'My son is not very optimal - he is very dead': Mother of diplomat killed in Benghazi attack slams Obama's comment on raid  —  The mother of an American diplomat killed during a terrorist raid on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi has hit out at Barack Obama for describing the attack as ‘not optimal’ …

Endorsement: Barack Obama for president  —  With the nation mired in two wars and amid an economic meltdown, we endorsed a largely untested young senator from Illinois for president in 2008.  —  Four years later, the Iraq war is over, the war in Afghanistan has a conclusion in sight …

Too many Mitts  —  Obama has earned another term  —  Nowhere has Mitt Romney's pursuit of the presidency been more warmly welcomed or closely followed than here in Utah.  The Republican nominee's political and religious pedigrees, his adeptly bipartisan governorship of a Democratic state …

Walsh, Duckworth clash on Medicare, abortion  —  Republican Rep. Joe Walsh and Democratic challenger Tammy Duckworth used the final face-to-face meeting of their campaign Thursday night to stress differences over the future of Medicare, a program she said should be a “guarantee” but one he said “would end as we know it” unless reformed.

Obama Diagnoses Mitt With “Romnesia”  —  “He's changing up so much, we've got to name this condition that he's going through—I think it's called ‘Romnesia,’” Obama said in Virginia today.  “If you've got Romnesia, here's the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions”  —  From the Obama campaign:

Minnesota Gives Coursera the Boot, Citing a Decades-Old Law  —  Coursera offers free, online courses to people around the world, but if you live in Minnesota, company officials are urging you to log off or head for the border.  —  The state's Office of Higher Education has informed …

The Possibility of a Popular, Electoral Vote Split is Very Real  —  Don't be too surprised if Romney wins the popular vote but loses the Electoral College in this presidential race.  —  Nail-biter: George W. Bush and Al Gore in 2000.  —  Partisans still hoping that their candidate will build …

CNN Poll: Close contest for Florida's 29 electoral votes  —  (CNN) - Three days before the final presidential debate, a new survey in the biggest of the battleground states indicates the race for the White House is basically tied.  —  According to a CNN/ORC International poll conducted Wednesday …

About that Gallup poll: Is Romney really up by 7?  And will Obama win the election anyway?  —  According to Real Clear Politics, Mitt Romney is, on average, up by one point in the polls.  According to both Nate Silver and InTrade, President Obama has a better-than-60-percent chance of winning the election.

Volt no jolt: LG Chem employees idle  —  Factory has yet to ship out a single battery  —  HOLLAND, Mich. (WOOD) - Workers at LG Chem, a $300 million lithium-ion battery plant heavily funded by taxpayers, tell Target 8 that they have so little work to do that they spend hours playing cards and board games …

Deadly blast hits Lebanon capital  —  The explosion occurred in a busy part of east Beirut  —  A car-bomb blast has killed at least eight people and injured more than 70 in Beirut, Lebanese officials say.  —  The explosion occurred in Sassine Square, a busy part of the mainly Christian district …

Man registering voters for GOP accused of tossing forms in trash  —  A man who was being paid to register voters by the Republican Party of Virginia was arrested Thursday after he was seen dumping eight registration forms into a dumpster.  —  Colin Small, 31, was working as a supervisor …

Ground Game: Advantage Obama?  —  In swing states, the Obama camp has opened twice as many offices, but the RNC might help Romney compete on Election Day, report John Avlon and Michael Keller.  —  Beyond the presidential debates, one final factor matters more than all the rest in a close race: ground game.