President Obama said that the Republican party “would have to overcome an internal war if he were reelected, but expressed hope that the partisan gridlock in Washington could come to an end,” the Huffington Post reports.

Said Obama: “The question’s going to be, how do Republicans react post-election? Because there’s going to be a war going on inside that party. It just hasn’t broken up. It’s been unified in opposition to me.”

Bloomberg: “In 1997, Congress cracked down on a popular tax shelter that allowed rich people to take advantage of the exempt status of charities without actually giving away much money.”

“Individuals who had already set up these vehicles were allowed to keep them. That included Mitt Romney, then the chief executive officer of Bain Capital, who had just established such an arrangement in June 1996.”

“In this instance, Romney used the tax-exempt status of a charity — the Mormon Church, according to a 2007 filing — to defer taxes for more than 15 years. At the same time he is benefitting, the trust will probably leave the church with less than what current law requires.”

From a statement: “Gallup has suspended polling for its daily tracking as of Monday night and will reassess on a day-to-day basis. The ultimate effect on the overall picture of polling between now and this weekend, including election polling, will depend on what happens as a result of the storm, about which we will have a better understanding of on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.”

The Economist: “To be brutal, a certain amount of bad weather on election day helps
conservatives in every democracy. In crude terms, car-driving
conservative retirees still turn out in driving rain, when bus-taking
lower-income workers just back from a night shift are more likely to
give rain-soaked polls a miss. School closures are a particular problem
for low-income families or single mothers scrambling to find childcare.
In this case, the weather is supposed to clear up well ahead of election
day, but the impact could be felt in the turnout of early voters.”

As the presidential campaign enters its final week, a new Pew Research poll finds President Obama “has failed to regain much of the support he lost in the days following the first presidential debate and the race is now even among likely voters: 47% favor Obama while an identical percentage supports Mitt Romney.”

A new American Research Group poll shows the race tied at 48%.

These results are also similar to what tracking polls currently show.

Here are the latest polls from the battleground states:

Colorado: Romney 48%, Obama 47% (American Research Group)

Florida: Romney 50%, Obama 49% (CNN/ORC)

North Carolina: Obama 45%, Romney 45% (Elon University)

Ohio: Romney 50%, Obama 48% (Rasmussen)

Nate Silver notes the hurricane hitting the east coast means we’ll likely see “a reduction in the number of polls issued over the coming days… And certainly, any polls in the states that are most in harm’s way, including Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania, will need to be interpreted with extreme caution.”

A new Boston Globe poll in Massachusetts shows Sen. Scott Brown (R) with a razor thin lead over Elizabeth Warren (D) in their U.S. Senate race among likely voters, 45% to 43%.

In September, Warren held a five point lead.

However, Brown’s lead evaporates, with 47% for each candidate, when voters who are undecided are asked which candidate they are leaning toward.

Former President Bill Clinton is planning to visit Minnesota this week to shore up support for President Obama, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

“Minnesota has not been on that swing state list but a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll, published Sunday, shows a newly tight race… The sudden attention comes as both campaigns have started buying advertising time in Minnesota, which had been lacking until last week.”

Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) is out with a new ad that includes a clip of challenger Todd Akin’s (R) controversial interview in which he argued that “legitimate rape” rarely causes pregnancy.

[Read more…]

Bloomberg: “In two of the most competitive states in the U.S. presidential race — Iowa and Nevada — Democrats are building a significant advantage in early voting.”

“Who has the edge is more muddled in the bigger swing states of Ohio and Florida, while Republicans have a narrow lead in Colorado.”

First Read: “One, you’re not going to see the candidates campaign in Virginia or New Hampshire for the rest of the week and perhaps for the rest of the campaign. (They can’t bring their motorcades and Secret Service protection to these areas.) Two, three days from this campaign are essentially going to be erased. (Yes, Romney is hitting three battleground states of Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin. And Bill Clinton and Biden are stumping in Florida and Ohio. But how much coverage is that going to receive?) And three, if you’re the president, you do your job. That’s probably why you saw the president — who landed in Florida yesterday — decide to return immediately to the White House today.”

“The only unforced error a campaign can make during this storm is acting TOO political. And the Obama campaign erased their unforced error without having today’s awkward campaign event play out on TV potentially. The person in the real bind right now is Romney. What does he do that doesn’t look overly-political or insensitive? He has no specific job right now.”

Bloomberg: “The October surprise goes by the name Sandy. And unlike many late-breaking developments of U.S. presidential elections past, neither side is certain which candidate, if either, will be helped or hurt.”

Boston Globe: “They campaign in near anonymity, these third-party contenders who stand no shot at the presidency. Their supporters are castigated for wasting their votes. But don’t write them off just yet. In hotly contested swing states, their presence on the ballot may alter the course of the election.”

“We’re coming down to the 11th hour. We’re facing a violent storm. It’s nothing compared to
the storm we’ll face if you don’t make the right decision in this
election.”

— Bill Clinton, quoted by the CT Mirror, campaigning in Connecticut.

Steve Kornacki notes that we all remember that George W. Bush “became president 12 years ago despite receiving 543,816 fewer votes than Al Gore. With an assist from the Supreme Court, Bush narrowly carried Florida, allowing him to eke out the narrowest of victories in the Electoral College, 271-267.”

“What we tend to forget, though, is that pre-election polls forecasted the exact opposite outcome. In the weeks leading up to Election Day, it was Bush who had led in the national horserace and Gore who’d held the edge in the three key swing states – Michigan, Pennsylvania and Florida.”

“In the race’s closing days, Republicans began making noise about launching a pressure campaign to change the votes of electors if Gore were to win the Electoral College while losing the popular vote.”

Here are the latest national tracking polls of the presidential race:

ABC News/Washington Post: Romney 49%, Obama 48%

Politico/George Washington University: Obama 49%, Romney 48%

Public Policy Polling: Romney 49%, Obama 48%

Reuters/Ipsos: Obama 49%, Romney 46%

New York Times: “In the dark of night, when they get what little sleep they get these days, the people running the campaigns for president have more than enough fodder for nightmares. Worse, come daybreak, they realize their worst fears may yet come true.”

“Dancing in their heads are visions of recounts, contested ballots and lawsuits. The possibility that their candidate could win the popular vote yet lose the presidency. Even the outside chance of an Electoral College tie that throws the contest to Congress.”

“Now add to that parade of potential horrors one more: a freakish two-in-one storm that could, if the more dire forecasts prove correct, warp an election two years and $2 billion in the making.”

Politico: “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.”