Ann Romney, to critics in GOP: “You want to try it?  Get in the ring.”  (AUDIO)  —  Ann Romney says fellow Republicans who've criticized her husband need to “stop it” and realize “how lucky” the party is to have Mitt Romney as its nominee.  —  Ann Romney spoke late this afternoon to about 200 people …

In crucial first debate, Scott Brown challenges Warren's Native American heritage claim  —  Republican US Senator Scott Brown questioned Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren's claim of Native American heritage in the opening moments of a lively high-stakes television debate tonight.

Noonan: Romney Needs a New CEO  —  How to save a listing campaign, the Baker Way.  —  “Nothing is written.”  That was T.E. Lawrence to the Arab tribesmen in Robert Bolt's screenplay, a masterpiece, of “Lawrence of Arabia.”  You write no one off.  Nothing is inevitable.  Life is news—"What happened today?"

U.S. Distrust in Media Hits New High  —  Fewer Americans closely following political news now than in previous election years  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans' distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.

Obama pressed on failures at Univision forum  —  CORAL GABLES, Fla. - President Barack Obama on Thursday faced some of the toughest questioning of his reelection campaign to date, pressed repeatedly on his failure to achieve comprehensive immigration reform and other unmet promises from his 2008 run.

Obama's Shaky Libya Narrative  —  In the days after the consulate assault in Benghazi, the administration insisted a spontaneous protest got out of hand.  Then it slowly transitioned into calling the events a ‘terrorist attack.’ Eli Lake on how the story changed.

Disdain for Workers  —  By now everyone knows how Mitt Romney, speaking to donors in Boca Raton, washed his hands of almost half the country — the 47 percent who don't pay income taxes — declaring, “My job is not to worry about those people.  I'll never convince them that they should take …

First Thoughts: Obama's battleground edge grows  —  Obama's edge grows in NBC battleground map... 243 EVs in Obama's column, 191 in Romney's, and 104 in Toss-up category... NBC/WSJ/Marist polls of CO, IA, and WI provide evidence of the past week taking a toll on Romney... Romney's lost week …

TRENDING: Cain says he'd be winning  —  (CNN) - Herman Cain, the one-time frontrunner for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, offered reporters in Florida Thursday some speculation on what could have been if he had remained in the race.  —  According to the Gainesville Sun …

Life Expectancy for Less Educated Whites in U.S. Is Shrinking  —  For generations of Americans, it was a given that children would live longer than their parents.  But there is now mounting evidence that this enduring trend has reversed itself for the country's least-educated whites …

Pakistan TV Airs Obama Ad Denouncing Anti-Islam Video  —  Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf appealed for calm as security forces bid to counter violent protests against an anti-Islam film that continues to spark demonstrations in the Muslim world.

Sept. 20: Obama's Convention Bounce May Not Be Receding  —  President Obama's position inched forward in the FiveThirtyEight forecast on Thursday.  His chances of winning the Electoral College are 76.1 percent, according to the forecast, up from 75.2 percent on Wednesday.

Andrew Mitchell insults police at Downing Street by calling them ‘f***ing plebs’  —  Chief Whip's rant just one day after cop killings  —  Rant ... Conservative cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell pushing his bicycle  —  A MILLIONAIRE Cabinet minister was threatened with arrest …

Collapse of the Cairo Doctrine  —  In the week following 9/11/12 something big happened: the collapse of the Cairo Doctrine, the centerpiece of President Obama's foreign policy.  It was to reset the very course of post-9/11 America, creating, after the (allegedly) brutal depredations of the Bush years …

Is the “Ron Paul Revolution” Too Dangerous for Auburn?  —  The odds that Ron Paul would win the Republican Presidential primary this year were always pretty slim.  But you wouldn't know that from the overheated response one student supporter at Auburn University in Alabama got when he dared …

Reid, Senate Dems oppose Social Security cuts in debt deal  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and 28 other members of the 53-member Senate Democratic caucus have signed a letter opposing any cuts to Social Security as part of a deficit reduction package.