Battleground Tracking Poll: Mitt Romney takes lead  —  DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Mitt Romney has taken a narrow national lead, tightened the gender gap and expanded his edge over President Barack Obama on who would best grow the economy.  —  A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Tracking Poll …

Intelligence Stressed Libya Protest Scenario  —  In Reports to Obama, CIA Didn't Alter Assessment of Trigger for Violence for 10 Days, Even as Witness Accounts Disputed It  —  WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama was told in his daily intelligence briefing for more than a week after the consulate siege …

Donald Trump claims Barack Obama bombshell  —  Donald Trump said Monday that he will reveal “very big” news about President Barack Obama by Wednesday but declined to give any hints about his plan, he said on “Fox & Friends.”  —  “Something very, very big concerning the president of the United States,” he said.

‘Gender Gap’ Near Historic Highs  —  If only women voted, President Obama would be on track for a landslide re-election, equaling or exceeding his margin of victory over John McCain in 2008.  Mr. Obama would be an overwhelming favorite in Ohio, Florida, Virginia and most every other place …

World Cycling Body Strips Armstrong of Titles … GENEVA—Lance Armstrong was officially stripped of his titles Monday by cycling's governing body in the latest chapter in the doping allegations against the seven times Tour de France champion.  —  The International Cycling Union, or UCI …

Soledad O'Brien to Rudy Giuliani: ‘Let me finish’  —  CNN host Soledad O'Brien and Rudy Giuliani clashed on Monday, with the the former New York City mayor accusing O'Brien of trying to blame George W. Bush for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

WE CAN'T AFFORD FOUR MORE YEARS OF OBAMA'S FOREIGN POLICY  —  Location  —  “At the 2008 presidential debates, Candidate Obama promised to implement a foreign policy that would protect our interests and allies abroad.  But four years later, America stands weakened around the world …

THE CHOICE  —  The morning was cold and the sky was bright.  Aretha Franklin wore a large and interesting hat.  Yo-Yo Ma urged his frozen fingers to play the cello, and the Reverend Joseph E. Lowery, a civil-rights comrade of Martin Luther King, Jr.,'s, read a benediction that began with …

Obama campaign denies Willie Brown's claim of Obama-Wright outreach conference call  —  Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco, reported Saturday that President Barack Obama held a semi-secret conference call with the racist preacher Jeremiah Wright and other ministers last weekend to boost African-American turnout.

Wow, CNN ...  Check out the front page feature story on CNN right now.  A eye-popper even in the long sad tale of CNN's decline.  Screen cap after the jump ...  CNN front page, 9:14 AM, October 22nd, 2012.  —  I'll note that the piece itself is not nearly as bad as the headline.

Mitt Romney's toughest debate  —  Mitt Romney has a clear-eyed and self-aware view of his chances in the final debate Monday, according to top advisers: It will be almost impossible to win, since the debate is focused exclusively on foreign policy, a strength for President Barack Obama.

The Unreality of the Past Four Years  —  The Benghazi fiasco is a brutally illuminating portrait of the Obama White House in crisis mode.  —  In the 1967 film “A Guide for the Married Man,” a husband, played by a peerless Walter Matthau, is given lessons in ways to cheat on his wife safely.

Girl accidentally shot by relative at Halloween party  —  NEW SEWICKLEY TWP.  — A 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the shoulder Saturday night by a family member who thought she was an animal outside a New Sewickley Township home, police said.  —  New Sewickley Police Chief Ronald Leindecker …