TheDC Morning: Alan Grayson, political idiot

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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1.) Alan Grayson, political idiot — Former Florida Rep. Alan Grayson looks like he may return to Congress. But just to make his task harder, he held a fundraiser in Hollywood where comedians let rape jokes fly. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:

“At a fundraiser in Hollywood Sunday night, former Democratic Florida Rep. Alan Grayson raised money for his congressional campaign off of rape jokes. Grayson, an acerbically partisan one-term congressman who is hoping to return to the House two years after being voted out of office, was in attendance at his fundraiser at the Hollywood Improv, where comedians, including Sarah Silverman, spat out jokes in support of Grayson’s campaign. …  Melodramatically striding to the stage to Enya’s ‘Only Time,’ Silverman declared to much laughter as the music faded, ‘Wow. God I love that song — I was a brutally raped to that song.’ ‘Didn’t ruin it for me,’ she added. Silverman went on to explain that while rape is perhaps the most ‘heinous crime imaginable,’ rape jokes are a ‘hidden gem in comedy.’ ‘Rape jokes are great because they make a comedian seem very edgy and very dangerous,’ she said. Plus, she added, ‘who’s going to complain?'”

It should be noted that the comedians did nothing wrong. This is what comedians do — push the edge of acceptability. But for a congressional candidate to raise money off a night full of rape jokes? That doesn’t strike TheDC Morning as politically astute, especially when you’ve already raised 33 times more money than your Republican opponent, as Grayson has according to the AP.

2.) A time for a president — Hurricane Sandy has provided President Obama an opportunity to demonstrate presidential leadership. TheDC’s Neil Munro reports:

“President Barack Obama will fly into New Jersey today for a tour of the flood damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. … The tour will be extensively covered by the media, likely providing Obama with favorable images on the evening news shows, only a week before the 2012 election. [New Jersey Gov. Chris] Christie has been a prominent supporter of Obama’s rival, Gov. Mitt Romney, but has already praised Obama’s willingness to help the state following the disaster.”

Will the disaster give President Obama the domestic equivalent of the rally ’round the flag effect? Before the devastating storm, Mitt Romney had the momentum. The storm may have stopped it. We’ll find out from the most important poll of all — Tuesday’s actual election.

3.) Romney making a play for PA? — Is Pennsylvania in play? TheDC’s Matt Lewis reports:

“Last week, former Sen. Rick Santorum told me that Mitt Romney had ‘a real opportunity’ to ‘pull off a surprise’ in the Keystone State his year. Then, former Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell made news when he quickly echoed that sentiment. Now, Team Romney has issued a memo calling Pennsylvania ‘a natural next step’ as they seek to extend the playing field. The memo goes on to say they ‘are adding Pennsylvania to the long list of states where we are expending significant resources…'”

Pennsylvania will be what we can term “an icing on the cake state” for Romney. If he wins Pennsylvania, that means he is headed for a rather large election night victory.

4.) Correction: Zero percent of Americans think Obama is Jewish — The Daily Caller reported Monday on an outlandish poll from AP/GfK that suggested 18 percent of Americans believe President Obama is Jewish. It didn’t make much sense — and now we know it was incorrect. TheDC’s Jamie Weinstein reports:

“It turns out the AP made a boo boo. ‘2012 numbers have been updated to correct a typo showing 18 percent of respondents saying Obama is Jewish,’ the poll now declares. ‘The numbers for Muslim, some other religion, no religion, and don’t know were displayed in the wrong rows.’ … To be precise, 2 Americans out of the 1,071 surveyed said they think President Obama is Jewish, according to the Times of Israel, which obtained the survey’s raw data. TheDC was unable to confirm if the two were white supremacists who think everyone in power is part of a Zionist conspiracy.”

5.) Poll of the Day: Romney not too far behind in Oregon — RealClearPolitics average of likely voters in Oregon: President Obama 47.7%, Mitt Romney 41.7%.

6.) “The Lizard King” quote of the day — From “The Lizard King: The Shocking Inside Account of Obama’s True Intergalactic Ambitions By An Anonymous White House Staffer,” edited and introduced by Daily Caller writers Jamie Weinstein and Will Rahn:

“I guess you could say Rahm was an exhibitionist. Actually, that’s exactly what he was: He liked doing things in the nude, and he liked it when people saw him do these things. During his time in the House, I learned through written-yet-unreported complaints and interviews with a few old hands that he had a habit of inviting staffers—both male and female—into his office while he exercised naked. Usually it was push-ups or sit-ups, although at least one person described him doing curls with a twenty-pound weight. Other times he would confront men in the showers at the various private clubs around town, at times poking them in the chest with his ‘elf finger,’ as one of the interns memorably called his mutilated digit.”

It is unquestionably the funniest book of the year — and your TheDC Morning facilitator isn’t just saying that because he co-wrote it. BUY … IT … NOW.

VIDEO: Obama works MSNBC, campaign slogan into Red Cross remarks 

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Jamie Weinstein