memeorandum: This Race in Houston Is the Future of Texas Politics (Elaina Plott/The Atlantic)

5:15 PM ET, September 2, 2018

Top Items:

Kathianne Boniello / New York Post:

Paul Manafort's daughter gets a new name … Paul Manafort's daughter is ditching the family name. — Jessica Manafort, 36, filed paperwork in Manhattan Supreme Court late Friday to change her now-infamous surname to Bond, Jess Bond. — “I would like my new name to be Jessica Anne Bond …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Splinter, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Political Wire

Avery Anapol / The Hill:

Manafort's daughter files paperwork to change last name — Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — 's daughter has filed paperwork to officially change her last name, a move that would distance herself from her father, a convicted felon. — Jessica Manafort filed name-change paperwork …

Discussion: Daily Mail

Daily Mail: EXCLUSIVE: Paul Manafort's daughter files petition to change her name to 'separate herself …

Avery Anapol / The Hill:

GoFundMe raises thousands to place billboard of Trump's anti-Cruz tweet in Texas — Activists in Texas have raised thousands of dollars to place an anti-Sen. Ted Cruz — (R-Texas) billboard in the state. — A GoFundMe page organized by USA Latinx, a political group focused …

Discussion: Breitbart, Hullabaloo and Mashable

gofundme.com:

Texas against Ted Cruz — $9,760 of $6,000 goal Raised by 482 people in 1 day — President Donald Trump will be campaigning to help Sen. Ted Cruz win his re-election. A rally is being planned, according to Trump “at the biggest stadium in Texas.” We are planning to display …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, ThinkProgress, Mother Jones, Axios, Political Wire and twitchy.com

Texas Monthly:

Beto O'Rourke Faces New Political Perils As Launch of Fall Campaign Begins — The political momentum seems to be blowing in the direction of Beto O'Rourke. The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate had a video go viral of him defending NFL players' right to take a knee during the national anthem …

Discussion: twitchy.com, The Daily Caller and Snopes.com

New York Times:

Wife of Former N.R.A. President Tapped Accused Russian Agent in Pursuit of Jet Fuel Payday — WASHINGTON — For the young Russian gun rights activist studying in the United States, it would have been an unimaginably rich payday: $1 million to help broker the sale of Russian jet fuel to an American middleman.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, POLITICUSUSA, Daily Kos and Splinter

Melissa Gomez / New York Times:

Mollie Tibbetts's Father Asks That Her Death Not Be Exploited to Promote Racism — The father of Mollie Tibbetts, an Iowa college student whose body was found last month, has called on others to not “callously distort and corrupt” her death to promote a political agenda …

Discussion: Washington Post, Mother Jones and Des Moines Register

Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:
‘We Negroes’ robocall is an attempt to ‘weaponize race’ in Florida campaign, Gillum warns

Discussion: HuffPost, Politico, The Guardian and Althouse

John Bowden / The Hill:
DeSantis: Gillum wants to turn Florida ‘into Venezuela’

Discussion: Breitbart

Annie Linskey / BostonGlobe.com:

Ethnicity not a factor in Elizabeth Warren's rise in law — CAMBRIDGE — The 60-plus Harvard Law School professors who filed into an auditorium-style room on the first floor of Pound Hall on that February 1993 afternoon had a significant question to answer: Should they offer a job to Elizabeth Warren?

Discussion: Axios

Mujib Mashal / New York Times:

‘Time for This War in Afghanistan to End,’ Says Departing U.S. Commander — KABUL, Afghanistan — When American Airlines Flight 77 struck the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Lt. Col. John W. Nicholson Jr. survived by chance. That morning, as dozens of his colleagues were killed …

New York Times: After Deadly Raid, Pentagon Weighs Withdrawing Almost All Commandos From Niger

Jim Brunner / The Seattle Times:

Seahawks owner Paul Allen gives $100,000 to help Republicans keep control of U.S. House — The donation went to Protect the House, a committee headed by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. It's the biggest check Allen has ever sent to a federal political candidate or committee …

Reid J. Epstein / Wall Street Journal:
GOP's Tough Task in House Races: Reach Beyond Trump's Base

Discussion: Raw Story and Political Wire

Mike Allen / Axios:

D.C. dreams of saner times — Amid the Trump-shaming at the emotional Washington National Cathedral sendoff for Sen. John McCain, the televised eulogies and private conversations reflected a broader dream that the United States is still capable of a saner politics.

Discussion: Politico, Raw Story and Breitbart

Tom Boggioni / Raw Story:
Trump fans accuse grieving Meghan McCain of being ‘trashy’ for ‘America was always great’ eulogy comment

Discussion: Breitbart, Sputnik International and LifeZette

Annie Karni / Politico:
Trump allies fume at McCain memorial addresses, urge counterattack

Discussion: Hot Air, Raw Story, Breitbart, Axios and New Yorker

New York Post:

Suspected MS-13 member broke into sleeping girl's bedroom, raped her: cops — A purported member of the MS-13 gang broke into the bedroom of a sleeping 11-year-old Brooklyn girl and raped her in her bed, cops said Saturday as the suspect was taken into custody.

Discussion: Breitbart and Daily Wire

National Journal:

Democrats Blowing Winnable Governor Races — By nominating progressives in battleground states, Democrats are improving the GOP's chances of winning consequential contests. Just look to liberal Maryland as a textbook example. — DUNDALK, Md. — The crowd cheering on Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan …

The Hill:

Obama readies fall campaign push, but some Dems say no thanks — Former President Obama is set to dive into the midterm elections next week with a speech in Illinois where he is expected to urge Democrats across the country to vote — addressing a problem that plagued the party in 2016.

Discussion: twitchy.com, Sputnik International, The Daily Caller and Daily Wire

NBC News:

Full Klobuchar Interview: People ‘afraid of pissing off President Trump’ in Congress — In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) says that it's difficult to reach bipartisan deals during the Trump Administration because Republicans take their cues from the White House.

Elaina Plott / The Atlantic:

This Race in Houston Is the Future of Texas Politics — HOUSTON—On a Saturday morning in Houston, the high was 94 degrees with a chance of rain. It was hardly friendly weather for canvassing—the door-knocking, yard sign-delivering, get-out-the-vote efforts that define a politician's grassroots network.

Steven Kurutz / New York Times:

How to Retire in Your 30s With $1 Million in the Bank — Fed up with their high-pressure jobs, some millennials are quitting and embracing the FIRE movement. (It stands for financial independence, retire early). — Carl Jensen experienced what he calls “the awakening” sometime around 2012.

Discussion: Althouse

Associated Press:

Kansas high court rules grand jury must be convened to investigate Kris Kobach … A grand jury must be convened to investigate whether Republican gubernatorial candidate and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach intentionally failed to register voters in 2016, the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled.

Discussion: The Mahablog

Peter Hancock / The Lawrence Journal-World:
Kansas Supreme Court agrees Douglas County must summon grand jury to investigate Kobach

Discussion: Mother Jones, Vox, POLITICUSUSA, Law & Crime and Talking Points Memo

Yahoo:

Former chief rabbi warns of ‘existential threat’ to UK Jews — LONDON (AP) — Britain's former chief rabbi has warned that Jewish people are thinking about leaving the country because of anti-Semitism. — Jonathan Sacks told the BBC on Sunday that for the first time in the 362 years Jews …