Rafalca's Remorse

++Ann Romney's horse didn't win but the Guardian wrote that at least Rafalca didn't insult the British.


++Willard Romney hired the spokespeople for Fannie Mae and BP Oil to re-frame his Bain years. That should go well.


++George Will speaking before an investment group basically said Obama will win re-election, maybe with 90 less electoral votes than last time. He blamed the impending defeat of the GOP on its insistence on insulting the largest growing minority--the Hispanic community.


++Talkingpointsmemo tags the race now at 310 and 206EVs for Obama. Today, they put North Carolina in Romney's camp. That leaves Virginia and Colorado.


++Both the Romney and Obama campaign have stopped ad buys in Pennsylvania believing Obama has finally put that state away.


++PEW poll has Obama at 51 and Romney at 41 nationwide and a closer race in the battleground states of 48-44. Romney has a slight lead in independents but his disapproval rate continues to go while Obama is at 50% approval.


++CNN has reported today that Romney is in violation of the FEC rules for consulting with Superpac honcho Karl Rove.


++Yesterday Morning Joe said that Romney had a basic problem of running away from his identity--Mormonism, Money and Massachusetts. Republican operatives, while publicly dismissing the Quinnipiac polls of yesterday, are concerned that Romney didn't use the time to build up a positive identity before the general election campaign. Instead, they argued that Romney's fire-bombing his opponents only led to a more negative impression of him.


++Harry Reid has doubled down of his insistence that Romney hasn't paid any taxes for ten years. He now claims he has heard it from more than one source. The Romney campaign and the Washington Post are claiming this is akin to McCarthyism. But large majorities in recent polls say that candidates for President should release many years of tax returns.


++The Romney campaign compromised Mitt would create millions of jobs but they refused to release the details. 


++Ezra Klein of Wonkblog at the Washington Post came back for a day from vacation to eviscerate Romney's tax plan. It is well worth a read. There is no there there.


++Obama keeps on campaigning on Romney's tax plan and the economy in ways that have surprised people. His campaign sensed an opening and keep on pushing in through it. From the speeches the President has been giving you get a sense he feels the wind is at his back.


++Michael Phelps got his 20th medal and another gold, making stoners around the world look pretty lame.