One reason the Benghazi controversy has always seemed so bogus to me is that I’ve never bought the core premise, which is that the administration had any clear political reason or advantage to gain by claiming the attack was tied to the video as opposed to a pre-planned assault. (Here’s our look at how Benghazi evolved into a GOP talking point.) In addition to a great number of hacks peddling this idea, some people I respect a great deal seem to credit the idea too. But again, it doesn’t add up to me.
However that may be, the factual premise itself now seems to be coming apart. In this morning’s Washington Post, David Ignatius comes forward with new evidence suggesting that Susan Rice’s now notorious claims about the centrality of the video were pretty much verbatim from CIA talking points prepared that day for administration officials. Read More
Pro-Obama SuperPac PrioritiesUSA returns to the Bain attack for the final push to November.
If you’re a Republican and Rasmussen has you down by 8, you’re losing.
For years the historian in me has been fascinating by the history of map-making. After the 2004 election I actually briefly shopped a book proposal for a book partly on the topic. But last weekend TPM IdeaLab’s Carl Franzen was the only reporter at a conference of digital mapmakers in Portland, Oregon. And here’s the first in a three part series he’s writing about it. Check it out.
Eric Lach explores the right’s Benghazi coverup theory.
More on case of the voter registration forms thrown into a dumpster in Virginia — and on the connections between the man charged and the Republican Party.
Benjy Sarlin and Pema Levy report from today’s Obama rally in northern Virginia, where the campaign’s focus was on women, women, women.