Comedic relief: Obama, Romney bring on the jokes at annual dinner  —  New York (CNN) - President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were within arm's length for the second time this week, as they shared the stage at the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner Thursday and delivered feisty quips at each other's expense.

Gallup vs. the World  —  Our regularly scheduled forecast update for Wednesday slipped through the cracks.  The FiveThirtyEight forecast was not much changed based on Wednesday's polls, however, with Barack Obama's chances of winning the Electoral College increasing incrementally to 65.7 percent from 64.8 percent.

Parsing Obama on Guantanamo  —  What exactly did President Barack Obama mean when he suggested Thursday that Congress needs to do more to establish a “legal architecture” to govern aspects of the war on terror?  —  “One thing we have got to do is put a legal architecture in place …

CIA found militant links a day after Libya attack  —  WASHINGTON—The CIA station chief in Libya reported to Washington within 24 hours of last month's deadly attack on the U.S. Consulate that there was evidence it was carried out by militants, not a spontaneous mob upset about an American …

Suspect in Libya Attack, in Plain Sight, Scoffs at U.S.  —  BENGHAZI, Libya — Just days after President Obama vowed to hunt down and bring to justice those responsible for the Sept. 11 attack on the American diplomatic compound here, Ahmed Abu Khattala, one of those considered a ringleader …

Our pick for president: Romney  —  (Rainier Ehrhardt, Getty Images / October 11, 2012)  —  Two days after his lackluster first debate performance, President Barack Obama's re-election hopes got a timely boost.  The government's monthly jobless report for September showed …

Walsh, Duckworth clash on Medicare, abortion  —  Republican Rep. Joe Walsh and Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth used the final face-to-face meeting of their campaign Thursday night to stress differences over the future of Medicare, a program she said should be a “guarantee” but one he said “would end as we know it” unless reformed.

Man Tied To Va. GOP Arrested In Voter Form Destruction  —  A Pennsylvania man employed by a company working for the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested by investigators from the Rockingham County Sheriff's office on Thursday and charged with destroying voter registration forms.

Fidel Castro suffered a stroke, Venezuelan doctor says  —  A Naples doctor said former Cuban leader Fidel Castro is near ‘a neurovegetative state’ after suffering a stroke.  —  JCCHAVEZ@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM  —  Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and his state …

Snow Job on Jobs  —  Mitt Romney talks a lot about jobs.  But does he have a plan to create any?  —  You can defend President Obama's jobs record — recovery from a severe financial crisis is always difficult, and especially so when the opposition party does its best to block every policy initiative you propose.

Video: Let's ask young Obama supporters what they think about Benghazi  —  I can't resist this delicious piece of video from an Obama rally at a Ohio university from our friends at Revealing Politics.  The way Kelly Maher tells it, this endeavor started innocently as a project to determine whether rank …

Volt no jolt: LG Chem employees idle  —  Factory has yet to ship out a single battery  —  HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) - Workers at LG Chem, a $300 million lithium-ion battery plant heavily funded by taxpayers, tell Target 8 that they have so little work to do that they spend hours playing cards and board games …

Casey finds himself in tight race; Pa. in play for president  —  What once seemed inconceivable to Democrats now has shifted into the realm of the possible.  —  U.S. Sen. Bob Casey could lose his re-election bid and a Democratic presidential candidate, President Barack Obama, could lose Pennsylvania for the first time since 1988.

How to Beat Obama on Foreign Policy  —  Does President Barack Obama have the next, and final, debate in the bag?  Politico's Mike Allen said yesterday that the town-hall debate at Hofstra University on Oct. 16 represented “Governor Romney's last, best chance, because the next debate is foreign policy, where President Obama is strong.”

Newsweek CEO: Dumping Print ‘Liberates Us’  —  Plans to Charge $24.99 For an Annual Digital-Only Subscription  —  There's been a deathwatch for the print edition of Newsweek ever since IAC CEO Barry Diller hinted in July that print would go away or be scaled back in 2013.

Poll shows Romney leading in blue Pennsylvania … A new poll shows Republican Mitt Romney leading in Pennsylvania, a state that Republicans had all but written off just weeks ago but which is now listed as a toss up by the Real Clear Politics website.  —  Susquehanna Polling and Research provided …

Minnesota Gives Coursera the Boot, Citing a Decades-Old Law  —  Coursera offers free, online courses to people around the world, but if you live in Minnesota, company officials are urging you to log off or head for the border.  —  The state's Office of Higher Education has informed …

MSNBC Host Challenges Romney Son to Fight  —  MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell challenged Republican nominee Mitt Romney's son, Tagg, to a fight at the conclusion of his program Thursday evening:  —  LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: Okay, Taggert, let's have a little talk, just you and me.