MORNING READ

FROM THE BLOGS:
 
Has the Obama campaign overestimated the middle class tax argument?
Red State’s Dan McLaughlin writes that the tax argument has been overused by the president’s campaign.
 
Conservatives can’t have nice conservative policies
The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf says Mitt Romney’s brand of conservatism is like all conservatism -- extreme.
 
Why have debates?
The American Conservative’s Samuel Goldman questions the importance of the presidential debate.
 
Is the supreme court about to swing another presidential election?
Slate’s Richard L. Hasen looks at the looming battle over early voting in Ohio.
 
OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
 
Poll: Romney surges ahead of Obama in the dozen swing states
A USA Today/Gallup Poll puts Mitt Romney at a 5-percentage-point lead over President Obama, The Hill’s Jonathan Easley reports.
 
New York lawmakers want 9/11 victim funds exempt from fiscal cliff
Congressional delegates from New York traveled to Ground Zero to demand that the compensation funds set aside for Sept. 11 victims not be cut, The Hill’s Erik Wasson reports.