Hurricane Sandy: 5 political questions  —  The presidential campaigns are publicly hitting pause on East Coast electioneering as Hurricane Sandy spirals toward Atlantic beaches, but privately political professionals are starting to assess important questions about how it might affect next week's elections up and down the ballot.

A Desperate, Deceptive Gambit for Romney in Ohio  —  How desperate is Mitt Romney to win Ohio?  Before you answer, pay attention to what he and his campaign have been saying about the auto industry in the last few days.  —  As you may have heard, Romney on Thursday scared the bejeezus …

Romney Campaign Brushes Off “538” Projections  —  Nate Silver's newest reader: Stu Stevens.  —  Source: charlierose.com  —  CELINA, Ohio — As Mitt Romney's campaign works to exude confidence in the home stretch, one wonky, liberal, self-made New York Times election forecaster has emerged as a particularly tricky obstacle.

Andrew Sullivan: Mitt Romney ‘Like an Alien That Ripped Off His Mask’ at Debates  —  The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan blasted Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as a “brand new candidate” following this month's presidential debates, saying on the “This Week” roundtable that Romney …

Minnesota Poll: Obama leading, but Romney sees gains  —  The president's 3-point lead in state is within poll's margin of error.  —  As the presidential race tightens across the country, a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll has found that it is narrowing here as well, with President Obama holding …

al Qaqaa and Benghazi: That Was Then, and This Is Now  —  I wrote yesterday about the media effort to help the Obama administration cover up the Benghazi scandal.  That scandal includes at least three elements: 1) the administration's failure to provide adequate security for our personnel there …

MEDIA BLACKOUT: ASIDE FROM FOX, SUNDAY NEWS HOSTS FAIL TO RAISE BENGHAZI  —  The mainstream media's silence on the Benghazi disaster reached deafening levels on Sunday, as hosts of four out of the five major news shows—with the exception of Fox News Sunday—failed to raise the issue.

inequality: Living in the Second Gilded Age  —  For the San Francisco Chronicle:  —  A third of a century ago, all of us economists confidently predicted that America would remain and even become more of a middle-class society.  The high income and wealth inequality of the 1870-1929 Gilded Age …

Our presidential endorsement: Ready for change  —  We invested heavily in hope back in 2008.  —  Our 2012 endorsement of Mitt Romney comes with an imperative for change.  —  The change that we'd hoped would elevate our economy wound up woefully short.  The presidential gambit …

The Panetta Doctrine  —  The Secretary of Defense in his best grown-up voice says:  —  It seems obvious that Panetta is trying protect Obama from responsibility for the Administration's Benghazi response.  I don't think that works.  The decision to outsource the call is still a presidential decision.

Times Reaches Tentative Deal With Newspaper Guild  —  The New York Times said Sunday night that it had reached a tentative agreement with the Newspaper Guild, setting the stage for a new labor contract after more than 18 months of negotiations.  —  In a message to the staff, the executive editor …

Kasich: Romney will carry Ohio  —  Gov. John Kasich predicted on Sunday that Mitt Romney will come out on top in Ohio on Election Day.  —  “I believe right now we are currently ahead, internals show us currently ahead,” Kasich said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”