Drop in Ohio voter registration, especially in Dem strongholds, mirrors nationwide trend  —  “Don't boo, vote,” President Obama often says in his stump speech whenever crowds boo a Romney plan.  —  The off-hand call to vote may be by design.  It comes amid a precipitous decline …

Cramming and Pruning for First Presidential Debate  —  WASHINGTON — In a conference room at the Democratic headquarters, President Obama has been preparing for the debate next week, but the reviews of his staff are already in.  Too long, they tell him.  Cut that answer.  Give crisper explanations.

Defining moment eludes Mitt Romney  —  Mitt Romney could use a big moment.  —  Since he began stumping, the GOP presidential nominee's campaign events have been nearly identical — perfectly staged and choreographed, but forgettable.  If it weren't for the occasional state flag hanging behind him …

Youngest inmate leaves Guantanamo  —  Omar Khadr pleaded guilty to five war crimes  —  The youngest prisoner to be held at the Guantanamo Bay detention centre has been returned to his native Canada.  —  Omar Khadr had been held at the US base in Cuba since 2002, after being detained in Afghanistan aged 15.

Is torturing “material witnesses” constitutional?  —  I always get a sick feeling when I see DAs on cop shows blithely say they can hold a suspect as a material witness until they find the evidence to charge him.  (They always “need” to because the suspect is “one of the really bad ones.")

Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, 1926 - 2012: Arthur O. Sulzberger, Publisher Who Transformed Times, Dies at 86  —  Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, who guided The New York Times and its parent company through a long, sometimes turbulent period of expansion and change on a scale not seen since the newspaper's founding in 1851 …

President of the Future  —  One of the reasons why Barack Obama is regarded as the greatest orator of our age is that he's always banging on about some other age yet to come — e.g., the Future!  A future of whose contours he is remarkably certain and boundlessly confident …

Supreme Court Faces Crucial Rulings in Coming Term  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court returns to the bench on Monday to confront not only a docket studded with momentous issues but also a new dynamic among the justices.  —  The coming term will probably include major decisions on affirmative action …

Over 1,000 rally against anti-Islam film in Dearborn; another protest planned today  —  More than 1,000 rallied Friday night in Dearborn against the anti-Islam movie that has sparked protests around the world.  —  Organized by Arab-American leaders, the rally was the third protest in metro Detroit over the movie, the biggest one yet.

Des Moines Register Iowa Poll: Obama leads Romney by 4 points  —  © Des Moines Register and Tribune Co.  —  President Barack Obama leads Republican nominee Mitt Romney 49 percent to 45 percent in the battleground state of Iowa, a new Des Moines Register Iowa Poll has found.

Will The Post be about news or opinion?  —  Republicans think the news media are being too easy on Barack Obama.  In fact, 60 percent of them say so, a figure that's up from 55 percent four years ago, when Obama ran against Sen. John McCain.  That's the conclusion of a poll conducted Sept. 20-23 …

Warner won't rule out bid for governor  —  There was a lot Sen. Mark Warner said in our interview on NBC12 First at 4 today, but is what he refused to say that is perhaps the most telling.  Asked directly to rule out a potential run for governor of Virginia in 2013, Warner changed the subjected …

Obama administration tells contractors again: Don't issue layoff notices  —  The Obama administration issued new guidance intended for defense contractors Friday afternoon, reiterating the administration's position that the companies should not be issuing layoff notices over sequestration.