Here are the latest national polls of the presidential race:
Gallup: Romney 52%, Obama 45%
IBD/TIPP: Obama 48%, Romney 42%
NBC News/Wall Street Journal: Obama 47%, Romney 47%
Public Policy Polling: Obama 48%, Romney 48%
Rasmussen: Romney 49%, Obama 47%
George McGovern, the three-term senator from South Dakota and 1972 presidential candidate who inspired a generation of Democrats, died today after being hospitalized last week, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports.
The AP has an interactive look at McGovern’s life.
“Their economic plans are not real. I think that’s clear.”
— New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in an interview with the New York Times, on the two presidential candidates.
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The Cleveland Plain Dealer endorsed President Obama for re-election.
“All politicians change positions over time — Obama in 2008 shifted his position on health care reform more to the center. But Romney’s frequent changes raise questions about his core principles and make his lack of policy details all the more troubling. They make you wonder if he would stand up to the more extreme elements in his own party, especially to the House Republicans who undercut Ohioan John Boehner’s attempts to negotiate a deficit and debt deal.”
New York Times: “The United States and Iran have agreed for the first time to one-on-one negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, according to Obama administration officials, setting the stage for what could be a last-ditch diplomatic effort to avert a military strike on Iran.”
“News of the agreement — a result of intense, secret exchanges between American and Iranian officials that date almost to the beginning of President Obama’s term — comes at a critical moment in the presidential contest, just two weeks before Election Day and a day before the final debate, which is to focus on national security and foreign policy.”
BuzzFeed reports that 10 Romney for President staffers received bonuses — as much as $37,500 — in September, according to new Federal Election Commission filings.
Romney political director Rich Beeson scored the largest amount, taking in a combined $75,000 in two payments on August 31, after the Republican National Convention, and September 13.
“You guys are the ones who keep saying, ‘Oh, he’s not approachable.’
That’s not what the American people say. I think maybe you guys should
evaluate where you’re coming from. Maybe it’s you. Maybe it’s the elite
journalists who aren’t all that approachable.”
— Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, quoted by the Tampa Bay Times, pushing back on the media narrative that Obama is aloof.
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) — being treated for bipolar disorder and depression and headed back to the hospital — sent out an automated phone call to voters in his congressional district pleading for patience 17 days before the election, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
Said Jackson in the robo call: “Like many human beings a series of events came together in my life at the same time and they have been difficult to sort through. I am human. I am doing my best. I am trying to sort through them all.”
He added that he is “anxious to return to work on your behalf” but it is against “medical advice” for him to do so.
President Obama “will keep up a grueling pace on the campaign trail later this week, visiting six states in two days, all in an effort to boost enthusiasm in the final days heading into election day,” Politico reports.
“Obama will make stops in Colorado, Nevada, Florida, Virginia, Illinois and Ohio, sleeping on Air Force One and spending time calling undecided voters and volunteers.”
However, Nate Silver notes if the recent polls and his own forecast are right, Obama’s “efforts to compete in Florida mostly serve the function of a bluff.”
Here are the latest polls from the battleground, updated through the day:
Florida: Obama 47%, Romney 46% (SurveyUSA)
Florida: Obama 48%, Romney 45% (Grove Insight)
Ohio: Obama 47%, Romney 47% (Gravis)
Ohio: Obama 49%, Romney 48% (Public Policy Polling)
Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 47% (Public Policy Polling)
“With less than three weeks to go until Election Day, campaign finance reports filed on Saturday show that Colbert’s super-PAC – Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow – is holding tightly to nearly $1 million,” The Hill reports.
Nevada Progressive looks at the final voter registration report and finds Nevada Democrats now have a 7.17% advantage in the key swing state. Back in March, they had roughly a 4% statewide edge.
The Las Vegas Review Journal notes early voting in Nevada starts today and ends November 2.
Washington Post: “The Romney campaign may have misfired with its suggestion that statements by President Obama and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice about the Benghazi attack last month weren’t supported by intelligence… ‘Talking points’ prepared by the CIA on Sept. 15, the same day that Rice taped three television appearances, support her description of the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate as a reaction to Arab anger about an anti-Muslim video prepared in the United States.”
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reports the assault “appears to have been an opportunistic attack rather than a long-planned operation, and intelligence agencies have found no evidence that it was ordered by Al Qaeda.”
The Economist: The utterly useless Benghazi argument.
In the mail: The Finish: The Killing of Osama Bin Laden by Mark Bowden.
Bowden has an interesting piece in the Washington Post about the five myths surrounding the raid that ultimately got bin Laden.
CBS News: “Priorities USA Action, the chief Democratic super PAC supporting President Obama, will close out the campaign season by reprising a television ad about a man who lost his job as a result of decisions made by Bain Capital while Republican nominee Mitt Romney ran it.”
Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) is heading back to Mayo Clinic — and was reportedly en route Friday evening, the Chicago Sun Times reports.
Jackson has been on a leave of absence from Congress since early last summer and is reportedly being treated for depression and bi-polar disorder.
Said a source who visited Jackson this week: “Jesse wanted you to know he is finding it difficult to continue his treatment because the press is staking out his home and making access to his doctor, who is within a short walking distance from his home, incredibly hard.”
“This shouldn’t be a race. The only reason it is, is because Americans are impatient on things not made before yesterday and they don’t understand why the economy is not totally hunky-dory again.”
— Bill Clinton, quoted by the AP.
New York Times: “A serial chief executive, the Republican presidential nominee is steeped in management theory and eschews gut instincts. He is not so much a micromanager as a microprocessor, wading deeply into the raw data usually left to junior aides. He entrusts advisers with responsibility, but keeps them on a short leash, monitoring them through a flurry of progress reports and review sessions. Mr. Romney is, colleagues said, ‘conflict-avoidant.’ His decision-making process is unhurried and Socratic, his instinct to exhaustively debate and prod.”
Bloomberg: Do CEOs make good presidents?
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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