President Obama pulls ahead of Mitt Romney  —  President Barack Obama has opened a national lead in a tight race that's been static for much of the year.  —  A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll of likely voters finds little good news for Mitt Romney but a race that remains competitive.

Obama brushes off Israeli pressure over Iran  —  WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama likened Israeli pressure on him to draw a line in the sand over Iran's nuclear ambitions as noise he tries to ignore, according to remarks aired Sunday.  —  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently urged …

TRENDING: Obama: I bear ‘full responsibility for everything’  —  (CNN) - President Barack Obama discussed his frustration with gridlock in Washington, saying his “biggest disappointment” in his nearly four years in office has been the failure to oversee change in the nation's political climate.

Elizabeth Warren's law license problem  —  The debate last Thursday night between Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren covered ground mostly known to voters.  —  But there was one subject most people watching probably did not know about, Elizabeth Warren's private legal representation …

President Obama: The Democrats' Ronald Reagan  —  With his first term behind him, Obama is poised to be as significant a president as Reagan—tackling the deficit, spearheading immigration reform, and jolting the GOP back to sanity.  —  As the fall has turned crisper, a second term for Barack Obama has gotten likelier.

CBS Doesn't Air Obama Admitting Mistakes in Campaign Ads  —  Tonight, CBS aired a 60 Minutes interview with President Obama.  But curiously enough, the news magazine show did not air a clip of Obama admitting to interviewer Steve Kroft that some of his campaign ads contain mistakes and that some even “go overboard.”

Foxconn closes China plant after 40 injured in brawl  —  (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn Technology Group closed its Taiyuan plant in northern China on Monday after a personal dispute spiraled into a brawl involving 2,000 workers in a dormitory late on Sunday night, injuring 40.

Speaker Silver's male staffer defended boss with online posts from ‘female’ supporter  —  Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has a strong female voice defending him against allegations he improperly funneled hush money to two of Assemblyman Vito Lopez's sex-harassment accusers.

Ad Age Picks the Top 10 Female Ad Icons of All Time  —  From the Morton Salt Umbrella Girl to Progressive's Flo, We Choose the Most Memorable Women of the Last 100 Years … Morton Salt Umbrella Girl  —  This venerable ad icon was originally an afterthought, one of three substitute ideas …

MEDIA PUT 18,000 IN NOT-QUITE-FULL 5,000-SEAT ARENA FOR OBAMA IN WISCONSIN  —  President Barack Obama is having trouble drawing large crowds on the campaign trail.  At the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, his campaign was forced to move his acceptance speech from the 74,000-seat Bank …

Deadly Attack in Libya Was Major Blow to C.I.A. Efforts  —  WASHINGTON — The attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans has dealt the Central Intelligence Agency a major setback in its intelligence-gathering efforts at a time of increasing instability in the North African nation.

JFK Tapes: New Insight Into White House Tensions During Cuban Missile Crisis  —  In the heat of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy thought the nation was so close to war with the Soviet Union that he game-planned how American naval vessels would fire on Soviet ships …

The Optimism Cure  —  Mitt Romney is optimistic about optimism.  In fact, it's pretty much all he's got.  And that fact should make you very pessimistic about his chances of leading an economic recovery.  —  As many people have noticed, Mr. Romney's five-point “economic plan” is very nearly substance-free.