memeorandum: GOP senator Susan Collins: Why I cannot support Trump (Susan Collins/Washington Post)

8:55 AM ET, August 9, 2016

Top Items:

GOP senator Susan Collins: Why I cannot support Trump — The writer, a Republican, represents Maine in the Senate. — I will not be voting for Donald Trump for president. This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican. But Donald Trump does not reflect historical …

Matt Latimer / New York Times:
Mike Pence Should Get Donald Trump to Withdraw

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, The Awl - Medium and Althouse

Sarah Ellison / Vanity Fair:

Exclusive: Inside the Fox News Bunker — In the subterranean newsroom, fear is everywhere. “Hacking was bad,” says one person familiar with the internal investigation. “This is arguably worse.” — Few people in the news business have valued secrecy quite like Roger Ailes, the former C.E.O. of Fox News.

Discussion: New York Magazine, The Week, AOL, Politicus USA, Media Matters for America and TVNewser, more at Mediagazer »

Gabriel Sherman / New York Magazine:

Fox News Host Andrea Tantaros Says She Was Taken Off the Air After Making Sexual-Harassment Claims Against Roger Ailes — Fox News' senior executives have said they were unaware of sexual-harassment allegations against Roger Ailes before former anchor Gretchen Carlson filed a lawsuit against him in July.

Discussion: Business Insider, The Week, BuzzFeed, BizPac Review, Mediaite, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, Politico, TVNewser, Talking Points Memo, Independent Journal Review, Politicus USA, New York Times, Raw Story and Media Matters for America, more at Mediagazer »

Dylan Byers / CNNMoney:
Fox News staff feared Roger Ailes was monitoring them

Discussion: Mediaite

NBC News:

Poll: Clinton Opens Up Double-Digit Lead Over Trump — Hillary Clinton now holds a 10-point lead over Donald Trump, 51 percent to 41 percent, according to results from the latest NBC News| SurveyMonkey Weekly Election Tracking poll — Clinton's double-digit lead is up from an 8-point gap last week.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Week and Political Wire

Stuart Rothenberg / Washington Post:

Donald Trump needs a miracle to win — Three months from now, with the 2016 presidential election in the rear-view mirror, we will look back and agree that the presidential election was over on Aug. 9th. — Of course, it is politically incorrect to say that the die is cast.

Discussion: The New Civil Rights Movement and New York Post

Hadas Gold / Politico:

Clinton-Trump debate sites plan for a third podium — The venues that will host the presidential debates are drawing up plans for a three-person forum that would provide a lectern for a third-party candidate to stand on stage next to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Discussion: ABC News, The Week, Political Wire and New York Times

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:
Georgia poll: Clinton leads by 7 points

Discussion: Politico, The Week, Fox News Insider and Instapundit

James Hohmann / Washington Post:
The Daily 202: Trump's floor in the polls is probably higher than you think

Discussion: National Review and The Hill

Steven Shepard / Politico:
Poll: Clinton leads by 13 points among likely voters

Discussion: The BRAD BLOG and ABC News

Monmouth University:
Monmouth University Polling Institute

Discussion: Bloomberg, Electoral-vote.com, The Week, Washington Examiner, Daily Wire, CBS Pittsburgh, Washington Post, RedState, The National Interest, Hot Air, Washington Times, USA Today, CNBC, The New Civil Rights Movement, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

David E. Sanger / New York Times:

50 G.O.P. Officials Warn Donald Trump Would Put Nation's Security ‘at Risk’ — Fifty of the nation's most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter declaring that Donald J. Trump …

Discussion: Bloomberg, USA Today, BizPac Review, Balloon Juice, Guardian, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, The Times of Israel, Vox, The Last Refuge, AOL, The New Civil Rights Movement, RedState, Politico and Washington Post

New York Times:

A Letter From G.O.P. National Security Officials Opposing Donald Trump — Dozens of the nation's most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter saying they will not vote for Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee.

Discussion: The Atlantic, France 24, The Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Occupy Democrats, Vox, Guardian, Washington Post, Washington Free Beacon, Talking Points Memo and CNBC

Louis Nelson / Politico:

Giuliani slams GOP national security officials against Trump — The 50 senior Republican national security officials who signed a letter warning that Donald Trump would “risk our country's national security and well-being” are helping the Manhattan billionaire make his point to the American people, Rudy Giuliani said Tuesday morning.

Discussion: ABC News

Eric Bradner / CNN:
50 GOP national security experts oppose Trump

Discussion: CBS Pittsburgh and Guardian

Tory Dunnan / WPTV:

Orlando shooter's father attends Hillary Clinton rally in Kissimmee — Seddique Mateen seen sitting right behind Clinton — KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Hillary Clinton spoke to a crowd in Kissimmee, just south of Orlando. She was supposed to be talking jobs, but started the speech off paying tribute …

Discussion: Post On Politics, Mediaite, The American Mirror, Washington Free Beacon, The Week, The Last Refuge and twitchy.com

Larry O'Connor / Hot Air:

Orlando terrorist's father endorses Hillary, on display at rally in Florida — Apparently, the father of Omar Mateen, the radical Islamic terrorist who committed the deadliest terror attack on American soil since Sept 11, is a big fan of Hillary Clinton. — Clinton held a rally in Kissimmee …

Discussion: National Review

Bret Stephens / Wall Street Journal:

Sean Hannity's Veneration of Ignorance — The right's political huckster gives Al Sharpton a run for his money. — It was probably inevitable that Donald Trump and his media munchkins would alight on the stab-in-the-back theory to explain his probable defeat in November.

Discussion: Mediaite

Brendan Gauthier / Salon:
Philly elections inspector trounces Sean Hannity for “absurd & personally insulting” voter fraud conspiracy theory

Discussion: The American Spectator, Mother Jones, BizPac Review, Mediaite, Media Matters for America and RealClearPolitics

Fox News:

Parents of 2 Benghazi victims sue Hillary Clinton for wrongful death, defamation — The parents of two of the four Americans who died in the Benghazi attack in 2012 filed a lawsuit Monday against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, alleging her “reckless handling” of classified information contributed to their deaths.

Discussion: Pamela Geller, John Hawkins' Right Wing News, BizPac Review and CANNONFIRE

Pete Williams / NBC News:
Two Benghazi Parents Sue Hillary Clinton for Wrongful Death, Defamation

Discussion: AOL

Danielle Paquette / Washington Post:

Ivanka Trump champions working moms - except the ones who design her clothes — On the last day of the Republican National Convention in July, Ivanka Trump strode across the stage in a blush-toned dress from her namesake label. Then she shattered party norms, pledging that her father would revolutionize support for working mothers.

Discussion: NO QUARTER USA NET, AOL and Daily Kos

Allegra Kirkland / Talking Points Memo:
Despite Pro-Family Rhetoric, No Paid Leave For Makers Of Ivanka Trump's Line

Discussion: alan.com and Hullabaloo

Harper's BAZAAR:
Growing Up Trump: Ivanka Trump Tells All

Discussion: Washington Post, Ivanka Trump, AOL and Independent Journal Review

Adam Pearce / New York Times:

Donors for Bush, Kasich and Christie Are Turning to Clinton More Than to Trump — People who donated to establishment Republican candidates in the primary season are more likely to give money to Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, than to their own party's candidate, Donald J. Trump.

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

Clinton's email server did not lead to an Iranian scientist's death — Despite what you might read on Donald Trump's twitter feed, the Iranian execution of a nuclear scientist who defected to the United States and then changed his mind was not caused by Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Infowars, Fox News, Taylor Marsh, BuzzFeed, Politicus USA, Business Insider, Mediaite, New Urban Legends, Political Insider blog, National Review, New York Times, Hot Air and AFF

David Weigel / Washington Post:
Armed with junk science and old photos, critics question #HillarysHealth

Michael Kinsley / Vanity Fair:

Donald Trump and the Limits of Data Journalism — As the Internet changes journalism, one clear trend is a focus on data, championed by the likes of Vox's Ezra Klein and The New York Times's Nate Cohn. But not every Venn diagram contains something worth reporting.

Discussion: bradford-delong.com

Jesse Byrnes / The Hill:

Florida GOP spokesman leaving job over Trump — A top Florida Republican Party official said Monday he is quitting over presidential nominee Donald Trump — , according to multiple reports. — Wadi Gaitan, the chief spokesman for the Florida GOP who is Hispanic, is leaving his post …

Discussion: Washington Post, Florida Politics and National Review