The first presidential debate may be almost a week behind us, but it's still in the news today - aided in large part by a host of new polls that suggest Governor Mitt Romney has made significant headway in the race for President.

The most notable poll showing a boost for Governor Romney is a national survey of likely voters from the Pew Research Center, which puts the Governor ahead of President Obama 49-45 (margin of error ± 3.4%).  Meanwhile, the Gallup daily tracking poll puts President Obama ahead by five points, 50-45 (margin of error ± 4%). That's the same spread three days before the debate, before the tracking poll was 47-47 three days after the debate.

Another reason why last week's debate remains a story: a new TV ad out from the Obama campaign this morning. The spot pounces on Governor Romney's stance on the taxpayer subsidy to PBS, the TV home of Big Bird. And no, folks, this ad is not an SNL spoof.

The excitement ahead of the VP debate grows - watch it Thursday on @msnbc

Magid CPI: Romney campaign: 'Clueless' Star Slammed for Endorsing Romney; Penn State coach Sandusky denies he molested children; Mexico: Zetas cartel capo probably killed by marines 

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Twitter Political Index: Obama 26 (+5)/Romney 15 (+0)

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YouTube Politics: Biden VS Ryan: VP Showdown!!

Billboard (Hot 100): One More Night – Maroon 5; Gangnam Style – PSY; Some Nights – fun.

Billboard (Ringtones): Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen; Pontoon – Little Big Town; Whistle – Flo Rida

After President Obama's much-criticized debate performance last week, the pressure is now on Vice President Joe Biden to perform.

According to Politico, Thursday's showdown between Biden and Rep. Paul Ryan is one debate "that could really matter."

That's why Democrats want Biden to go on the offensive and remind voters that the Romney/Ryan ticket is not what it appears, despite an attempt last week to pivot to the center. 

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch became the latest high-profile person to float a political conspiracy theory last week, joining the likes of Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh by suggesting that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) had manipulated the September jobs data to help re-elect President Obama. While any sane person would assume that Welch's theory would fly outside the Overton Window, it quickly gained currency among many conservative  commentators and became a central topic of conversation on the Sunday talk show circuit.

"I think I came out more confused." That was what former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said today after listening to Governor Mitt Romney's foreign policy address. Albright participated in an Obama campaign conference call, describing the speech as "full of platitudes." The former Secretary of State also claimed "some of his facts are just dead wrong." Specifically, Albright said Romney's promotion of a Palestinian state demonstrated "he obviously doesn't track the things he himself says" -- since he had told donors at a fundraiser in May that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute would remain "unsolved." Albright also hit Romney on his view of Russia, saying "of the various weird things Romney has said, his position on Russia is truly out-of-date...I'm beginning to think Romney doesn't have the facts." Back in March, Romney called Russia "our number one geopolitical foe."

Governor Mitt Romney is slated to make a major foreign policy address at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA today.

The speech comes ahead of two remaining Presidential debates, one of which will focus entirely on foreign affairs. The Governor's remarks, titled "The Mantle of Leadership," are expected to address President Obama's response to the attack on Libya that claimed four American lives, including Ambassador Chris Stevens. Governor Romney's early response to that crisis was criticized as being too political and a strategic campaign mishap.

Happy Columbus Day - on this the 29th day until Election Day!

Magid CPI: Romney campaign: Romney Tries to Keep His Big Moment Alive; Obama campaign: Obama Jokes About His Debate Performance; Venezuela Electoral Council Says Hugo Chavez Wins Presidential Vote 

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Twitter Political Index: Obama 21 (-2)/Romney 15 (-1)

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YouTube Politics: I'm Not Convinced.

Billboard (Hot 100): One More Night – Maroon 5; Gangnam Style – PSY; Some Nights – fun.

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NYTimes Best Sellers (Fiction): The Casual Vacancy, by J.K. Rowling; Fifty Shades of Grey, by E.L. James; Fifty Shades Darker, by E.L. James

NYTimes Best Sellers (Nonfiction): No Easy Day, by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer; Waging Heavy Peace, by Neil Young; Mugged, by Ann Coulter

Governor Mitt Romney has become quite fond of the phrase "trickle-down government" -- debuting it as an attack line against the President at the debate this week, and saying it nine times the next morning in a speech to CPAC.

Turns out Romney didn't coin the phrase, however -- it's vintage Bush 41. In the third debate between President George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton in 1992, Bush used the phrase repeatedly (check out the video below).

By the end of the day President Obama’s less-than-stellar debate performance may be a thing of the past. The President struck something like numerical gold today, after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate dropped from 8.1% to 7.8%, the lowest number since President Obama took office.

Blatantly worried that the rate will only help President Obama politically, some Republicans turned to some of their favorite age-old past times: debunking math and devising conspiracy theories.

Much of the public and media agrees that Wednesday night’s presidential debate was a victory for the Romney campaign, with President Obama surprisingly putting forth a lackluster performance.  While Governor Romney came across as crisp and effective, his talking points demonstrated a frequent inability to put forth details grounded in facts.  On Thursday’s show, Alex illustrated how Romney’s vaunted tax plans do not add up. The Governor was adamant that his tax plan would add nothing to the deficit, yet provided no substantive explanation for how he plans to execute and pay for the cuts.  The typical Republican approach to balancing budgets is to slash discretionary spending that often disproportionately affects youth, minorities, and lower-income families.   Cutting programs like Pell Grants, Medicare, and Food Stamps will likely not bolster Romney’s standing with those groups.  According to Gallup’s most recent demographic poll, Romney lags significantly with the 18-29 age group (Obama +26), non-whites (Obama +63), and people making less than $36,000 (Obama +21).  Team Romney’s tax approach will likely fail to sway these voters.  Despite the focus on the two candidates’ performance, the real news could be Romney’s detail-free argument and plan for the nation.

There are just two of them left until Election Day.

This morning we get the much-anticipated jobs report for September, which comes on the heels of Governor Mitt Romney's success at the first presidential debate. Today POLITICO reports that the Romney campaign has a strategy in place that builds on the momentum of Wednesday's debate and focuses their candidate on drawing a contrast with President Obama's first term record. The economy, of course, plays directly into that strategy. It's estimated today's jobs report will reflect an increase of about 113,000 jobs and a tick up in the interest rate to 8.2% from the current 8.1%.

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Magid CPI: Obama Campaign: Obama's Enthusiasm Gap; Romney campaign: Romney Pleased Debate Showed He and Obama Stand for Very Different Things; Debate: One presidential debate over, and still undecided in Ohio 

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Twitter Political Index: Obama 31 (-5)/Romney 23 (-14)

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YouTube Politics: Facts Are Clear

Billboard (Hot 100): One More Night – Maroon 5; Gangnam Style – PSY; Some Nights – fun.

Billboard (Ringtones): Call Me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen; Pontoon – Little Big Town; Whistle – Flo Rida

"There's no economist that can say Mitt Romney's tax plan adds $5 trillion if I say I will not add to the deficit with my tax plan." - Mitt Romney at last night's debate.

Say what? Hang on - Before everybody in the media rushes to coronate Mitt Romney for his stellar debate performance, let's just pause to reflect on Mitt's specious tax argument.

Romney says the economists who have scored his tax plan as adding $5 trillion to the deficit are wrong because his tax cut isn't a $5 trillion tax cut. He dismissed the same criticism from President Obama last night, saying, "if the tax plan he described were a tax plan I was asked to support, I'd say absolutely not. I'm not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut."

This is what a $5 trillion logical fallacy looks like...

Economists: Your 20% tax cut plan costs $5 trillion.

Who says Governor Mitt Romney doesn't talk specifics? It may have ruffled some feathers, but last night Romney offered some straight talk about how he plans reduce the deficit -- namely, cutting the federal subsidy for PBS. You may wonder why he only felt compelled to give this one, single example of a program he would eliminate, but as Politico noted, PBS funding accounted for a whopping .00014% of the federal budget in 2010. Romney followed up that comment by saying, "I love Big Bird" (see above, a parody account for the Sesame Street resident didn't take his intentions lightly).

Johnathan Chait was also skeptical about Governor Romney's logic, writing in New York Magazine, "So Romney is a candidate of a 20% cut in tax rates, a new plan to cover people with preexisting conditions, and higher defense spending, and he will accomplish it all by eliminating federal funding for PBS."