memeorandum: With growing support from women, Democrats poised for major gains in midterm, new poll shows (David Lauter/Los Angeles Times)

12:40 PM ET, September 26, 2018

Top Items:

Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:

Kavanaugh's ‘choir boy’ image on Fox interview rankles former Yale classmates — On Monday night, Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh said in a nationally televised interview that in his younger years, he was focused on sports, academics and “service projects.”

Discussion: Shareblue Media, National Review, Politico, HuffPost, New Republic, BuzzFeed News, CNBC, RealityChek, Daily Wire, Balloon Juice, Althouse, Splinter, The Week, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CANNONFIRE, USA Today, Law & Crime, Eschaton and The Atlantic

Steve Kiggins / USA Today:

Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford offers Senate four people who corroborate her assault claims — The attorneys for Christine Blasey Ford have sworn and signed declarations from four people who corroborate her claims of sexual assault by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Sean Sullivan / Washington Post:

Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell is GOP choice to question Kavanaugh and accuser at hearing — Republican senators have selected Arizona prosecutor Rachel Mitchell to question Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh and the woman who has accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexually assaulting …

CNN:

Increasingly worried, Trump takes over Kavanaugh defense — Trump torches ‘lousy’ Democrats on Kavanaugh — (CNN)President Donald Trump has grown increasingly dissatisfied with the way Brett Kavanaugh has defended himself in wake of sexual assault allegations that have threatened to derail …

Discussion: Political Wire

New York Times:

In Yale's Culture of Privilege and Alcohol, Her World Converged With Kavanaugh's — Last week, more than 30 years after they graduated from Yale, Deborah Ramirez contacted her old friend James Roche. — Something bad had happened to her during a night of drinking in the residence hall their freshmen year …

Discussion: The Federalist, Politico, The Week, CBS News, CBS Los Angeles, The Colorado Sun, TheBlaze and Vox

Arizona Republic:

Maricopa County prosecutor tapped to lead hearing for Brett Kavanaugh, accuser — Corrections & Clarifications: A previous version of this story had the incorrect last name of Rachel Mitchell. — Rachel Mitchell, a Maricopa County sex crimes prosecutor, will lead questioning …

Discussion: Vox, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post, BloombergQuint, Raw Story, New York Times, United States Senate Committee …, Associated Press, Washington Times and HuffPost

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Feinstein: Kavanaugh misled about grand jury secrecy in Vince Foster probe — The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee is accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of misleading the Senate about his handling of grand jury secrets while working for Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr two decades ago.

Discussion: Political Wire, Daily Kos, CNBC, HuffPost, Shareblue Media, Axios and Townhall

Jia Tolentino / New Yorker:

Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump, and the Things Men Do for Other Men — One of the most notable qualities of the infamous “Access Hollywood” tape, leaked to the Washington Post a month before the 2016 Presidential election, was the bizarre, awkward, three-toddlers-in-a-trenchcoat artificiality …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Bustle

Online NewsHour:
Majority of Americans oppose Kavanaugh nomination if Ford's allegation is true, poll says

Discussion: Shareblue Media

Elana Schor / Politico:
Merkley to seek injunction to stop Kavanaugh vote

Discussion: The Week, Weekly Standard, The Gateway Pundit and The Daily Caller

Politico:
Democrats in the dark on eve of historic Kavanaugh hearing

Discussion: Washington Post, The Resurgent, The American Spectator, Althouse, The Week and AOL

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:
New Poll Finds Americans Deeply Divided By Gender On Kavanaugh Nomination

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Caller, The Week, 89.3 KPCC and Conservative News Today

Associated Press:
The Latest: Trump would prefer faster Kavanaugh confirmation

Discussion: The American Conservative and The Right Scoop

Christal Hayes / USA Today:
Brett Kavanaugh's 1982 calendar being used as evidence against sexual assault allegations

Discussion: The Guardian, Washington Times, The Week, VICE News, Conservative News Today and Daily Wire

Paul Sperry / New York Post:
Eight big problems for Christine Blasey Ford's story

Discussion: Weekly Standard, Vox, ThinkProgress, twitchy.com and HuffPost

Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
The anatomy of a smear — Senate Democrats seeking …

Discussion: The Federalist, ThinkProgress and Business Insider

Elise Viebeck / Washington Post:
Three Yale Law School classmates who endorsed Kavanaugh call for investigation into sexual misconduct claims

Kate Riga / Talking Points Memo:
Avenatti Client Emerges With New Allegations Against Kavanaugh

Discussion: CNBC, National Review and Balloon Juice

CBS News:
Michael Avenatti says new Brett Kavanaugh accuser will come forward before Thursday

Discussion: Townhall

Jocelyn Noveck / Associated Press:
AP Interview: Hill says Kavanaugh isn't a #MeToo referendum

Discussion: theGrio and NTK Network

BostonGlobe.com:
Republicans are adopting Trump's tactics in Kavanaugh battle

Discussion: Washington Post

Axios: Kavanaugh's second accuser willing to testify before Congress

Politico:
POLITICO Playbook: 3 things to watch today

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Washington Free Beacon and The Daily Caller

Adam J. White / Weekly Standard:
The Democrats' “Flight 93” Nomination

Discussion: Townhall

David Barden / HuffPost: Tucker Carlson Criticizes Rape Victims Who Don't Report: 'You're Part Of The Problem'

Willa Frej / HuffPost:
Judiciary Committee Republicans Are Dodging Deborah Ramirez, Attorney Says

Discussion: The Hill, Hot Air, Conservative News Today and Splinter

Margot Cleveland / Washington Examiner:
Vulnerable Democrats face Kavanaugh crisis: Vote for decency or smears

Discussion: Power Line

Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball:

New Polls: Democrats in Decent Shape Across the Frost Belt — Democratic Senate incumbents with big leads in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin; very close races in Indiana Senate and Ohio governor; Scott Walker behind in Wisconsin — A series of new Reuters/Ipsos/University …

Discussion: Axios

David Lauter / Los Angeles Times:

With growing support from women, Democrats poised for major gains in midterm, new poll shows … Boosted by growing support among suburban women and widespread antipathy toward President Trump, Democrats approach the midterm election poised to make major gains nationwide, a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll shows.

Discussion: Mother Jones and POLITICUSUSA

Ben Kamisar / NBC News:

NBC News poll: Ohio gubernatorial race tied, Brown leads big in Senate race — The race to replace outgoing Gov. John Kasich is in a dead heat weeks before Election Day. — WASHINGTON — Ohio's open governor's race is tied, new polling from NBC News/Marist College shows …

Discussion: Reuters and NTK Network

Daniel Chaitin / Washington Examiner:

H.R. McMaster: ‘Wholly appropriate’ for Gary Cohn to remove letter from Trump's desk — Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster on Tuesday defended his ex-White House colleague Gary Cohn for removing a trade-related document from President's Trump. — “I know about that incident …

Hayley Miller / HuffPost:

Nikki Haley: United Nations Laughter Not A Diss But A Sign Of Respect For Trump's ‘Honesty’ — World leaders were “falling over themselves to get a picture with him,” the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said. — U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Wednesday claimed …

Discussion: IJR, Mashable and Fox News

Michael Schwirtz / New York Times:
Deliberate or Not, Trump's Speech Draws Laughter at the U.N.

Discussion: Washington Post, Breitbart, Quartz, Outside the Beltway, IJR and Daily Kos

Roger Kimball / American Greatness: Trump's Triumph at the U.N.

Jaclyn Peiser / New York Times:

Website Revs Up, With New York Magazine's Help, to Cover More Local News — With the once robust metropolitan news coverage in New York dwindling, a new nonprofit website called The City is teaming up with New York magazine in hopes of replacing some of that lost local accountability and investigative journalism.

more at Mediagazer »

Jon Henley / The Guardian:

Distracted Boyfriend meme is sexist, rules Swedish ad watchdog — Popular image of man ogling another woman deemed degrading and discriminatory — The popular Distracted Boyfriend meme, based on a photo of a man turning away from his outraged girlfriend to stare admiringly at another woman …

Discussion: Mashable and The Local

Melanie Zanona / The Hill:

Republicans start to pull plug on members — Republicans are performing critical triage to their midterm spending strategy as they seek to hold on to their House majority in a difficult midterm year. — The House GOP's campaign arm pulled the plug on its remaining ad buys last week …

Discussion: POLITICUSUSA

Ben Jacobs / The Guardian:
Tennessee debate highlights uphill battle as Democrats eye Senate majority

Discussion: CNN

USA Today:

Rosenstein saga shows need to protect Mueller — Threshold question is not whether it's likely President Trump would fire the special counsel, but whether it's possible: Our view — Many Republicans, it seems, would rather be waterboarded than take up legislation to protect special counsel …

Matt Zapotosky / Washington Post:
Rod Rosenstein's departure was imminent. Now he likely survives until after the midterms, officials say

Discussion: Shakesville, Wall Street Journal, HuffPost, The Week and Mediaite

Will Oremus / Slate:

The Temptation of Apple News — The world's most valuable company is wooing the media with a human touch and a huge audience. One thing it hasn't delivered: money. — In the years leading up to the 2016 U.S. election, Facebook became the world's de facto morning newspaper—and everyone wanted to land on A1.

more at Mediagazer »

Emily Bazelon / New York Times:

Will Florida's Ex-Felons Finally Regain the Right to Vote? — A referendum on the November ballot in Florida would re-enfranchise 1.5 million of citizens — and could change the state's electorate. — Twenty-five years ago, when he was a sophomore at Ohio State, Neil Volz started volunteering for his state senator, Bob Ney.

Adam Smith / Tampa Bay Times:

Ron DeSantis' wobbly campaign is running out of time to show he's ready for big leagues — The Republican gubernatorial nominee is struggling to gain traction in the general election — Ron DeSantis took a few friendly questions from Republican business owners in Oldsmar Tuesday during …