How One Well-Connected Pseudonymous Twitter Spread Fake News About Hurricane Sandy  —  The twitter user @comfortablysmug is one of a handful of pseudonymous Manhattan professionals who keep their widely-followed Twitter voices separate from their careers.  His bio describes him as “My Interests …

The Morning Plum: Romney's Jeep-to-China lie earns brutal headlines in Ohio  —  As David Plouffe wrote in his memoir of Campaign 2008, the Obama team has long thought that one of the most effective ways to influence independents and undecided voters is via local media in key battleground states.

MSNBC Ridicules Romney for Collecting Food and Supplies for Sandy Victims  —  This one is really hard to believe, even for the most biased so-called “news network” in the nation.  —  MSNBC on Tuesday totally trashed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for collecting food and supplies …

Memo: Pennsylvania  —  Rendell: ‘Startling upset’ for Romney ‘a possibility’ in Pennsylvania  —  When Governor Ed Rendell made these comments last week, he was clearly sending a desperate call to Chicago for help in the Keystone State.  At the time, his comments were met with derision …

Governor Romney After the (2006) Flood: Not Good  —  PHOTO BY JIM DAVIS/THE BOSTON GLOBE VIA GETTY IMAGES  —  Now that he's again decided to mention (obliquely) that he was our governor once, and we're all up here in the Commonwealth (God save it!) being awakened by the sweet sounds …

DISNEY TO ACQUIRE LUCASFILM LTD.  —  An investor conference call will take place at approximately 4:30 p.m. EDT / 1:30 p.m. PDT today, October 30, 2012.  Details for the call are listed in the release.  —  Global leader in high-quality family entertainment agrees to acquire world-renowned Lucasfilm Ltd …

In U.S., 15% of Registered Voters Have Already Cast Ballots  —  Early voting highest in the West and among seniors; similar by party ID  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Fifteen percent of registered voters nationwide have already cast their ballots in this year's election, according to Gallup Daily tracking for the week ending Oct. 28.

EXCLUSIVE: Romney Campaign Training Poll Watchers To Mislead Voters In Wisconsin  —  Mitt Romney's campaign has been training poll watchers in Wisconsin with highly misleading — and sometimes downright false — information about voters' rights.  —  Documents from a recent Romney poll watcher …

Dozens of Homes Destroyed in Breezy Point … At least 80 flooded homes were destroyed by fire Monday night in Breezy Point, a neighborhood on the tip of New York's Rockaway Peninsula.  Hundreds of homes in this Queens neighborhood suffered flood damage and at least five houses were swept off …

The Upside of Opportunism  —  Let's try to imagine what the world would look like if President Obama is re-elected.  —  Washington over the next four years would probably look much as it has over the last two: Obama running the White House, Republicans controlling the House and Democrats managing the Senate.

NPR: 8-point swing puts Romney in front … A new National Public Radio poll, which had President Obama leading Mitt Romney 51 percent to 44 percent four weeks ago, now has Mitt Romney on top, 48 percent to 47 percent, with the Republican benefiting from his debate performances.

Why Democrats Are Right to Politicize Sandy  —  Disasters are inherently political, because government is political, and preventing and responding to disasters is a primary role of the state.  But there is an innate tension in overtly politicizing a disaster.