TWO UP-FRONT POLLING NUGGETS!!
1. Romney Campaign Admits It: They're Losing (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos
"At their convention, Obama campaign officials were leaking news to certain reporters that their internals were showing Obama up nine points in their daily trackers. It didn't get broad attention because 1) it seemed a bit crazy, and 2) it doesn't fit the narrative that this is a close race. Now, we're hearing that conservatives are also seeing Obama Ohio leads in the "high single digits"." ... And here's the thing -- with Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania currently uncontested, Obama could lose every other close battleground state (Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Virginia) and still win with 271 electoral votes as long as he carries Ohio. Of those states, Obama trails only North Carolina. (Or did. We need new polling to see if the convention boosted him there as well.)"
2. Conventions May Put Obama in Front-Runner’s Position (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"Mr. Obama had another strong day in the polls on Saturday, making further gains in each of four national tracking polls. The question now is not whether Mr. Obama will get a bounce in the polls, but how substantial it will be. Some of the data, in fact, suggests that the conventions may have changed the composition of the race, making Mr. Obama a reasonably clear favorite as we enter the stretch run of the campaign. ... On average between the four polls, it appears that Mr. Obama must have held about an eight-point lead since Mr. Clinton’s speech in order to have gained so much ground so quickly."
China Slower Output Gains Complicate Easing Policies from Bloomberg News
"China’s industrial output grew at the slowest pace in three years and President Hu Jintao said economic expansion faces “notable downward pressure,” signaling that officials may need to add further to stimulus after approving subway and road projects. ... The rebound in inflation, excess capacity in some industries and banks’ bad loan risks from past monetary easing highlight the potential cost of ramping up stimulus efforts."
Worldview: The President's Global Report Card (Trudy Rubin) from the Philadelphia Inquirer
"Obama's foreign-policy record is dogged by mixed grades and unfinished business. But the Republican attack is blunted by a lack of foreign-policy credibility."
A Changing of the Guard (Fred Kaplan) from Slate
"The conventions these past two weeks—and particularly the final speeches Thursday night—have cemented the fact that the Democratic party is now the party of national-security policy; not just a wise or thoughtful foreign and military policy, but any kind of thinking whatsoever about matters beyond the water’s edge."
New Rules (Thomas Friedman) from the New York Times
"... if you just “work hard and play by the rules” you should expect that the American system will deliver you a decent life and a chance for your children to have a better one. That mantra really resonates with me and, I am sure, with many voters. There is just one problem: It’s out of date. The truth is, if you want a decent job that will lead to a decent life today you have to work harder, regularly reinvent yourself, obtain at least some form of postsecondary education, make sure that you’re engaged in lifelong learning and play by the rules."
A More Religious World (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post
"...the real news is that God is having a strong millennium, according to some fascinating poll results from the Pew Research Center. The data show that even as the developing world is getting more modern, it is also getting more religious, with especially sharp gains for both Christians and Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa."
‘Mea Maxima Culpa’ Reveals What the Catholic Church Knew (Barbie Latza Nadeau) from the Daily Beast
"A chilling documentary about the Vatican’s sexual-abuse scandal gives voice to its victims. Barbie Latza Nadeau got an early look at the film the Holy See doesn’t want you to see."
The Give and Take of America (Colbert King) from the Washington Post
"...for those makers convened in Tampa, the United States is in danger of being overrun by, as Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan put it in an appearance at the Heritage Foundation last fall, “a net majority of takers.” And who, pray tell, are those good-for-nothing takers who are nothing but costs to the makers?"
The Ghost of George W. Bush (Peter Beinart) from the Daily Beast
"Why Dubya will decide the winner this fall."
From Denial to Anger: Wingnuts v. the American People (Mark Kleiman) from the Reality-Based Community
"...it’s good to see a faction of the right-wing commentariat pivot from pretending that Clint Eastwood gave a great speech and the Democrats had a bad convention – while explaining that the polling results showing otherwise are rigged – to trying to figure out why their guy is losing an election they thought was a tap-in, and still think should by rights be a tap-in. They’ve moved on from Denial to Anger."
Krugman: Republican Base is ‘Elderly White People Arguing with Empty Chairs’ from Raw Story
"During a Sunday panel segment on ABC News, Krugman pointed out that Clint Eastwood’s bizarre conversation with an empty chair at the Republican National Convention last month was illustrative of the party’s base."
Forecast for GOP Senate Takeover: More Clouds from Politico
"Even Republicans are saying it: The GOP Senate takeover they all thought was almost a sure thing a year ago now looks like a coin flip at best."
MASTERPIECE PAINTING NUGGET!!
The Lost Renoir Painting Worth $100,000 Unwittingly Bought for $7 at Flea Market... and the Buyer Only Wanted the Frame! from the Daily Mail [of the UK]
"A Virginia woman stands to become $100,000 richer after unwittingly purchasing a lost Renoir painting for $7 at a flea market. The Shenadoah Valley resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the painting along with a plastic cow from a market a year and a half ago and was going to remove the landscape painting from its frame when her mother advised her to get it checked by an expert."
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