NOTE FROM TRUSTEE BRAD MALT  —  This morning, Gov. and Mrs. Romney filed their 2011 tax return with the IRS.  At 3:00pm today, the Romney for President campaign will be posting the 2011 return online.  —  The complete 2011 tax return, with full schedules, statements, and attachments …

Chris Wallace doubts Noonan's conservatism  —  In an interview with POLITICO today, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace questioned Peggy Noonan's “conservative bona fides,” following her recent editorials criticizing of Mitt Romney's campaign.  —  “Peggy Noonan has bashed George W. Bush, based Mitt Romney, wasn't crazy about McCain.

Ryan Gets Booed At The AARP  —  On Friday afternoon, Paul Ryan addressed the AARP's National Annual Conference in New Orleans.  The GOP vice presidential candidate attacked Obamacare for taking $716 billion out of Medicare — the very same cuts he included in his budget …

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 Leads Romney 52-45 In New Reason-Rupe Poll; In Three-Way Race Obama Leads Romney 49-42, Johnson Gets 6 Percent  —  A new national Reason-Rupe poll of likely voters finds President Barack Obama leading Republican Mitt Romney 48 percent to 43 percent in the presidential race.

Cash Low, Romney Striving to Find New Large Donors  —  Mitt Romney entered the final months of the presidential campaign with a cash balance of just $35 million, racing to find new large donors and rally low-dollar contributors in August even while he raised tens of millions of dollars for the Republican Party.

Obama's embassy cover story dissolves  —  It is a measure of how skewed the reporting is and how intellectually inconsistent is most of the “analysis” from the mainstream media that while Mitt Romney's comment on the embassy attacks held the attention of the press for days …

President Obama Falsely Claims Fast and Furious Program “Begun Under the Previous Administration”  —  Asked about the Fast and Furious program at the Univision forum on Thursday, President Obama falsely claimed that the program began under President George W. Bush.

Until Republicans Fix This Problem, They Can't Fix Any Problems  —  The inability to judge arguments on their merits and separate fact from fantasy is what ails the conservative movement.  —  Reuters  —  After years spent reporting on the Bush Administration, Ron Suskind began to understand …

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 …

Romney: What About Your Gaffes?  —  Mitt Romney's campaign has been notable for its reliance on President Obama's gaffes.  It built its entire convention theme around Obama's slightly disjointed disquisition about infrastructure ("You didn't build that") and has, at other points …

What John McLaughlin Sees in the Polls Right Now  —  I reached out to Republican pollster John McLaughlin for yesterday's piece on how undecided voters are likely to break, and he made some separate comments about polls, their impact on motivation for each side, and how the campaigns …

The poll result that explains the election  —  Washington has been a bit perplexed by President Obama's small but persistent lead in the polls.  His administration would seem to fail the “Are you better off than you were four years ago” text.  And presidents who fail that test lose, right?

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.

DeMint might throw Akin a lifeline  —  Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) says he will consider throwing his weighty financial support behind Rep. Todd Akin (R), the Missouri Senate candidate who has been shunned by party leaders in Washington.  —  DeMint said the National Republican Senatorial Committee …

Herman Cain: I'd be beating President Obama  —  Herman Cain says that if he were the Republican nominee, he would have a “substantial lead” over President Barack Obama right now.  —  “The reason is quite simple,” Cain told reporters on Thursday, according to the Gainesville Sun.

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 …