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.

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9 poll: I-4 voters back Romney 51-45  —  A campaign sign promotes Mitt Romney outside Republican Party headquarters along Semoran Boulevard in a mostly Hispanic area of Orlando on Thursday.  —  It has been a fundamental rule of Florida politics for decades …

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 …