Obama ‘believed he had BEATEN Romney’ in Denver debate - after ignoring advice of top aides on preparation  —  President Barack Obama did not take his debate preparation seriously, ignored the advice of senior aides and walked off the stage in Denver believing he had got the better of Mitt Romney …

Romney 49%, Obama 47% Among Likely Voters  —  Registered voter trend suggests Obama is recovering from post-debate drop  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Mitt Romney holds a slight edge over Barack Obama — 49% to 47% — in Gallup's initial “likely voter” estimate, encompassing interviews from Oct. 2-8.

Romney says abortion legislation isn't part of his agenda  —  Mitt Romney today said no abortion legislation is part of his agenda, but he would prohibit federally-funded international nonprofits from providing abortions in other countries.  —  “There's no legislation with regards to abortion …

US OFFICIALS: WE DIDN'T LINK LIBYA ATTACK TO VIDEO  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department said Tuesday it never concluded that the consulate attack in Libya stemmed from protests over an American-made video ridiculing Islam, raising further questions about why the Obama administration used …

Welch can't take the heat: I quit  —  The former top GE executive says he will no longer write for Fortune following coverage of his jobs conspiracy tweet.  —  FORTUNE — Jack Welch has left our building, metaphorically that is.  —  Welch said he will no longer contribute …

IN SPEECH, SCHUMER CALLS FOR ‘SCRAPPING’ REAGAN-STYLE TAX REFORM MODEL USED BY SIMPSON-BOWLES—SAYS WITH HUGE DEFICIT, WE CAN'T AFFORD TO LOWER TOP RATE FOR WEALTHY  —  Simpson-Bowles, Gang of Six Both Adhered to '86 Model—Which Calls For Trimming Loopholes to Pay for Rate Reductions

AP publishes unflattering pic of Romney bending over  —  This photo of Mitt Romney posing with students of Fairfield Elementary School in Fairfield, Va., was published Monday by the Associated Press.AP  —  It was a news photo that, as Gawker quipped, was “ripe for captioning.”

No White House Press Briefing in Last 15 Days  —  The White House has not held a press briefing in the last 15 days, according to records on the White House's website.  The last one was held on September 24, 2012, by White House press secretary Jay Carney.  —  However, in that 15 day time period …

Mitt Romney's Tax Proposals: Understanding the Debate  —  For months, Mitt Romney had been advocating tax cut proposals that would reduce revenues by about $5 trillion over the next decade, and that were heavily tilted toward the rich.  Yet he did not explain how he would pay for these cuts, just that he somehow would.

Stopped-and-Frisked: ‘For Being a F***king Mutt’ [VIDEO]  —  Exclusive audio obtained by The Nation of a stop-and-frisk carried out by the New York Police Department freshly reveals the discriminatory and unprofessional way in which this controversial policy is being implemented on the city's streets.

ACLJ Attorney Fired After Online Accusations of Gay Relationships  —  A conservative Christian legal group has fired one of its senior attorneys after reports surfaced on the Internet that he may have had romantic relationships with younger men.  —  The American Center for Law & Justice …

Straws in the wind or canaries in the coal mines?  Warning signs the Obama campaign shouldn't ignore  —  Maybe it's because I was told there'd be no math when I got into politics, but there comes a point in every campaign when I run screaming from the torrent of poll numbers and go looking …

The CEO Who Built Himself America's Largest House Just Threatened to Fire His Employees if Obama's Elected  —  David Siegel is the founder and CEO of Westgate Resorts, a huge national timeshare company and one of the largest resort developers in the world.  In 2007 he was a billionaire …

Daily Breakdown: Pay Attention To Dates  —  If you missed yesterday's polls, check out this recap.  Long story short: the tracking polls initially suggested that Romney's bounce began to recede, then Pew Research pointed toward an extremely large bounce for Romney.

Ohio asks to curb early voting (UPDATED)  —  UPDATED 4:55 pm Justice Kagan has asked for a response to the Ohio application, to be filed by 7 p.m. on Friday.  —  State officials in Ohio on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court for permission to close the voting booths to early voters …

Dem pollster delivers wake-up call to Obama  —  Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg is not known for flinching from delivering bad news to Democratic politicians, and his new diagnosis of Obama's slippage in the polls is no exception.  —  Greenberg told me in an interview that his new research persuaded …