The Note's Must-Reads for Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Compiled by ABC News' Jayce Henderson, Amanda VanAllen, Carrie Halperin and Will Cantine
PRESIDENT OBAMA ABC News' Devin Dwyer: " Obama Plans To Lay Out 'Specific Agenda' for 2 nd Term" President Obama hinted that his re-election campaign will transition to a more positive and forward-looking message by the end of next month and into the fall. Obama told a group of high-dollar donors at a New York City fundraiser that he intends to spend "a lot of time talking about the specific agenda that I intend to pursue in the second term." LINK
USA Today's David Jackson: " Obama And Clinton, Together Again" The up-and-down relationship between President Obama and Democratic predecessor Bill Clinton is back on the upswing. Clinton is getting a prime time speaking slot at the convention that renominates President Obama in early September - it's part of the current president's plan to promote his economic policy with the help of a predecessor who presided over a boom economy in the 1990s. LINK
Politico's Jennifer Epstein: " Obama sees 'continued headwinds' in Europe" Speaking to a fundraiser audience that included at least a few high-powered Wall Streeters, President Obama was especially forceful in continuing to urge European leaders to take action to keep their economy afloat. "We're going to have some continued headwinds over the next several months. Europe is still a challenge, and a lot of people in this room who have business in Europe understand that," he said at a fundraiser at the NoMad Hotel in the Flatiron District that raised more than $2 million for his reelection campaign. LINK
Bloomberg's Rodger Runningen and Hans Nichols: " Obama Calls for Decisive Action to Stop Euro From Unraveling" President Barack Obama says European leaders can forestall dissolution of the euro by taking prompt, "decisive steps" to solve their debt crisis. "I don't think ultimately that the Europeans will let the Euro unravel, but they are going to have to take some decisive steps," Obama told a $40,000 per-plate fundraiser at the NoMad hotel in New York City yesterday. "And I am spending an enormous amount of time, trying to work with them. The sooner that they take some decisive action, the better off we are going to be." LINK
The Hills' Joe Picard: " Obama: If election held today, 'we'd win'" President Obama told supporters at a campaign event in New York City Monday night that, if the election were held today he would win. "So the upshot is if the election were held today, I think it would be close, but I think we'd win," Obama said. LINK
MITT ROMNEY ABC News' Sushannah Walshe and Emily Friedman: " Palestinian Comments Add To Mitt Romney's Bumpy Overseas Trip" The White House was subtly gleeful Monday as Mitt Romney's campaign dealt with the latest group to be offended during the Republican presidential candidate's overseas tour that was intended to showcase his foreign policy credentials. Romney's newest diplomatic fumble has insulted the Palestinian by suggesting that the discrepancy between the wealth of Israel and Palestinians was due in part to their different cultures. A top Palestinian labeled the analysis racist. LINK
The Wall Street Journal's Sara Murray: " Romney Wraps Foreign Tour" Mitt Romney will return his attention to economic issues during the final stop of his foreign tour in Poland, after drawing criticism Monday from Palestinians who said they found offensive his remarks about their standard of living. LINK
The New York Times' Ashley Parker and Richard A. Oppel Jr.: " Romney Trip Raises Sparks at a 2nd Stop" Mitt Romney offended Palestinian leaders on Monday by suggesting that cultural differences explain why the Israelis are so much more economically successful than Palestinians, thrusting himself again into a volatile issue while on his high-profile overseas trip. LINK
The Washington Post's Scott Wilson: " In Israel, Romney wows crowds but puzzles with grasp of Palestinian relationship" Touring U.S. allies this week in his first foreign trip as the likely Republican presidential nominee, Mitt Romney often appeared to be visiting just another set of swing states, pleasing audiences with parochial promises, puzzling others with off-the-cuff remarks, and raising loads and loads of money. LINK
ELIZABETH WARREN The Boston Globe's Glen Johnson: " In this section Elizabeth Warren won't give keynote at DNC" Elizabeth Warren will not deliver the keynote speech at this year's Democratic National Convention but instead will speak immediately before former President Bill Clinton on what party officials hope will be an energetic second-to-last night. Warren and Clinton will speak on Wednesday, Sept. 5, and form a one-two punch aimed at crystallizing the choice between President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney in the general election, the Obama campaign said. Warren will contrast the president's economic plan with Romney's. LINK
CLINTON The Washington Times' David Hill: " Obama, GOP both counting on Clinton" In an election campaign dominated by jobs and government spending, former President Bill Clinton - who oversaw a booming economy and the first federal surpluses in decades - has become a symbol of better times that both President Obama and Republicans are trying to tap. Democrats said Monday that Mr. Clinton officially will renominate the president at the party's convention in September, a prime-time speech that will go head to head with the NFL's opening game between the Super Bowl champion New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys. LINK
OTHER The Los Angeles Times' Noam N. Levey: " Medicaid could be scaled back sharply under GOP plans" Nearly half a century after President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicaid into law, conservative critics of the massive government health insurance program for the poor are readying a new push to dramatically scale it back if Republicans control the White House and Congress next year. GOP governors, emboldened by the Supreme Court decision on President Obama's healthcare law, are already balking at expanding Medicaid to meet the goals of the Affordable Care Act. LINK
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