Mark Landler, NY Times
 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Mitt Romney tried to use the White House’s shifting accounts of the attack on the American mission in Benghazi, Libya, to paint a broad indictment of President Obama as commander in chief. But Mr. Obama fired back, accusing Mr. Romney of politicizing a tragedy and condemning as “offensive” his suggestion that the administration had misled the American people about nature of the attack.  It says something about the murky nature of the Libyan attack, and its messy aftermath, that Mr. Romney appeared not to know that...

Peter Brookes, Boston Herald
After Team Obama’s horrid handling of the terrible tragedy in Benghazi, Libya, does anyone out there really cling to the left’s quickly unraveling yarn that this administration has a strong record on foreign policy and national security?Sure, the prez and veep continue to chant the mantra that “Osama bin Laden is dead” — and, without a doubt, that’s a good thing. Problem is: al-Qaeda is very much alive.

Tim Carney, Examiner
If Romney wins, will lobbyists defile the White House that Obama has kept so clean and so pure? That’s what Politico suggests with this piece today headlined “Lobbyists ready for a comeback under Romney.”    President Barack Obama’s gone further than any president to keep lobbyists out of the White House — even signing executive orders to do it.

Nancy Cook, National Journal
SANFORD, Fla.—Seventeen-year-old Contessa Skelton learned that her mother had lost her job—for the second time in two years—as they stood in the parking lot outside her dentist’s office.Her mom told her the bad news. Together, they cried a little. “I was shocked,” Tessa says, about one year later. “I didn’t know what to think at first.”Her mother assured her that everything would be OK. Still, it was hard for Tessa to believe that after her mother’s employer, Remington Colleges, had given her...

At the vice presidential debate, we witnessed a freshman college republican attempt and fail at debating the experienced tenured professor. While many -- except for Fox News -- will chalk this up as a victory for the VP, the importance of the debate goes beyond the VP slot. As much as Paul Ryan tried to mislead, omit, or obfuscate the positions of the Romney-Ryan ticket, the GOP record in Congress tells all the parts of the story that Ryan didn't.  Looking to congressional campaigns to fill in the blanks is relatively easy -- Ryan’s loyal lieutenants running for Congress make no bones about their agenda.

The vice presidential debate made clear to me that we need to look at Congressional races for the rest of the story. Here’s where this comes through most clearly:

1) Reason and Science: I found it interesting Paul Ryan said he came to his decision to be severely “pro-life,” through reason and science. Remember, this is the guy who co-sponsored several anti-choice bills with Mr. Todd “legitimate rape” Akin. In fact, it seems the more Republicans talk about choice, the more it exposes how detached from science they really are. The list of extreme right wingers like Paul Ryan, who abandon science to try and justify their antiquated anti-choice stance, keeps growing. Paul Ryan made it abundantly clear that a Romney-Ryan administration would be severely anti-choice.

What’s more important to note is that this severely anti-choice stance permeates down the ticket. As you may know, Paul Ryan and Todd Akin partnered with 221 other Republicans to introduce H.R. 3, the bill that tries to restrict access to abortion to cases of “forcible” rape. Even incumbents in districts that lean pro-choice, like Mike Fitzpatrick’s 8th Congressional District in Pennsylvania were co-sponsors of this bill. This congress dragged all of the moderates remaining in the GOP on a hard right turn to places where their constituents don’t want them to be. Moderates in the GOP essentially do not exist on this issue, not any more.

2) “We got to grow the economy from the middle out, not the top down”: You want Democrats to contrast their economic vision for the country with the Republicans’? Joe delivers, “You probably detected my frustration with their attitude about the American people. My friend says that 30 percent of the American people are takers. Romney points out 47 percent of the people won’t take responsibility. He’s talking about my mother and father. He’s talking about the places I grew up. … He’s talking about the people that built this country.” I am willing to bet there were a lot of people nodding their heads in agreement with that statement.

While Joe Biden showed his passion (and record) for fighting for America’s middle class, Paul Ryan doubled down on the principals laid out in his disastrous House budget. The Ryan budget would not only raise taxes on the middle class while simultaneously lowering them for the wealthiest Americans, but it would gut any investment needed to create a stronger future. We've seen how a trickle-down economy has failed us in the past and it's not going to do the trick this time either. As Joe Biden put it “we have to grow our economy from the middle out, not the top-down.”

These aren’t just points of rhetoric in a debate. During the 112th Congress, House Republicans had not one, but two chances to stand up for the middle class and vote against Paul Ryan’s extreme budget. Both times they overwhelmingly voted to stand with big corporations over the middle class. The budget was too extreme for maverick-y pseudo-libertarian Ron Paul. Not so much for so-called ‘moderates’ like Mary Bono-Mack in California, and Charlie Bass in New Hampshire. In fact, all of the incumbent opponents of our Dean Dozen candidates fell in line and voted for the Ryan budget not once, but twice. I have no doubt they’ll do it again if we give them the opportunity.

3) When we unite with our allies, America is more secure:  Paul Ryan doubled down on this ridiculous Republican notion that when we cooperate with our allies and strengthen relationships around the world it makes America weak. Reminiscent of the ‘Bush Doctrine’, this attitude has caused significant damage to our reputation abroad, and it that leaves us less secure. Also, was it just me, or was it abundantly clear that a Romney-Ryan administration would extend the length of the war in Afghanistan?

This was where Paul Ryan truly looked like some college Republican in freshman Intro to Political Science class -- spouting neo-con talking points. From Mitt’s Olympic sized gaffes while in London, to the campaign holding a press conference on Libya before all the information was available, Joe Biden had plenty of fodder, and he nailed this one:

“That’s not presidential leadership…. You know what else isn't presidential leadership? Attacking the Obama Administration for preparedness in Libya, when it was your own House GOP that voted to cut the Department of State’s security budget.”

Once again, every single one of our Dean Dozen opponents voted for this extreme right wing budget and would have left our nations diplomats even more exposed and in harm’s way. It’s time we vote this tea party majority out of Congress.

4) Paul Ryan cooking the books on Medicare: Paul Ryan’s line that the $716 billion in cost savings was taken to pay for Obamacare is an outright lie. This line of attack has been driving me crazy, as it’s simply not true. Those savings keep Medicare solvent through 2024 and, as Joe Biden finally pointed out, a repeal of Obamacare would bankrupt Medicare by 2016 (a.k.a. before the end of Romney’s first term). That’s not all Paul Ryan wants to change in Medicare.

Since the creation of Social Security and Medicare, we have seen the rate of seniors living in poverty plummet. Romney-Ryan plans to 'privatize' each program and turn Medicare into a coupon that would cost seniors an additional $6,350 dollars a year, and once again put millions of seniors in financial jeopardy. That doesn't sound like any sort of coupon I'd want. It’s okay to talk about how expensive these plans are, sure. But if the ‘solution’ is to pass costs along to states and seniors, then Ryan should be clear about that.

Again, this has its origins in Congress, and it will have implications this election. Nearly every Democrat running in a contested race is running against a Republican who voted for this plan. Polls show that voters in swing states oppose this plan by a 3 to 1 margin. Every one of those voters now has an opportunity to vote against the plan by voting against the Republican running for Congress. The Democrats can seize this opportunity if only they do as the vice president has, and call out the lies and deception.

The pundits will initially discuss who won, who lost, and all the different style points in this debate. The real verdict is this: During this election it is essential that we provide support to Democrats down the ballot and vote this Tea Party Majority out. We must continue to work on behalf of strong progressive candidates like Annie Kuster in New Hampshire, and Raul Ruiz in California who will fight to strengthen Medicare and invest to grow jobs from the middle out. This November, from the president all the way down the ticket, it is clear that America has one choice to keep the country moving forward.

Glenn Thrush, Politico
Some progressives seem to be going into primal panic mode — to the profound annoyance of the Democratic professional political class and an Obama campaign predicting a rebound at next Tuesday’s debate in Long Island. “That’s my party: Irrational overconfidence followed by irrational despair,” quipped veteran Democratic political consultant Jim Jordan, summing up the view of Obama’s campaign and a half-dozen top Democratic aides interviewed for this story. 

Charlie Spiering, DC Examiner
Andrew Marcus, the director of the long awaited Andrew Brietbart documentary 'Hating Breitbart,' believes he has captured something amazing on film.“It was an absolute blast,” Marcus explained. “It was also the most exhausting thing I had ever been a part of. The guy had boundless energy.”

Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Yes, there is — but it may not be what people think it is, however.  Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist both express skepticism over the “major tickdown to 7.8 percent” in the unemployment rate from the addition of only 114,000 jobs — which isn’t enough to keep up with population growth.  What happened?  Instead of focusing on that point, Mark Halperin instead points to a tweet from Jack Welch in order to marginalize the question:Here’s the tweet from Welch:Unbelievable jobs numbers..these Chicago guys will...

Charles Krauthammer, OC Register
WASHINGTON "“ It was the biggest rout since Agincourt. If you insist, since the Carter-Reagan debate. With a remarkable display of confidence, knowledge and nerve, Mitt Romney won the first 2012 debate going away.Romney didn't just demonstrate authoritative command of a myriad of domestic issues. He was nervy about it, taking the president on frontally, not just relentlessly attacking, but answering every charge leveled against him "“ with a three-point rebuttal. And he pulled off a tactical coup by coming right out of the box to undo millions of...

Robert Shrum, The Daily Beast
Unhappily I was right: Mitt Romney could—and did—win the first debate. But I’m not eloquently panicked, as Andrew Sullivan was during his live blog of Obama’s defeat in Denver. The president could have put the election away; but it’s emphatically overstated, if entirely understandable, to suggest the opposite—that “[he] may even have lost the election” with “the wrong strategy … [at] the wrong moment.”Yes, CNN’s instant survey showed Romney winning 67 percent to 25 percent;...

Paul Krugman, New York Times
“No. 1,” declared Mitt Romney in Wednesday’s debate, “pre-existing conditions are covered under my plan.” No, they aren’t — as Mr. Romney’s own advisers have conceded in the past, and did again after the debate. Paul Krugman For Op-Ed, follow @nytopinion and to hear from the editorial page editor, Andrew Rosenthal, follow @andyrNYT. Was Mr. Romney lying? Well, either that or he was making what amounts to a sick joke. Either way, his attempt to deceive voters on this issue was the...

Bob Beauprez, RealClearEnergy
Countries around the world are celebrating new oil and natural gas discoveries that hold the promise of greater prosperity for their citizens.Argentina has just announced a find described by YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio as a “mother rock,” a shale formation that elevates the country to having the third largest shale energy potential behind the United States and China.The new discovery of a 3.3 billion barrel oil deposit off Norway’s coast cements that nation’s claim to being Europe’s second largest oil producer.  

Moncef Marzouki, New York Times
THE violent demonstrations that have spread across the Muslim world in recent weeks have convinced many in the United States and Europe that the Arab revolutions that began in late 2010 are now over and that the democratic project has failed. Bitterness and a sense of impending catastrophe are replacing the enthusiasm that followed the toppling of dictators in Tunisia and Egypt last year. Now there is ominous talk of an “Islamist Fall” and “Salafi Winter” after a supposedly failed Arab Spring. To these skeptics, religion is the driving force in Arab...

Leo Gerard, In These Times
GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, son of an American Motors CEO, naturally says he loves American cars. His wife, as he put it, “drives a couple of Cadillacs.” He’s installing an elevator in his beach mansion just for his cars. Though a millionaire, he rejected flying his five sons to a vacation destination, instead packing them into a car, then strapping their dog Seamus’ carrier to the car roof for a ride that, shall we say, challenged the canine’s intestinal fortitude.President...

Heather Hurlburt, The Guardian
Ryan's callow attempt to claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan reveals the Republican presidential team's foreign policy naivetyThis week, GOP vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan topped off a critique of President Obama's response to violent demonstrations at American embassies across the Middle East by saying that because of the president's policies, the Middle East "looked like 1979 Tehran" "“ when demonstrations by Iranian student revolutionaries culminated in the invasion of the US embassy and the taking of 50 hostages in a stand-off that would...

Patrick Allen, CNBC
European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi has said he will do “whatever it takes” to defend the euro and Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve has gone to infinity and beyond in an attempt to revive the U.S. economy, but a growing number of market watchers are beginning to doubt unconventional monetary policy will actually work. “Investors don’t seem to have quite grasped the impotence of monetary policy in a world of supply-side problems. From labor market weakness to fiscal nightmares, our growing economic difficulties cannot be easily...

Mario Loyola, NRO
As if by divine intervention, the revoltingly sacrilegious “Piss Christ” portrait will be going on display this Thursday at a ritzy Manhattan gallery right around the corner from the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly. For those who don’t know, this particular instance of free speech consists of a photograph taken of a crucifix floating in the artist’s urine. It caused a stir in the late 1980s and 1990s because the artist (Andres Serrano) had been subsidized by NEA and other public grants. Of...

Jennifer Granholm, Politico
“What happened to the governor bubble?” my 78-year-old mom asked me, a hint of sadness in her voice, on a trip through the airport security lines this year after I was term limited from office. “Where are the people to help us through TSA?”“Mom, that was not real life,” I said. “We’re back to normal now.” For two terms I lived in a protective bubble, like most governors. Governors have 24-hour security, we are driven everywhere, we speed through special lines at the airport. Someone does our cooking,...

Tom Carson, American Prospect
In the ’80s and ’90s, the GOP basked in an atypical rep as “the party of ideas.” Thanks to the liberal project’s distinctly dilapidated charms once Jimmy Carter got done playing the concerned mortician, the rise of deep-pocketed think tanks and often sharp-witted neocon intellectuals—and, not least, Newt Gingrich’s endlessly self-fertilizing conception of himself as a brainiac—it wasn’t even undeserved. Revealingly, though, all that froufrou stayed disconnected from the party’s popular appeal....

Dana Milbank, Washington Post
The best political minds at Romney headquarters have come up with an antidote to the candidate’s floundering presidential bid: “More Mitt” — putting more of him in front of more voters more often.

Carlos Amador emigrated with his family from Mexico in 1999 at age 14 and lived in the United States as an undocumented immigrant for almost 13 years until he recently received conditional permanent residency. Higher education for someone like him seemed like an impossible dream when Carlos finished high school. But he was determined to make it happen. As he pursued his undergraduate degree, he would go straight from working alongside his parents cleaning houses in upscale Southern California neighborhoods to his classes, never giving up. Carlos now holds his master’s degree in social welfare from the University of California-Los Angeles. All along the way he has been a leader in the undocumented immigrant youth movement and one of its most outspoken voices for change. Today, Carlos is both the Project Coordinator of the Dream Resource Center at UCLA and one of the co-chairs of the board of the United We Dream Network, the largest national network of immigrant youths.

The courageous self-declared “Undocumented and Unafraid” students in the United We Dream Network risk deportation, organize and speak out tirelessly so that they -- and others -- can have the right to a college education and to live and work with dignity in the country that is their home. Their efforts led to a major victory with the Obama Administration’s June announcement that it would stop deporting young undocumented immigrants age 30 or younger without criminal records who came to the United States before age 16, have lived here for at least five years, and are students, high school graduates, or military veterans in good standing. When Carlos shared his story at the Children’s Defense Fund’s recent national conference, which he and over 80 other Dream Act youth activists attended, he stressed that a key to the students’ success wasn’t support from powerful allies but their willingness to believe in their own power: “It didn’t come from multi-million-dollar campaigns -- I was part of that campaign since the beginning, and we didn't get [any] funding, because no one believed in it... But we made it happen.”

Catherine Eusebio, who spoke alongside Carlos, repeated that determination. She came to the United States from the Philippines with her family when she was four years old. Today, Catherine is a graduate of the University of California-Berkeley with a degree in political science. Five years ago, as a high school senior desperate to go on to college, she suddenly became aware that she had spent her childhood growing up in California devoted to studying hard and doing well in school, but that didn’t matter to many adults in power:

This was in 2007 when the Congress was taking up immigration reform, and so I saw this contrast: I worked really, really hard to get to where I am so I could go to college, and then Congress is saying that these people don't belong here, that they’re illegal, that we should deport them... I didn’t understand, as someone who was very young, and suddenly being accused or made to feel like I didn’t belong in America... [I was] thinking that I did all the right things, that I was one of the ‘good’ immigrants, and that because of that, I would be respected and valued as American -- but it still made me realize that we all exist in this culture of fear. And that's not something that should be happening in America.

Catherine then made the same decision Carlos and the thousands of undocumented student activists like them who refused to abandon their dreams and hide in the shadows did: “I realized that it takes the people that are affected by an issue not to be the victims, but to be the agents of change.”

Carlos and Catherine and their youth network participants inspired us all. They and the students they work with are a testimony to the difference one person can make, no matter how young or old. The members of the United We Dream Network have never had the right to vote. However, many political people who are afraid of the enormous potential power of young people of all backgrounds who do have the right to vote have made young people one of their targets in voter suppression efforts, which threaten voting rights and democratic processes across our country. States are adding new photo ID and residency laws and laws restricting early voting and pre-registration that all make it harder for young people to vote -- including college students who may carry college IDs that are no longer allowed, or who may need to vote in the state where they attend school but are not considered “residents” under new restrictions, or in their home state on a day other than Election Day.

We can’t allow these negative undemocratic efforts to succeed. Young people and all of us need to speak out loudly against voter suppression in every form. Young people also can help with voter registration, get out the vote campaigns, poll watching, and other parts of the electoral process. They and all of us must be committed to using the power we have, and never let hurdles and negative policies passively shape our lives. Like Carlos and Catherine and all their courageous Dream partners we, too, can and must be agents of change.

Jay Newton-Small, Time
“Rally around the flag” time is over. For the most part, Republicans—with the exception of Mitt Romney–had held their fire in the wake of Sept. 11 attacks against U.S. embassies in Cairo and Libya, which claimed the lives of four Americans including U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens. But as questions emerge about how the Libya attack, in particular, went down, Republicans are starting to criticize the Obama Administration for not anticipating the violence and not doing enough to secure Libya after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.Republicans...

Jeremy Warner, Daily Telegraph
In the land of the setting sun, QE is now such an everyday part of the economic landscape that it would barely have warranted a mention, let alone an entire column, but for the fact that the latest dollop of “unconventional” policy action appears to be part of a co-ordinated, global response to the economic slowdown .Like big deficits and mountainous public debt, in Japan, QE no longer generates the same agonised debate it does in the West. It just is. For Japan, the “unconventional” is now very much the conventional.

Gail Collins, New York Times
Our topic for today is: When Bad Things Happen to Mitt Romney.Really, it’s been the worst run of disasters this side of the Mayan calendar. The Republicans’ woes started last Friday, when Ann and Mitt filmed a TV interview in which they entertained the kind of personal questions that most candidates learned to avoid after Bill Clinton did that boxers-versus-briefs thing. Asked what he wears to bed, Mitt said: “I think the best answer is: as little as possible.”