Why the Chicago teachers strike is bad news for President Obama  —  For the first time in nearly three decades, Chicago public school teachers went on strike this morning.  At first glance, you might be tempted to think that what happens in Chicago has little to no effect on the politics of Washington and the presidential race.

For the Romney campaign, it's forever 1980  —  Romney campaign pollster Neil Newhouse is out with a new memo arguing that despite whatever convention bounce Obama is getting, Mitt Romney is going to win the presidential race.  The crux of his case is that the Obama economy is simply too horrible …

Romney Campaign Appears To Copy Text From Obama Website  —  You didn't write that!  Donation instructions for Romney's new “Victory Wallet” taken from Obama's “Quick Donate” feature.  The Obama version went up in March.  —  Source: donate.barackobama.com  —  Source: mittromney.com

Scott Van Duzer, the Obama hugger: Shop facing boycott  —  The owner of a Florida pizza shop says people are boycotting his business because he bear-hugged President Barack Obama on Sunday.  —  “People are saying a lot of bad things and boycotting my restaurant,” Scott Van Duzer, 46, told POLITICO.

The Most Anti-Gay Piece Of Political Mail This Year  —  There is still time, but a mailer first reported by Politico and prepared in the name of “The Committee To Save The Erie County Republican Party” in New York has set a mighty low bar.  Republican state Sen. Mark Grisanti voted …

Maryland Democrat quits congressional race amid vote fraud allegations  —  A Maryland Democratic candidate quit her congressional race Monday after her own party told state officials that she had committed fraud by voting in both Maryland and Florida in recent elections.

President Obama to Bob Woodward: ‘Mistake’ to Dress Down Paul Ryan to His Face in Budget Speech  —  President Obama told author Bob Woodward that he didn't know Rep. Paul Ryan was going to attend at a major speech he delivered last year on spending and debt, and says in retrospect that it was …

NEWS FLASH  —  ROMNEY DOG-WHISTLES TO TENTHER EXTREMISTS: 'I'M AS CONSERVATIVE AS THE CONSTITUTION' |  During his interview yesterday with Meet the Press, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney made the rather odd statement he is “as conservative as the Constitution” …

Pat Robertson: Since 'We Don't Condone Wife-Beating These Days' Husband Should ‘Move to Saudi Arabia’ to Beat Her  —  Mitt Romney this weekend stumped alongside televangelist Pat Robertson, not minding Robertson's legacy of incendiary, insensitive, heartless and apocalyptic rhetoric that has gotten him in trouble in the past.

Insight: GM's Volt - The ugly math of low sales, high costs  —  (Reuters) - General Motors Co sold a record number of Chevrolet Volt sedans in August — but that probably isn't a good thing for the automaker's bottom line.  —  Nearly two years after the introduction of the path-breaking plug-in hybrid …

Why is Obama skipping more than half of his daily intelligence meetings?  —  President Obama is touting his foreign policy experience on the campaign trail, but startling new statistics suggest that national security has not necessarily been the personal priority the president makes it out to be.

Obama's suds-'n'-sports regular-guy tour  —  President Barack Obama likes sports.  He likes beer.  He likes sports bars.  And he wants to make sure voters see that on the campaign trail.  —  And, by way of contrast, he'd also like to remind the electorate about who doesn't seem to enjoy bars, or sports, or sports bars.

Poll: Bachmann in danger  —  A new survey provided exclusively to Salon shows the Minnesota congresswoman's lead down to just 2 points  —  Despite her national fan base and a massive war chest, Rep. Michele Bachmann may be in more danger than most suspect, with a new poll showing her lead diminished to just two points.

GOP Senator: ‘Bomb Everybody Tomorrow’ Is ‘Typical’ Republican Policy  —  Between calls from leading Republicans to get ready for war with Iran, remain in Afghanistan and Iraq, and intervening militarily in Syria, it's no surprise that some on the left might label the GOP's approach to foreign policy “bomb everyone tomorrow.”

Birther Control  —  Chris Matthews dressed down RNC Chair Reince Priebus last week for Romney's playing the race card with the birther joke, and the party doing it with the false welfare ads, constantly bringing up that he's a “European-style socialist,” etc.

Do 15% of Ohio Republicans think Romney killed bin Laden?  Probably not.  —  Public Policy Polling has a new poll (pdf) out of Ohio showing Obama with his biggest lead since May.  Given how hard it would be for Mitt Romney to win the White House without winning Ohio, that's a big deal.

CNN Poll: Obama up six points over Romney  —  (CNN) - A new survey indicates President Barack Obama moved up four points following the Democratic National Convention last week, and now has a six point advantage over his Republican challenger Mitt Romney.  —  According to a CNN/ORC International Poll …

Sept. 9: Call It as You See It  —  I've been picking up some sentiment from analysts and journalists in my Twitter feed recently, who correctly note that polling around the party conventions can be volatile.  They suggest that we ought to wait for more data before concluding very much about the bounces …