“Roaring back,” says the president. Aide: “It's about time he took some credit for that.”

Obama arrives on stage during a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Park in Manchester, New Hampshire Thursday.

Image by Jason Reed / Reuters

MANCHESTER, N.H. — President Barack Obama is finding his inner Ronald Reagan.

With less than three weeks to Election Day, the president is now celebrating an economic recovery he had been — for most of his campaign — been wary of embracing too tightly.

“We were losing 800,000 jobs a month,” Obama began Wednesday evening in Athens, Ohio, building to a new, triumphant tone as he leaned into the microphone. “Now we’ve added more than 5 million new jobs, more manufacturing jobs than any time since the 1990s. The unemployment rate has fallen from 10 percent to 7.8 percent. Foreclosures are at their lowest in five years. Home values are on the rise. Stock market has doubled. Manufacturing is coming back. Assembly lines are putting folks back to work. That's what we’ve been fighting for. Those are the promises I’ve kept.”

Obama delivered the same message to a crowd of 6,000 Thursday afternoon (adding the qualifier “nearly” before the doubling stock market) in Manchester, New Hampshire — both states with unemployment rates lower than the national average.

Obama turns up the heat on for these lines: He’s higher pitched and louder. Then, as the audience roars, he backs away, lowers his voice, and acknowledges that not all is well — that more must be done.

“Now, for all the progress we’ve made, we’ve got more work to do,” Obama said, “There are too many folks out there still looking for work. There are too many folks out there who are still having trouble paying the bills. And that's why we’ve got to keep moving forward to build on what we’ve already done.”

For months, the Obama campaign had been cautious against appearing too pleased with bettering economic conditions while millions remained out of work or underemployed — a lesson the president learned the hard way after the premature “recovery summer” in 2010. The fear: appearing out as out of touch as the last incumbent to be unseated, George H. W. Bush, or as John McCain in 2008 when he said that the fundamentals of the American economy were strong at the height of the financial crisis.

At the Democratic National Convention, Obama took care not to celebrate the recovery — he left that to Bill Clinton, who testified that no one could have done the job of righting the ship better.

While Republicans say the new positive tone is undeserved and that coming in lieu of plan for the next four years, many Democrats see it as long in coming.

"He saved us from the brink of disaster," said one Obama aide. "It's about time he took some credit for that."

Now, if it’s not yet fully “Morning in America,” Obama wants voters to know it’s at least past dawn.

“The president’s remarks every day are a combination of steps we’ve taken, how well many of these steps have worked,” said Obama campaign traveling press secretary Jen Psaki. “Part of that is also explaining to the American people some of the good signs we’ve seen.”

The impetus for the change, according to campaign aides, was party the September jobs report that showed the unemployment rate sinking to 7.8 percent — and a figure many economists consider an anomaly — and a recent slew of positive housing indicators.

Before the unemployment rate fell below eight percent, Obama would trumpet “X months” of positive job creation. The rewrite is more explicit and celebratory. The stock market reference is an even newer addition to Obama’s stump speech — first deployed in Athens and tested on Democratic audiences by First Lady Michelle Obama for a week before.

The strategy faced its first test today on the heels of new data showing a rise in the number of first time jobless claims by 46,000 over last week, with the four-week average dropping slightly to 365,500. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney remarked that it followed “a broad array of positive economic data lately, including housing starts yesterday.”

Source: youtube.com

Former partisan warriors Allen and Kaine show off a softer side for Commonwealth voters.

Image by Steve Helber, File / AP

BLACKSBURG, Va. — For a race many had thought would be an arena for political blood sport, Virginia’s senate campaign has been largely a humdrum affair.

Take Thursday night’s fifth, and final debate between former Gov. Tim Kaine and former Sen. George Allen. Neither candidate threw a knock out punch or made a major gaffe, and despite a few brief back and forth, the hour-long affair was almost completely devoid of the sort of sniping and personal back and forth that have marked other debates — for President and for Senate — this year.

Unlike Senate races in Missouri and Arizona, neither of which were seen as marquis fights when the cycle began two years ago, Virginia’s battle for retiring Sen. Jim Webb’s seat has been largely devoid of fireworks, and Thursday’s debate on the campus of Virginia Tech was no different.

Instead, Kaine and Allen stayed focused largely on who would be more bipartisan in Washington and issues like the looming $500 billion cut to defense spending which has become a major talking point in a state with hundreds of thousands of military and defense industry jobs.

“I don’t really think there’s an ‘our side’ or ‘their side.’ We’re all Americans. We’re all Virginians,” Kaine said at one point, pledging to join a bipartisan group of Senators pushing for a new compromise on the fiscal cliff.

“There’s a new gang in the Senate, the Gang of Six … I have pledged to join the gang,” Kaine said.

“We need more people can build bridges,” Kaine added.

Allen made a similar pitch, touting his work with a Democratically-controlled legislature during his time as Governor while distancing himself from his partisan past.

“I’m going to be a senator for the people of Virginia,” Allen said when asked about his partisan reputation earned during his six years in the Senate.

Seeking to tie Kaine directly to Obama, Allen repeatedly pointed to issues like Obamacare, the failed effort to pass climate change legislation as areas where Kaine has backed unpopular Obama priorities, and charged Kaine would use the defense cuts as a “bargaining chip” to force the GOP to swallow an end to the Bush-era tax cuts for upper income earners.

After several swipes from Allen, Kaine briefly flashed his anger, saying, “I have a son who just started a career in the military. I’m not going to do things that hurts the military or hurts defense.”

Allen and Kaine also sparred over last month’s attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, which left ambassador Chris Stevens and several other Americans dead — a clear sign of the issue’s potency in this year’s election cycle.

“The incident in Libya was a very, very troubling one … And we need to get to the bottom of it,” Kaine said, arguing that Congress and the White House should work together to strengthen security and use as a model how Virginia Tech and state responded to the 2007 massacre that left 32 people dead.

“We need to take the same model in respect to the attack in Libya,” Kaine said.

But even on Libya, Kaine took a partisan shot at Allen, pointing to the fact that Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget included reductions in embassy security spending.

“I don’t think reducing spending on embassy security is a good idea,” Kaine said.

Allen also expressed concern with the attack and argued it is part of a broader failure of the Obama administration’s foreign policies, noting that the administration is sending millions in aid to the Egyptian government, despite violent, though not bloody, attacks on our embassy there.

“I don’t think that money ought to be sent to Egypt until they prove they’re going to work with us,” Allen said.

But even the issue of Libya eventually ended up back on the topic of the Congressional plan to impose automatic cuts on defense spending, known as the sequester.

The attack shows “why the sequestration deal is not only wrong but its dangerous,” Allen said.

The politicians took time off the trail for a charity dinner Thursday night to make fun of themselves and Joe Biden.

Romney: "Usually when I get invited to gatherings like this, it's just to be the designated driver."

Source: youtube.com

Obama: "Mitt is his middle name. I wish I could use my middle name..."

Source: youtube.com

“Everyone has heard it,” McCaskill says. “I don't think it will ever be played out for women.”

CLAYTON, Mo. — About fifteen minutes into Thursday's U.S. Senate debate, Sen. Claire McCaskill — the Democrat handed the unlikely gift of the embattled Rep. Todd Akin as an opponent — was relaxed.

"Senator, would you like a rebuttal?" the moderator asked after Republican Rep. Todd Akin had spent a few minutes attacking McCaskill and President Barack Obama.

"I don't think so," McCaskill responded cheerfully, without pause.

At what might be the final Senate debate in Missouri before Election Day, McCaskill had reason to be calm: She has been outspending Akin and out-polling him. This week, her campaign released an internal poll showing McCaskill leading Akin by 14 points.

"If she doesn't attack tonight, her numbers are good," one Missouri Republican told BuzzFeed before the debate Thursday.

She did attack, a few times, primarily in appeals to female voters on issues such as pay equity and emergency contraception that could deepen their alienation from a Republican famous for the phrase "legitimate rape." But she didn't invoke that phrase.

"Everyone has heard it, and it seemed like to go there when there were so many other topics would look like piling on," McCaskill told reporters after the debate. "I don't think [the comment] will ever be played out for women."

Akin, meanwhile, spent the debate on offense, hitting McCaskill for stances ranging from her support of the federal stimulus to votes she had made in support of the president's policies.

Throughout the debate, Akin endeavored to turn focus to reliable, Republican-friendly topics including the federal deficit and government overreach. He hit on foreign policy, too, but stumbled when he called tensions between Iran and Israel a "ticklish" issue.

But the specter of Akin's controversial remark earlier this year, that women's bodies can prevent pregnancies in the case of rape, had a palpable presence in the auditorium.

"What misconceptions do you want to clarify about yourself?" the moderator asked at one point, turning to Akin first.

The audience laughed.

"Well, thank you for that question," Akin began, but then went on to discuss the economy and health care.

Later, responding to a question about stem cell research, Akin conceded, "As some of you know, I'm pro-life, and I believe life begins at conception."

While McCaskill spoke to reporters after the debate, Akin departed. When his spokesman, Rick Tyler, appeared in his place, Missouri reporters were genuinely flummoxed; a few, angry. They demanded to know where the candidate had gone.

"It was a family decision to leave. I think it had something to do with the ball game," Tyler joked, referring to the playoff game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants that was held in St. Louis on Thursday evening at the same time as the debate.

“Where is Todd Akin right now?” one reporter shouted, unamused.

“I’m not going to say."

Romney will “work with a democratic Palestine and our ally Israel,” says Hawatmeh.” Obama “would be pilloried” for a similar move, complains Democrat Harris.

Romney with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this summer in Jerusalem.

Image by Uriel Sinai / Getty Images

The Romney campaign's recently announced "Arab-Americans for Romney" includes some of the Republican Party’s staunchest advocates for the Palestinian cause, some of whom have worked directly against positions shared by the intensely pro-Israel Republican Party and President Barack Obama.

The list, which includes some prominent sitting and former members of Congress like Darrell Issa and Sen. John E. Sununu (the son of Gov. John Sununu), as well as anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist's wife Samah. Also on the roster is George Salem, an advisor to global lobbying firm DLA Piper who has recently been involved in bitter infighting in Washington’s pro-Palestinian community, pushing for a more confrontational stance toward Israel.

Salem sits on the board of the American Task Force on Palestine, a group in Washington that is aligned with Salam Fayyad, the technocratic Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority. Salem was at the heart of a dispute last year inside the organization, in which, according to an ally’s account, he pressed for the group to support the Palestinian pursuit of statehood before the United Nations, a move Israel feared and that the United States openly opposed.

Salem didn’t respond to a request for comment, but Fayyad’s allies in the American Task Force on Palestinine’s leadership were surprised to see his name on Romney’s list. "Honestly, it seems like [Romney] didn’t do his homework,” said one source on the side of the current ATFP leadership.

Only one member of Arab-Americans for Romney’s 15-person leadership, Macomb County Republican Party vice chairman Nick Hawatmeh, responded to an inquiry about Romney’s appeal to supporters of a Palestinian State.

"It was laid out pretty clear in [Romney's] last foreign policy speech what he intends to do — a six-state solution, and work with a democratic Palestine and our ally Israel," Hawatmeh said. "I think that's a good solution, I agree with that, and that satisfies me."

Pro-Israel Democrats, however, complained to BuzzFeed Thursday that Romney was paying no political price for associating him with Israel critics at a time when Obama has been pounded constantly on alleged breaches of faith with the Jewish State.

"I’m not saying all these individuals are anti-Israel, but if this were the other way around, that’s exactly how they’d be portrayed," said Democratic strategist Aaron Keyak, a veteran of the partisan Israel wars, of the list. "There would be a breaking [Republican Jewish Committee] release and a big bold headline on Drudge, Free Beacon, Weekly Standard, and Fox News: 'Obama's Anti-Israel Kitchen Cabinet. Instead — silence."

The list, which was announced on Friday, has garnered little attention outside of foreign policy circles.

"There's nothing wrong fundamentally with having an Arab-American group," said David Harris, president of the National Jewish Democratic Council. "But I’m sure the Obama folks would be pilloried if they put out any affinity group led by individuals who were deeply opposed in principle to Iran sanctions, for example," he said, referring to Rep. Justin Amash, a libertarian and ally of Rep. Ron Paul who voted against the sanctions.

"To say that there’s a double standard here is putting it mildly," Harris said.

Other pro-Israel activists were agitated but declined to be quoted criticizing Romney.

"The fact that the Romney folks have an anti-Israel activist like George Salem and a guy like like Grover Norquist, who has been widely criticized, including by Republican members of congress, for long standing ties to terrorists and supporters of terrorists groups, affiliated with their campaign is pretty troubling,” said one official with a Jewish organization. "If this were the Obama campaign, you can only imagine the howls of outrage that we would be hearing from Conservatives — and rightly so.”

Salem’s role produced particular complaints, in part because of his role in connecting President George W. Bush with Arab American leaders who were later pushed well out of the political mainstream. Salem has served as a lawyer for the Holy Land Foundation, a group with ties to Hamas, which President Bush shut down in 2001, and has been the target of at-times intense intra-party criticism since then.

Some of the Republican Party’s fiercest pro-Israel voices, including Romney aide Dan Senor, Republican Jewish Committee Chairman Matt Brooks, Emergency Committee for Israel executive director Noah Pollak, and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol were uncharacteristically silent in response to questions about the coalition.

But Michael Goldfarb, who helped found the Emergency Committee for Israel and chairs the Center for American Freedom, which publishes the Free Beacon, said Romney’s stated positions and his closer advisers inoculate him on the question.

“I don't think it's going to be an issue,” he said. “Romney's surrounded by a really pro-Israel team, he's genuinely passionate about the issue, and Obama — he seems genuinely passionate about finding new ways to poke pro-Israel voters in the eye.”

“It's not like Romney got the Hamas endorsement,” Goldfarb said, referring to a Hamas official’s warm words for Obama at one point in 2008.

The first four maps show why the next six weeks could be key for marriage equality. But the fifth shows why there's still a long way to go.

Here's where things start: Just more than 10 percent of the country lives in a state where same-sex couples can marry.

But, voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington will vote on marriage in November. And, the Supreme Court could decide to let a lower court ruling stand finding California's Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

If all 4 of those states get marriage equality, more than a quarter of the country would live in a place where same-sex couples can marry.

Adding in states with significant, but non-marital, recognition for same-sex couples, nearly 4 in 10 Americans would live in a place where same-sex couples would have their relationship recognized.

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Democrat Richard Carmona has been trying to move past allegations he doesn't work well with women. This may not help.

Arizona Senate candidate Richard Carmona may have hoped to put charges that he mistreated women who have worked for him behind him, but he did himself no favors Thursday when he appeared to tell the moderator of his debate with Rep. Jeff Flake that he was “prettier” than CNN’s Candy Crowley.

After a difficult stretch in the debate, moderator Brahm Resnik quipped “Geez, now I know how Candy Crowley felt.”

“You’re prettier than her,” Carmona responded, eliciting a nervous laugh from the moderator. “I’m not sure how to take that,” he then said.

Flake has made allegations that he has problems with women and accusing him of intimidating a former female employee.

Carmona's campaign did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

[UPDATE] A Carmona spokesman declined to comment on the exchange beyond saying "It was a joke."

[UPDATE] Carmona's campaign just released a statement from the candidate apologizing for the joke.

"I tried to tell a joke to lighten the mood in a debate. I shouldn't have, and I'm sorry," Carmona said in the statement.

If you think you've seen the images in campaign ads before, it's because you probably have.

Romney ad "Prairie Fire"

The barn in this Romney campaign ad "Prairie Fire" was also used in an "Organic Valley" butter ad with the text "I'm a barn."

Obama Ad "Fees"

The Obama campaign ad hitting Romney for fees increases as Governor is used as a logo for churches, charity groups, law firms and even a right wing group RightChange.com among others.

Obama ad "C'mon Man"

The shot of a teacher in this Obama campaign ad is also used for a Chinese online school.

Obama ad "Mandatory"

The image of a coal worker in the Obama ad "Mandatory" was also used as the banner for a drug and alcohol testing website.

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NBC's chief pollster pins this cycle's “ghost in the machine” on the difficult task of factoring in the early vote.

“He’s changing up so much, we’ve got to name this condition that he’s going through—I think it’s called 'Romnesia,'” Obama said in Virginia today. “If you've got Romnesia, here's the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions”

From the Obama campaign:

Romnesia [Rom-nee-zhuh] Noun – a condition affecting Mitt Romney, who has shifted his positions from “severely conservative” to “severely kidding” – conveniently forgetting the conservative promises he’s made over the past six years that he’s been running for president.

But now that we’re 18 days out from the election, Mr. “Severely Conservative” wants you to think he was “severely kidding” about everything he’s said over the last year. He told folks he was “the ideal candidate” for the Tea Party, now suddenly he’s saying, “what, who, me?” He’s forgetting what his own positions are, and he’s betting that you will too.

I mean he’s changing up so much – backtracking and sidestepping. We’ve gotta name this condition that he’s going through.. I think it’s called “Romnesia.” That’s what it’s called. I think that’s what he’s going through.

Now, I’m not a medical doctor but I do want to go over some of the symptoms with you because I want to make sure nobody else catches it.

If you say you’re for equal pay for equal work, but you keep refusing to say whether or not you’d sign a bill that protects equal pay for equal work – you might have Romnesia.

If you say women should have access to contraceptive care, but you support legislation that would let your employer deny you contraceptive care – you might have a case of Romnesia.

If you say you’ll protect a woman’s right to choose, but you stand up at a primary debate and said that you’d be “delighted” to sign a law outlawing that right to choose in all cases – man, you’ve definitely got Romnesia.

Now, this extends to other issues. If you say earlier in the year I’m going to give a tax cut to the top 1 percent and then in a debate you say, I don’t know anything about giving tax cuts to rich folks – you need to get a thermometer, take your temperature, because you’ve probably got Romnesia.

If you say that you’re a champion of the coal industry when while you were Governor you stood in front of a coal plant and said, this plant will kill you – that’s some Romnesia.

So – I think you’re beginning to be able to identify these symptoms. And if you come down with a case of Romnesia, and you can’t seem to remember the policies that are still on your website, or the promises you’ve made over the six years you’ve been running for President, here’s the good news: Obamacare covers pre-existing conditions.

We can fix you up. We’ve got a cure. We can make you well, Virginia. This is a curable disease.

Women, men, all of you. These are family issues. These are economic issues. I want my daughters to have the same opportunities as anybody’s sons. I believe America does better, the economy grows more, we create more when everybody participates, when everyone’s getting a fair shot, everybody’s getting a fair shake, everybody’s playing by the same rules, everybody’s doing their fair share. That’s why I’m asking you for another term as President of the United States. I need you to help me finish the job.

Source: youtube.com

Paul Ryan exits the stage to the AC/DC song “Rock 'N' Roll Train” at every campaign stop. Really.

Take a listen to Paul Ryan wrapping up a campaign speech with some AC/DC while you read the lyrics:

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Rep. Ron Barber, who served as an aide to Gabby Giffords, was injured in January 2011 attack that left six dead. The attack: “Washington insider.”

A group billing itself as a conservative alternative to AARP Thursday released a new attack ad against Arizona Rep. Ron Barber — using a photograph of him at a memorial service for the attack on former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords that left six dead and 13 injured, including Giffords and Barber.

The ad, released by the 60 Plus Association , criticizes Barber for taking a pay increase and urges viewers to vote for Republican Martha McSally.

The ad features two images of Barber, the first of which appears to have been taken during the one year anniversary of the 2011 attack last January. Barber is wearing the same jacket and tie, and appears to be standing near identical clear podiums.

60 Plus did not respond to an email request for comment.

Image by David Wallace of the AP / AP

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The Obama “call tool” allows supporters to make cold calls from home, but a local Florida Tea Party leader is using the phone list to pitch Romney. “Think of what we could do if 100 of us did this for an hour each day.”

Via: meetup.com

A small Florida-based Tea Party group, Lee912, is urging Republicans to sabotage a key Obama campaign organizing tool, an online feature that allows supporters to access a list of phone numbers and place calls on behalf of the campaign from home.

Posting on the website, Meetup.com, the group's founder — Dr. Joe Magnant, a vein specialist practicing in Fort Meyers, Fla. — asked Lee912 members Thursday to use the Obama phone list to campaign for Romney.

Magnant suggests callers make the case directly for the Romney-Ryan ticket or just mark the voter as "already called" ("This will remove them from their call list," Magnant explains).

On the message board, Magnant lays out his plan, in all caps, as follows:

"If you don't feel comfortable knocking on doors, making phone calls or volunteering at a specific time or location then this might be just down your alley. You can from the comfort of your home on your computer use Obama's own call tool to fill out responses of folks on their call list without even having to talk with them. This will remove them from their call list. This is not being dishonest. You can answer neutral to the questions posed. Just get them off their call list and reduce the pool of eligible voters for them to contact. The alternative is to make the phone call and ask the question as a 'volunteer' not an Obama volunteer and make the case for a Romney/Ryan vote."

In a second post Thursday afternoon, Magnant tells group members that they shouldn't be "intimidated" by the prospect of placing calls. "I just made 25 calls or responses in less than 5 minutes on my desk top between procedures in my office," he wrote, also in all caps. "Think of what we could do if 100 of us did this for an hour each day from now until the election."

Asked about the potential risks of the "call tool" — that anyone could easily access the phone numbers and phone bank for Romney — an Obama campaign aide told BuzzFeed that they had seen small efforts like Magnant's, but hadn't experienced any widespread problems. "We have preventative measures in place and double-check all the data," the aide said.

Lee912, based in Fort Meyers, Fla., has 257 people on its mailing list — most from Florida — and says it aims "to unite and educate fellow patriots and take action to preserve the U.S. Constitution and our founding principles."

Magnant is a full-time physician with his own practice, Vein Specialists, focusing specificially on patients with leg vein problems (his website doman — weknowveins.com).

Brittany Jones, marketing director for Vein Specialists and Lee912, confirmed that Magnant is indeed the founder of the Tea Party group, but added that he would not be able to comment on this story

"Dr. Magnant is running behind today on patients," Jones wrote in an email, "as we had an emergency come in and he literally saved a man's life by detecting a blood clot that another doctor had failed to find. I am sorry but he will not be able to speak with you regarding your question. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Being a doctor is a very very busy yet rewarding job."

As pundits look at the possibility of Electoral College-popular vote split, a look back at Obama's comment on Bush v. Gore and eliminating the Electoral College. He said Bush's win was legitimate.

Obama in 2000: I don't think Bush losing the popular vote hurts his legitimacy in any way.

Source: youtube.com

Obama in 2004: Eliminate the Electoral College.

Source: youtube.com

Fired in voter registration fraud claim.

Republican consultant Nathan Sproul, whose firm, Strategic Allied Consulting, was fired by the Republican National Committee over reports that his company submitted questionable voter registration documents in Florida, also has ties to the Romney campaign.

The Arizona-based Sproul worked for the Republican nominee, with his firm Lincoln Strategies taking nearly $80,000 from the Romney campaign this year.

On Thursday, former Sproul employee and VA Republican Party field director Colin Small was arrested in Virginia on charges that he disposed of filled-out voter registration forms.

Sproul was photographed with Romney at an Arizona fundraiser earlier this year, as well as on the floor of the GOP convention in Tampa.

LINK: UPDATE: This story was first reported by the Brad Blog.

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He accuses Obama's campaign of sinking to “petty attacks and silly word games.” Trying to look more presidential than the president.

U.S. Republican presidential nominee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney arrives at a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Florida, October 19, 2012.

Image by Jim Young / Reuters

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Appearing alongside his running mate at a beachside rally here Friday night, Mitt Romney dismissed President Obama's recent stump speech punch lines as "silly word games" meant to distract from his failures in office.

Romney sought to strike a tone of disappointment as he accused Obama of lacking a second-term agenda.

"They've been reduced to petty attacks and silly word games," he said. "Just watch. The Obama campaign has become the incredible shrinking campaign."

On its surface, the carnival-like setting may not have been the optimal place to project presidential seriousness. Standing on stage against the backdrop of an artificial castle in the middle of an outdoor mall, Romney and running mate Paul Ryan addressed roughly 10,000 raucous supporters, many of whom were motorcycle enthusiasts in town for "Biketoberfest."

Outside the perimeter, protesters heckled, women grinded on poles, and intoxicated revelers at a Bubba Gump Shrimp spilled beer as they danced to the campaign soundtrack blasting out of the speakers. From inside the rally, reporters witnessed at least two people throw up on the sidewalk.

But the message is one Romney has been pushing all week, especially since Tuesday night's debate, where both candidates grew feisty, and even petulant, as they sparred in the town hall meeting. Their respective post-debate strategies appear to reflect the hurdles each one needs to overcome.

Obama, seeking to reopen the gender gap and appeal to women voters, seized on his opponent's awkward wording, working "binders full of women" into his stump speech. And on Friday, he gave a funny, spirited speech in Virginia diagnosing the Republican nominee with what he called "Romneysia," an affliction that has caused him to forget his policy positions. For Obama, it was a return to the loose, charismatic presence he brought to the stump in 2008, and it seemed geared toward reminding voters how much they liked him.

Romney, unable to compete with Obama in a likability contest, is instead presenting himself as a sober, authoritative figure, one who can rise above the name-calling and fix the country's problems.

Of course, it won't be easy to convince voters that he's more presidential than the president. But as he heads toward the final debate Monday night — when he will have to discuss in-depth foreign policy while standing next to the commander-in-chief — Romney is doing all he can to present himself as a plausible alternative.

In 1972, President Nixon called future Vice-President Biden to offer his condolences on the death of Biden's wife and young child in a tragic car accident.

via the Nixon Presidential Library

Source: youtube.com

Says Romney is beholden to the tea party. “That's not sketchy, that's etch-a-sketchy.”

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Vice President Joe Biden escalated his criticism of Mitt Romney today in Florida, saying he's not only out of touch, but he's also out of touch with his own party.

"He’s out of touch where I think this country is," Biden told a fired-up crowd of hundreds in St. Augustine. And now—and now they’re even abandoning the core organizing principle of this new Republican party...This is an alliance between the right in the Republican party and the Tea Party—people I saw coming in here."

Referring to "4 or 5" tea party protesters outside his event, Biden said Romney has become beholden to the "new party — this morphed party" that he said is the Republican Party under the influence of the Tea Party.

One of the protesters, dressed in a Revolutionary-era costume, was spotted holding a sign reading "Obama's a Communist."

Biden borrowed President Obama's newly-coined term for Romney's multiple shifts in positon, "Romnesia," and, as has been his practice for the past few days, corrected him on calling the Republicans tax plan a "sketchy" deal.

"That's not sketchy, that's etch-a-sketchy," Biden quipped.

"And the man that the intellectual right was arguing as their standard bearer for talking straight about the need to make significant cuts," Biden said of Paul Ryan saying he has no plans to cut funding for Medicare. "That man. It’s contagious."

Again hitting Romney for his "binders full of women" comment in the last debate, Biden raised the binder containing the print version his remarks, as the crowd roared.

Acknowledging the mathematical near-certainty of an Obama victory if he takes Florida, Biden encouraged supporters to vote early for the Democratic ticket.

"With you, we can take Florida," Biden said. "If we take Florida, this election is over."

The vice president attacked Romney's 47 percent line on the campaign trail with his oft-repeated phrase that it's never a good bet to bet against the American people.

"America is coming back," he declared. "And we're not going back. We're moving Forward!"

UPDATED: Senior campaign adviser Bay Buchanan said last week that the candidate supports states' choices. This afternoon, though, she told BuzzFeed he still supports the amendment proposal.

Image by Shannon Stapleton / Reuters

A top Romney adviser disavowed remarks and a position reported this past week that appeared to be a reversal of the campaign's support of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would bar states from allowing same-sex couples to marry.

Although campaign officials did not respond to inquiries prior to publication, Bay Buchanan issued a clarification to BuzzFeed this afternoon following initial publication of this story, writing, "Governor Romney supports a federal marriage amendment to the Constitution that defines marriage as an institution between a man and a woman. Governor Romney also believes, consistent with the 10th Amendment, that it should be left to states to decide whether to grant same-sex couples certain benefits, such as hospital visitation rights and the ability to adopt children. I referred to the Tenth Amendment only when speaking about these kinds of benefits – not marriage."

In a little-noted comment in the spin room following this past week's presidential debate in New York, Romney campaign senior adviser Bay Buchanan, the sister of former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, told The Advocate's Julie Bolcer, "He very much supports traditional marriage, but he's also a very strong advocate for the Tenth Amendment. It's a state issue."

The report also stated that when asked about how Romney's opposition to same-sex couples' marriage rights, including his support for the Defense of Marriage Act, would help same-sex parents, "Buchanan responded that Romney would not get in the way of what states decide to do on marriage and adoption."

Earlier in the election cycle, Romney was one of several Republican candidates to sign a pledge put forward by the National Organization for Marriage in 2011 that included support for "[s]ending a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman to the states for ratification."

In the closing month of the presidential race, the Romney campaign has pushed forward with a focus on an image of their candidate as a moderate, including discussion of his time as governor of Massachusetts and running television advertisements highlighting his support for exceptions allowing for abortion in the case of rape or incest or for the health of the mother.

Although President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden support same-sex couples' right to marry, the decision to stop supporting the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment would have been a moderating move for the Romney campaign, whose party platform includes support for the amendment.

Both Romney and his running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, have never before suggested that they have an altered position on the proposed constitutional amendment to limit marriage throughout the country to one man and one woman. The amendment, which failed to secure the necessary support in earlier congressional votes in 2004 and 2006, is considered a longshot at this point, and it's possible that the campaign has decided that abandoning support for the amendment will cost little in terms of conservative support while increasing his moderate credentials.

In April of this year, however, the National Organization for Marriage's chairman, John Eastman, said he expected no such change.

"Governor Romney has signed our pledge where he will defend the Defense of Marriage Act, where he will support an amendment to protect traditional marriage nationwide," he told a conservative radio host Steve Deace. "He has signed that pledge and we fully expect that he will honor his pledge in that regard."

Multiple Romney campaign officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story. Buchanan, for her part, appeared earlier this month as the featured guest at a "Unity" event in support of the Romney campaign held by GOProud, the conservative gay group. The group is the only gay group to have endorsed the Romney-Ryan ticket.

Log Cabin Republicans, another gay Republican organization, has not yet made a decision whether to endorse in the race. In the past two presidential elections, the group has cited support for or opposition to the amendment is a prominent part of its endorsement process.

[NOTE: This story was updated at 5:45 p.m. to reflect a clarification issued by Romney campaign senior adviser Bay Buchanan.]

Campaign has paid out $425,000 in bonuses since the GOP convention.

Image by Charles Dharapak / AP

Ten Romney for President staffers received bonuses — as much as $37,500 — in September, according to Federal Election Commission filings released today.

Romney political director Rich Beeson scored the largest amount, taking in a combined $75,000 in two payments on August 31, after the Republican National Convention, and September 13.

According to an spokesperson, the money was paid out of the campaign's account for the primaries, and are "win bonuses as part of people's employee agreements."

General Counsel Katie Biber, Policy Director Lanhee Chen, Communications Director Gail Gitcho, Digital Director Zac Moffat, Campaign Manager Matt Rhoades, and Senior Adviser Gabriel Schoenfeld all received $50,000 payouts in the same two installments.

Deputy Political Director Jason McBride and top aide Louis Tavares each took in $20,000 bonuses, while Press Secretary Andrea Saul received a single $10,000 check on September 12, filings show.

The bonuses are only for Romney's top aides who are on the campaign's payroll. Other senior advisers, including Stuart Stevens and Eric Fehrnstrom are paid through a consulting company.

The spokesperson added that the payments were split into two months "for budgetary reasons."