TheDC Morning: Zinger beware!

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) Zinger beware! — Team Romney has leaked to the press that they are prepping their candidate with zingers to use against President Obama in the upcoming presidential debates, the first of which takes place Wednesday. But The Daily Caller News Foundation’s Jim Antle reminds us that it is the zinger who sometimes get zinged:

“In terms of effectiveness, rehearsed lines have a mixed track record in election year debates. Reagan had some of the most successful. Not only did he brush off Carter’s attacks on his 1965 opposition to Medicare with “there you go again,” but he asked the question that helped frame the 1980 presidential race: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” … As the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2000, Joe Lieberman walked into a similar trap when he tried to zing Dick Cheney during their debate. Mentioning the money Cheney had earned from Halliburton, Lieberman joked, ‘I can tell my wife is out there, she wants me to go out in the private sector.’ Cheney replied, ‘I’m going to try to help you do that, Joe.'”

2.) Spin class — When in trouble, spin like there is no tomorrow. That seems to be the Obama administration’s philosophy. TheDC’s Neil Munro reports:

“White House officials are now insisting that the President has always treated the Sept. 11 Benghazi strike as a terrorist attack by jihadis. ‘Well, first of all, Candy, as you know, the president called it an act of terror the day after it happened,’ President Barack Obama’s chief campaign strategist told CNN’s Candy Crowley Sept. 30. The new pitch is the administration’s third effort to spin the shocking Sept. 11 attack, which threatens to discredit President Barack Obama’s campaign-trail claim to foreign-policy competence.'”

Sure, the president called the attack an act of terror from the start — and Obamacare won’t cost America a penny.

3.) A bad ad or a rad ad?  — Some may call it a thing of beauty, others a study in insanity. But everyone can agree that the new ad by the Republican running to lose against House Minority Nancy Pelosi is at least, well, “interesting.” TheDC’s Alexis Levinson reports

“House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi conducts ritual animal sacrifices and leads a zombie army. Or at least a more wrinkled Pelosi look-alike does so in a new ad from her Republican opponent John Dennis …The ad shows a somewhat gruesome scene filled with blood-covered zombies, some with yellow eyes and sharp teeth, clustered around a lamb. One of the zombies is clasping a knife over the lamb while the other members of the living dead chant what sounds like ‘Pelosi.'”

And this was the tame part of the ad. Watch it in full to see it in all its gory, err, glory.

4.) Fast and even more furious — More details of the Obama administration’s Operation Fast and Furious have been revealed, reports TheDC’s Matthew Boyle:

“The Spanish language television news network Univision unleashed a bombshell investigative report on Operation Fast and Furious Sunday evening, finding that in January 2010 drug cartel hit men slaughtered students with weapons the United States government allowed to flow to them across the Mexican border. ‘On January 30, 2010, a commando of at least 20 hit men parked themselves outside a birthday party of high school and college students in Villas de Salvarcar, Ciudad Juarez,’ according to a version of the Univision report in English, on the ABC News website. ‘Near midnight, the assassins, later identified as hired guns for the Mexican cartel La Linea, broke into a one-story house and opened fire on a gathering of nearly 60 teenagers. Outside, lookouts gunned down a screaming neighbor and several students who had managed to escape. Fourteen young men and women were killed, and 12 more were wounded before the hit men finally fled.'”

5.) Poll of the Day: The race for the 15% –Rasmussen asks likely voters how certain they are they will vote for their favored candidate: 43% said they are certain they will vote for Romney, 42% said they are certain they will vote for President Obama, while 15% are either uncommitted or are open to switching from the candidate they are leaning towards.

6.) Tweet of Yesterday Jonah Goldberg: Thank God David Gregory grilled Christie about politico’s review of his month old convention speech. Such a pressing issue in this election.

VIDEO: Chris Christie tells NBC’s David Gregory, “I wish you guys were as tough on the president”

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Jamie Weinstein