Going out on a limb: Romney beats Obama, handily … Fundamentals usually prevail in American elections.  That's bad news for Barack Obama.  True, Americans want to think well of their presidents and many think it would be bad if Americans were perceived as rejecting the first black president.

Hurricane Sandy Threatens to Disrupt Voting on Election Day  —  Some New Jersey voters may find their hurricane-damaged polling sites replaced by military trucks, with — in the words of the state's lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno — “a well-situated national guardsman and a big sign saying …

Romney: Elect Me Or House GOP Will Wreck The Economy  —  In what his campaign billed as his “closing argument,” Mitt Romney warned Americans that a second term for President Obama would have apocalyptic consequences for the economy in part because his own party would force a debt ceiling disaster.

CNN Poll: Obama 50% - Romney 47% in Ohio  —  (CNN) - With four days to go until the presidential election, a new poll indicates the race for arguably the most important battleground state remains very close.  —  According to a CNN/ORC International survey released Friday …

Romney surrogates fan out across US  —  Mitt Romney used a star-studded rally Friday night in West Chester, Ohio, to launch his final push before Election Day.  The event featured nearly every one of the Republican presidential candidate's top surrogates in an attempt to rally support in the crucial battleground state.

Department of Justice Investigating Alleged Ballot Fraud At Clackamas County Elections  —  A Clackamas County elections worker is under criminal investigation for tampering with ballots, WW has learned.  —  The underlying allegation is that the woman, whose name has not been released …

The Obama defectors  —  Barring some kind of last-minute surge, President Obama is going to fall well shy of the 52.9 percent he won in the 2008 election.  It might still be good enough to win, but it won't be resounding.  —  But just who exactly has deserted Obama over the last four years?

Why Did We Abandon Benghazi Compound?  —  Yet more amazing revelations continue to emerge about the Benghazi attack.  —  Foreign Policy magazine has a story on its website by two Dubai-based Arabic TV reporters who visited the site of the former U.S. consulate on Oct. 26 …

OBAMA: VOTING ‘BEST REVENGE’ AGAINST ROMNEY  —  As is often the case when he goes off-teleprompter, at a campaign stop in Ohio today, Obama revealed a side of himself we haven't seen since Hurricane Sandy gave him the opportunity to play The American President for a few days.

Karl Rove's Mission Accomplished  —  The estimable Rick Perlstein has a fascinating essay about the seamless continuum from direct-mail marketing scams to direct-mail right-wing fundraising, and from there to the whole character of modern movement conservatism.  Go read.

Miami Herald FL Poll: Romney 51%-Obama 45%  —  Mitt Romney has maintained a solid lead over President Barack Obama in the latest Miami Herald/El Nuevo Herald poll of likely voters who favor the Republican by six percentage points.  —  Romney's strengths: independent voters and more crossover support …

Oceans of Red Ink  —  I feel a sort of kinship with Michael Ramirez: if I were a genius and could draw really, really, well, I would be just like him.  His latest will appear in newspapers tomorrow; it blends old themes (Obama's pretensions and the federal debt) with new ones :

Nov. 1: The Simple Case for Saying Obama Is the Favorite  —  If you are following some of the same people that I do on Twitter, you may have noticed some pushback about our contention that Barack Obama is a favorite (and certainly not a lock) to be re-elected.

House Republicans may actually add to their majority on Election Day  —  The Fix now projects that the 2012 race for the House is likely to be close to a draw, and there is even a fair chance that Republicans will add to their biggest majority in six decades on Tuesday.

WaPo-ABC tracking poll: Most see U.S. on ‘wrong track’.  So can Obama win?  —  Most likely voters see the country as seriously offtrack; barely half say the president is doing a good job; and the challenger's supporters rival the incumbent's when it comes to being “fired up,” …

STATEN ISLAND RESIDENT CONFRONTS CHUCK SCHUMER; ‘WE ARE GONNA DIE!’  —  Schumer: “I know what you're going through, sweetheart.”