Polls Show Obama Is Widening His Lead in Ohio and Florida  —  COLUMBUS, Ohio — For weeks, Republicans in Ohio have been watching with worry that the state's vital 18 electoral votes were trending away from Mitt Romney.  The anxiety has been similar in Florida, where Republicans are concerned …

Paul Ryan vs. The Stench  —  Paul Ryan has gone rogue.  He is unleashed, unchained, off the hook.  —  “I hate to say this, but if Ryan wants to run for national office again, he'll probably have to wash the stench of Romney off of him,” Craig Robinson, a former political director …

WE KNEW IT WAS AL QAEDA  —  Sources say intelligence agencies knew within a day that al Qaeda affiliates were behind the attacks in Benghazi, Libya—they even knew where one of the attackers lived.  Eli Lake reports.  —  Within 24 hours of the 9-11 anniversary attack on the United States consulate …

Morning Jay: Are the Polls Tilted Toward Obama?  —  Republicans, by and large, are frustrated with recent polls of the presidential election because they think Democrats are being oversampled.  Many pollsters respond by saying that “weighing” the polls for partisan identification creates …

American Peace Activists Meet with Iranian President in New York  —  TEHRAN (FNA)- Members of Veterans For Peace, along with other US peace activists, met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  —  Addressing the meeting, veterans For Peace President Leah Bolger stressed VFP's commitment …

Why I Refuse to Vote for Barack Obama  —  The case against casting a ballot for the president — even if you think he's better than Mitt Romney  —  Tell certain liberals and progressives that you can't bring yourself to vote for a candidate who opposes gay rights, or who doesn't believe in Darwinian evolution, and they'll nod along.

The First Four Years Are The Hardest...  My name is Mike Rowe and I own a small company in California called mikeroweWORKS.  Currently, mikeroweWORKS is trying to close the country's skills gap by changing the way Americans feel about Work.  (I know, right?  Ambitious.)

Love Claims The Lead  —  Well, this is an interesting turn of events.  —  Mia Love's campaign released internal polling numbers that show the race for Utah's 4th District seat have taken a dramatic swing, giving her a big lead over Democrat Jim Matheson.  —  Love's polling firm …

Obama's claim that ‘90 percent’ of the current deficit is due to Bush policies  —  “Over the last four years, the deficit has gone up, but 90 percent of that is as a consequence of two wars that weren't paid for, as a consequence of tax cuts that weren't paid for, a prescription drug plan …

Pennsylvania Eases Voter-ID Requirements, As Trial Judge Reviews State's Law  —  In a last-minute effort to protect the restrictive voter ID law now under review by a trial judge, Pennsylvania officials announced Tuesday they would relax requirements for obtaining a photo ID.

Cherokee chief: Scott Brown staffers ‘racist’  —  The head of the Cherokee Nation called staffers for Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown “downright racist” Wednesday for making “tomahawk chop” motions and yelling “war whoops” at a rally Saturday for the Republican's reelection, and called on Brown to apologize.

Small Businesses and Manufacturers: Government a Barrier, Not a Help, to Economic Growth  —  NEW SURVEY PAINTS BLEAK PICTURE FOR AMERICAN ENTERPRISE WEEKS BEFORE 2012 ELECTIONS

Hubble captures extraordinary view of Universe  —  The image took more than 500 hours to build  —  The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) has produced one of its most extraordinary views of the Universe to date.  —  Called the eXtreme Deep Field, the picture captures a mass of galaxies stretching …

City to Expand Shelters Amid Jump in Homeless  —  Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration plans to open at least five new shelters by the end of this year in response to a substantial increase in New York City homelessness, expanding the number of new shelters that have opened since May to 15.