While the super committee and its Nov. 23 deadline commands most of the attention on Capitol Hill, another important deadline looms in the near future: Nov. 18th, the day when the government runs out of money.

The most recently-passed continuing resolution -- or short-term extension of government spending -- is set to expire in 18 days, and it's unclear whether Republicans and Democrats can come together in time to avoid (again) a dreaded government shutdown.

And so-called "policy riders," measures that are attached to spending legislation to advance a policy agenda, could threaten to ensnare a new agreement despite little interest among Democrats or Republicans in a shutdown.

Political squabbling has kept Congress from passing a formal, yearlong budget for over 900 days now, meaning the government has continued to be funded be a series of these short-term fixes. Aides on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill are cognizant of the low public appetite for a shutdown; previous budget fights have contributed to poor approval of lawmakers work. For instance, 82 percent of Americans expressed disapproval of Congress in an October AP-Gfk poll.

Nevertheless, because the contemporary political environment is so heated, some on Capitol Hill fear the needed government funding bill could fall victim to well-worn political dividing lines between the two parties.

At the heart of this fear lie the riders. They are routinely attached to appropriations bills, though they often have nothing to do with funding the government. For example, during the last showdown earlier this spring, the issue of abortion and whether or not groups like Planned Parenthood should be eligible for federal funds played a central role up until an 11th hour agreement was reached. Sensing these types of issues could come up again, House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has sent House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) a letter asking that controversial riders not be included in any budget deal.

“While not all policy riders are objectionable, many of those included this year are not only controversial but blatantly partisan," Hoyer wrote. "Included riders would block the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, roll back important clean air and clean water protections, and place new restrictions on women’s access to a full range of medical and health services, among others."

Last month Boehner dismissed talk of policy riders saying they had been included in appropriations bills for years. A House GOP aide tells NBC News, “The Democrats who run Washington are trying to pick a fight on unrelated issues because they can’t face the facts: we aren’t going to get our economy moving again and create jobs until we get government spending under control.”

The question becomes, then, which side has an upper hand in the fight? House Democrats are banking on the notion that Boehner will not be able to secure enough Republican votes to pass a budget without Democratic support. If this is the case, the GOP won’t be able to include any controversial policy riders in order to attract the Democratic support they’ll need to avert a shutdown. But if Republicans stick together, and can produce 218 votes for any budget deal out of the House, Hoyer will be stymied, and Boehner will negotiate a more favorable deal with Senate Democrats. 

The text of the whole letter is below:

Dear Mr. Speaker:

We write with deep concern about the inclusion of policy riders in FY2012 appropriations legislation.  As you know, there is longstanding precedent not to use appropriations bills to enact major changes in national policy, and the bills being reported from Appropriations subcommittees this year violate that precedent. 

While not all policy riders are objectionable, many of those included this year are not only controversial but blatantly partisan.  Included riders would block the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, roll back important clean air and clean water protections, and place new restrictions on women’s access to a full range of medical and health services, among others.  These appropriations bills appear to any knowledgeable observer as an attempt to push through both chambers an extreme, partisan agenda outside the regular order you so strongly advocated in the Pledge to America, which declares an end to “the practice of packaging unpopular bills with ‘must-pass’ legislation to circumvent the will of the American people.”

As appropriators continue working to meet funding thresholds in the Budget Control Act, it is important that Republicans not risk a government shutdown by playing politics with appropriations bills.  Democrats oppose the inclusion of controversial policy riders, which are unlikely to pass the Senate, and we urge you to see that they are removed. The American people expect Congress to take the necessary steps to create jobs for the middle class, spur the growth of our economy, and lower our deficits, and it is our hope that Republicans will work with Democrats on a bipartisan path forward that will meet these expectations as well as the obligations set forth in the Budget Control Act.

A group of Senate Democrats are proposing a constitutional amendment that would grant Congress authority to regulate campaign finance. The senators say this amendment would allow Congress to "correct" the Supreme Court Citizens United ruling.

They amendment unveiled today has three main points. It:

- Would authorize Congress to regulate and limit the raising and spending of money for federal political campaigns and allow states to regulate campaign spending at their level

- Includes the authority to regulate and limit independent expenditures, like those from Super PACs

- Would not dictate any specific policies or regulations, but instead would allow Congress to pass campaign-finance-reform legislation that withstands constitutional challenges.

"The latest reinterpretation of the Constitution has left our political system vulnerable like never before,” said Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM) of Citizens United. “We believe it is much healthier in a democracy to have this crucial battle of ideals fought out by publically accountable officeholders"

Udall said the rise of Super PACs and their ads are harmful to the country.

"These ads are overwhelmingly nasty, negative and mean-spirited,” he added. “Letting this go unchecked is a threat to our democracy. Campaigns should be about the best ideas not the biggest checkbooks. It's time to put elections back in the hands of American voters"

Another co-sponsor, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) added, "If there's only one thing we can do to change the environment on Capitol Hill and in Washington for the better, it’s this amendment."

He continued, "If you want to take our political campaigns out of the hands of special-interest groups and super PACs and groups we've never heard of, this is the way to do it."

Durbin said Congress needs to take this power out of hands of Supreme Court.

Republican candidates, for the most part, have not waded into the controversy surrounding Herman Cain.

Perhaps the harshest voice was Rick Santorum, who said he has been more vetted than Cain and this is the risk with an untested candidate.

"I don't know all the facts,” Santorum said on FOX, per GOP 12, before adding, “What I can say is that there's something to be said for having a candidate in the race who's been in front of the national public eye, who's gotten scrutiny. I've run five races, three state-wide races in Pennsylvania, and been under the national spotlight and had to answer all the questions on all the issues, have had my background looked at."

Newt Gingrich dismissed it.

"I don't pay attention to the junk that you find fascinating,” he said. “I work on policy."

Others tried some version of “no comment.”

Rick Perry: “As a good rule of thumb, until things go past allegations to fact, I just try to leave them alone.”

Jon Huntsman: "Well, there are always distractions in politics. You gotta work to get your message through. You gotta work hard to make sure people understand what it is you stand for. And often times you’re going to have [the] drama of politics play out in an unpredictable fashion, and it’s hard to know where that then goes. It consumes days, maybe a whole week and that does take some of the bandwidth out of the atmosphere; there's no doubt about that."

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad following a forum hosted by the National Association of Manufacturers, lining up with most in the talk-radio circuit, defended Cain.

"Iowans are pretty fair-minded people and just because someone makes an accusation, anybody that's in a high-profile position is potential to have people make these accusations,” he said. “And I think Iowans will carefully look at the real situation before jumping to conclusions. I want to just reserve judgment."

As GOP 12 points out: “Branstad was considerably more critical of Mitt Romney and Herman Cain for missing today's jobs forum in the state.”

By the way, Cain’s wife Gloria is in talks to be on FOX Friday night, the New York Times reports.

NBC's Alex Moe, Jamie Novogrod and Jo Ling Kent contributed to this report.

DURHAM, N.H. -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry will go on the air with his "I'm a doer not a talker" ad starting tomorrow in New Hampshire, according to the Perry campaign. The same ad began running in Iowa this week.

Senior Perry adviser Paul Young called this move a "significant statewide buy" that will put Perry on New Hamphire's WMUR new station and radio waves. The ad will also be aired on cable. The campaign would not elaborate on how much was spent.

Perry is currently polling in the single digits in New Hampshire.

PELLA, Iowa -- Neither of the two front-runners for the GOP presidential nomination joined five other candidates Tuesday at a forum here at a large agricultural equipment plant on the future of manufacturing in America.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Texas Congressmen Ron Paul, and former speaker Newt Gingrich spoke at an event organized by the National Association of Manufacturers.

But notably missing from the stage were former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, the two candidates with the most extensive business backgrounds, and the two candidates leading in recent polls of potential Iowa caucus-goers.

"It was unfortunate that Gov. Romney and Herman Cain weren't here," Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad told reporters after the event. "They missed out on the opportunity to address the number one issue in this campaign and that is creating jobs."

Over 500 people gathered at Vermeer Manufacturing for the forum, hosted by Branstad and Tom Hudson, a PBS anchor. Perry, who took the stage first, called the Obama Administration "irresponsible" for not using domestic energy.

"We have more energy locked up but recoverable, proven resources, proven reserves than Russia, than Saudi Arabia, then Venezuela, than Iraq all combined yet an administration not letting us use that energy, I happen to think that is irresponsible," Perry told the crowd.

Next was Santorum who said people want "Made in America again" and that America just "needs to beat" China.

"I believe we have to get rid of all tax incentives for all energy. I think we have to have a level playing field," Santorum said.

During Bachmann's turn on stage, she called on the federal government to get off the backs of Americans because it's making the country uncompetitive.

"The federal government hasn’t been helping to reduce costs on business. They’ve only gone the opposite way. They keep burdens on business,” the congresswoman said. "My approach as president of the United States would be to work with business and make their life easier. I want manufacturing to succeed wildly. I don’t want to see manufacturing be the servant to government.”

Paul addressed issues with opening international markets and said he would like Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to announce he's "resigning" tomorrow.

"If you don't look at the regulations, the taxations, the trade policy, and monetary policy, this is going to get much worse," he said.

Gingrich spoke last and proposed attaching "a mandatory training requirement to all unemployment compensation" to help fix skills deficit.

The former speaker drew more laughs and applause from the audience than any of the previous candidates and even went on to call President Obama a "left-wing radical that believes in class warfare."

With just two months before the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, Branstad, who has not decided to endorse a presidential candidate yet, was pleased with the forum.

"I am going to tell you, this thing is a wide-open race and I think the candidates that were here did themselves some good by addressing the issues directly," Branstad said.

The House will vote tonight on a bill that would solidify the phrase "In God We Trust" as the nation's motto, and would support and encourage "the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions."

The vote should occur around 6:30 pm ET.

The bill, which was introduced by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), will likely pass with the two-thirds majority needed to pass, but it is not without its opponents. In a report of dissenting views from Democratic members of the Committee on the Judiciary Committee, five Democrats call the bill "unnecessary" and a violation of "the First Amendment's prohibition against the establishment of religion."

The List of Dissenters: Reps. John Conyers (D-MI), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Robert "Bobby" Scott (D-VA), Melvin Watt (D-NC), Judy Chu (D-CA).

Key Statements in Dissenting Opinion Report:

"For more than 50 years, the National Motto has been the law of the land. While some have questioned its constitutionality, none of these challenges has succeeded. We wonder, therefore, why the Majority believes this precatory intervention by Congress is so necessary."

"By aggressively pursuing a vehicle that places the government in the position of making an affirmatively religious statement, the Majority has transgressed the clear line between government and religion in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment."

Here is some background information on the "In God We Trust” motto from the report:

The motto IN GOD WE TRUST was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout persons throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize the Deity on United States coins.

From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Chase by Rev. M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridleyville, Pennsylvania.

. . .

As a result, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:

Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the
strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust
of our people in God should be declared on our national
coins.

You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary
delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and
tersest words possible this national recognition.

It was found that the Act of Congress dated January 18, 1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes without the enactment of additional legislation by the Congress. In December 1863, the Director of the Mint submitted designs for new one-cent coin, two-cent coin, and three-cent coin to Secretary Chase for approval. He proposed that upon the designs either OUR COUNTRY; OUR GOD or GOD, OUR TRUST should appear as a motto on the coins. In a letter to the Mint Director on December 9, 1863, Secretary Chase stated:

I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that
with the Washington obverse the motto should begin
with the word OUR, so as to read OUR GOD AND
OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it
should be changed so as to read: IN GOD WE TRUST.

The Congress passed the Act of April 22, 1864. This legislation changed the composition of the one-cent coin and authorized the minting of the two-cent coin. The Mint Director was directed to develop the designs for these coins for final approval of the Secretary. IN GOD WE TRUST first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.

Another Act of Congress passed on March 3, 1865. It allowed the Mint Director, with the Secretary's approval, to place the motto on all gold and silver coins that ''shall admit the inscription thereon.'' Under the Act, the motto was placed on the gold double-eagle coin, the gold eagle coin, and the gold half-eagle coin. It was also placed on the silver dollar coin, the half-dollar coin and the quarter-dollar coin, and on the nickel three-cent coin beginning in 1866. Later, Congress passed the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873. It also said that the Secretary may cause the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to be inscribed on such coins as shall admit of such motto. . . .''

The motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent coin since 1909, and on the ten-cent coin since 1916. It also has appeared on all gold coins and silver dollar coins, half-dollar coins, and quarter-dollar coins struck since July 1, 1908.

A law passed by the 84th Congress (P.L. 84-851) and approved by the President on July 30, 1956, the President approved a Joint Resolution of the 84th Congress, declaring IN GOD WE TRUST the national motto of the United States. IN GOD WE TRUST was first used on paper money in 1957, when it appeared on the one-dollar silver certificate. The first paper currency bearing the motto entered circulation on October 1, 1957. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing was converting to the dry intaglio printing process. During this conversion, it gradually included IN GOD WE TRUST in the back design of all classes and denominations of currency.

Former co-chairman of the President's Fiscal Commission Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming, directly went after no-new-taxes activist Grover Norquist.

"If Grover Norquist is the most powerful person in America, he should run for president," the usually locquacious Simpson said. "He has people enthralled."

Norquist's no-new-taxes pledge is a rite of passage for Republican presidential candidates. Each of the 2012 candidates has signed the pledge except former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

Simpson then described how Norquist's favorite president was Ronald Reagan and that Reagan raised taxes eight times.

The nation's AAA credit rating will likely stay put no matter what the outcome of the Deficit Supercommittee later this month, according to a report released today by the ratings agency Moody's.

On Aug. 2^nd, just days before S&P's downgrade of the nation's credit rating from AAA to AA+, Moody's confirmed it's AAA rating but assigned it a negative outlook.

According the Moody's report, due to the fact that the nation's deficit will be reduced both if the Supercommittee reaches an agreement or not, Moody's does not anticipate any change in their credit rating of the U.S. 

"Agreement by the Joint Select Committee and the Congress as a whole on a larger amount of deficit reduction would be favorable,” the report states, “but the smaller amount triggered by the spending caps is still a step in the same direction. Thus, the committee outcome will not necessarily lead to any change in our rating stance."

According to the Budget Control Act passed in August, if the Supercommittee does not come to an agreement on at least $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction by Nov. 23^rd, an automatic "trigger" will result in almost a $1 trillion in automatic cuts to programs such as defense and entitlements.

The Moody's report will likely come as a relief to Supercommittee members, who are scheduled to hear a dire warning from former Sen. Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles during an open congressional hearing today. According to prepared testimony, the two plan to warn the Supercommittee that "a failure by this committee might result in another downgrade."

The Gingrich campaign told NBC News that yesterday was the campaign's best fundraising day thus far in the campaign.

The campaign raised $113,000 yesterday, spokesman R.C. Hammond said.

"Every day, we inch a little further ahead," he said. "Always progress, always towards our goal."

Earlier this month, the campaign announced it raised more in October than it did in all of the third quarter.

The Herman Cain campaign also told NBC News it had its best online fundraising day yesterday.

Despite the scrutiny, or likely because of it, Herman Cain yesterday had his best online fundraising day of his campaign, according to his campaign.

It raised roughly $300,000 in online donations, campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon told NBC News. Campaign Manager Mark Block told The Daily Caller in a taped interview on its website Cain has raised $5 million since Oct. 1, at a rate of about $1.5 million per week. 

Republicans on Tuesday released an arguably rosy calculus of just how their eventual nominee might beat President Obama in 2012.

The Republican National Committee said its road to 270 (the number of electoral votes needed to win the presidency) counts on Indiana, North Carolina and Virginia -- three traditionally Republican states won by Obama in 2008 -- to flip back to the GOP. Victories there, combined with wins in two other swing states, would bring the GOP nominee close to the White House, the RNC asserted.

"If Obama loses these states and remains unable to widen the map, the GOP nominee will be only 51 electoral Votes away from the White House," wrote Rick Wiley, the RNC's political director, in a memo released this morning.

What's more, Wiley broadcast just where Republicans might focus to pick up most of those additional electoral votes: Ohio and Florida.

"Forty-seven of the remaining Electoral Votes necessary for the GOP nominee could come from the perennial bellwethers of Ohio and Florida alone," he said. "If these states were to fall, then there are numerous possibilities for the remaining four Electoral Votes needed by the GOP nominee to win."

But victories in those states aren't a sure thing. Obama leads former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- the three GOP candidates leading the presidential primary field -- in current polling.

Obama would beat Romney, for instance, 45-41 percent in Ohio, according to an Oct. 26 Quinnipiac University poll. Obama beats Cain and Perry by wider margins, according to the same poll. Obama also leads those candidates in Florida. He has an edge on Romney, 45-43 percent, in the latest NBC News/Marist poll, and would beat Perry, 47-39 percent, and Cain, 47-41 percent.

However, Obama’s percentages in all the states are in the mid- to high-40s; incumbents are on safer ground when they’re closer to 50 percent.

And victories in North Carolina and Virginia aren't sure things, either. Romney leads Obama in Virginia, according to a mid-Oct. Quinnipiac poll, but only by one point. Obama leads other would-be Republican challengers, like Perry and Cain.

And Obama's shown little interest in ceding those states, anyway; the second leg of his recent bus tour this month took him through both North Carolina and Virginia, and the 2012 Democratic National Convention's backdrop in Charlotte is a move intended to keep those states in the Democratic column.

But even if Obama loses Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, he could still get more than 270 electoral votes by winning three other states he carried in 2008 – Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico.

Wiley sought to address those in his memo:

States like Nevada - where unemployment and foreclosure rates have skyrocketed - or Iowa, Colorado, or New Mexico – where George W. Bush was victorious in 2004 – could each push a Republican nominee across the finish line.   Furthermore, if otherwise-reliable blue prizes like Michigan or Pennsylvania, where polling shows even lower job approval numbers than Florida and Ohio, were to switch to the GOP column, then the number of bank-shots Obama will need through the Electoral College will be nearly impossible to make.  Other, smaller ‘blue’ states like Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Washington aren’t exactly “gimmes” either.

You can check the electoral math with the National Archives' 2012 Electoral College Calculator.

In advance of their scheduled testimony Tuesday before Congress’ special deficit-reduction panel, the co-chairmen of President Obama’s fiscal reform commission offered tough talk for the president, Congress, and outside groups trying to influence the deliberations.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd,” former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, expressed disappointment that Obama has not touted their budget reform recommendations more forcefully.

“It’s been really frustrating, and I think it’s been a shame,” Bowles said. “We proposed $4 trillion in deficit reduction. We didn’t propose that because the No. 4 bus went down the road. We proposed it because that’s the minimum amount you have to reduce the deficit over 10 years in order to stabilize the debt and get it on a downward path as a percent of GDP. He knows that.”

Bowles’ Republican counterpart on the president’s commission, former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson, criticized AARP for a television ad they’re running that argues against any cuts to Medicare and Social Security.

“It’s an arrogant bunch of people where the leadership at the top are not patriots. They’re marketers,” said Simpson.

Bowles agreed with Simpson about needing changes to Social Security, and criticized Democrats in Congress.

“What I can’t understand is how people in my party can oppose making Social Security sustainably solvent so it actually will be there,” said Bowles.

Bowles and Simpson are set to testify on Capitol Hill at 1:30 pm ET today.

Herman Cain said he had authorized a "full investigation" Tuesday into whether his campaign received improper benefits from a Wisconsin charity cofounded by his campaign manager.

Cain promised to look into a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel story reporting that Prosperity USA, a nonprofit started by campaign manager/chief of staff Mark Block and Linda Hansen, Cain's deputy campaign manager/chief of staff, had paid for about $40,000 in travel and equipment for the Cain campaign in February and March.

"I am aware of the report. I just heard about it yesterday. We are doing a full investigation of it, and if there were any improprieties, we will go back and amend the FEC report," Cain told conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. "The last thing I want to do is anything illegal or something that we shouldn't do. So at this point, we're going back through and double-checking and making sure we have all the i's are dotted and the t's crossed."

The former Godfather's Pizza CEO has already endured a bruising news cycle since acknowledging on Monday that he faced sexual harassment allegations while at the National Restaurant Association, allegations he admitted had led to a settlement (the details of which he said he didn't recall).

Cain promised to make public the results of the inquiry into Prosperity USA.

"As soon as we know what's what, we will not only issue a press release, we will let you know what exactly we found out," he said, "and if there are any improprieties, we will correct them."

Cain otherwise embarked Tuesday on Day Two of a national media tour to push back on Monday's story about the alleged sexual harassment. He defended himself from perceived inconsistencies after he admitted on Fox News last night that there was, in fact, a settlement paid to one accuser after Cain had initially denied any such payout.

"This happened 12 years ago, so I have been trying to recollect all of the various pieces of this throughout all day yesterday," he said. "The best account is the one that I did on [Fox] later that evening -- not changing the story, but trying to fill in as many details as I could possibly recall."

Cain did boast, though, that the scrutiny his campaign had endured as a result of the original Politico story had resulted in a spike in online fundraising on Monday.

"Yesterday, with the firestorm, was one of our best fundraising days online ever, since the campaign started," he boasted.

Cain’s evolving statements… Monday began with him claiming no sexual harassment, and that he wasn’t aware of any settlement… But it ended with an admission that one woman might have incorrectly interpreted something he said as being inappropriate, and a settlement/agreement was reached… The big question: Does another shoe drop?... Here come the Super PAC ads: Pro-Perry group begins airing ads in IA and SC… Obama releases his physical; will the GOP candidates their medical information?... And Obama’s busy day with local TV stations.

*** Cain’s evolving statements: Make no mistake: Herman Cain and his campaign had a rough day handling the allegations that he had behaved inappropriately toward two female employees when he headed the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. NBC News has confirmed that two women accused him of inappropriate sexual conduct, and at least one woman received a financial settlement. First, Cain top aide Mark Block said on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” that Cain “never sexually harassed anybody. Period. End of story.” And he added, “I am not personally aware of any settlement.” In a later interview on FOX, Cain said, "If the restaurant association did a settlement, I wasn't even aware of it, and I hope it wasn't for much.” But then his story began to change. “Yes, there was some sort of settlement or termination,” he told FOX’s Greta Van Susteren. “I was aware that an agreement was reached,” he said on PBS. “The word settlement versus the word agreement. You know, I’m not sure what they called it.”

AP

Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain at the National Press Club in Washington DC, Monday, October 31, 2011.

*** Will another shoe drop? So Cain’s Monday began there (no sexual harassment, not aware of a settlement) and ended up here (one woman might have incorrectly interpreted something he said as being inappropriate, and a settlement/agreement was reached). Can he survive this? It all depends if there’s another allegation or a new piece of information that contradicts his current story. If there is, that would be a knockout blow. Indeed, conservative commentators largely gave Cain a free pass yesterday. Rush Limbaugh said, “Look at how quickly what is known as the ‘mainstream media’ goes for the ugliest racial stereotypes they can to attack a black conservative.” And Laura Ingraham, who clerked for Clarence Thomas, said, “Doesn’t all this sound familiar? A black man who thinks for himself, who ends up surprising everyone…” (One exception, however, was Karl Rove, demonstrating an establishment-vs.-base divide here.) But if another shoe drops, he most likely won’t get another free pass from them.

*** Here come the Super PAC ads: Super PACs might say that they’re not coordinating with the campaigns they’re supporting, but just check out what happened yesterday. First, Rick Perry goes up with his second TV ad in Iowa. And then one of the Super PACs supporting him -- Make Us Great Again -- announced it’s airing TV ads in the Hawkeye State and also in South Carolina. The two ads (here and here) are similar, and they dovetail with the Perry campaign’s own positive ads in Iowa. *** CLARIFICATION *** First Read is no way implying Make Us Great Again is coordinating with the Perry campaign; we were just noting the coincidence of the timing and the states involved.

*** Where are the GOP candidates’ medical information? President Obama releasing his medical physical yesterday (which claimed that he is in good health and that he is tobacco free) is a reminder that we’ve received no medical information about any of the GOP presidential candidates. And two of them -- Cain (a cancer survivor) and Perry (back problems) -- have had major medical issues in the past.

*** Obama’s day with local TV anchors: Beginning at 11:00 am ET, Obama conducts interviews with a whopping NINE local TV stations, as well as with Heart Television. The nine are: WAVY, Portsmouth, VA; WTVT, Tampa, FL; KTRK, Houston, TX; KETV, Omaha, NE; WCCO, Minneapolis, MN; WPVI, Philadelphia, PA; KUSA, Denver, CO; KSAZ, Phoenix, AZ; and KGW, Portland, OR. These interviews are embargoed until 5:00 pm ET. By the way, the local TV anchors also will be able to interview Education Secretary Arne Duncan, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood about the administration’s jobs legislation. This media blitz raises the question: Where were these media/message events during other legislative pushes? It’s a HUGE advantage, and the White House hasn’t used it much.

*** On the 2012 trail: Most of the campaign activity is in Iowa… In Pella beginning at 10:00 am ET, Bachmann, Gingrich, Paul, Perry, and Santorum speak at a presidential forum sponsored by the National Association of Manufacturers… Later in the day, Paul, Perry, and Santorum make several stops throughout the Hawkeye State… Outside of Iowa, Huntsman delivers an energy-policy speech in Durham, NH.

*** Tuesday’s “Daily Rundown” line-up: Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) on the latest Super Committee developments… Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY) and former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles on what they plan to tell the Super Committee later today… Latest from the 2012 trail with NBC News Campaign Embeds Carrie Dann and Andrew Rafferty… Plus more on the developing Cain story with the Washington Post’s Jennifer Rubin, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, and Bloomberg News’ Jeanne Cummings.

*** Tuesday’s Jansing & Company line-up: Chris Jansing will interview three of Huntsman’s daughters, and they’ll talk about life on the campaign trail, family pressures, and how their dad is holding up. 

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza and Karen Tumulty, National Journal’s Charlie Cook, Dem strategist Steve McMahon and GOP strategist Vin Weber, and Wes Moore.

Countdown to Election Day 2011: 7 days
Countdown to Iowa caucuses: 63 days
Countdown to South Carolina primary: 81 days
Countdown to Florida primary: 91 days
Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 95 days
Countdown to Super Tuesday: 126 days

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“Reinforcing the picture of a closely divided public, registered voters again split nearly evenly when asked which party they specifically intend to support in the congressional election in their district: 43 percent picked Republicans, and 42 percent chose Democrats,” National Journal’s Ron Brownstein writes of a new United Technologies/National Journal Congressional Connection poll.

CAIN: “Conservatives rallied around Herman Cain as he battles sexual harassment allegations, likening the attacks on the Republican presidential contender to what they describe as the ‘high-tech lynching’ of another prominent black Republican: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas,” the AP writes.

“Iowa conservatives appear unready to jump off the Herman Cain train — unless damning evidence emerges that proves the presidential candidate was less than truthful Monday when he denied allegations of sexual harassment,” the Des Moines Register’s Jacobs reports. “The Des Moines Register spoke by phone with more than 20 likely Republican caucusgoers who participated in the Oct. 23-26 Iowa Poll, and none said the allegations had moved them to reject Cain as a potential pick.”

The New York Times: “Herman Cain, a surprise leader in the Republican race for the presidency, acknowledged Monday that he was accused of sexual harassment while chief of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, but he denied wrongdoing in an episode that has consumed his rising candidacy.”

More: “In separate interviews, two people who were affiliated with the restaurant group at the time said that they knew of the second female employee, and that she had received a payment related to harassment accusations against Mr. Cain during his 1996-99 tenure as the association’s chief executive. The two spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid being pulled into the matter publicly.”

“The Washington Post independently obtained the names of the women and tried to contact both, but several e-mails and telephone messages were not returned. A man who answered the door at the Maryland home of one of the women said they had “nothing to say.”

The New York Post: “Cain feeling heat.”

The New York Daily News notes that Cain changed his story from the morning to the afternoon, when in a taped appearance on FOX. He initially said he was “unaware” of any financial payout, then admitted there was one. "Maybe three months' salary,” Cain said of the settlement. “I don't remember. It might have been two months. I do remember my general counsel saying we didn't pay all of the money they demanded.”

The paper writes, “The allegations lodged against Cain, and his hamfisted response to the revelations, threaten to derail his soaring poll numbers.” He also says he’s “unaware” once again of a formal complaint filed by a second woman.

NBC has confirmed that two women accused Cain of inappropriate sexual conduct and at least one received a financial settlement. Here’s NBC’s Lisa Myers’ piece on it from Nightly News.

Here’s an odd exchange with Cain on FOX with Greta Van Sustern, per GOP 12:

VAN SUSTEREN: Got a roaming eye at all?
CAIN: A roaming eye?
VAN SUSTEREN: Yes.
CAIN: I enjoy flowers, like everybody else.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know what I mean.
CAIN: No. No, not at all.
VAN SUSTEREN: Not at all.
CAIN: Well, I wouldn't say not at all. Depends upon what you mean and
(INAUDIBLE) to what you mean.

And Cain made this allegation: “I do recall that her performance, it had been told to me by her boss, was not up to par.”

“Cain told The Hill on Monday that the controversy swirling around him was comparable to what happened to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who was accused of sexual harassment by a former law clerk, Anita Hill, during his confirmation hearings. ‘There seems to be some similarities. ... Probably so,’ said Cain, who earlier this year predicted that like Thomas, he would be subjected to a ‘high-tech lynching’ by liberals opposed to his campaign. ‘The only question would be, how long are people going to drag this baseless, false accusation out? I can’t determine that,’ Cain said Monday.”

Roll Call writes, “As Herman Cain's presidential campaign spent Monday dealing with the fallout from sexual harassment allegations, it became increasingly clear that his handling of the controversy could put him in greater jeopardy than the actual decade-old charges.”

Cain found time to go on Iowa radio in the afternoon. Of the sex allegations, Cain said, “The Cain train is staying on track and we’re making sure that we don’t allow these distractions from former employees or opponents to really get us off message.”

Unrelated to the sexual harassment news, Cain also said on the radio show he’d consider making Newt Gingrich his VP.

PERRY: A pro-Perry Super PAC is going up with two ads in Iowa and South Carolina.

ROMNEY: PoliticalWire notes, “Jon Stewart looks at sexual harassment accusations against Herman Cain and Rick Perry's loopy speech in New Hampshire and concludes, ‘Mitt Romney is the luckiest Motherfudger on Earth.’”

A Romney fundraiser is also an official in a controversial New Hampshire hydroelectric transmission line. “The project has resulted in fierce opposition across the state, from members of the state’s congressional delegation to state legislators to grassroots activists,” the Boston Globe writes, adding, “The opposition led Northern Pass to back away from its preferred route for the transmission line, but it has not yet suggested a new path. Recent negotiations between landowners and Northern Pass, which is said to have threatened to seize land using eminent domain, has inflamed the opposition.”

“Forget the rumors that he has been sneaking cigarettes; President Obama is ‘tobacco free,’ the president’s doctor said in reporting the results of the president’s second physical since he took office,” the New York Times says. “In a two-page report released by the ‘first doctor,’ Dr. Jeffrey C. Kuhlman gave the president a strong bill of health, saying he was a physically active 50-year-old who eats a healthy diet (the president regularly cites the influence of the first lady, Michelle Obama, for that one), stays at a healthy weight and ‘on occasion drinks alcohol,’ in moderation.”

The RNC is up with a new video hitting Obama.

“Beacon Power Corp., the energy storage company that received a $43 million Energy Department (DOE) loan guarantee last year, filed for bankruptcy over the weekend, prompting a fresh wave of GOP criticism of the embattled DOE loan program,” The Hill notes.

“A Virginia county GOP committee found itself in hot water after using an image of President Obama with a bullet through his head to make a Halloween joke,” the New York Daily News reports. “An email sent by the Loudoun County GOP that included an image of Obama as a zombie [with a bullet hole in his head] has been widely criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike. The image also includes a picture of a disfigured Nancy Pelosi.”

Reaction from the state party: "The disgusting image used today on a mass e-mail has no place in our politics. Ever," Pat Mullins, chairman of the state's GOP party, told the Washington Post website. "The Republican Party of Virginia condemns the image and its use in the strongest possible terms.”

“He ran one of Wall Street’s most powerful investment banks and used to live in the New Jersey governor’s mansion,” the New York Daily News reports. “Now he’s in the throes of one of the largest bankruptcy filings in U.S. history. The curtain on the third act of ex-Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, 64, came down with a thud Monday as the Wall Street firm he took over just a year ago filed for bankruptcy.” The company, worth just over $1 billion took a big risk in buying up $6 billion in European country bonds. “As Europe melted down, Corzine’s big European investments spooked investors and trading partners.”

“Members of Congress had a collective net worth of more than $2 billion in 2010, a nearly 25 percent increase over the 2008 total, according to a Roll Call analysis of Members' financial disclosure forms,” Roll Call writes. “Nearly 90 percent of that increase is concentrated in the 50 richest Members of Congress.” Among the richest, Reps. Mike McCaul (worth at least $294 million) and Darrell Issa (at least $295 million).

“Republicans may be trying to focus their messaging on jobs and the economy — and hammering President Barack Obama for campaigning — but they still have time for some red meat base-baiting on the House floor,” Roll Call reports. “To wit: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (Va.) decision to bring to the floor a measure that ‘reaffirms ‘In God We Trust’ as the official motto of the United States and supports and encourages the public display of the national motto in all public buildings, public schools, and other government institutions,’ according to the resolution, sponsored by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.).”

“A Newsweek investigation found about five dozen of the most fiscally conservative Republicans ‘trying to gobble up the very largesse they publicly disown, in the time-honored, budget-busting tradition of bringing home the bacon for local constituents,’” PoliticalWire notes.

“Iowa activists are inviting caravans of protesters from across the country to help them ‘occupy’ all the presidential campaign headquarters in Iowa – and to shut the offices down if they feel their message about corporate greed is not being heard,” the Des Moines Register reports. “‘You go inside or if they won’t let you in, you shut ‘em down. You sit in front of their doors,’ said Des Moines’ Frank Cordaro, who came up with the idea that Occupy Iowa’s ‘general assembly’ approved at their 6 p.m. meeting tonight.”

MASSACHUSETTS: “The back and forth video wars in the 2012 Massachusetts Senate race continue, with a new internet-based video advertisement being launched this week by US Senator Scott Brown aimed at defending his environmental record,” the Boston Globe writes. “Brown, a Republican, is fending off a widely-run television advertisement from the League of Conservation Voters that was launched last week.”