Battleground Poll: Race still tight  —  The presidential race is tight enough nationally that a strong performance in Wednesday's debate by Mitt Romney could put him in the lead.  —  A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll of likely voters shows President Barack Obama ahead 49 percent …

The Real Referendum  —  Republicans came into this campaign believing that it would be a referendum on President Obama, and that still-high unemployment would hand them victory on a silver platter.  But given the usual caveats — a month can be a long time in politics, it's not over until …

Fast and Furious Scandal: New Details Emerge on How the U.S. Government Armed Mexican Drug Cartels  —  Pools Of Blood On The Streets Of Villas De Salvarcar After A Massacre In Which Operation Fast And Furious Guns Were Allegedly Used (Univision)  —  On January 30, 2010 …

Lindsay Lohan tussles with congressional staffer in Manhattan hotel room over cellphone photos, tells cops he choked her  —  California man Christian LaBella initially arrested and charged with assault and harassment in W Hotel Union Square scuffle, but now both of them are facing charges.

A New Course for the Middle East  —  Restore the three sinews of American influence: our economic strength, our military strength and the strength of our values.  —  Disturbing developments are sweeping across the greater Middle East.  In Syria, tens of thousands of innocent people have been slaughtered.

White House Hack Attack  —  Hackers linked to China's government broke into one of the U.S. government's most sensitive computer networks, breaching a system used by the White House Military Office for nuclear commands, according to defense and intelligence officials familiar with the incident.

The Media Equation: Challenging the Claims of Media Bias - the Media Equation  —  In the last few days, conservatives have become agitated about Mitt Romney's drop-off in the polls.  So did they think the stumble was because of the ill-fated “47 percent” slip of the lip …

Historian Eric Hobsbawm dies, aged 95  —  Eric Hobsbawm joined the Communist Party aged 14  —  Eric Hobsbawm, one of Britain's most eminent historians, has died at the age of 95, his family have confirmed.  —  He died in the early hours of Monday morning at the Royal Free Hospital in London …

How The Economy Collapsed (As a Political Issue)  —  Republicans and Democrats no longer have the same facts.  It's the perceptual bias, stupid.  —  Via: people-press.org  —  The big issue of the 2012 election — the American economy — has been settled.

Three NATO soldiers killed in Afghan suicide bombing  —  Nashanuddin Khan/AP - Afghan police secure the site of a suicide bombing in Khost, south of Kabul, Afghanistan, Oct. 1, 2012.  The suicide bomber was driving a motorcycle packed with explosives and rammed it into a patrol of Afghan …

Obama: I'm just an ‘OK’ debater  —  Las Vegas - Barack Obama wants you to know that he's a really not so great as a debater.  —  As part of his week-long effort to lower expectations ahead of Wednesday's first Obama-Romney debate in Denver - an obligatory ritual even the campaigns find tiresome …

Obama Beats Romney as Better for Middle-Income Americans  —  Candidates are tied in perceptions of who would most benefit small-business owners  —  PRINCETON, NJ — More Americans believe middle-income earners would be better off in four years if President Barack Obama is re-elected than if Mitt Romney wins, by 53% to 43%.

What will be this year's October surprise?  —  October, the month of political surprises, has arrived.  —  From Henry Kissinger's 1972 “peace is at hand” declaration to Mark Foley's 2006 sex scandal to the Wall Street bailout of 2008, U.S. elections have a long and colorful history …

Mitt Romney advisers clash over Libya  —  Instead, the Republican ticket will leave calls for an investigation to Capitol Hill, where both Republicans and Democrats have complained about the briefings they have received.  “Let Congress do it: It's a bipartisan thing, and that's a better place for us to be,” a Romney adviser said.

Aurora survivor offers debate topic  —  A survivor of the July massacre in Aurora, Colo., is appearing in a television ad airing nationally this week to press the presidential candidates to discuss their plans to stop gun violence at the first debate.  —  Mayors Against Illegal Guns …

The parallel universe where Mitt leads all polls  —  To talk with any working Republican political operative these days is to hear the same tale of woe: a grim accounting of the past few weeks, a dash of gallows humor and a measure of hope that President Obama is still beatable.

ROMNEY'S CHALLENGE: HE IS ALREADY THE INCUMBENT  —  Mitt Romney is about as close to defeating President Barack Obama as any Republican could have hoped to be.  The polls—if you believe them—show him slightly or significantly behind, but within striking distance.

NBC's David Gregory Misquotes Obama, Falsely Claims President Said ‘Al Qaeda Has Been Defeated’  —  This morning on Meet The Press, David Gregory twice asserted that, in May, President Obama declared that “al Qaeda has been defeated.”  Gregory used that claim to advance a theory that Obama …