memeorandum: What Obamacare needs to do in year two (Ezra Klein/Vox)

11:25 AM ET, October 3, 2014

Top Items:

James Hohmann / Politico:

Are big three senate races slipping from Dems? — It's been the most remarkably enduring story line of Election 2014: three Democratic senators defying their states' deep red complexion and their president's abysmal approval ratings to stay competitive in races that should have, on paper, been lost long ago.

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:

28 words that Democrats really wish President Obama didn't say today — President Obama was at Northwestern University on Thursday to deliver an economic speech that, he and his team hoped, would lay out the case for why the public is better off today than they were six years ago — even if they didn't feel it in their everday lives.

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, RedState, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Betsy's Page, Hinterland Gazette, National Review and The Daily Caller

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:

Charles Krauthammer: The real reason winning the Senate matters — You can win midterm elections without a positive agenda. You can't win presidential elections that way. It is therefore vitally important for Republicans to win the Senate in 2014. Here's why.

Discussion: National Review

Jonathan Allen / Bloomberg:

Bogus Congressman Said to Get Backstage at Obama Event — An unidentified man posing as a member of Congress made it into a secure area backstage at President Barack Obama's appearance at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner in Washington Sept. 27, according to a White House official.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Hinterland Gazette, Business Insider and Washington Free Beacon

John Fund / National Review:

Obama's Éminence Grise — As the Obama administration crashes and burns, insiders begin to blame Valerie Jarrett. — Are significant chunks of the mainstream media in despair over Barack Obama? This past week, Obama used 60 Minutes to attempt to shift blame for the failure …

Discussion: The PJ Tatler

Fox News:
Panetta unloads on White House for pulling US forces out of Iraq

Discussion: Fox News Insider and Scared Monkeys

Leon Panetta / TIME:
How the White House Misplayed Iraqi Troop Talks

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Speaker.gov, mccain.senate.gov, Lawfare, Power Line, Fox News Insider and “The Lid”

Stephen F. Hayes / Weekly Standard:

The Return of the GOP Hawks — Not that they ever really left. — The Republican flirtation with dovish noninterventionism is over. It wasn't much of a fling. — For five years, we've been hearing that foreign policy and national security issues would split the Republican party.

Discussion: The American Conservative, Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Politico, Hit & Run, OnPolitics, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Moderate Voice, The Daily Caller and ABC News

Sarah Ferris / The Hill:

Ebola becomes political fight — Ebola is becoming an issue for the midterm election campaign, with several Republicans using the spread of the virus to the United States to criticize President Obama's leadership. — Republican lawmakers are accusing Obama of underplaying the threat.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Gabrielle Canon / Mother Jones:
Budget Cuts “Eroded Our Ability to Respond” to Ebola, Says Top Health Official

Discussion: The Daily Beast, BillMoyers.com, The Mahablog, Americans Against the …, Daily Kos, Campaign for America's Future and The Huffington Post

New York Times:
Delay in Dallas Ebola Cleanup as Workers Balk at Task

Discussion: ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Daily Caller, NPR and Washington's Blog

John Stanton / BuzzFeed:
Who's Actually Leading The U.S. Response To The Ebola Epidemic

Discussion: VodkaPundit and CNN

NBC News:

NBC News Freelancer in Africa Diagnosed With Ebola — An American freelance cameraman working for NBC News in Liberia has tested positive for Ebola and will be flown back to the U.S. for treatment.

Discussion: ABC News, CNN, The Huffington Post, The PJ Tatler, Reuters, The Right Scoop, KFOR-TV, Weekly Standard and Instapundit, more at Mediagazer »

Thomas Burr / Salt Lake Tribune:

Despite voter-registration snafu Mitt Romney not shunning GOP — Mix-up » Errant form also lists old address next to warning that false information could be a misdemeanor. — | The Salt Lake Tribune — Washington • Mitt Romney, whose name keeps popping up as a possible three …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Liberaland, Washington Post and OnPolitics

Peter Hamby / CNN:

Could Rand Paul support gay marriage? — Charleston, South Carolina (CNN) — Campus politics aren't always a clear winner for Rand Paul, as he discovered here this week during an appearance at the College of Charleston. — The Kentucky Republican and potential 2016 contender opened …

Discussion: Washington Post and The Daily Caller

Katherine Miller / BuzzFeed: Larry Ellison To Host Republican Fundraiser With Rand Paul

Laura Vozzella / Washington Post:

McAuliffe aide suggested job for senator's daughter if he remained in his seat — RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's chief of staff left a voice-mail message for a Democrat who was on the verge of quitting the General Assembly in June, saying that the senator's daughter might …

Discussion: Hot Air and Talking Points Memo

Elizabeth Campbell / Bloomberg:

You Know It's a Tough Market When Ben Bernanke Can't Refinance — Ben S. Bernanke said the mortgage market is still so tight that he's having a hard time refinancing his own home loan. — The former Federal Reserve chairman, speaking at a conference in Chicago, told moderator Mark Zandi …

Discussion: Weekly Standard, InsideSources, New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal

Sahil Kapur / Talking Points Memo:

Obama: Obamacare A Threat To Freedom On Fox News But It's Working In Reality — President Barack Obama swiped Fox News in a televised speech on Thursday, in which he mounted an aggressive defense of his economic record. — “There's a reason fewer Republicans are preaching doom on deficits …

Discussion: Liberal Values

The White House:
Remarks by the President on the Economy — Northwestern University

Discussion: Power Line, White House.gov Blog, Shakesville, Washington Post, Campaign for America's Future and Eclectablog

Andrew Kaczynski / BuzzFeed:

Joe Biden On His Own Job: “Isn't It A Bitch?” — BIDEN'D. — Vice President Joe Biden joked to Harvard Institute of Politics on Thursday evening about the post of vice president. — “Ain't that a bitch,” Biden said to a student who identified himself as the vice president of the student body.

Discussion: Weekly Standard

Dionne Searcey / New York Times:

Jobless Rate in U.S. Falls Below 6% as Hiring Picks Up — American companies are hiring again at a healthy pace, adding 248,000 jobs in September, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. — The unemployment rate fell to 5.9 percent, the first time it had been below 6 percent since July 2008 …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and Outside the Beltway

Manny Fernandez / New York Times:

Decision Allows Abortion Law, Forcing 13 Texas Clinics to Close — DALLAS — Thirteen abortion clinics in Texas were forced to close immediately after a federal appellate court on Thursday sided with Texas in its yearlong legal battle over its sweeping abortion law and allowed the state …

Discussion: American Prospect, Dallas Morning News and Liberaland

Michael Calderone / The Huffington Post:

How The Washington Post's Carol Leonnig Broke Open The Secret Service Scandal — NEW YORK — With the Secret Service under fire for a series of security lapses in presidential protection, there is one journalist who seems to have all the information. The White House, Congress and even Julia Pierson …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, The Federalist and The Daily Caller, more at Mediagazer »