CNN Poll: Big shifts on role of government  —  Denver (CNN) - Hours before the first debate between President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney, a showdown that will focus on domestic issues, a new national survey indicates that Americans have undergone some major changes …

Akin's Campaign Stands By Claim Of Abortions On Women Who “Are Not Actually Pregnant”  —  Cites “ample evidence” of doctors deceiving women into thinking they're pregnant.  Another detour in to women's health in the still-competitive Missouri race.  —  Image by Jeff Roberson / AP

Restaurant worker goes wide-eyed for Mitt at Denver Chipotle  —  The eyes have it for Marty Arps, right, as he meets Mitt Romney at a Chipotle restaurant in Denver.  —  Call the Secret Service, Mitt Romney just got photo-bombed.  —  A restaurant manager at a Chipotle in Denver …

Sensitive documents left behind at American mission in Libya  —  BENGHAZI, Libya — More than three weeks after attacks in this city killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans, sensitive documents remained only loosely secured in the remains of the U.S. mission here on Wednesday …

Newly Unearthed Obama Video: “Rich people are all for nonviolence.  Why wouldn't they be?  They've got what they want."  —  In the wake of the Daily Caller's release of President Obama cheering Rev. Wright and invoking the race card in various ways, our friend Morgen Richmond decided …

Drudge  —  For years, I was a big reader of Drudge.  Was never a fan of Drudge, though I recognized his entrepreneurial acumen.  In fact, I despised most everything that he stood for, from rancid politics to integrity free journalism, the endless lying.  But I visited the site ALL THE TIME.

Polls Show Romney's 47 Percent Moment Breaking Through, 'You Didn't Build That' Fizzling  —  Mitt Romney's remarks decrying about half of Americans as “victims” are hurting him with at least as many voters, according to a mounting body of evidence.  —  The latest WSJ/NBC poll read respondents …

Exclusive: President Obama Considered Putting Osama bin Laden on Trial if Taken Alive … In an adaptation from his new book, The Finish—first reported for Vanity Fair—magazine contributing editor Mark Bowden reveals that President Obama intended to put Osama bin Laden on trial …

Restless Romney Braces For High-Stakes Debate  —  A sleepless night in Denver.  —  Image by Brian Snyder / Reuters  —  DENVER, Colo. — The Romney campaign is spending the hours ahead of Wednesday night's high-stakes presidential debate going through all the traditional motions …

Al-Qaeda blamed for Europe-wide forest fires  —  Al-Qaeda has been blamed for a recent series of forest fires across Europe, as the head of Russia's Federal Security Service claimed they were set by arsonists as part of the group's low-cost attack strategy.  —  “One should note that setting fires …

Missouri Senate: McCaskill (D) 51%, Akin (R) 45%  —  The deadline has passed for embattled Congressman Todd Akin to withdraw from Missouri's U.S. Senate race, and incumbent Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill has now crossed the 50% mark for the first time.  —  The latest Rasmussen Reports …

Republicans Fret Over Obama Tape Resurrection  —  A video lights up the conservative media.  An effective hit, or a distraction for the GOP nominee on his big night?  —  DENVER — Tuesday night's Drudge-led revival of a 2007 Barack Obama speech offered satisfaction to a core of conservatives …

MSNBC President Phil Griffin on Whom He'd Poach From Fox News and Why Obama Avoids the Network (Q&A)  —  “We are not going to do an easy interview, and President Obama knows it,” he says.  —  Like many political junkies, Phil Griffin starts his day with Morning Joe, which he watches while running three miles on the treadmill.

A Mitt Romney rebound?  —  Maybe there are second chances in presidential campaigns.  —  And Mitt Romney's could just be on the horizon, but any potential comeback will be triggered largely by whether he can turn the first debate tonight in his favor.  —  According to Mike Allen's Playbook …

2012 presidential debate as theater  —  President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have spent months preparing for Wednesday's debate, but the key to success may be delivering a performance that looks like a 90-minute ad-lib.  —  As political actors, Obama and Romney will be judged as much …

Turkey hits targets inside Syria after border deaths  —  Akcakale has been fired on several times over the past few weeks  —  Turkey says it has fired artillery against targets inside Syria after Syrian shells killed five people in a Turkish border town.  —  The Turkish military shelled …

The Ugliest Campaign In America  —  A plan to keep it civil has backfired badly in Massachusetts.  Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren can't keep their hands clean.  —  LOWELL, Mass. — The poison that runs through this state's Senate race seemed to spill over into the traffic Tuesday night …

State Supreme Court Tosses Sex Assault Conviction  —  The state Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of a Bridgeport man who was found guilty of sexually assaulting a severely handicapped woman.  —  Justices ruled, 4-3, that despite evidence that the 26-year-old woman cannot speak …

Unmasking the most influential billionaire in U.S. politics  —  The most influential billionaire in America is Peter G. Peterson, whose misleading campaign to ‘reform’ traditional social welfare programs has subtly set the terms of the Washington debate.  —  Peter G. Peterson's views …

N.Y. City Subpoenas Ken Burns Film on '89 Jogger Rape  —  In a new movie, the documentary filmmaker Ken Burns explores the lives of the men who were convicted, and later exonerated, in the racially charged 1989 Central Park jogger rape case.  —  Now lawyers for New York City want to explore …

Philly teacher: Student's Romney T-shirt like wearing a KKK sheet  —  Last Friday was dress-down day at Charles Carroll High School in Port Richmond — a day for students to leave their uniforms at home and wear whatever they liked.  —  One young woman chose to wear a shirt showing her support …

JetBlue will fly upset voters out of the country  —  JetBlue Airlines is offering Americans upset about their candidate's defeat in the upcoming November election a chance to leave the country for free — if only temporarily.  —  “If your candidate doesn't win, don't worry.

POLITICO: ROMNEY UP 4 IN ‘TOSS UP’ STATES  —  This week, Politico released its latest Battleground poll of the presidential race.  Despite coming from the left-wing news site, the poll is one of my favorites.  Its put together by respected pollsters from both parties, makes available …

Paul Ryan Promises Focus on the Family that He Will Fight Gay Equality  —  During an interview with Focus on the Family president Jim Daly, Paul Ryan reassured the anti-gay group that a Romney-Ryan administration will fiercely oppose gay rights.  Focus on the Family and its founder James Dobson …