News Nuggets 1040

DAYLEE PICTURE: Monkeys in Indonesia.  From National Geographic.

Desperation in Damascus, Panic in Tehran (Ali Alfoneh) from The Commentator
"The more desperate the situation in Damascus, the more Tehran panics, distancing itself further away."

Unsold Goods Keep Piling Up as China Tries to Spur Growth from the New York Times
"The severity of China’s inventory overhang has been carefully masked by the blocking or adjusting of economic data by the Chinese government — all part of an effort to prop up confidence in its economy."

Diaoyu in Our Heart: The Revealing Contradictions of Chinese Nationalism (Helen Gao) from the Atlantic
"The same patriotic feelings that send Chinese to rally for national sovereignty over disputed islands might also explain their surprising and apparently conflicting answers to an online discussion."

The Life and Death of a Great Russian City: The Tragic Plot to Destroy Nizhny Novgorod's Centuries-old Historic City Center from Foreign Policy Magazine
"The master plan was eventually canceled and for a few more decades Gorky, which in the Perestroika years was given back its original name, Nizhny Novgorod, continued to charm its inhabitants. Rare in Soviet times, that sort of victory of culture and history over business and development is nearly unheard of today."

Study Finds Big Loss in Income for Those Near Retirement from the New York Times
"The typical American between the ages of 55 and 64 has a household income almost 10 percent less than it was when the recovery began three years ago."

Quinnipiac/CBS/NYT Poll: Swing state voters trust Obama on Medicare (Joan McCarter) from Daily Kos
"Mitt Romney might have gotten the far-right off his back by allowing himself to be bullied into choosing Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential nominee, but that's about all he gained with the pick. New polling from  Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News in three swing states—Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin—show that Medicare has become one of the three key issues in this election, and President Obama has a strong advantage there."

Battleground Snapshot: The Race in the Electoral College Isn't Tightening from Daily Kos
"So do this week's numbers tell us? That the only place the Romney ticket got a legitimate Ryan bounce was in his home state of Wisconsin. Other than that, there's little here to be worried about, and plenty to be excited about."

The above article is in response to this item:
Electoral College Prediction Model Points To A Mitt Romney Win In 2012 (Matt Ferner) from the Huffington Post
"To predict the race's outcome, the model uses economic indicators from all 50 states and it shows 320 electoral votes for Romney and 218 for Obama, according to The Associated Press. The model also suggests that Romney will win every state currently considered a swing state which includes Florida, Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire and Colorado."
I view this model as fundamentally flawed on two fronts: first, that its focus on economic indicators since 1980 can't adequately account for people's views during the Great Recession we're in right now. There is just no comparison -- and I think most Americans are making fundamentally different assessments about the candidates than they might during a normal economic downturn.  Second, as the Daily Kos item suggests, I don't think there is any way Romney is taking all those states. Period.

All the Single Ladies (Charles Blow) from the New York Times
"After listening to Republican politicians and their proxies on TV and radio, I'm left wondering why any women vote for Republicans."

Early Warning: Ryan Medicare Plan Imperils Battleground Republicans from the Carville-Greenberg Memo
"...at this moment, our latest battleground survey in the 54 most vulnerable Republican-held districts -- many of the same Republicans who 'shellacked' us in 2010 -- shows that GOP incumbents are paying a heavy price for misreading the 2010 election results and overreaching on a conservative Paul Ryan agenda that voters did not mandate.""

GOP Grassroots Furious at Romney Over Akin, Abortion Rape Exception (Michelle Goldberg) from the Daily Beast
"Anti-abortion activists are incensed at the candidate’s claim that he wouldn’t ban abortion for victims of rape—and at his rejection of Todd Akin, who’s trying to capitalize on that anger with a fundraising push."

The GOP Had the Todd Akin ‘Legitimate Rape’ Debacle Coming (Michael Tomasky) from the Daily Beast
"The average American, courtesy of Todd Akin, is now learning that banning abortion for rape or incest victims is an official GOP platform. But it was only a matter of time before voters learned how extreme the party has become—and now Romney must deal with the fallout."

Akin Puts GOP’s Chance Of Regaining Senate Majority At Legitimate Risk—But Not For The Reasons You Might Think (Brian Beutler) from Talking Points Memo
"Missouri should’ve been a relative gimme for Republicans. But for strategic purposes, Akin was enough of a liability before the legitimate rape fiasco that Republicans had to approach the map under the assumption that McCaskill would hold on. That’s not a friendly map."

MO-SEN: Election 2012: Missouri Senate: Missouri Senate: McCaskill (D) 48%, Akin (R) 38% from Rasmussen Reports
"What a difference one TV interview can make. Embattled Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill has now jumped to a 10-point lead over her Republican challenger, Congressman Todd Akin, in Missouri’s U.S. Senate race. Most Missouri Republicans want Akin to quit the race while most Missouri Democrats want him to stay."