Oct. 10: Is Romney Leading Right Now?  —  Polling since the debate in Denver last week has generally been very strong for Mitt Romney.  But there have also been a couple of rays of hope for Democrats and President Obama.  —  One hypothesis is that Mr. Romney's debate bounce was initially very strong, but has since faded some.

What I learned debating Paul Ryan  —  In February 2010, I sat down to talk health-care policy with Rep. Paul Ryan.  Ryan wasn't yet the lion of the right that he is today, but he had a reputation as an unusually wonkish legislator, and he didn't disappoint.

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 …

Obama and the L-Word  —  ‘Liar’ is potent and ugly—with a sleazy political pedigree.  —  The election campaign of the 44th U.S. president is now calling another candidate for the American presidency a “liar.”  This is a new low.  It is amazing and depressing to hear this term being used …

He tells ‘Dispatch’ those with pre-existing condition would have chance to get insurance  —  A Mitt Romney administration overhaul of President Barack Obama's health-care law would provide those without insurance who have a pre-existing condition the opportunity to gain coverage …

GOP Plans Congressional Investigation Into September Jobs Number Conspiracy  —  House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) told Fox News on Wednesday that he would hold hearings into the September job numbers, buying into a widely-discredited conspiracy theory that President Obama faked …

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.

Bus Driver Tells 12 Year-Old He Should Have Been Aborted Because of Romney Yard Sign  —  A bus driver told a 12 year-old student that he should have been aborted because his family had a Romney-Ryan sign in their yard.  —  Freedom Eden reported: … UPDATE: The bus driver was fired after the report on Mark's show.

Romney calls girl at center of T-shirt controversy  —  Mitt Romney called Samantha Pawlucy on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for the campaign confirmed by email this morning.  —  The Romney campaign will not be issuing a formal statement, according to spokeswoman Kate Meriwether, who declined to provide details.

Romney's Pivot to the Center Hasn't Worked.  (But It Didn't Need To.)  —  Perhaps you've heard about Romney's pivot to the center in last week's debate—what it means, whether it will work, how Obama is responding, etc.  Yesterday, Bill Clinton described his reaction to Romney's performance thusly: “Wow, here's old moderate Mitt.

DNC Fires Employee Featured In James O'Keefe Video  —  The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday fired a Texas staffer who appeared to offer to help someone figure out how to vote simultaneously in two states in undercover video released by conservative activist James O'Keefe.

Obama campaign refers to liberal bloggers as “tinfoil hat crowd”  —  The Obama campaign referred to several major liberal bloggers as the “tinfoil hat crowd” in a statement to Fox News Wednesday.  The campaign was responding to the cable channel's request for a comment on an Internet conspiracy theory many of them had promoted.

The real Libya scandal: The failure to respond  —  Today marks exactly one month since terrorists attacked the U.S consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing our ambassador and three other American personnel.  In the weeks since, Washington has been gripped by the unfolding scandals …

Video: Unions Fine Members Who Don't Show Support for Elizabeth Warren  —  A GOP source sends along this video, shot by a Republican tracker, of a union member supporting Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren outside of a debate Wednesday night in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Who do you believe—Mitt, or your lyin' memory?  —  A depression has descended upon me.  I look at the blank screen, and those are the words that come into my mind.  I do not believe for a second that Mitt Romney will win the election.  I do believe that at this moment he is tied, 50-50, in various national polls.

The Obama Mega Donor Who Got Lost In The Crowd  —  There are only a few dozen Americans who have given at least $1 million to super PACs this election cycle, and Kareem Ahmed is one of them.  If you manage to talk to him, he'll tell you a lot.  He'll tell you all about a class of pharmaceuticals …

The IMF and the GOP  —  Econowonks are still buzzing about the new IMF World Economic Outlook, which offered grim warnings about the world economy, and also argued forcefully if discreetly that a big reason for the worsening outlook is that policy makers have gotten the basic economics wrong.

Paleo Diet Lawsuit Dismissed By Court in Blow to Free Expression  —  Bad news in an important Institute for Justice-launched lawsuit defending the right of free speech on the Internet about matters of diet and nutrition.  —  A state licensing board in North Carolina tried to suppress a blogger …