Romney Debates Himself, Jack Welch Defends Jobs ‘Truthers,’ and More

Nice Guys Finish Last:

President Obama has pinpointed his own performance flaw from last week’s debate disaster, acknowledging in a radio interview Wednesday that he was “just too polite.” He added though that, in the end, Mitt Romney’s tactic in the first presidential debate could end up hurting him. “Governor Romney put forward a whole bunch of stuff that either involved him running away from positions that he had taken, or doubling down on things like Medicare vouchers that are going to hurt him long term,” Obama said. (Read more)

Romney Rebuked: Mitt Romney retold the story of how he met Glenn Doherty, a Navy SEAL who was killed during the attacks on the Benghazi, Libya, consulate, even after Doherty’s mother told him to stop. “I don’t trust Romney,” she said. “He shouldn’t make my son’s death part of his political agenda. It’s wrong to use these brave young men, who wanted freedom for all, to degrade Obama.” The Romney campaign said later that its candidate would respect the mother’s wishes and remove the topic from his stump speech. (Read more)

Height of Hypocrisy: Rep. Scott DesJarlais, a pro-life, family-values Republican from Tennessee, pressured his mistress to get an abortion, phone transcripts obtained by The Huffington Post revealed Wednesday. The incident allegedly happened in September 2000. DesJarlais was working as a doctor at the time, and the woman he had the affair with is reported to have been his own patient. (Read more)

Another Spin Cycle: Jack Welch is defending controversial remarks he made over Twitter last week that questioned whether the September jobs report had been manipulated for President Obama’s political gain. In an Op-Ed published Wednesday in The Wall Street Journal, the former GE chief executive reiterated his point, writing that the 7.8 percent unemployment figure is “downright implausible.” Experts, however, have said that it would be “near impossible” for that number to have been manipulated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Read more)

School of Thought: The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard oral arguments in a case involving the University of Texas at Austin that could have major implications for the future of affirmative action at U.S. colleges. A partisan divide emerged based on the line of questioning, with liberals supporting the rights of colleges to put together a racially diverse student body, and conservatives casting doubt about the rights of applicants who are rejected because of race. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who is considered the swing vote on this matter, has voted against affirmative action in prior cases brought before the high court. (Read more)

A Dressing Down: GOP Rep. Joe Walsh launched a sexist new attack on his Democratic opponent, Iraq War veteran Tammy Duckworth. During a debate Tuesday, Walsh showed a picture of Duckworth picking out a dress for her speech at the Democratic National Convention. Walsh claimed he brandished the photo to show that Duckworth was a political insider. If you are wondering how the two relate, you’re not alone. However, the Illinois congressman does have a history of leveling incredulous charges against his opponent. Walsh previously criticized Duckworth, a former helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs in Iraq, for flaunting her military service. So it’s probably not terribly surprising then that Duckworth is leading Walsh by double-digit figures in the latest polls. (Read more)

Press Run: Former Republican vice presidential nominee, half-term governor and reality TV star Sarah Palin is (finally!) writing a book about health and fitness. Because Palin, who in the past has slammed first lady Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity campaign, is the perfect person to be dispensing that kind of advice. (Read more)

Top Dog: A new survey finds that more Americans would trust Barack Obama than Mitt Romney to watch their dog if they were out of town. Obama received 52 percent of the vote, while Romney garnered 27 percent in the Esquire/Yahoo News poll. Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the survey is that 27 percent of people would trust their precious pooch with the Republican presidential nominee. Remember Seamus? (Read more)

Video of the Day: Will the real Mitt Romney please stand up? He’s been on so many different sides of so many different issues that he could probably have a debate with himself. And if Romney did, this is what it would look like: