Battleground Tracking Poll: Mitt Romney takes lead  —  DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Mitt Romney has taken a narrow national lead, tightened the gender gap and expanded his edge over President Barack Obama on who would best grow the economy.  —  A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll …

Spelling is hard: Obama supporters wear ‘Foward’ T-shirts at Biden rally, tweet #Foward; Update: #Foward hashtag hilarity … Oh, dear!  Seriously, our aching sides can't take much more.  But, wait, there's more!  It wasn't just one woman who was wearing a T-shirt reading “foward”; it was two!

Oct. 21: Uncertainty Clouds Polling, but Obama Remains Electoral College Favorite  —  The bad news for President Obama: it's been almost a week since the second presidential debate, in Hempstead, N.Y., one that instant-reaction polls said was a narrow victory for him.

Akin Adviser: If A Dog, McCaskill Would Be A ‘Bullshitsu’  —  Rick Tyler, an adviser to Republican Senate candidate Todd Akin in Missouri, tweeted Monday that if Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill were a dog, she would be a “Bullshitsu.” … The comment comes after Akin drew fire …

Intelligence Stressed Libya Protest Scenario  —  In Reports to Obama, CIA Didn't Alter Assessment of Trigger for Violence for 10 Days, Even as Witness Accounts Disputed It  —  WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama was told in his daily intelligence briefing for more than a week after the consulate siege …

Russell Means, Who Revived Warrior Image of American Indian, Dies at 72  —  Russell C. Means, the charismatic Oglala Sioux who helped revive the warrior image of the American Indian in the 1970s with guerrilla-tactic protests that called attention to the nation's history of injustices …

Biden blasts Romney, Ryan in Ohio  —  CANTON, Ohio - As President Obama headed to Boca Raton, Florida, for the final debate on Monday, Vice President Joe Biden kicked off a three-day tour of crucial battleground state Ohio.  —  At his first event at a community center here in Canton …

Clark Kent quits the Daily Planet in Superman #13 — and he doesn't go quietly.  He resigns in front of the whole staff, reports Brian Truitt, “and rails on how journalism has given way to entertainment.”  (The Daily Planet is now part of the multimedia corporation Galaxy Broadcasting.)

Wow, CNN ...  Check out the front page feature story on CNN right now.  A eye-popper even in the long sad tale of CNN's decline.  Screen cap after the jump ...  CNN front page, 9:14 AM, October 22nd, 2012.  —  I'll note that the piece itself is not nearly as bad as the headline.

The bias of Bob Schieffer: Top 7 moments  —  In August, I blasted the Commission on Presidential Debate's choices of three Beltway lib journo-tools — CNN's Candy Crowley, PBS's Jim Lehrer and CBS's Bob Schieffer.  So far, they've acted just as expected and predicted.  As I noted:

Giuliani, O'Brien take part in fiery debate  —  (CNN) - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani argued Monday on CNN that President Barack Obama should have known from “common sense” that the U.S. consulate in Libya was at risk prior to last month's deadly attacks in Benghazi.

Revenge of the Soccer Moms: Why Are Women Abandoning Obama?  —  CHANTILLY, Virginia — Remember the War on Women?  —  A few months ago, it seemed like the battle for women's votes was one Democrats had decisively won.  While (male) Republican politicians talked about transvaginal ultrasounds …

Michelle: Vote Early Because Your Toilet May Be Overflowing on Election Day  —  (CNSNews.com) - First Lady Michelle Obama encouraged her husband's supporters to vote early, because you may find your “toilet overflowing” on Election Day.  —  “You can also tell people that they don't have to …

Blimp-Like Aircraft With Mitt Romney Ad Crash Lands in Davie  —  Aircraft carrying GOP presidential hopeful's message goes down in South Florida  —  A blimp-like aircraft bearing a message from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney crash-landed in Davie Sunday night, officials said.

The Cuban Missile Crisis @50: A Reconsideration  —  Today is the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's nationally televised address informing the nation of the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba, and his intention to make sure they were removed.  The Kennedy glorification industry …

Nobody Mentions Climate Change.  But Somebody Did Something About It.  —  President Barack Obama disembarks from Air Force One under a rainfall at Akron-Canton Regional Airport in Akron, Ohio, on Sept. 26, 2012.  —  I constantly whine about the Beltway media, and I believe global warming is the most important issue facing humanity.

Ohio Secretary of State Says Restoring Early Voting Is ‘Un-American’  —  During his keynote speech at an election law symposium at University of Toledo on Friday, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R) claimed two recent court decisions restoring early voting on the last three days before the election was “un-American.”

Todd Akin Arrested on May 9, 1987 with Radical Anti-Abortion Group  —  In late September we broke the news that Todd Akin was arrested for blocking access to a women's health clinic.  We posted a video of Akin speaking in O'Fallon, MO in March 2011.  Akin, apparently not aware that he was being recorded …

THE CHOICE  —  The morning was cold and the sky was bright.  Aretha Franklin wore a large and interesting hat.  Yo-Yo Ma urged his frozen fingers to play the cello, and the Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, a civil-rights comrade of Martin Luther King, Jr.,'s, read a benediction that began with …