83 means-tested federal welfare programs in fiscal year 2011 alone — a price tag that makes welfare that year the government's largest expenditure …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Times, Weasel Zippers, The PJ Tatler, The Lonely Conservative and Fausta's Blog

Jeffrey H. Anderson / Weekly Standard:

The 7-Eleven Presidency — In the wake of the Treasury Department's newly released summary of federal spending for 2012, it's now possible to detail just how profligate the Obama years have been. Here's the upshot: Under Obama, for every $7 we've had, we've spent nearly $11 (or, to be more exact, $10.95).

Discussion: UrbanGrounds, protein wisdom and The Lonely Conservative

BuzzFeed:

Federal Appeals Court: Federal Marriage Recognition Ban Is Unconstitutional — “[W]e conclude that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act violates equal protection and is therefore unconstitutional.” The Second Circuit Court of Appeals, out of New York, is the second federal court to hold …

Discussion: msnbc.com and Towleroad News #gay

Daniel Strauss / The Hill:
NY appeals court rules DOMA unconstitutional

Discussion: CNN

Mike Elk / Working In These Times:

In Conference Call, Romney Urged Businesses To Tell Their Employees How to Vote — In a June 6, 2012 conference call posted on the anti-union National Federation of Independent Business's website, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney instructed employers to tell their employees how to vote in the upcoming election.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh, Gawker, Scarabus, Conservative Hideout 2.0, theGrio, The Raw Story, National Review, Wonkette, msnbc.com, Sky Dancing, Daily Kos, The Hinterland Gazette, Newsy, New York Magazine, Booman Tribune, Mediaite and Crooks and Liars

Annie-Rose Strasser / ThinkProgress:
Leaked Audio Captures Romney Asking Employers To Tell Their Employees How To Vote

Discussion: Shakesville, Wake up America, The Political Carnival, Towleroad News #gay and Daily Kos

Politico:

GOP's problems exposed in struggle for Senate — In 2010, when Republicans stumbled on what had been a clear path to winning control of the Senate, GOP operatives comforted themselves with a defiant vow: Just wait 'til next time. — Now, next time is here — and the GOP is in danger …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, ABCNEWS and Ballot Box

Mike Allen / Politico: DEBATE BUOYS OBAMA — GOP's Senate hopes fade — Rory Kennedy documentary about her mother, Ethel Kennedy, on HBO

WashingtonGuardian:

Troubled battery maker won private meeting and phone call with Obama, a trade mission slot and $250 million in stimulus money before it went bankrupt — Even as advanced battery maker A123 Systems struggled for financial viability, it played the Washington insider game, where political money and access go hand in hand.

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, Hot Air, Washington Examiner and The Heritage Foundation

Wall Street Journal:
Henninger: The Un-President — Barack Obama shows …

Discussion: Power Line and Wake up America

Greg Seaby / CNN:
CNN Fact Check: Romney says automatic weapons illegal

Discussion: Weekly Standard and AMERICAblog

Byron York / Washington Examiner:

Chris Matthews: Is challenging Obama unconstitutional? — Popular in Politics — On MSNBC's “Hardball” Wednesday evening, Chris Matthews discussed the theatrics of the presidential debate with James Lipton, longtime host of “Inside the Actor's Studio.” Lipton offered some unremarkable observations …

Discussion: Althouse, The Jawa Report, Jammie Wearing Fools, Pirate's Cove, The PJ Tatler and New York Magazine

Kevin Robillard / Politico:

Tagg Romney jokes about ‘swing’ at Obama — Mitt Romney's eldest son joked in a radio interview that he wanted to “take a swing” at President Barack Obama after Obama called his father a liar. — “Jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the stage and take a swing at him,” Tagg said, laughing.

Discussion: Mediaite, Taegan Goddard's …, MoveOn.Org, Sister Toldjah, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion, The Atlantic Online, CNN, Taylor Marsh, The Political Carnival, The Moderate Voice, Towleroad News #gay and Althouse

Bruce Springsteen / The Official Bruce …:

A Message From Bruce — Dear Friends: — The election is coming up on all of us and we all have strong feelings about it. I've been getting asked a lot about where I stand, so for those who are interested, here goes. — This presidential election is different than the last one because President Obama …

Discussion: The Fix, BuzzFeed, msnbc.com, ABCNEWS, New York Magazine, The Caucus, Election 2012 and Taylor Marsh

Russ Buettner / New York Times:

Should've Left That at Home, Teacher Is Told at Jury Duty — Damian Esteban was qualified to teach students at a specialized New York City high school, and had just been deemed reasonable enough to judge a man's fate in a murder trial. — But passing through the metal detectors …

Discussion: Runnin' Scared

Greg Palast / The Nation:

Mitt Romney's Bailout Bonanza — This article appeared in the November 5, 2012 edition of The Nation. — Recommended by 1 — — This investigation was supported by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute and by the Puffin Foundation. Elements of it appear in Palast's new book …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Dependable Renegade

Carol Ross Joynt / Washingtonian:

BREAKING: Obama Daughters' School Evacuated Following Threat — Sidwell Friends, the school where President Obama's daughters Sasha and Malia attend, evacuated students and staff from its Wisconsin Avenue campus this morning following a phoned-in threat. — Sidwell Friends …

Discussion: The Hill and New York Magazine

Lori Montgomery / Washington Post:

Officials: Obama ready to veto a bill blocking ‘fiscal cliff’ without tax hike for rich — View Photo Gallery — Are our leaders behaving like “Thelma and Louise,” flirting with disaster, thumbing their noses at our nation's economic livelihood? Here's more on that reference …

Discussion: ABCNEWS, First Read and Politico

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Romney edge expands post-debate in Rasmussen tracking poll — The Left seemed pretty pleased with Barack Obama's performance in Tuesday night's debate, cheering his renewed energy and aggressiveness. How did it play with voters overall? The spot polls produced mixed results …

Discussion: Riehl World News, Hillary Is 44 and The Ulsterman Report

Robert K. Kelner / Weekly Standard:

Early Voting Reform: A Ticking Time Bomb — In election law, as in so many things, the word “reform,” when associated with a new idea, is usually a sure sign that mischief is afoot. A case in point: early voting reform. This innocuous sounding but insidious idea, which has led some 32 states …

CNBC:

Weekly Jobless Claims Drop Proves to Be Short-Lived — Weekly applications for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped 46,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 388,000, the highest in four months. The increase represents a rebound from the previous week's sharp drop. Both swings were largely due to technical factors.

Discussion: BREITBART.COM, Weasel Zippers and Hot Air

Alicia M. Cohn / The Hill:

Ann Romney: Mitt “absolutely” done with politics if he loses election on Nov. 6 — Ann Romney, in her first appearance on ABC's “The View” on Thursday, sought to make amends with the five female hosts who Mitt Romney described as “sharp tongued” interviewers.

Discussion: CNN and The Right Scoop

David Alliot / NewsMax.com:

NewsmaxZogby Poll: Obama Edges Out Romney in Florida, 47%-44% — More ways to share... Mixx — Stumbled — LinkedIn — Vine — Buzzflash — Newstrust — Technocrati — Forward Article — Candidates are gearing up for a heated race in Florida, with President Barack …

Discussion: Ballot Box and The Political Carnival

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Many In Romney's “Binder Full Of Women” Were Campaign Donors — The former Massachusetts Governor touted hiring “binders full of women” for his cabinet, but many were donors to his gubernatorial campaign. — Mitt Romney sits with his former Chief of Staff Beth Myers. — Image by Brian Synder / Reuters

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Taylor Marsh

Christopher Keating / Hartford Courant:

New UConn/Courant Poll Shows Murphy Ahead of McMahon — Republican Linda McMahon and Democrat Chris Murphy met in their third U.S. Senate debate on Monday in New London at the Garde Theatre. (Richard Messina, Hartford Courant / October 15, 2012) — After emphasizing women's issues …

Discussion: Taegan Goddard's …

Justin Sink / The Hill:

Team Romney won't rein in GOP nominee during third debate — Mitt Romney's campaign indicated Wednesday they have no plans to rein in the GOP nominee during the third and final presidential debate. — Romney's aggressive performance Tuesday night — directly challenging President Obama …

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Prairie Weather

Gallup:

Special Report: 3.4% of U.S. Adults Identify as LGBT — Inaugural Gallup findings based on more than 120,000 interviews — PRINCETON, NJ — The inaugural results of a new Gallup question — posed to more than 120,000 U.S. adults thus far — shows that 3.4% say “yes” when asked if they identify as lesbian …

Discussion: Weasel Zippers and Towleroad News #gay

Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:

Obama Won the Debate but Is Losing the Argument — On the essential question of who would be better at handling the economy, CNN found Mitt Romney ahead by 58% to 40%. — Americans on Tuesday night watched what was the most ferocious presidential debate ever.

Discussion: Hot Air and GayPatriot