Rick Santorum: Conservatives Will “Never Have The Elite, Smart People On Our Side”  —  Santorum tells values voters to be wary of the media elite.  —  Image by Jason Reed / Reuters  —  WASHINGTON, DC — Former presidential candidate Rick Santorum attacked the media and “smart people” …

ANTI-ISLAM FILMMAKER DONATED MILLION DOLLARS TO OBAMA CAMPAIGN  —  Blame the movie.  —  Blame the movie.  —  Blame the movie.  —  Even though “the movie” was on YouTube for months prior to the collective indignation of thousands of Middle Eastern Islamists all coming together …

Chaos at the State Dept?  —  I spoke with a well-placed journalist last night whose sources describe the situation at the State Department in one word: “Chaos.”  The working assumption is that several American embassies may have been penetrated, or are vulnerable to attack …

GOP lawmakers say Romney campaign needs to change course  —  Republican lawmakers are grumbling about the direction of Mitt Romney's campaign and say he needs to change course.  —  The complaints come as polls show that Romney lost ground on President Obama following the party's respective conventions …

52 days to Nov. 6; 19 days to Debate 1 — TOOBIN BOOK: Roberts switched!  — BOSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM: In NYT-CBS, 53% say Romney would favor rich; 8% say middle class  —  JEFFREY TOOBIN, staff writer for The New Yorker and senior legal analyst for CNN, in “The Oath: The Obama White House …

The Obama campaign takes on the ‘are you better off’ question  —  The Obama campaign is launching a new ad in the seven key swing states that directly takes on Mitt Romney's “are you better off” question:  —  It's a minute-long spot, which suggests this represents a major effort by the campaign …

Alleged ‘Innocence of Muslims’ filmmaker taken in for interview  —  Just after midnight Saturday morning, authorities descended on the Cerritos home of the man believed to be the filmmaker behind the anti-Muslim movie that has sparked protests and rioting in the Muslim world.

Propaganda Update: TV Networks Will Be Asked to Boost ObamaCare In Plots of Their Top Shows  —  Abby Goodnough of The New York Times is reporting as the California state government is setting up its ObamaCare exchange, the exchange has hired a PR firm (with federal government money).

Don't Say “Desperate”  —  Muslim unrest has created a challenge for Obama and the nation—and a different kind of crisis for the Romney campaign.  —  One day this spring, over lunch in Chicago, David Axelrod offered up a concise summary of Team Obama's prevailing view about the race ahead against Mitt Romney.

Why Obama Is Still Ahead  —  The economy alone won't win the election for Romney.  —  President Obama is outside the ideological mainstream, viewed as very liberal by an electorate that's moderate or somewhat conservative.  His domestic policies are unpopular, notably his health care law, economic stimulus, and spending plans.

Poll: Obama widens lead in Pennsylvania  —  President Obama, already ahead in Pennsylvania, received a small bump from the Democratic National Convention and now leads Mitt Romney in the state by 11 points, according to the Inquirer Pennsylvania Poll.  —  But with eight weeks left …

He Said, She Said, and the Truth  —  IN journalism, as in life, balance sounds like an unassailably good thing.  —  But while balance may be necessary to mediating a dispute between teenage siblings, a different kind of balance — some call it “false equivalency” — has come under increasing fire.

Rep. Ryan: New Fed policy a ‘bailout’ for Obama economy  —  Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said the Federal Reserve's latest policy shift amounts to a “bailout” of the economy under President Obama.  —  Speaking at a campaign event in Oldsmar, Fla., Mitt Romney's vice presidential candidate lambasted …

Can the Chicago Teachers' Strike Fix Democratic Education Reform?  —  In 1960, when Albert Shanker and other members of New York City's teachers union sought collective bargaining rights, they set a strike date for Monday November 7, the day prior to the presidential election between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon.