Two women from the Dominican Republic told The Daily Caller that Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez paid them for sex earlier this year.  —  In interviews, the two women said they met Menendez around Easter at Casa de Campo, an expensive 7,000 acre resort in the Dominican Republic.

Sifting the Numbers for a Winner  —  A crucial element: the mix of Democrats and Republicans who show up this election.  —  It comes down to numbers.  And in the final days of this presidential race, from polling data to early voting, they favor Mitt Romney.  —  He maintains a small but persistent polling edge.

Civil rights icons pump Obama in Forsyth  —  Lowery: Don't think whites going to heaven  —  UPDATED TO INCLUDE MAYOR'S COMMENTS: 5 p.m.  —  Two icons of the civil rights movement visited Forsyth on Saturday to campaign for the reelection of Barack Obama.

Exclusive: Classified cable warned consulate couldn't withstand ‘coordinated attack’  —  The U.S. Mission in Benghazi convened an “emergency meeting” less than a month before the assault that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans, because Al Qaeda had training camps …

NBC/WSJ/Marist polls: Obama leads in Iowa, running neck and neck in N.H, Wis.  —  Less than a week before Election Day, President Barack Obama holds a statistically significant lead over Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the battleground of Iowa, while the two candidates are locked in tight races …

Oct. 31: Obama's Electoral College ‘Firewall’ Holding in Polls  —  On Oct. 11, this blog posed the question of whether President Obama's “firewall” in battleground states was all that it was cracked up to be.  —  At that point, Mr. Obama still technically held the lead in the FiveThirtyEight forecast …

NEWS FLASH  —  BREAKING: THREE BUSH-APPOINTED JUDGES GIVE THUMBS UP TO VOTER DISENFRANCHISEMENT IN OHIO |  Late last week, a federal district court ordered Ohio to stop disenfranchising voters who are directed to vote at the wrong polling place due to poll worker error.

WaPo-ABC tracking poll: High marks for President Obama on Hurricane Sandy response  —  President Obama gets sky-high marks for his response to Hurricane Sandy, which cut a brutal path along the country's East Coast on Monday, according to the latest release of the Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll.

Status Update on Gallup Election Polling Following Superstorm Sandy  —  Here's an update on Gallup's thinking when we suspended our national daily tracking of the presidential election campaign as of Monday, Oct. 29.  Basically, we reached the conclusion that Superstorm Sandy had compromised …

It's Global Warming, Stupid  —  Yes, yes, it's unsophisticated to blame any given storm on climate change.  Men and women in white lab coats tell us—and they're right—that many factors contribute to each severe weather episode.  Climate deniers exploit scientific complexity to avoid any discussion at all.

Atlantic City mayor accuses Christie of ‘double standard’ in Sandy response  —  Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford accused New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) of having displayed a “double standard” in his handling of communities affected by the landfall of Hurricane Sandy.

Obama's campaign goes empty and strident  —  “It is a great advantage to a president, and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know he is not a great man.”  —  Energetic in body but indolent in mind, Barack Obama in his frenetic campaigning for a second term is promising …

International observers say states out of line  —  The group hosting international election observers said Thursday that state officials in Iowa and Texas are needlessly blocking access to the decades-old process the United States already has agreed to, an official said Thursday.

What I'm Hearing About The Sex Scandal  —  I've heard the story, but I don't want to say what it is because, well, I have no idea if it's true.  —  But in the interests of sparing you 1 heart attacks and 2 overly optimistic guesses: What it's about, rumors say, is a Senator.

Barclays faces record £290m penalty  —  British bank suffers another hit to its battered reputation as it confronts huge costs for alleged US energy market manipulation  —  Barclays took another major hit to its already bruised reputation last night when a US regulator threatened …

Obama widens lead in Nevada  —  President Barack Obama has expanded his lead over Mitt Romney in Nevada, according to a new poll that shows the incumbent edging his GOP challenger 50 percent to 46 percent and headed toward victory Tuesday unless Romney halts the Democrat's momentum in the state that could settle the White House race.

U.S. yanks support for Syrian opposition group, warns of extremist takeover of uprising  —  ZAGREB, Croatia — The Obama administration on Wednesday renounced the proclaimed leaders of the Syrian political opposition and said any group seeking to oust President Bashar al-Assad must reject attempts …

National Polls, State Polls, and Democrat Turnout  —  NRO is back this morning!  Hurrah!  —  Also this morning, I'm scheduled to appear on Chuck Todd's “Daily Rundown” on MSNBC around 9:40 or so.

A GOP switch on Todd Akin?  —  Rep. Todd Akin and the Missouri Republican Party are launching a nearly $700,000 TV ad blitz in the closing days of his challenge to Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, but the source of the funds for the effort is unclear.  —  These are the first ads run …

Arab tweeps should stop gloating over Sandy disaster: Saudi Grand Mufti  —  The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holliest sites, has condemned the gloating by radical “tweeps” in the Arab world over the Sandy storm disaster, which left more than 100 people dead in the U.S. East Coast, as “illegitimate”

Beeson: Obama ‘firewall is burning’  —  Romney political director Rich Beeson said Wednesday that the Obama team's electoral firewall — aka, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin — is “burning.”  —  “The firewall that I think they talked about was Iowa, Wisconsin,and Ohio,” he said on a conference call …

New ADP Count Slashes Job Creation for September  —  Revisions to the way payroll data firm ADP counts private sector job creation have resulted in a sharp drop in the September employment count.  —  ADP's new calculations put the monthly job creation at just 88,200, down from the 162,000 …

Obama's Powell ad: Stay the course  —  After announcing radio buys yesterday featuring Colin Powell's endorsement, the Obama campaign rolls out a TV spot featuring clips of the former secretary of state's endorsement on CBS News — the script: … It's sort of an interesting note to end on …

Political Memo: Romney Tones Down Campaign Rhetoric as Vote Nears  —  TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney used to talk up the “crucial” importance of having two parents in the home, saying “a mom and dad together” have a big impact.  But over the past week, he has been extolling the virtues …