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.

Battleground Tracking Poll: Obama retakes lead  —  MARION, Ohio — With eight days to go until the election, President Barack Obama has recaptured a narrow national lead over Mitt Romney, riding increased support from women and an edge in early voting.  —  A new POLITICO/George Washington …

Labor Department Says No Decision Yet on Whether to Delay Jobs Report  —  The Labor Department said Monday that it has yet to make a decision on whether to delay Friday's closely-watched October employment report due to the effects from Hurricane Sandy.  —  Federal government offices …

Mitt Romney In GOP Debate: Shut Down Federal Disaster Agency, Send Responsibility To The States … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Elections 2012, Video, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Politics News, Fema, Frankenstorm 2012, Hurricane Sandy 2012, Hurricane Sandy Fema …

Senate race in dead heat, new Globe poll shows  —  A new Boston Globe poll shows the race between Senator Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren in a dead heat, with ample opportunity for both candidates to win the nation's most expensive Senate race eight days from now.

Medicaid on the Ballot  —  There's a lot we don't know about what Mitt Romney would do if he won.  He refuses to say which tax loopholes he would close to make up for $5 trillion in tax cuts; his economic “plan” is an empty shell.  —  But one thing is clear: If he wins, Medicaid …

Column: Romney wrong to use “Clear Eyes, Full Hearts”  —  Romney may have co-opted the show's motto, but the women of “Friday Night Lights” know we need Obama.  —  STORY HIGHLIGHTS  —  2:09PM EDT October 28.  2012 - “Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose,” was the battle cry …

Obama's independent problem  —  President Obama has a problem with independents.  And it's not a small problem.  —  In the last three releases of the tracking poll conducted by The Washington Post and ABC News, Obama has trailed former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney among independent voters by between 16 and 20 percentage points.

Early briefings on Libya strike focused on Al Qaeda, before story changed  —  Two days after the Libya terror attack, representatives of the FBI and National Counterterrorism Center gave Capitol Hill briefings in which they said the evidence supported an Al Qaeda or Al Qaeda-affiliated attack, Fox News has learned.

Romney Avoids Taxes via Loophole Cutting Mormon Donations  —  In 1997, Congress cracked down on a popular tax shelter that allowed rich people to take advantage of the exempt status of charities without actually giving away much money.  —  Individuals who had already set up these vehicles were allowed to keep them.

Obama Suggests ‘Secretary of Business’ in a 2nd Term  —  President Barack Obama signaled if he wins a second term he would appoint a Secretary of Business to oversee newly-consolidated government agencies, including the Small Business Administration, and predicted “a war” …

In Morning Joe Interview, Obama Talks Libya And Ideas ‘I Stole From A Massachusetts Governor’  —  As mentioned earlier, Morning Joe hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski spoke with President Barack Obama during a New Hampshire campaign stop in a segment aired early Monday morning.

URGENT: Prayer Tonight  —  The Solemn Assembly  —  Joel 1:14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD,  —  Commentary  —  The hurricane that is going to hit 21 years to the day from the Perfect Storm

NYU terrorism class asks students to plot terrorist attack  —  It's Terrorism 101.  —  A New York University class on transnational terrorism is requiring students to “hypothetically plan a terrorist attack” — and shocked cops say the outrageous lesson plan is an insult to the officers killed on Sept. 11.

Romney to Business Crowd: Obama Sees You As an “Evil”  —  The GOP candidate—and his wife—are caught on tape at a private fundraiser dismissing the president as not a “grown-up” and an arch foe of commerce.  —  Ever since I revealed Mitt Romney's 47 percent rant, tips and tapes have come through the transom—including this and this.

The Obama Curse strikes again: Detroit Tigers lose the world series  —  Not only did the Detroit Tigers lose the world series, they lost spectacularly, with the Giants winning in a solid four game streak.  I predicted this outcome a few days ago, not because I know anything about baseball …