BuzzFeed notes that President Obama and his aides “rapidly reversed their strategic course Thursday morning, shifting the center of their attacks on Mitt Romney back toward the oldest criticisms of the Republican: That he’s a flip-flopper.”

“Democrats had long been torn over whether to portray Romney as too conservative, or too inconsistent, for the electorate — realizing that the attacks are inconsistent with one another. And since this spring, they seemed to have settled on the former, casting Romney as a conservative whose policies of cutting taxes and spending, and on abortion and other social issues, are too far right for most voters.”

Here are the latest polls from the battleground states, updated as needed through the day:

Iowa: Obama 49%, Romney 45% (Des Moines Register)

Ohio: Obama 51%, Romney 42% (Columbus Dispatch)

Ohio: Obama 49%, Romney 45% (Public Policy Polling)

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

President Obama’s re-election campaign said the president “likely won’t be flinging barbs during this week’s presidential debate,” CNN reports.

Said spokeswoman Jen Psaki: “If you’re expecting that, that’s probably not what he’s going to deliver.”

Psaki was referring to reports that Mitt Romney was “working on zingers” and memorizing short attack lines to fire off at the president during Wednesday’s debate in Denver.

A new DNC video makes sure the expectations are high for Mitt Romney as he heads into this week’s presidential debate.

[Read more…]

National Journal: “After nearly six years of running for president, millions of dollars spent on ads, a massive political convention and hundreds of rallies in swing states such as Ohio, Florida, and New Hampshire, Mitt Romney’s bid to become the next president could come down to a few hours onstage on Wednesday night.”

The Week: The first debate: “Do or die” for Mitt Romney?

“It would take me too long to go through all of the math.”

— Rep. Paul Ryan, in an interview on Fox News, after host Chris Wallace played a clip of President Obama saying “they tell you they’re gonna start talking specifics really soon, they don’t do it. And the reason is because the math doesn’t work.”

“This whole race is going to turn upside-down come Thursday morning.”

— New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), in an interview on CBS News, arguing that Wednesday night’s presidential debate will mark a new stage in Mitt Romney’s campaign.

“If the election were held today, an Associated Press analysis shows Obama would win at least 271 electoral votes, with Ohio and Iowa now among the states he would carry.”

“To overtake Obama, Romney would need to quickly gain the upper hand in nearly all of the nine states where he and Obama are competing hardest.”

The latest Rand survey — an experimental polling method which uses the same single panel of voters over several months — confirms what nearly every other traditional poll has found: President Obama and Mitt Romney were running neck and neck until the Democratic convention and ever since then, Obama has been rising and Romney falling in the poll.

Obama now holds a seven point lead in the Rand survey over Romney, 50% to 43%.

For comparison, the Gallup tracking poll shows Obama leading by six points, 50% to 44%, while the Reuters/Ipsos poll shows Obama leading by five points, 47% to 42%.

A new Boston Globe poll in Massachusetts finds Elizabeth Warren (D) leading Sen. Scott Brown (R) in the U.S. Senate race, 43% to 38%, with another 18% still undecided.

This survey is the sixth of eight public polls taken this month that show Warren ahead.

Said pollster Andrew Smith: “It’s trending away from Brown. Brown right now is not doing well enough among Democrats to offset the advantage that ­Warren has. That’s just such a big obstacle to overcome for any Republican candidate in Massachusetts.”

Here are the latest polls from the battleground states, updated as needed through the day:

Arizona: Romney 46%, Obama 42% (Highground)

“It’s no newsflash that sometimes the Senate frustrates me.”

— Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), in an interview with NBC 12, when asked if he was contemplating another bid for Virginia governor next year.

Miranda Green: “From Al Gore’s loud sighing to Jimmy Carter saying he consulted his 12-year-old daughter on nuclear proliferation, presidential debates are full of memorable moments. But despite the fanfare that surrounds each election cycle’s televised events, historical data shows the debates are rarely game changers.”

“A 2008 Gallup study found that between 1960 and 2004, there were only two years where debates made a difference in actual votes. Instead, the most common outcome of the presidential debates is a slight popularity bump… Data from the Gallup study also saw no direct correlation between the winner of each debate and the winner of the presidency. The 2004 Kerry vs. Bush debate was cited as an example. Kerry was considered the victor of all three showdowns, but still lost the election.”

Donna Brazile: “The debates this year
will certainly have their moments. But both candidates are already so
well-known, the memorable lines will probably reinforce, rather than
change, voters’ perceptions.”

A new YWCA-sponsored poll finds President Obama leading Mitt Romney among women by a stunning 18 points, 49% to 31%.