memeorandum: PENTAGON READYING FOR LONG WAR IN IRAQ, SYRIA (Associated Press)

10:10 PM ET, October 17, 2014

Top Items:

Jake Tapper / CNN:

First on CNN: Obama will name Ron Klain as Ebola Czar — Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama will appoint Ron Klain his “Ebola czar,” knowledgeable sources tell CNN. — The president on Thursday signaled his openness to the idea to have one individual coordinating the entire federal response …

Discussion: Mediaite, Washington Post, Politico, Christian Science Monitor, The Daily Caller, Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, Daily Kos, ThinkProgress, Gawker, Althouse, Business Insider, American Spectator, Mashable, Talking Points Memo, The Verge, Associated Press, Patterico's Pontifications and FOX News Radio

David McCabe / The Hill:

GOP blasts Obama Ebola czar pick — No sooner had the White House announced that it had selected Ron Klain to coordinate the administration's response to concerns about the Ebola virus than several congressional Republicans were expressing anger about the pick. — Most highlighted Klain's past as a political operative.

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog and Hot Air

Ezra Klein / Vox:
Ron Klain is a great choice for Ebola czar

Discussion: Fox News, Washington Monthly and The Dish

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Vice-Presidential Aide to Lead Ebola Response

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, JustOneMinute, Outside the Beltway, The Hugh Hewitt Show and Fox News

Agence France-Presse:
Obama names ‘Ebola czar’

Discussion: New York Magazine

Belizean:

Belize Confirms Patient With Ebola Symptoms On Cruise Ship Off Its Coast — Reports tonight are that two individuals possibly infected with the Ebola virus are in Belizean waters. Local TV station Channel 7 monitored in the capital City Of Belmopan tonight, reported having credible reports …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Gateway Pundit

CBS News:
Public confidence in CDC nosedives, poll finds

Discussion: Hot Air, Washington Post and Fox News

Washington Post:
Cruise ship carrying quarantined Texas hospital worker denied entry by Mexico

Discussion: New York Times, Hot Air, Gawker, USA Today and Shakesville

CNN:
Airline contacting people on flights with nurse infected with Ebola

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Jezebel, Guardian and Firedoglake

John Bacon / USA Today:
Nurse with Ebola: 'I'm doing really well'

Discussion: NY Daily News, Gawker and New York Magazine

Katie Zezima / Washington Post:

President Obama's credit card got rejected last month. Here's what happened next. — Presidents, they're just like us — their credit cards get declined. — President Obama's credit card was rejected last month at a restaurant in New York. — “I went to a restaurant up in New York when I was …

Discussion: New York Magazine

Jeffrey Sparshott / Wall Street Journal:

Obama: ‘My Credit Card Was Rejected’ — In what must have been an awkward moment for everyone involved, President Barack Obama said his credit card was declined at a New York City restaurant last month. — “My credit card was rejected. It turned out I guess I don't use it enough,” …

Discussion: JustOneMinute

Luke Brinker / Salon:

This may be the worst race-baiting campaign ad since Willie Horton — Fighting to save an embattled congressman, GOP tries to spook voters with menacing images of a black convict — The National Republican Campaign Committee unveiled a race-baiting ad Friday linking the Democratic candidate …

Discussion: Washington Post, Hot Air, ThinkProgress, The Daily Banter, Mediaite, Althouse and DCCC

Paul Waldman / American Prospect:
The Return of the “Different Kind of Republican”

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Mike Allen / Politico:
Paul: African-American leaders may not yet embrace GOP

Discussion: Daily Signal, Daily Kos and Washington Times

Jose A. DelReal / Washington Post:
New GOP ad tries to tie Brad Ashford to felon who went on Omaha killing spree

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Ed O'Keefe / Washington Post:

Michelle Nunn supports Ebola travel ban, reaffirms support for Obama — MACON, Ga. — Add Michelle Nunn to the growing list of Democrats who support a temporary travel ban from West Africa to the United States in order to control the spread of Ebola. — “I support a temporary travel ban …

Discussion: Kay Hagan, Talking Points Memo, Political Insider blog, The Daily Caller, OnPolitics and The Hill

Associated Press:
Rand Paul Contradicts Experts, Says Ebola Is ‘Incredibly’ Contagious

Discussion: Patterico's Pontifications, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Politico:
Why a travel ban wouldn't work

Discussion: The Atlantic Online, National Journal, Weekly Standard, The Hill, Hot Air and Daily Kos

Nate Cohn / New York Times:

Midterm Calculus: Not Following the Midterms? You're Missing All the Fun — Not Following the Midterms? You're Missing All the Fun — I have a confession: I think this is a great election. It's way better than 2012. All around, it might be the best general election in a decade.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Associated Press:

PENTAGON READYING FOR LONG WAR IN IRAQ, SYRIA — WASHINGTON (AP) — Ten weeks into its war against Islamic State extremists, the Pentagon is settling in for the long haul, short on big early successes but still banking on enlisting Syrians and Iraqis to fight the ground war so that U.S. troops won't have to.

Discussion: FOX News Radio

Sylvia Westall / Reuters:
Islamic State training pilots to fly in three jets: Syria monitor

Discussion: Guardian, TalkLeft, Lawfare, Defense One, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post, New York Magazine and The PJ Tatler

Jonathan V. Last / Weekly Standard:

Six Reasons to Panic — As a rule, one should not panic at whatever crisis has momentarily fixed the attention of cable news producers. But the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has migrated to both Europe and America, may be the exception that proves the rule.

Discussion: Hot Air, Ed Driscoll and American Prospect

Pew Research Center for the People and the Press:

Political Polarization in Action: Insights into the 2014 Election from the American Trends Panel — The Pew Research Center has developed a new tool for looking at the 2014 elections - a panel survey that enables us to check in with the same representative group of Americans several times during the course of the campaign.

Discussion: Firedoglake, Daily Signal and Washington Post

Karoli / Latest from Crooks and Liars:

Koch Group Sends Fake Voter Information To Discourage Illinois Voters — They're not satisfied to be breaking the law in North Carolina. Now they're aiming at Illinois. — First it was North Carolina, now it's Illinois. Same pattern of voter suppression by fraudulent mailing, too.

Discussion: Daily Kos

Peter Beinart / The Atlantic Online:

Leon Panetta and Hillary Clinton: It's Complicated — Reporters have focused on how the former defense secretary's memoir praises her and criticizes the president. The book itself tells a different story. — I'm thinking of teaching my journalism students about Leon Panetta's book tour—as a case study in how to game the press.

Discussion: Politico

Justin McCarthy / Gallup:

Kentuckians Now More Likely to Align With GOP — Democratic presence, Obama approval at six-year lows in Kentucky — WASHINGTON, D.C. — A series of disheartening figures could make Democratic Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes' attempt to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all the more difficult.

Discussion: Washington Post and Firedoglake

Rasmussen Reports:
Kentucky Senate: McConnell (R) 52%, Grimes (D) 44%

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and PoliticusUSA

Michael W. Chapman / CNSNews:

Rev. Billy Graham: ‘America is Just as Wicked as Sodom and Gomorrah Ever Were’ — Reverend Billy Graham, arguably the most well-known and respected evangelical preacher of the last 50 years, said in a recently published commentary that America was “founded by men who believed in prayer” …

Discussion: FOX News Radio and Vox Popoli

Evan McMorris-Santoro / BuzzFeed:

Scott Brown: “We Would Not Be Worrying About Ebola Right Now” If Romney Won — The New Hampshire Republican talked with Brian Kilmeade Friday morning about Ebola and the 2012 Republican nominee for president. — WASHINGTON — Scott Brown told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade Friday that Ebola …

Discussion: Balloon Juice and Washington Post

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

How Billionaire Oligarchs Are Becoming Their Own Political Parties — In August, Tom Steyer and seven campaign advisers sat in a small conference room in Coral Gables, Fla., trying to figure out how to save the world. Steyer, who is 57, has a fortune of roughly $1.5 billion …

Discussion: Arkansas Blog, Arkansas Times, BillMoyers.com, Hullabaloo and Washington Post