Morning Read

FROM THE BLOGS:

Mitt rewrites auto history
Romney attacks President Obama’s rescue of the auto industry in an attempt to win Ohio, says Jared Bernstein of Salon.

The anti-abortion vote and federalism
According to Michael Brendan Doherty of The American Conservative, despite pro-lifers' energy for the GOP ticket this election, seeing Roe v. Wade overturned is highly unlikely even if Mitt Romney does win.

Romney campaign staged donations at storm relief event
At a rally-turned-storm-relief event in Dayton, Ohio, the Romney campaign bought $5,000 worth of supplies at Wal-Mart and gave them to supporters to give to Mitt Romney for the cameras, says Aviva Shen of Think Progress.

Leno: DADT is back — it’s 'Obama’s new policy for questions on Libya'
With seven weeks having passed since the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, the White House’s lips are still sealed about the events leading up to that day, says Hot Air’s Erike Johnsen.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

White House shoots down rumors it nixed Benghazi intervention
The White House goes on the defensive after Newt Gingrich accuses it of giving orders not to rescue those in the consulate once it came under attack, reports The Hill’s Julian Pecquet.

Rep. Markey says ‘super-storm’ Sandy shows climate change ‘at our doorstep’
According to Rep. Markey, Sandy is only the beginning of extreme weather patterns to happen in the United States if climate change is not addressed, reports The Hill’s Pete Kasperowicz.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Detroit News: Thanks for those auto bailouts, but … we pick Mitt
On HotAir.com, Erika Johnson writes that President Obama’s auto bailouts were not enough to distract Michigan voters from “persistently poor economics."

Charts: Women are backing Obama by the binderful
Dave Gilson of Mother Jones suggests that the gender gap in the 2012 presidential race has been caused by the GOP’s staunchly conservative views on women's rights.

Education: Just throw more money at it!
Despite the fact that his own record has not done much to improve America’s education system, President Obama repeatedly tried to focus on education during the last presidential debate, Breeanne Howe explains on RedState.

Problems keep cropping up with Maricopa misinformation
As David Neiwert from Crooks and Liars reports, the elections office of Maricopa County in Arizona, once again, misinformed local voters regarding registration.


OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
 
CEOs band together for $40 million campaign to urge action on deficit
According to The Hill’s Peter Schroeder, dozens of American CEOs are encouraging lawmakers toward swift bipartisan action on an agreement on the fiscal cliff and the deficit.

Police investigating Rep. Moran’s son over possible voter fraud
The Hill's Mike Lillis reports that Arlington County, Va., police have begun to investigate the son of Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.) over the recent voter-fraud controversy.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Did Obama blow it on sequestration?
The Obama camp is backpedaling after the president's declaration, in the debates, that sequestration "would not happen" — an effort to avoid the backlash that should occur if the cuts do go in place, according to Hot Air's Ed Morrissey.

What would more backbone with Russia involve?
The American Conservative's Daniel Larison predicts that further antagonistic policies toward Russia would follow under a Romney administration.

What if Romney inherits Obama's killer drone fleet?
The Atlantic's Conor Friedersdorf argues that Romney's policies will likely mirror Obama's in drone warfare.

America lost in the last presidential debate
The Huffington Post's William Astore says that the United States will strive to remain the moral authority of the world by expanding its already enormous military-industrial complex.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Cantor delivers GOP's closing indictment against Obama's 'imperial presidency'
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) released a report titled “The Imperial Presidency” that summed up all the failures of the Obama administration, The Hill's Erik Wasson and Elise Viebeck report.

Google pours millions into lobbying as decision on antitrust case looms
Google has spent record-high amounts on lobbying to dissuade federal regulators from suing the company over antitrust allegations, The Hill's Brendan Sasso reports.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) blasted President Obama for his “snarky cheap shots” at Mitt Romney during Monday night’s debate, calling them “unpresidential.”

“The president had his snarky cheap-shot remarks, which are both unpresidential and not likable,” McCain told "Fox and Friends" on Tuesday morning.

In particular, McCain pointed to one of the most talked-about moments from the third and final presidential debate, in which Obama sarcastically responded to Romney’s criticism of the proposed $1 trillion in defense cuts from last year’s Budget Control Act and sequestration.

Romney accused Obama of allowing the military to be cut to historically low levels.

FROM THE BLOGS:

The bias of Bob Schieffer: Top 7 moments
Michelle Malkin believes debate moderator Bob Schieffer is biased, and wonders whether he can control it during the pivotal showdown.

How your job (and your wage) predicts your vote
The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson analyzes America’s industries, finding "hands-on" sectors are most likely to skew Republican.

Nate Silver’s flawed model
The National Review’s Josh Jordan examines the New York Times number cruncher, and finds reason for skepticism.

Dear undecided voter: Do you exist?
Slate’s John Dickerson writes a letter to the hypothetical American.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama energy team circulates memo to greens on climate
President Obama’s campaign try to dampen criticism about the time the president has spent on global warming during the 2012 presidential race, The Hill’s Ben Geman reports.

Despite absence, Jesse Jackson Jr. holds big lead in House race
As Rep. Jackson takes a leave of absence to deal with bipolar disorder, he is still strongly favored for reelection, The Hill’s Justin Sink reports.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Arizona GOP Senate Candidate Openly Hostile To Free School Lunch Program He Relied On As A Child
Despite the fact that he received help from federal school lunch programs as a child, Rep. Jeff Lake (R-Ariz.) habitually voted against such programs in Congress, writes Aviva Shen at ThinkProgress.

Media declares open season on Mitt Romney’s Mormon faith
Over the past week, several major news stations have begun a campaign against Mormonism, suggests Paul Wilson on The Daily Caller.

Notably anti-corporate Democratic convention used corporate cash for funding
The Democratic Party contradicted their pre-convention promises by accepting corporate donations, according to Erika Johnsen at Hot Air.

Romney campaign still doesn’t know if Lilly Ledbetter was a good thing or just ‘left wing agenda’
Hunter at the Daily Kos writes that Mitt Romney has yet to cast his final judgment of the Lilly Ledbetter law.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Minn. Democrat calls GOP rival “scumbag gutter dweller” on radio
During a radio debate, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) called his Republican opponent Chris Fields a "lowlife scumbag." Pete Kasperowicz of The Hill has more.

Hilary Clinton denies presidential interest
According to The Hill’s Alicia M. Cohn, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Marie Claire magazine that she does not plan to be the first female president.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Binders full of women: A meme that means something

According to The Atlantic’s Garance Franke-Ruta, there’s been a new addition to the list of "Romney-isms" from this year — "binders full of women" has started a significant social media avalanche.

We’re all foreign investors now

Campaigns and the media are responsible for amplifying economic nationalism as a major talking point between the candidates, according to The American Conservative’s Jordan Bloom.

Hoisted on their own petard

Republicans being too focused on "buzzwords" like terror and terrorist led to their candidate walking into a well-weaved trap, says Talking Point Memo’s John Marshall.

DOJ wonders if federal court wouldn’t mind just dismissing Fast and Furious lawsuit

After a long period of stonewalling, the Justice Department naively hopes everyone can just "settle our differences," says Hot Air’s Erika Johnsen.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Obama in Iowa: We said thanks but no thanks to Romney’s advice on auto bailout

On the campaign trail in Iowa, Obama tells supporters he’s "glad" he didn’t take Romney’s advice back in 2008, reports The Hill’s Keith Laing.

White House to meet with industry groups on cyber order

The cybersecurity executive order is expected to be a topic of conversation between White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Michael Daniel, as he sits down with various cyber groups this week, reports The Hill’s Jennifer Martinez.

FROM THE BLOGS:

Romney’s Bush 2.0 foreign policy and America’s international reputation
The American Conservative’s Daniel Larison writes that Romney may not wreck U.S. favorability with other governments.

Wall Street Journal blasts Clinton for silence on Libya attack that she discussed in WSJ interview
Daily Kos’s Timothy Lange proposes media bias over the hold of Libya responsibility quotes from Hillary Clinton.

A presidency squandered
National Review’s Victor D. Hanson questions whether circumstances have really conspired against President Obama.

The amazing story of what happened in Libya
The Atlantic’s Garance Franke-Ruta takes another angle on who is responsible for Libya.

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Gallup’s daily poll finds 50 percent of likely voters prefer Romney
The new Gallup poll released Tuesday sees President Obama with only 46 percent of likely voters, The Hill’s Daniel Strauss reports.

Appeals court tosses conviction of former driver for bin Laden
The U.S. federal court reversed the 2008 conviction of a Yemeni man on Tuesday, The Hill’s Carlo Munoz reports.

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.

FROM THE BLOGS:

ObamaCare transforming America into part-timer nation
Hot Air’s Ed Morrissey predicts Obama’s healthcare plan will create economic headaches for businesses employing part-time staffers.

The Etch-a-Sketch Moment
The American Conservative’s W. James Antle reasons that conservatives should be wary of Romney’s centrist shift. 

Goldman Sachs can’t take a joke
Salon’s Andrew Leonard says the investment bank should be more grateful than angry at Obama’s crack on SEC allegations. 

Vets left out entirely
The Huffington Post’s Paul Rieckhoff argues that veterans' issues were wrongly excluded from the first of the presidential debates and should be a topic of discussion.


OTHER NEWS SOURCES:

Romney surges in polls
Mitt Romney slid past Obama in a Public Policy Polling survey, with 49 percent of likely voters in support of Romney compared to 47 percent for Obama, reports The Hill's Jonathan Easley.

Democrats accuse Issa of playing politics with secret Libya trip
Darrell Issa is under heavy fire for allegedly hiding a fact-finding Libya mission from Democrats just a day prior to an oversight hearing, The Hill's Julian Pecquet and Jordy Yager report.