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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

Bill Clinton sneaks in before storm to boost Murphy  —  Waterbury — On the eve of a hurricane-induced break in the political season, Bill Clinton gave Democrats a 30-minute pep talk Sunday, framing U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy's race for U.S. Senate as an election of national interest.

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.

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 …

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.

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” …

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 …

Mitt Romney Releases Auto Ad That Misleads On Facts … REACT:  —  FOLLOW:  —  Elections 2012, Mitt Romney, Auto Bailout , Elections 2012, Video, Romney Ad, Chrysler China, Mitt Romney 2012, Mitt Romney Ads, Mitt Romney Auto, Mitt Romney Auto Ad, Mitt Romney Auto Bailout, Mitt Romney China …

Obama says ‘first order of business’ in second term would be deficit  —  President Obama in a second interview has highlighted deficit reduction and immigration reform as issues he'd tackle in a second term.  —  In an interview with MSNBC's Mika Brezezinski and Joe Scarborough, Obama said the …

Broken promises  —  O has dashed lefties' hopes  —  As the 2012 presidential campaign winds to a close — it's mostly about Big Bird and binders, apparently — it's hard to recall the heady days of 2008.  But thinking back, things have really gone downhill.

Girls of 13 given birth control jab at school without parents' knowledge  —  Schoolgirls as young as 13 are being given contraceptive injections and implants during lunch-breaks without their parents' knowledge.  —  Vaginal Ring, Intra Uterine Device, Contraceptive Implant and Pills

The War on Objectivity  —  Brad DeLong points me to this National Review attack on Nate Silver, which I think of as illustrating an important aspect of what's really happening in America.  —  For those new to this, Nate is a sports statistician turned political statistician …

U.S. Stock Trading Canceled as New York Girds for Storm  —  The U.S. securities industry canceled equity trading on all markets today, moving to protect workers as Hurricane Sandy barreled toward New York City with 70-mile-per-hour winds and the threat of an 11-foot sea surge.

Obama's Big Reason for Going Small  —  Why is President Obama casting aside the dignity of his office and sacrificing his likeability (his real firewall) with such a silly and tawdry closing campaign?  Big Bird, binders, bayonets, bulls*****r, Romnesia, Lena: Why triple-down on triviality when it seems so counterproductive?