Stories to Watch: 10/9/12

Gallup switches from tracking registered voters to likely voters and finds Mitt up 2 points in daily tracking. Scary, but not unexpected. Key takeaways: "First, the registered voter trends suggest that Romney's initial gains from his strong performance in last week's debate may be short-lived. Second, Gallup's inaugural likely voter results suggest that Romney at this point appears to have a turnout advantage, meaning that Obama will need to develop a strong lead among all registered voters in order to be assured of winning the actual popular vote. All in all, if the election were held today, Gallup's analysis suggests that the race would be too close to call." So basically, the evidence of a disappearing post-debate Romney bounce continues to mount, although both candidates face hardships. Follow Nate Silver's forecast for long term analysis.


CNN/ORC has Obama up 51%-47% in Ohio. That's a Romney must-win. Although a quick look at other swing state polling shows some disagreement, meaning there may be a lot of statistical noise out there. Buckle in and ride it out. Only time will clear the picture.


Kevin Drum identifies a liberal "hack gap." Ed Kilgore concurs. Basically, that means that there aren't as many lefty voices willing to lie their lying asses off as there are on the right. But it's not a shortage on the left, it's a glut on the right. We don't need our own Glenn Becks, Jonah Goldbergs, or Ann Coulters. There world is quite stupid enough without more of these loudmouth idiots. What we need to do is make everyone realize these people are clowns -- somehow.


Although here's some interesting liberal spin. It could be more predictive than analytical. I seriously doubt the president basically threw the first debate, which is the gist of it.


ABC News' Martha Raddatz, who's scheduled to moderate the upcoming VP debate, is caught hanging out with a bad crowd.


This is stupid: Mitt Romney criticizes Obama for talking about Big Bird. Hell, everyone's talking about Big Bird -- because you brought it up, Mitt.


Yet another bad poll for Obama -- and why you shouldn't freak out over it.


After getting heat for his BLS jobs numbers conspiracy theorizing, former GE CEO Jack Welsh quits his gigs at Fortune and Reuters. I checked for wingnut posts speculating he was forced out by Obama, but apparently that little crackpot conspiracy theory hasn't occurred to anyone yet. Give it time.


Finally, happy fourth birthday to America's First Pet.


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