Top Items:
James Hohmann / Reuters:
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 …
Discussion:
Hot Air, National Review and First Read
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Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:
Obama Leads on Expectations - But the Race Itself Stays Close — Registered voters by 2-1 think Barack Obama will win the upcoming presidential debates and go on to prevail in the November election. But expectations aside, the race remains close, with strengths and vulnerabilities for both candidates in the campaign ahead.
Discussion:
GOP 12, Mediaite, ABCNEWS, The Page, Business Insider and Jammie Wearing Fools
Washington Post:
Tight race nationally as first debate approaches — On the eve of the first presidential debate, President Obama leads or is at parity with Mitt Romney on virtually every major issue and attribute in what remains a competitive general election, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Discussion:
Ballot Box, FiveThirtyEight, Washington Wire, Wonkblog, Hot Air, Battleground Watch, The Argo Journal and The Moderate Voice
Glenn Thrush / Reuters:
Obama vs. Obama at debates — LAS VEGAS — President Barack Obama's most dangerous opponent in the trio of upcoming presidential debates isn't Mitt Romney. — It's himself. — The president has been working on blunting his barbs nearly as much as he's been trying to sharpen …
Discussion:
ABCNEWS, CNN, Sister Toldjah, Washington Wire and First Read
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Glenn Thrush / Politico:
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 …
Discussion:
CNN and New York Magazine
Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, Hullabaloo, Prairie Weather, Paul Krugman and Lawyers, Guns & Money
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Kbh / Keith Hennessey:
The Washington Post's hatchet job on Paul Ryan
The Washington Post's hatchet job on Paul Ryan
Discussion:
Betsy's Page, The Daily Caller, National Review and Washington Post
Mitt Romney / Wall Street Journal:
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.
Discussion:
American Prospect, Washington Monthly, The Hill, ABCNEWS, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, americanthinker.com, The Mahablog and The Fix
Reuters:
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.
Discussion:
Guardian and NewsBusters.org blogs
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Chris Wallace / Fox News:
Exclusive: Paul Ryan plays off latest poll numbers, exudes confidence ahead of debates
Exclusive: Paul Ryan plays off latest poll numbers, exudes confidence ahead of debates
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars and PoliticusUSA
NY Daily News:
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.
Discussion:
Hotline On Call, Reuters, The Raw Story, Business Insider, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, New York Magazine, TMZ.com, The Daily Caller and Gawker
Bill Gertz / Washington Free Beacon:
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.
ABCNEWS:
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 …
Discussion:
Politico, The Daily Caller, Business Insider, Pirate's Cove, PJ Media, Weasel Zippers, Pundit & Pundette and Scared Monkeys
BuzzFeed:
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.
Discussion:
Villainous Company and Riehl World News
David Carr / New York Times:
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 …
Reuters:
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.
Discussion:
ABCNEWS
Kyle Balluck / The Hill:
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 …
Discussion:
Politico
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Neil Munro / The Daily Caller:
White House shifts spin on Benghazi assassination, downplays focus on anti-Islam video
White House shifts spin on Benghazi assassination, downplays focus on anti-Islam video
Discussion:
Hot Air and Pirate's Cove
Gallup:
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%.
Discussion:
GOP 12, Taylor Marsh, Politico and PoliticusUSA
BBC:
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 …
Discussion:
The Camp Of The Saints and normblog
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Esther Addley / Guardian:
Eric Hobsbawm dies, aged 95
Joel B. Pollak / BREITBART.COM:
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.
Discussion:
Riehl World News, Hot Air, Say Anything and Althouse
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Tim Cavanaugh / Hit & Run:
If Romney's Losing, Why Do the Media Act Like He's Already the President?
If Romney's Losing, Why Do the Media Act Like He's Already the President?
Discussion:
Instapundit