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

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 …

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 …

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 …

Romney's 'you didn't build that' attack: An epic FAIL  —  Others have touched on this already, but it really deserves highlighting here, too.  Check this out, from the new NBC/WSJ poll: … Romney built much of his convention around Obama's “you didn't build that” comments, but only 32 percent were impacted negatively by them.

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 …

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 …

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 …

Iran police break up protests over currency crisis  —  Many shops in the central bazaar have closed in sympathy with the demonstrators  —  Riot police in Iran have broken up several protests in the capital over sharp falls in the currency, the rial.  —  Traders protested outside the central bank …

First Debate Often Helps Challenger in Polls  —  Conventional wisdom holds that the first presidential debate offers an especially good opportunity for the challenging candidate, who for the first time gets to stand on a literal public stage, and a proverbial level playing field, with the incumbent president.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

NBC/WSJ poll: Obama holds lead in Ohio; statistical tie in Va., Fla.  —  Slideshow: On the campaign trail  —  In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.  —  Launch slideshow

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 …

Obama Dominates Advertising in Key States  —  President Holds Advantage in 14 of 15 Top Markets;  —  Only 7.8 Percent of Presidential Ads Positive; FCC electronic disclosure leaves out more than 50% of federal ads  —  (MIDDLETOWN, CT) Oct. 3, 2012 - In the three-week period since …

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.

Romney floats deduction cap  —  Mitt Romney floated the idea of a $17,000 limit on itemized tax deductions Tuesday night — and is likely to get a quick lesson in the risks of providing details about his tax plans.  —  While a $17,000 limit would hit hardest on people in the highest tax brackets …

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 …

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.

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 …

Complicity in Duplicity?  —  A woman named Rice in a top administration job, ambitious to move up to secretary of state, hitting the Sunday talk shows to aggressively promote a Middle East narrative that's good for the president but destined to crumble under scrutiny.