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I may just poll my comment section and pass that off as a Battleground State poll. The Washington Post explained that rather curious “Swing State” subsection in today’s national poll where Obama had an incredible 11-point lead relative to his national lead of only 2-points: The WaPo-ABC ‘swing state’ poll numbers, explained Monday’s Washington Post-ABC News poll adds to the evidence of an emerging, important dynamic in the presidential contest showing closer parity nationally than in key battleground states, where President Obama has had clear leads.

In a surprise move, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., tried to get a House vote Thursday on a resolution condemning Texas Gov. Rick Perry for a racial slur once painted on a rock at his family's leased West Texas hunting ranch. Jackson, who earlier in the week had spoken to the House Democratic Caucus about a resolution critical of Perry, was unsuccessful. But he said on the House floor that the West Texas ranch's name, "N---rhead," was offensive. The African-American lawmaker, son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, said, "N---r is offensive." "N---rhead is offensive. And for a governor of one...

The new acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced a major shake-up of his agency Wednesday and urged Washington insiders to “calm down” about the latest revelations surrounding a controversial ATF gun operation. B. Todd Jones said calm is needed as he begins rebuilding the beleaguered agency, including shuffling top personnel. He made his comments as his boss, Attorney General Eric J. Holder Jr., came under fire this week from Republican lawmakers, with one calling for a special counsel to investigate Holder’s role in the Fast and Furious gun-trafficking operation.

Americans consider President Obama to be the smartest and most honest presidential candidate against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, according to a new poll, but religious groups differ on their views of the candidates' attributes. Among evangelicals, Perry scored the highest and Romney scored the lowest, though Romney tied with Obama on leadership skills. ... Catholics overwhelmingly ranked Obama higher than the other two candidates in all four categories.

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry appears to have raised more money than his GOP rivals in the first six weeks of his campaign, suggesting that the Texas governor remains competitive despite a series of major stumbles that have hurt his standing in the race. Perry's campaign said it will report raising at least $17 million during the fundraising quarter that ended in September, an unexpectedly strong total that is likely to put him ahead of Mitt Romney and other GOP candidates for the same period. Perry did not announce his candidacy until mid-August, giving him half as much time as...

Updated 2:22 p.m. Wallace Jefferson, the first black chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, said the hunting ranch name controversy is "much ado about nothing" and argued the implication that Rick Perry is insensitive to matters of race is flatly wrong. Jefferson, who was appointed to the post by Perry, and whose great-great-great-grandfather was a slave owned by a Waco district judge, said the reality is quite the opposite: Perry "appreciates the role diversity plays in our state and nation." Jefferson said he can recall his first conversation with Perry, in 2001, like it was yesterday. They talked about...

Off-year elections can be notoriously unreliable as predictors of the future, but as a window on how the political landscape may have changed in the year since President Obama won the White House, Tuesday's Republican victories in Virginia and New Jersey delivered clear warnings for the Democrats. Neither gubernatorial election amounted to a referendum on the president, but the changing shape of the electorates in both states and the shifts among key constituencies revealed cracks in the Obama 2008 coalition and demonstrated that, at this point, Republicans have the more energized constituency heading into next year's midterm elections. The most...

The federal government needs to hire more than 270,000 workers for "mission-critical" jobs over the next three years, a surge prompted in part by the large number of baby-boomer federal workers reaching retirement age, according to the results of a government-wide survey being released Thursday. The numbers also reflect the Obama administration's intent to take on several enormous challenges, including the repair of the financial sector, fighting two wars, and addressing climate change. "It has to win the war for talent in order to win the multiple wars it's fighting for the American people," said Max Stier, president and chief...

But the economy is not all; the GOP's last best hope remains identity politics. In a year when the Democrats have an African American presidential nominee, the Republicans now more than ever are the white folks' party, the party that delays the advent of our multicultural future, the party of the American past. Republican conventions have long been bastions of de facto Caucasian exclusivity, but coming right after the diversity of Denver, this year's GOP convention is almost shockingly -- un-Americanly -- white. Long term, this whiteness is a huge problem. This year, however, whiteness is the only way Republicans...

The Washington Post published an article today in the Style section about researcher Danielle Allen's efforts to track down who is behind allegations that presumed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Hussein Obama (Illinois) is a Muslim. Allen is an Obama supporter who works for the Institute for Advanced Study.The article was written by Matthew Mosk. A curious choice for The Post considering Mosk's involvement in the nefarious MD4Bush scandal in which Mosk claimed to have been given access to a Free Republic poster's account to expose a Maryland GOP government appointee who was alleged to have commented on rumors that...