News Nuggets 1091

DAYLEE PICTURE: A seagull off of Canary Wharf in London.  From the Atlantic.

UP-FRONT POLITICAL NUGGET!!
President Obama’s Executive Power Grab (Romano and Klaidman) from Newsweek 
A very interesting inside look at what sounds like a key moment in Obama's administration!
"The Obama power play that could forever change the way Washington works. ... For months, Obama had been frustrated with congressional gridlock, which had intensified after Republicans took control of the House in January. And yet he’d always held out hope. Not anymore. The Old Obama had pledged to usher in a golden age of bipartisan cooperation, then spent the first two and a half years of his tenure trying to meet the opposition in the middle. But the New Obama was fed up. Disillusioned. And he was done letting Congress stonewall his agenda."

Former Israeli Spymaster: We Need To Talk to Iran (Laura Rozen) fro Al Monitor
"[For Romney and Republicans] Negotiating with Iran is perceived as a sign of beginning to forsake Israel. That is where I think the basic difference is between Romney and Obama. What Romney is doing is mortally destroying any chance of a resolution without war. "

Europe’s ‘Lost Generation’ Costs $200 Billion per Year and Growing from Americablog
"There’s a serious and growing problem in Europe among the under thirty year olds who are not working. In what is referred to as not in employment, education or training (known as Neets) the financial cost is enormous, but as we know, the financial costs are only part of the problem."

A Country United, for a Change (David Ignatius) from the Washington Post 
"There are moments when you can glimpse an emerging bipartisan consensus on foreign policy, and Monday night’s presidential debate was one of them: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney knew they were speaking to a war-weary country and talked in nearly identical terms about bringing troops home, avoiding new conflicts — and countering terrorism without embracing a “global war.”"

How Romney Avoided a Real Foreign Policy Debate (Fred Kaplan) from Slate 
"He knew he was in over his head. So he decided not to play."

Romney Says He’s Winning — It’s a Bluff (Jonathan Chait) from New York Magazine
"Obama’s lead is narrow — narrow enough that the polling might well be wrong and Romney could win. But he is leading, his lead is not declining, and the widespread perception that Romney is pulling ahead is Romney’s campaign suckering the press corps with a confidence game."

Obama Holds Narrow Edge Over Mitt Romney With Presidential Election Two Weeks Away: Poll from Reuters via the Huffington Post
"Obama maintains a larger advantage in the state-by-state battle that will determine the outcome of the election. Ipsos projects that Obama holds an edge in the most hotly contested states, including Florida, Virginia and Ohio, and is likely to win by a relatively comfortable margin of 322 electoral votes to 206 electoral votes."

Uncertainty Clouds Polling, but Obama Remains Electoral College Favorite (Nate Silver) from the New York Times
"There is bad news for Mr. Romney as well, however. The “new normal” of the presidential campaign is considerably more favorable for him than the environment before the first debate, in Denver. However, it is one in which he still seems to be trailing, by perhaps 2 percentage points, in the states that are most vital in the Electoral College."

Why Registered Voter Screens Matter—They've Been More Accurate (Markos Moulitsas) from Daily Kos
"... there's another factor—much of that deadlocked national polling is among likely voters. Among registered voters, most of those polls gives President Barack Obama decent advantages. Thus, the operating theory is that a significant portion of Democrats will sit out the race because of a lack of intensity. So for example, the latest NBC/WSJ poll yesterday had the presidential race deadlocked 47-47 among likely voters, but gave Obama a comfortable 49-44 lead among registered voters. Different pollsters have different ways to filter out those they deem unlikely to vote. But bottom line, the registered voter screens have historically been more accurate."

Crucial News for Obama on Ohio (Josh Marshall) from Talking Points Memo 
"We’ve only had a few premium, live caller, cell/landline polls. And this is one of them. This is a significant tightening against CBS/Quinnipiac’s last poll. But it points to Obama holding on to a real lead in this critical state."

Obama draws 70 percent of Latinos from Politico
"Two polls show the president's support among Latino voters continues to hover at the high mark."