Actress Ashley Judd, said to be mulling a campaign against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), refused to rule out a run against him in 2014 in a one-sentence statement to Louisville Courier-Journal.

If she decides to run, Judd, who lives in Tennessee, would have to establish residency in Kentucky.

The Week: “The Tea Party had a terrible night on Tuesday. But that doesn’t necessarily mean the party is over.”

The Wall Street Journal notes that Cuban-born voters living in Florida voted for Mitt Romney, 55% to 45%.

However, American-born Cubans voted overwhelmingly for President Obama, 60% to 40%.

President Obama — in a rare authentic campaign moment — gets emotional addressing staffers at his Chicago headquarters.

[Read more…]

Charles Darwin, the 19th-century naturalist who laid the foundations for evolutionary theory, received close to 4,000 write-in votes against Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), the Athens Banner-Herald reports.

A campaign asking voters to write-in Darwin’s name in Georgia’s 10th congressional district began after Broun called evolution and other areas of science “lies straight from the pit of hell.”

Tom Holbrook: “As I pointed out at the end of August, I see political and economic context of the election as favoring Mitt Romney, though not overwhelmingly so. In fact, I think that Romney’s gains after the first debate partly reflected a dissatisfied electorate responding to a campaign event that pushed them in the ‘right’ direction. But one thing I find interesting is that despite a reversal of fortunes in the last few weeks, there seems to be a clear floor below which Obama’s support will not fall, and Mitt Romney has not been able to do any better than draw even or periodically take a very narrow lead.”

“One thing that may be benefiting Obama could have little to do with the standard indicators of national conditions and may have even less to do with either of the candidates or their campaigns. Simply put, I think a case can be made that the Republican brand name is acting as a drag on Mitt Romney’s candidacy.”

Here are the latest polls from the battleground states:

Colorado: Obama 50%, Romney 47% (We Ask America)

Colorado: Romney 46%, Obama 45% (Reuters/Ipsos)

Ohio: Obama 50%, Romney 45% (Quinnipiac)

Ohio: Obama 50%, Romney 45% (Public Policy Polling)

Ohio: Obama 48%, Romney 46% (University of Cincinnati)

Ohio: Obama 48%, Romney 45% (Reuters/Ipsos)

Florida: Obama 48%, Romney 47% (Quinnipiac)

Florida: Romney 50%, Obama 47% (Gravis)

Florida: Romney 50%, Obama 49% (We Ask America)

Florida: Obama 47%, Romney 47% (Reuters/Ipsos)

Iowa: Obama 50%, Romney 45% (Public Policy Polling)

Iowa: Romney 45%, Obama 44% (University of Iowa)

Iowa: Obama 49%, Romney 47% (We Ask America)

Michigan: Obama 48%, Romney 45% (Detroit News)

Michigan: Obama 48%, Romney 42% (EPIC-MRA)

North Carolina: Obama 49%, Romney 49% (Public Policy Polling)

Pennsylvania: Obama 48%, Romney 44% (Franklin and Marshall)

Virginia: Obama 49%, Romney 47% (Quinnipiac)

Virginia: Romney 49%, Obama 44% (Roanoke)

Virginia: Obama 48%, Romney 46% (Reuters/Ipsos)

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

Wisconsin: Obama 51%, Romney 43% (Marquette Law)

A new WPRI poll in Rhode Island finds Gov. Lincoln Chafee (I) faces a decidedly uphill battle if he opts to run for a second term in two years.

Key findings: Just 18% would vote to re-elect Chafee if the election were being held today, 33% would consider another candidate and 42% would vote to replace him. The other 8% of voters aren’t sure.

Though likely voters give broadly positive ratings to President Obama’s response to the devastating hurricane, the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll finds essentially no change: Likely voters are back to exactly an even split in preferences, 49% to 49%, between Obama and Mitt Romney – within a point or two of where the race has been all along.

Key finding: 78% rate Obama’s response to the hurricane positively (as excellent or good), while just 8% see it negatively.

A new Fox News poll also shows the race tied at 46%.

However, a new National Journal poll shows Obama surging into a five point lead, 50% to 45%.

Richard Tisei (R), who is challenging Rep. John Tierney (D-MA) for a U.S. House seat, has released a new ad that is just video of the waves along the Massachusetts coast.

[Read more…]

A new Pew Research survey finds the presidential candidates are running about even when it comes to the ground game.

“Voters nationally, as well those in the closely contested battleground states, report being contacted at about the same rates by each of the campaigns. And with a fifth of likely voters reporting already having cast their ballots, neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has a clear advantage among early voters. This is in sharp contrast to early voting at this point four years ago, which favored Obama by a wide margin.”

“His entire strategy is to blame others – starting with my brother, of
course. Basically, he blames every possible thing rather
than having the humility to be able to reach out and to find common
ground.”

— Jeb Bush, quoted by Politico, criticizing President Obama.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina shut the door on that possibility that they would win Arizona, though he called it an “enticing prospect,” reports Politico.

Said Messina: “Our map is set, unlike the Romney campaign, which is flailing, trying to make the map different than it is. I believe on the ground we continue to show real enthusiasm to get to 270 electoral votes in all these battleground states. We understand the several maps we need to get there.”

“After it’s all over, when your insurance rates go down, then you’ll vote for me in 2016.”

— Vice President Joe Biden, quoted by The Hill, chatting by phone with a Republican voter.

A new Gallup poll finds a majority of Americans continue to believe that President Obama will win re-election Tuesday over Mitt Romney, by 54% to 34%.