NBC/WSJ/Marist poll: Romney gains in key swing states  —  A week after President Barack Obama's lackluster debate performance, Republican challenger Mitt Romney has made some gains in three key swing states among those most likely to vote, according to the latest round of NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls.

Letting us in on a secret  —  When House Republicans called a hearing in the middle of their long recess, you knew it would be something big, and indeed it was: They accidentally blew the CIA's cover.  —  The purpose of Wednesday's hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee …

Romney's emotional story remembered very differently by friend of fallen SEAL  —  Listen: Romney's emotional story remembered very differently by friend of fallen SEAL  —  On the stump in Iowa Tuesday, Mitt Romney got emotional when he revealed that he met former Navy SEAL Glen Doherty at a holiday party some years ago.

Analysis: High Stakes for Vice Presidential Debate  —  Time running short, Vice President Joe Biden faces the greater burden in his debate with Republican Paul Ryan as he seeks to use the election's only encounter between presidential running mates to slow Mitt Romney's momentum and reset …

GOP senators to White House: Cyber order would be ‘a mistake’  —  A trio of centrist Senate Republicans on Wednesday urged President Obama to hold back on issuing an executive order that would protect critical infrastructure systems from cyberattacks and encouraged him to work with Congress to pass legislation instead.

Mitt Romney's tax mythology, made simple  —  I've said this before, but Mitt Romney's new formulation of his tax plan — one he used at the debate, and which he repeated to Wolf Blitzer yesterday — makes it absolutely clear that he's lying about something.  You don't need complicated Tax …

Race Tightens in Two States  —  Romney Gains Among Independent Voters and Men, Post-Debate Surveys Show  —  Mitt Romney is deadlocked with President Barack Obama in two key battlegrounds—Florida and Virginia—while still behind in Ohio, according to new polls taken after the Republican's strong performance …

Morning Jay: Politics and the Gallup Poll  —  Since about the beginning of President Obama's tenure, the Gallup poll has generally been one of the least positive polls for the Democratic party.  This has prompted outrage and pressure from the left—even from presidential advisor David Axelrod.

Tapper to WH on Benghazi: So, wouldn't it be President Obama who shot first and aimed later?  —  If you'll recall, in the immediate wake of the breaking news of the riots in Cairo and Benghazi in September, the biggest question on the mainstream media's collective mind was not anything in the vein of …

CBS 5 Poll: Romney Gains 8 Points On Faltering Obama In California  —  SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5) — The effects of President Barack Obama's falter in the first debate with Mitt Romney are not just being felt in battleground states, according to KPIX-TV CBS 5′s latest tracking poll of California …

Billionaire CEO Threatens To Fire Employees If Obama Wins  —  The CEO of a massive timeshare company sent an email about the upcoming election to his employees yesterday, threatening to fire some of them if President Obama wins re-election.  —  David Siegel, who owns Florida-based Westgate Resorts …

Romney Campaign Looks to Capitalize on Image Voters Saw in Debate  —  BOSTON — Inside Mitt Romney's campaign headquarters over the past few days, the data pouring in was unmistakable.  Aides scouring the results of focus groups and national polls found that undecided voters watching …

DNA has a 521-year half-life  —  Genetic material can't be recovered from dinosaurs — but it lasts longer than thought.  —  Few researchers have given credence to claims that samples of dinosaur DNA have survived to the present day, but no one knew just how long it would take for genetic material to fall apart.

Puny Issues Take Flight in Presidential Campaign  —  Do little things mean a lot?  Or not?  —  Four years ago, Barack Obama denounced petty attempts to “make a big election about small things.”  Now Republicans accuse the president of going small himself in pursuit of a second term.