Mitt Romney is placing television ads in Minnesota, “a move that pushes his presidential campaign into a state Democrats have held for more than three decades,” the AP reports.

First Read: “So what’s going on in Minnesota? Is the Romney campaign buying TV ad time there to create a narrative that the map is expanding? Do they really think they have a chance in Minnesota, or do they just have money to burn? If they were serious about expanding the map, wouldn’t they be putting this money in Pennsylvania? Just a few questions worth asking and thinking about.”

Nate Cohn: “It’s probably all about Wisconsin with a side benefit of momentum.”

Charlie Cook: “A strong performance in that first debate would have probably closed
the sale for Obama. Instead, his lackluster showing shifted a bunch of
voters who had seemed to be drifting gradually in his direction back
into neutral, with some reversing course and moving into Romney’s
column.”

“This race is still a challenge for Romney.
Although tied nationally in this new NBC/WSJ and most other polling, he
still carries a great deal of scar tissue in some of the swing
states–most notably, Ohio and Wisconsin, but also Colorado and Iowa.
Romney is clearly better situated to win the popular vote than the
electoral vote; Obama is much closer than Romney to the magic 270 number
in the Electoral College. But this is a horse race, a very close one
that can still go either way, and that was not the case before the first
debate. The debates–and I would say all three of them–hit a reset
button for Romney and put him back into this contest.”

“Well, I think when you have somebody of your own race that you’re proud
of being president of the United States, I applaud Colin for standing
with him.”

— John Sununu, in an interview with Piers Morgan, on Colin Powell’s endorsement of President Obama.

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Washington Post: “An explosive story about the massive wealth accumulated by the family of Prime Minister Wen Jiabao caused the Chinese government to block the Web site of the New York Times early Friday morning, just days before a sensitive once-in-a-decade transition of power from Wen and others to a new generation of leaders.”

“The article documents assets controlled by Wen’s family worth at least $2.7 billion, a shocking figure even in a country where government corruption is rampant and popular resentment against the elite has increased in recent years. The scandal also complicates the apparent intention of Chinese leaders to tackle corruption as a main issue at the Nov. 8 party congress, a move they have been signaling in the wake of other scandals that had dramatically shaken the party’s core leadership.”

Bloomberg: “It would take about 80 days of nonstop viewing to see all 58,235 of the typically 30-second Ohio presidential advertisements that have aired in the last month.”

“Facing a massive early voting deficit less than two weeks out from election day, the Romney campaign is projecting a mixed message as the candidate works to keep alive his claim to momentum,” McKay Coppins reports.

“In memos and press gaggles, Republicans insist they’re so far behind by strategic choice — focusing their efforts on helping unlikely voters get to the polls now, and leaving their enthusiastic base to fend for themselves on November 6.”

“But as Mitt Romney and Senator Rob Portman zig-zagged across Ohio Thursday, they repeatedly made a point of pleading for early votes from the cheering partisans who gathered at their rallies — the very group the campaign says they’re not trying to get to the polls.”

President Obama voted today — becoming the first president to vote before Election Day — “in his hometown of Chicago, punching his choices into a touch-screen machine after signing forms and showing his driver’s license,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Obama: “Now ignore the fact that there’s no gray hair on that picture. I’m just glad I renewed my driver’s license.”

“I thought what he said was kinda crazy. But having said that, this election for president is not about that.”

— Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R), quoted by Politico, on Indiana U.S. Senate candidate Richard Mourdock’s comments on rape and abortion.

Mark Halperin: “The Romney high command did a Thursday afternoon conference call with some of their biggest donors and bundlers from around the country, urging them to push hard for the next week to bring in more dough.”

“According to a source familiar with the call, Romney national finance chair Spencer Zwick and pollster Neil Newhouse gave the group a briefing on the state of the race and pressed them to raise more more more in the next week. Newhouse told the group that the battleground states are within 2-3
points in their data and they need more money for additional last-minute
television ads, direct mail, and other forms of voter contact.”

Here are the latest polls from the battleground:

Colorado: Obama 51%, Romney 47% (Public Policy Polling)

Colorado: Obama 46%, Romney 43% (Project New America)

Colorado: Obama 48%, Romney 48% (Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist)

Florida: Romney 50%, Obama 49% (Gravis)

Florida: Obama 47%, Romney 45% (Project New America)

Iowa:: Obama 49%, Romney 47% (Public Policy Polling)

Michigan: Obama 47%, Romney 47% (Foster McCollum)

Nevada: Obama 50%, Romney 47% (Wall Street Journal/NBC News/Marist)

North Carolina: Obama 48%, Romney 48% (Public Policy Polling)

Pennsylvania: Obama 51%, Romney 46% (Rasmussen)

Virginia: Obama 51%, Romney 46% (Public Policy Polling)

Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 47% (Newsmax/Zogby)

Virginia: Romney 47%, Obama 45% (Fox News)

Wisconsin: Obama 51%, Romney 45% (Public Policy Polling)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is ready to test his political strength in Nevada, the New York Times reports.

“Mr. Reid has spent the last 10 years building a political machine that helped Mr. Obama win Nevada in 2008 and carried Mr. Reid to a re-election victory two years ago that stunned many pollsters. It is widely praised — even by Republicans — as one of the most effective voter-organizing and money-raising political organizations…”

“Mr. Reid’s organization is a large reason that Mr. Obama is favored by many analysts to win narrowly in Nevada, despite what may be the worst economic climate in the nation and a sizable population of voters who, like Mitt Romney, are Mormons. Mr. Reid, who has long been strongly supportive of Mr. Obama in Washington… has made it clear that he views a victory for Mr. Obama in his state as a personal mission. This reflects not only his admiration for the president but also his visceral dislike for Mr. Romney, expressed in constant needling and attacks for almost six months.”

A state district judge temporarily ordered Montana gubernatorial candidate Rick Hill (R) to stop spending a disputed $500,000 donation and cancel all pending ads bought with this money, the Montana Standard reports.

Steve Bullock (D) says the $500,000 donation received by Hill’s campaign illegally exceeds the $22,600 maximum aggregate limit that a political party can give to a candidate for governor. But Hill says he legally received the donation during a six-day window when state contribution limits were struck down by a federal judge and before they were reinstated by an appeals court.

As you might expect, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had a few things to say about Donald Trump’s “very big” announcement yesterday.

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Nate Silver: “Mr. Romney clearly gained ground in the polls in the week or two after
the Denver debate, putting himself in a much stronger overall position
in the race. However, it seems that he is no longer doing so…”

“Since the Denver debate, Mr. Obama has held the lead in 16 Ohio polls against 6 for Mr. Romney. In Nevada, Mr. Obama has had the lead in 11 polls, to Mr. Romney’s 1. Mr. Obama has led in all polls of Wisconsin since the Denver debate, and he has had five poll leads in Iowa to one for Mr. Romney.”

“Part of the confusion (and part of the reason behind the perception that Mr. Romney is still gaining ground in the race) may be because of the headlines that accompany polls.”

Mark Blumenthal: “”While the debate certainly boosted Romney’s standing in the polls, trends over the past two weeks have been negligible, with the leader seesawing nationally within a range of roughly one percentage point. Over the same period, the standings within the key battleground states have also remained constant. Other poll tracking models have shown the same patterns.”

Kyle Kondik: “While there will be major shifts in the House delegations of many states on Election Day, and while more than a handful of incumbents appear likely to lose, the total change in each party’s net total of House seats will probably not be large. That means it’s good to be the Republicans, who already hold a big edge in the House — an edge that we project them to keep. The Crystal Ball can now project that the Republicans will retain their House majority, although we suspect it will be at least a bit smaller than their current 25-seat edge.”

“We’re still inching ahead, but we’re inching. I think the economy will get better under either one of them.”

— Warren Buffet, in an interview with CNBC, on the economic prospects after the election.