Romney's Strong Debate Performance Erases Obama's Lead  —  GOP Challenger Viewed as Candidate with New Ideas  —  OVERVIEW  —  Mitt Romney no longer trails Barack Obama in the Pew Research Center's presidential election polling.  By about three-to-one, voters say Romney did a better job …

Team Obama Big Bird ad mocks Mitt  —  ...and by serious, we mean not at all serious.  —  The Obama campaign is out this morning with a goofy video of the Big Bird variety, mocking Mitt Romney, as the president has put it, as going easy on Wall Street but heavy on Sesame Street.

Paul Ryan Gets Testy And Ends Interview  —  When asked about guns and taxes in an interview with ABC12 in Flint, Michigan.  Campaign: “Eventually you're going to see a local reporter embarrass himself.”  —  Source: youtube.com  —  Update: Ryan spokesman Brendan Buck tells BuzzFeed …

“Nones” on the Rise  —  One-in-Five Adults Have No Religious Affiliation  —  Executive Summary  —  The number of Americans who do not identify with any religion continues to grow at a rapid pace.  One-fifth of the U.S. public - and a third of adults under 30 - are religiously unaffiliated today …

The Illegal-Donor Loophole  —  The giant gap in our campaign-finance system that makes foreign and fraudulent donations possible.  Peter Schweizer and Peter J. Boyer report.  —  There has been no shortage of media attention paid to the role of money in the current presidential contest.

A Popularity High for Romney - but Ditto for Obama  —  Mitt Romney reached his highest personal popularity of the election campaign among registered voters in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll - but not by enough to lift his head above water, nor to surpass Barack Obama, who reached his own best favorability rating of the season.

Thug puts us on hook for 16G  —  Feds will pay for jailed terror fiend's hands  —  We're giving this hatemonger a hand — and probably two.  —  Taxpayers will foot the bill to replace radical Islamic preacher Abu Hamza al-Masri's infamous hooks, The Post has learned.

The 15 Most Overrated White People … Kate Middleton , Christopher Columbus , Columbus Day , Race , Slideexpand , White People , Black Voices News  —  Today, our nation engages in one of its most bizarre cultural rituals: the celebration of Columbus Day as a national holiday.

Blue Dogs Brace for Another Drubbing  —  The House Blue Dog Coalition, still reeling from 2010 elections that cut its ranks in half, looks likely to sustain additional losses this year that would cast doubt on the group's influence in the 113th Congress.  —  The number of Blue Dogs grew …

The Policy Verdict I  —  In Thursday night's debate, Vice President Joe Biden will almost certainly go after Representative Paul Ryan's Medicare plan.  And why shouldn't he?  It's unpopular.  But I'd like to make a case for that plan.  It's the best thing the Romney-Ryan campaign has going for it.

School Lets Dems Register Students to Vote, But Not GOP  —  Florida Republicans are outraged after a school district allowed a pro-Obama organization to conduct student voter registration drives and deliver speeches to classes - but denied the Romney campaign similar opportunities.

Experts pan Romney foreign policy speech  —  Mitt Romney's foreign policy speech Monday was filled with tough talk and slams of President Barack Obama's leadership — but little of the clarity Romney has vowed to bring to the Oval Office.  —  Analysts reviewing what the Republican nominee …