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.

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 …

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 …

Victimized billionaires  —  Why do billionaires feel victimized by Obama?  Chrystia Freeland asks that question in the New Yorker this week, and comes back with answers we've all heard before: in short, it's not the policies, it's the rhetoric.  —  Of course, this doesn't stand up to scrutiny; it never did.

Obama uses Down syndrome to hit Romney … In its latest effort to slap Mitt Romney's “47 percent” comment, the Obama campaign on Monday tapped a young woman with Down syndrome to pull at the heartstrings of undecided voters.  —  The Obama-Biden campaign's web page featured a “letter of the week” …

The Paul Ryan Legend Dissipates  —  Before we discuss our tax plan, I would like to point out that my eyes are extremely blue.  —  Paul Ryan's selection as Mitt Romney's vice-presidential candidate is subjecting him to all manner of strange new indignities, such as questions about public policy …

U.S. Gov't Employees Among Top Campaign Contributors to Obama; Bankers Among Top Contributors to Romney  —  (CNSNews.com) - U.S. government employees and their families have thus far contributed $396,550 to President Barack Obama's reelection campaign, making them one of the top five sources …

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 …

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.

GOP's October surprise?  —  Source reveals “Jimmy Carter Strategy” to make Obama seem weak on defense in campaign's final month  —  According to a highly reliable source, as Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama prepare for the first presidential debate Wednesday night …

As college student, Eric Holder participated in ‘armed’ takeover of former Columbia University ROTC office  —  As a freshman at Columbia University in 1970, future Attorney General Eric Holder participated in a five-day occupation of an abandoned Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) …

After Obama guidance, Lockheed won't issue layoff notices this year  —  Lockheed Martin said Monday it will not issue employee layoff notices this year, ending an election-year showdown with the Obama administration.  —  The company said it based its decision on new guidance issued Friday …

Wheels coming off  —  Team O's Libya dissembling  —  With a little more than a month to go before a crucial national election, the wheels are coming off the Obama administration's national-security credentials.  —  The coordinated attacks on the US consulate in Benghazi …

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 …

Payroll Tax Cut Unlikely to Survive Into Next Year  —  WASHINGTON — Regardless of who wins the presidential election in November or what compromises Congress strikes in the lame-duck session to keep the economy from automatic tax increases and spending cuts, 160 million American wage earners …

Warren Maintains Narrow Lead In Latest WBUR Senate Poll  —  Sen. Scott Brown and his Democratic challenger Elizabeth Warren prepare for their first debate with moderator Jon Keller on Sept. 20 in Boston.  (AP)  —  BOSTON — The latest WBUR poll of 504 likely voters (PDFs - topline …

Supreme Court Denies Appeal From Anti-Gay Marriage Group  —  National Organization for Marriage may be forced to disclose funders in Maine fight.  No action yet on Proposition 8, Defense of Marriage Act cases.  —  Image by Gary Cameron / Reuters  —  WASHINGTON, D.C. …

Women erased from Saudi IKEA catalog  —  Ikea's catalog is printed in 198 million copies and looks almost the same in 27 languages and in 38 countries.  With one big exception.  In the Saudi Arabian version of the catalog almost all women have been erased, Swedish newspaper Metro said.

The ‘Live TV’ Suicide: Forgive Shep Smith, But Boycott Buzzfeed … Fox News , General Electric , Shep Smith , Buzzfeed , Car Chase , Journalism Ethics , Live Tv , Media Ethics , Shep Smith Car Chase , Tv Suicide , Media News  —  In my 23 years in journalism, I've never seen a self-proclaimed …

Another domino falls as Hollande pushes France into depression  —  If French President François Hollande thinks he can assuage the bond markets by dishing out tax-heavy austerity instead of genuine reform, he has been given very bad advice.  —  'Francois Hollande proposes nothing credible …

Subscribe to the HuffPost Hill newsletter!  —  Around the Web:  —  Dem poll: Allen West trailing by 9 in reelection bid  —  Allen West's internal poll says he leads Murphy, 52-41  —  New Allen West ad features Murphy's 2003 mug shot; Murphy camp raises ...  Rep. Allen West attacks opponent for bar fight, arrest

Allen Discusses Insider Attacks in ‘60 Minutes’ Interview  —  By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.  —  In an interview on the CBS program “60 Minutes” last night, the commander of U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan said he takes his mission personally and is angered …

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.

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 …

Debates Will Play to President's Strengths  —  President Barack Obama has an important advantage going into Wednesday night's presidential debate, and it's pretty easy to describe: His debating style happens to be almost perfectly suited for his mission in this debate.

Donald Trump's Libyan Hindsight  —  He made the case for Libya intervention, now he says he knew all along.  Prediction: He will not acknowledge the contradiction.  —  Andrew Kaczynski  —  a half hour ago  —  respond