The government’s real high-wire act: beginning the recovery… Don’t expect a delay with next week’s election… But election precincts could be moved… Something’s happening out there: The number of named storms has increased every decade… Could the election all come down to the auto bailout?... Make no mistake: The Romney camp wouldn’t be airing that Jeep ad if it were ahead in Ohio… But the map expands to Minnesota and Pennsylvania… And Romney holds a storm-relief event in Kettering, OH, while Bill Clinton campaigns in Minnesota and Colorado.

*** The government’s real high-wire act: Now with Sandy moving away from the East Coast, the real impact begins today -- assessing the damage, realizing what happened, and the government (federal, state, and local) beginning the recovery. And this is the true high-wire act for President Obama and his administration: making sure the recovery and relief begins immediately and as smoothly as possible. Every hiccup could get amplified; that’s the real political danger for the president. Then again, he has the bully pulpit and a job to do. Already, the late-night calls to Republican Gov. Chris Christie are public (thanks to Christie, not the president, by the way). Meanwhile, as we said yesterday, Mitt Romney, might be in the trickier spot. He has no job to do right now -- he can’t look overtly political. Romney today is doing a relief event, which means no politics. But the setting? It’s very political: Ohio.  

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A woman touches a fallen tree in Manhattan's Alphabet City neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in New York October 30, 2012. Millions of people across the eastern United States awoke on Tuesday to scenes of destruction wrought by monster storm Sandy, which knocked out power to huge swathes of the nation's most densely populated region, swamped New York's subway system and submerged streets in Manhattan's financial district. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly (UNITED STATES - Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT)

*** Don’t expect a delay in the election: Could Sandy cause a delay in the election, which is supposed to take place exactly one week from today? NBC’s Pete Williams says it’s possible -- but very unlikely. Per Williams, the Constitution gives Congress the authority to establish the day for presidential elections, and since 1845 a federal law has set the date as "the Tuesday after the first Monday in November." Congress could change the date any time it wants, just as it could change any federal statute. But it would have to act quickly. What’s more, Williams adds, it’s the states, not the federal government, that RUN elections in America.  Many states in areas not affected by Sandy's wrath would be likely to oppose a delay and its attendant costs. They could choose to go ahead with their elections for all but president and have a separate election for president later. But such a move would undoubtedly suppress the turnout. Finally, Williams says, consider that never before in U.S. history has a presidential election been postponed or canceled, not even during the Civil War. 

Slideshow: Sandy slams into East Coast

Andrew Burton / Getty Images

Superstorm Sandy made landfall Monday evening on a destructive and deadly path across the Northeast.

Launch slideshow

*** But election precincts could be moved: That said, one of us talked with senior administration officials and learned that FEMA head Craig Fugate has informed states that the federal government would reimburse them to move polling places and import generators to conduct the election next week.  Fugate himself has experience with this in Florida. The state, in 2004, had to move polling places for a primary because of power and other storm-related issues. The most likely scenario has FEMA essentially helping the states open as many polling places as possible; you’ll also likely see various state governments decide to allow displaced folks to vote in different polling stations provisionally. And it will likely mean a potential messy counting situation. But a delay is very, very unlikely.

*** Something’s happening out there: Your First Read authors don’t pretend to be meteorologists or Dr. NOAAs, but it’s hard not to look at the following data and conclude that something is indeed happening out there when it comes to the climate. Simply examine the history of named storms in the Atlantic. As many of you may know, a storm doesn’t get a name until it reaches Tropical Storm status. And the names are given each year alphabetically. For decades, getting to the back half of the alphabet was VERY rare. Now? Very common. Take a look: In the 1970s, there were just an average of under eight named storms per year; in the 1980s, the average was just under nine; in the 1990s, it was about 11; in the 2000s, it jumped again, to nearly 15 storms a year; and -- get this -- in the first three years of this decade (2010, 2011, 2012), the average is under 19. Specifically, we had 19 named storms in 2010, 18 in 2011 and, SO FAR, we’ve had 19 named storms (and there’s an entire month left in hurricane season). 

*** Car Talk: Mitt Romney loves cars. His father headed a U.S. auto company. And he even launched his 2008 presidential campaign from the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI (taking the stage to Billy Ocean’s “Get out of my dreams, get into my car”). So here is the irony of this presidential election: It could all come down to Ohio (where one in eight jobs are tied to the auto industry) and Romney’s opposition to federal government’s auto bailout. As NBC’s Mike O’Brien wrote yesterday, the Romney campaign’s effort to muddy the waters on the auto bailout -- misleadingly suggesting that Jeep is outsourcing U.S. jobs to China -- is its latest tactic to play defense on the issue. The Obama camp responded with its own ad yesterday. “When the auto industry faced collapse, Mitt Romney turned his back,” the ad goes. “And now, after Romney’s false claim of Jeep outsourcing to China, Chrysler ITSELF has refuted Romney’s lie. “The truth? Jeep is ADDING jobs in Ohio.” It concludes, “Mitt Romney on Ohio jobs? Wrong then… Dishonest now.” And stumping in Youngstown, OH yesterday, Bill Clinton fired back, calling it “the biggest load of bull in the world that [Chrysler’s Jeep] would ever consider shutting down their American operations.” 

*** As GM goes, so goes Obama’s presidency -- and the election? Here is the bottom line regarding the Romney camp’s Jeep ad: It gives the impression that they’re trailing in Ohio. Otherwise, they never would have resorted to this kind of TV ad; it’s the feel of going nuclear. As we wrote in 2009, after the federal government’s takeover of GM of Chrysler, “As GM goes, so goes the Obama presidency.” But little did we know back then that Romney’s own opposition to the bailout could be the issue that possibly saves Obama in a very close election.

*** Expanding the map: Today, Bill Clinton campaigns for Obama in Minnesota, where a recent poll showed the president with just a three-point lead (although another poll had him with a larger advantage). Also, the Obama campaign announced yesterday that it would begin to advertise in Pennsylvania, given that the pro-Romney Super PAC Restore Our Future is up with a big buy there. And a new poll findsObama leading Romney by just six points in Oregon, 47%-41%. (Obama won Oregon by 16 points in ’08, but John Kerry carried it by only 4 points in ’04.)  This goes back to what we were talking about yesterday: Romney definitely has momentum outside the main battleground states; that’s why the national polls are sitting where they are. But not much has changed in the battleground states, where the advertising is going on. But it is also a reminder if that somehow there is a tipping point in this election that hits the battlegrounds, Romney has a shot at getting a much higher electoral vote figure than perhaps many folks realize. Bottom line: The chances of Romney getting 52-53% of the popular vote are much greater than Obama.

*** On the trail: Most of the campaign activity has been cancelled or delayed due to Sandy: Romney attends a storm relief event in Kettering, OH at 11:00 am ET… Bill Clinton stumps in Minnesota, hitting Minneapolis at 10:30 am ET and Duluth at 1:00 pm ET before heading to Colorado… And Ann Romney is in Iowa.

Countdown to Election Day: 7 days

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*** Tuesday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up: Live coverage of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s update on the impact of the storm on the city… Rep. Peter King (R-NY), Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown (D-MD), Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) on what’s happening in their states… Storm impact on the state of the race with USA Today’s Susan Page, former RNC Chair Michael Steele and former Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR).

*** Tuesday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza.

*** Tuesday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: In addition to extensive storm coverage, the program has Chris Kofinis and Erin McPike to talk about the presidential race with one week to Election Day.

Latest polls: National: Pew: Tied at 47%. States: FL: CNN: Romney 50-49%. OR: Oregonian/Elway Research: Obama 47-41%. (Obama won Oregon in 2008 57-40%. Kerry though won it just 51-47% in 2004.

“Hurricane Sandy pressed the pause button Monday on a frenetic presidential campaign entering its final week, prompting President Obama and Mitt Romney to cancel rallies and raising questions about the effect of the storm on voting,” the Boston Globe writes. Virginia, even Ohio are expected to be affected.

AP: “Eight days before the election, President Barack Obama switched from campaigner to hands-on commander of the federal response to Superstorm Sandy as it barreled across the Eastern Seaboard. Republican Mitt Romney scaled back his appearances and urged supporters to ‘‘do your very best’’ in donating to relief efforts.”

“From a political perspective, Hurricane Sandy is coming ashore as a wash,” the Boston Globe’s Johnsonwrites. “It freezes an essentially tied presidential race. And while it gave President Obama a chance to show his abilities as commander in chief just as voters are deciding whether to give him a second term, it also gave Mitt Romney an unfettered opportunity to campaign in swing states that have been vital to his surge in recent weeks - before appearing magnanimous by announcing he was curtailing his efforts tonight and Tuesday in an expression of national unity. The true test comes in the storm’s aftermath.”

“Mitt Romney and President Obama [yesterday] canceled campaign appearances over the next few days, trying to navigate the dicey politics of a hurricane that is about to strike much of the East Coast,” theBoston Globe writes. “Romney, who is still holding events today in Ohio and Iowa, canceled a planned rally tonight in Wisconsin. Vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan canceled events in Florida today, and both candidates canceled all events for Tuesday.”

In the CNN Florida poll, about 5% say their vote can be changed and “a large gender gap has re-opened in Florida, with 55% of men supporting Romney and 54% of women favoring Obama. Generational and income gaps appear as well, with Obama doing better among younger and lower-income voters and Romney ahead among those 50 and older and among those making more than $50,000 per year.”

“The legal briefs are already written, just waiting for a few blanks to be filled in. Hundreds of volunteer lawyers stand ready to run to the courthouse to file them,” USA Today writes. “If there's a problem on Election Day -- or if election night fails to produce a clear winner -- both President Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are prepared to take the 2012 presidential campaign from the ballot box to the courts. It's an effort that could cost millions of dollars and require thousands of lawyers, law students and paralegals. But ever since the 2000 presidential election hung on a few hundred ballot chads in Florida, the recount team is as integral to the modern campaign as attack ads and early voting.”

Romney spoke with FEMA officials.

NBCNews.com’s Tom Curry looks at whether Romney would cut FEMA funding. Romney said in a CNN debate during the GOP primary that localizing and even privatizing are generally the best ways to go. He said then: “Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better.”

Asked specifically about disaster relief in the wake of the Joplin, MO, tornado, Romney said: “We cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off.”

Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said: "Gov. Romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdictions. As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected individuals and communities, and to direct resources and assistance to where they are needed most. This includes help from the federal government and FEMA.”

“In his closing pitch to voters, Mitt Romney is leaning hard into the idea that he and Paul Ryan will work as bipartisan deal makers if they claim the White House,” Politico writes. “But the likelihood of Romney and Ryan locking arms with ‘good Democrats,’ as Romney put it this week, to solve the nation’s problems is dubious given the GOP nominee’s legislative priorities.” Romney’s first priority is repealing the health-care law, which would “hardly foster the bipartisan atmosphere that Romney has recently lauded. Repealing the law is a ‘red line’ for most Democrats, according to several lawmakers and party officials.” 

And: “Furthermore, Romney’s team would like Congress to pass a package of targeted reductions of already approved spending soon after the Republican is installed in the White House, according to sources familiar with his plans. But Democrats have been cool to the idea of additional spending cuts without revenue increases.”

NPR’s David Welna reported: “Romney clearly did not relish having to work with a Legislature that was 85 percent Democratic. He pushed hard during his first two years as governor to boost the number of Republicans on Beacon Hill. But that effort was a failure; Republicans ended up losing seats in the midterm elections. Romney gave up on party building. ‘From now on,’ he told The Boston Globe, ‘it's me-me-me.’ … Boston University political historian Thomas Whalen says passing the state's health care law pushed Romney well outside his comfort zone.”

More: “But apart from health care, Romney defined success not with big-picture legislative accomplishments but with confrontation. In a 2008 campaign ad, Romney actually bragged about taking on his Legislature: ‘I like vetoes; I vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as governor,’ he said. Romney issued some 800 vetoes, and the Legislature overrode nearly all of them, sometimes unanimously.”

While he was trying to reassure conservatives in 2007, a Romney ad touted: In the most liberal state in the country, one Republican cut spending instead of raising taxes, enforced immigration laws, stood up for traditional marriage, and the sanctity of human life. Romney: “This isn’t the time for us to shrink from conservative principles. It’s a time for us to stand in strength, strong military, strong economy, strong families. In the toughest place, Mitt Romney’s done the toughest things.” 

Another: I know how to veto. I like vetoes. I vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as governor, and frankly, I can’t wait to get my hands on Washington.

“Hurricane Sandy may be a safe distance from Wisconsin, but the Frankenstorm has upended Mitt Romney’s late push to claim the Badger State’s 10 electoral votes,” the Daily Beast writes. “The Republican presidential nominee was compelled to axe an event in suburban Milwaukee, a GOP stronghold, Monday evening as his team (like President Obama’s) apparently decided to stop politicking with flooding, power outages, and even deaths on the horizon.” 

More: “Wisconsin political insiders and longtime observers of the state’s elections don’t dismiss out of hand the possibility of a Romney upset, but given that George W. Bush came up a few thousand votes short here both in 2000 and 2004 (while winning neighbor Ohio), a last-minute sprint by Romney suggests fear that the electoral college math just isn’t adding up in some of the swing states he originally intended to win, like Ohio, Iowa, and Virginia.”

In search of one EV: Reuters: “Supporters of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney are scouting an unlikely path to the White House through the vast forests and blueberry barrens of northern Maine.” 

“Two Republican super PACs are making a late play to try to crack Democratic-leaning Pennsylvania, spending a combined $3.2 million to air TV commercials across the state in support of Mitt Romney,” thePhiladelphia Inquirer writes, adding, “The purchases come amid polls showing Obama's lead in Pennsylvania narrowing.”

USA Today: Responding to reporters, Obama said he doesn't yet think Hurricane Sandy poses a threat to Election Day. Said Obama: ‘The election will take care of itself next week. Right now, our number-one priority is to make sure that we are saving lives, that our search-and-rescue teams are going to be in place, that people are going to get the food, the water, the shelter that they need in case of emergency, and that we respond as quickly as possible to get the economy back on track.’ 

“Obama, who cut short a campaign trip to Florida on Monday morning to return to White House, spoke after meeting with emergency response officials. The president had planned on Monday to begin a three-day campaign swing through Florida, Ohio, Virginia, Colorado, and Wisconsin.”

“President Barack Obama the candidate stepped aside Monday so the commander in chief could take over,” the AP writes. “In the waning days of his re-election bid, the president scrapped two days of campaigning and retreated from the trail. He hunkered down at the White House to oversee the government’s response to the East Coast superstorm — and to project presidential leadership.” 

More: “Obama aides insisted that was not only the right decision, but also an easy one. Even with Obama locked in a tight race with Republican Mitt Romney, the president would have risked appearing to put politics over the public’s safety had he pressed on with his travel plans. And that could have been enough to turn off some still-persuadable voters at a critical juncture in the campaign.” 

The New York Daily News: “President Obama left the campaign trail to return to Washington as the storm worsened Monday morning – skipping a planned appearance with former President Bill Clinton in Orlando. He is also missing a planned stop in Youngstown, Ohio.” But: “The storm is not without its benefits for President Obama, who is given the chance to demonstrate some presidential leadership just before Election Day.” 

“[W]ith a little over a week left in the race, several of the Democrats’ top independent spenders are leaning hard into the Bain message, eschewing a pure policy message for a gut-punch reminder that the former Massachusetts governor made his fortune through controversial deals in the private-equity industry,”Politico writes. “The late emphasis on Bain, Democratic strategists say, reflects both the potency of Bain as an attack against Romney in general, and the pivotal significance of Midwestern states such as Ohio where the Bain message is especially resonant.”

The Boston Globe endorsed Obama.

CONNECTICUT: The Danbury News Times calls a new Linda McMahon (R) ad “desperate and dishonest.” The ad calls for voters to split their votes between her and President Obama.

MASSACHUSETTS: A Boston Globe poll has the Senate race knotted at 47% between Elizabeth Warren and Scott Brown. Last month, Warren led 43-38%.

Because of the hurricane, Brown and Warren canceled their final debate tonight.

MISSOURI: Claire McCaskill’s mother passed away yesterday. 

MONTANA: “The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) said Monday it had nothing to do with a $500,000 TV spot that advocated for Libertarian candidate Dan Cox,” The Hill writes. “The advertisement slams GOP candidate Rep. Denny Rehberg, who is challenging Tester.” More: “ ‘We've only supported Montana Hunters and Anglers to do work supporting Tester or opposing Rehberg, and we obviously don't support Cox. We've never given Montana Hunters and Anglers a dime to run any TV ads supporting anyone other than Tester. So nothing really to say about this specific ad,’ LCV spokesman Jeff Gohringer told The Hill in a Monday email.”

PENNSYLVANIA: “National Republicans are spending $500,000 on the Pennsylvania Senate race as polls show a closer contest between Democratic Sen. Bob Casey and Republican Tom Smith, a wealthy tea party candidate who has invested more than $16 million into his bid,” the Washington Post wrote.

Casey led 49-42% in the Philadelphia Inquirer poll. 

VIRGINIA: The Virginian-Pilot looks at how Tim Kaine (D) and George Allen (R) differ on energy.

Kaine led 51-44% in the most recent Washington Post poll.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Pushing back hard at a new ad by political opponents, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton accused the Mitt Romney campaign Monday of saying "absolutely anything to win" and engaging in an attack on President Obama's auto industry record that is "the biggest load of bull in the world."

Related: Jeep ad caps Romney effort to recast opposition to auto bailout

The tough rhetoric comes after the Romney campaign launched an ad in Ohio claiming that ""Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians, who are going to build Jeeps in China."

Speaking to over 4,000 supporters in Youngstown, Clinton flatly decried that as "bull."

"It turns out, Jeep is reopening in China because they've made so much money here, they can afford to do it and they are going on with their plans here," he said. "They put out a statement today saying it was the biggest load of bull in the world that they would ever consider shutting down their American operations. They are roaring in America, thanks to people like the people of Ohio."

Biden, whose stump speech was even more littered with folksy appeals than usual as he shared the stage with Clinton, accused Romney of "pirouettes more than a ballerina" on his auto industry stances and called the ad "an absolutely patently false assertion."

"Ladies and gentlemen, have they no shame!?" he added. "I mean, what? Romney will say anything, absolutely anything to win, it seems."

Obama's record on the auto industry bailout is largely credited for buoying his poll numbers in swing state Ohio, a firewall Romney is eager to burn through.

Biden on Monday also accused Romney of proposing to "liquidate" the auto industry, a claim that the GOP nominee vigorously contests.

“Today, Vice President Biden falsely claimed that Mitt Romney wanted to ‘liquidate’ the auto industry, and was dishonest about the administration’s own record," said Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. "Mitt Romney’s support for loan guarantees and warranties for the U.S. auto industry is clear. The Obama campaign is less concerned with engaging in a meaningful conversation about his failed policies and more concerned with arguing against facts about their record they dislike." 

As Ohio has become almost a must-win state for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, he has sought to blur distinctions between himself and President Barack Obama on the issue of the 2009 auto bailouts. 

A new TV ad playing to erroneous fears that Jeep might move its manufacturing from Ohio to China caps a prolonged effort by Romney to recast his opposition to Obama's actions to prop up an industry that employs one in eight of Ohio's voters. 

Romney has sought to reframe his criticism of Obama's handling of the 2009 rescue of General Motors and Chrysler in an effort to combat the president's usage of the bailout to court swing voters in the Buckeye State. The GOP nominee has argued it was Obama who took the companies bankrupt, and has argued that he would be a better president for beleaguered autoworkers.

And a new television ad airing in Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio, the Romney campaign raises the specter of production of Jeeps moving from the U.S. to China, an assertion which Jeep's Italian parent company has said is blatantly false.

Related: Ohio governor says Romney will carry Buckeye State

The GOP candidate's new tack represents an effort to play offense on the issue of auto bailouts in the final eight days of the campaign. Obama has used Romney's opposition to the 2008-09 rescue to great effect in Ohio and other Midwestern states, where the former Massachusetts governor must perform well if he's to have any hope of being elected president.

"You saw in the debates that Barack Obama said a few things that were, as he said, whoppers," Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said at a Romney rally on Monday in Cleveland. "He turned to Mitt Romney and said, 'You wanted to take those companies through bankruptcy and not provide them any federal aid.' Let me tell you, I supported a rescue package for the autos, but what Barack Obama said was simply not true. And by the way, it was Barack Obama who took GM and Chrysler through bankruptcy."

Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich, also suggested Sunday on "Meet the Press" that the bailout hadn't been as great as Obama might suggest.

"We are thrilled that we have a strong auto industry," he argued, "but it doesn't account for the growth of 112,000 jobs in our state."

But it was the Jeep ad in particular that marked the culmination of an effort by Romney over the past 18 months to reframe the auto debate on friendlier terms.

"Obama took GM and Chrylser into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians, who are going to build Jeeps in China," the narrator of the ad says as a clip of a disputed Bloomberg News report appears onscreen, saying Chrysler "plans to return Jeep output to China."

The original Bloomberg report became fodder for conservatives, including Romney, who said  last week in Ohio that Jeep "is thinking of moving all production to China." But Jeep's ownership has said it isn't planning to move any U.S. production to China; rather, the automaker is establishing new capacity in China to build vehicles that will be sold in China.

But the ad plays to those ill-founded fears. A fair viewing of the ad might leave that impression with a voter, though the language in the ad is so narrowly tailored that it can't be directly disputed.

That could make a difference in a battleground territory like northwest Ohio, the home to a major Jeep plant that employs thousands of Toledoans and almost left the area in the late 1990s until the city stepped forward to offer hundreds of millions in tax credits.

The Obama campaign responded with a TV ad of its own, accusing the GOP nominee of being "wrong then" and "dishonest now."

"It reeks of desperation, because that's what it is," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Monday on a conference call.

But the Jeep ad is just one component of Romney's months-long effort to better couch his opposition to the bailout.

FIRST READ: Romney's chances in Ohio tied to softening bailout stance

Romney, whose father was an auto executive before becoming governor of Michigan, penned an op-ed shortly after the 2008 election, infamously titled, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." The piece for the New York Times opposed the loans for the companies that then-outgoing President George W. Bush and some Republicans (including Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman who would become Romney's vice presidential nominee) had favored, calling instead for a managed bankruptcy for GM and Chrysler with government support for the companies' warranties and for post-bankruptcy financing offered by private lenders.

Obama eventually embarked upon a different course. His administration negotiated a managed bankruptcy with bondholders, autoworkers' unions and the companies' leadership, while occasionally injecting the companies with capital drawn from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in order to stave off a more drastic bankruptcy, and possible liquidation.

Democrats contend that no private financing was available to the auto companies during the bailout, and the government was the only actor equipped to provide the companies with a lifeline while simultaneously negotiating their bankruptcy, from which GM and Chrysler immediately emerged.

The bailout was unpopular at the time, derided by Republicans as a favor for unions, since autoworkers' pensions — in conservatives' view — were favored over dealers and other secured bondholders. Indeed, the Indiana State Police Pension Fund sued to prevent the deal from going forward, but it was rejected by the Supreme Court.

RELATED: Auto politics haunt Romney in NW Ohio

GM and Chrysler both rebounded in the months following the bailout to improve sales and profits, allowing the companies to pay off their loans from the government more quickly than expected. Their success has been heralded ever since by Democrats as a gutsy and successful example of Obama's leadership at the height of the Great Recession.

And since that time, Romney has — at alternating moments — both embraced and rejected central elements of Obama's decision making.

The Republican nominee has argued that it was his original idea, rather than Obama's, to put the auto companies through bankruptcy, though Romney's proposed process would have differed immensely. (Romney's plan wouldn't have necessarily forced GM and Chrysler into liquidation, nor was that what the governor had advocated — contrary to the president's suggestion during this month's debate.)

Romney was most pointedly forced to confront his opposition to the bailout during the Michigan and Ohio primaries in late February and early March. The Michigan native repeatedly called himself a "car guy" while campaigning near the Motor City, and appeared driving a Chrysler in a TV ad.

And Romney took to the editorial page of the Detroit News, where he accused Obama of "crony capitalism" in the bailout and said the companies would have been better off without Obama's intervention.

"Instead of doing the right thing and standing up to union bosses, Obama rewarded them," Romney wrote.

FLASHBACK: How much support would Romney have given to automakers?

As with a number of other issues since the primary, Romney, the Republican standard-bearer, has tried to soften the edges of some of his harder-charging rhetoric during the primaries.

"I’m a son of Detroit. I was born in Detroit. My dad was head of a car company. I like American cars. And I would do nothing to hurt the U.S. auto industry. My plan to get the industry on its feet when it was in real trouble was not to start writing checks," Romney said at the third and final debate a week ago against Obama.

The GOP nominee's claim prompted the president to accuse Romney of trying to "airbrush history."

Speaking Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, former President Bill Clinton got in on the action. He said Chrysler "put out a statement sayin' it was the biggest load of bull in the world" in reference of the Jeep-to-China rumors. 

"He ties himself in more knots than a Boy Scout does in a knot-tying contest," Clinton said of Romney.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL -- Speaking under clear blue skies here as Hurricane Sandy pounds the Northeast, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan asked Floridians to keep those in the path of the storm in their thoughts and prayers.

“Look, Floridians, you are no stranger to big storms. You know better than anyone on the need for communities to come together and for neighbors to help one another,” Ryan said. “You know, as we were driving over here, Adam [Putnam, Florida commissioner of Agriculture] was telling me about the hundreds of Floridians, about the hundreds of utilities crews that left just today from Florida to go to the Northeast. Thank God for men and women like that. Thank you for sending your people. That’s what we do for each other in this country.”

Recommended: Sandy gives unpredictable twist to 2012 election

The Wisconsin congressman, who along with his running mate Mitt Romney cancelled all of their remaining events this evening and all day Tuesday, encouraged the nearly 2,300-person crowd to send financial assistance to the numerous states that have declared states of emergency.

“When you get home today, take a look at the Red Cross website. Think about donating to the Red Cross. We know how to help each other in this country. If you have friends and family in the path of the storm, make sure you call them. Make sure they listen to the warnings, make sure they check on their elderly neighbors,” Ryan said.

He noted that the campaign is in touch with “regional leaders” and are collecting supplies at their victory offices throughout the Sunshine State.

Before continuing on with his normal stump speech and encouraging people to help the GOP ticket beat President Barack Obama in 8 days, Ryan said: “Since we all love this country, lets put our neighbors in the north in our prayers. Lets do what we need to do to help them get through what is coming their due – what is coming in their way – and lets not forget the fact that this is the greatest country on the face of the earth.”

Despite Hurricane Sandy touching down on the East Coast today, both campaigns continue to jockey behind the scenes for who has the momentum in the presidential race.

The latest is over whether Republican challenger Mitt Romney is making up so much ground on President Barack Obama that he is expanding the map into places like Pennsylvania and even Minnesota – or whether Romney’s path is so limited that he needs to find new states to put in play.

Recommended: Sandy gives unpredictable twist to 2012 election

There is some evidence for the expansion and tightened battleground landscape. There is a new poll today, for example, from the University of Cincinnati showing Romney closing the gap in Ohio to a tied race, 49 to 49 percent.

Some polls in the Keystone State in recent weeks have showed Romney within 5 points, but the Romney campaign has not made a serious play for the state, booking no ads despite those public polls. A poll out today from the Philadelphia Inquirer shows Obama up 49 to 43 percent. That’s a slight improvement for Romney from earlier this month, when Obama was up 50 to 42 percent.

The pro-Romney outside group Restore Our Future, however, is now giving it another shot in Pennsylvania, booking $2 million in ads for this week.

The Obama campaign says it will respond with ads of its own, because it’s not “going to take anything for granted right now,” Campaign Manager Jim Messina said on a conference call with reporters, but the campaign categorically denies that it is seeing any momentum for Romney in its data.

"I don't want to be ambiguous about this at all: We're winning this race,” Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod said on the call, “and I say that not on the basis of some mystical faith in a wave that's going to come...We base it on cold, hard data. … In just eight days, we'll know who was bluffing and who wasn't."

Two polls in Minnesota show two different stories – one from Mason-Dixon showing a 4-point race, 47 to 43 percent with Obama leading; the other from St. Cloud University has it Obama 53 percent, Romney 45 percent, close to the president’s 2008 margin. The Obama campaign began running advertising in Minneapolis last week, which it said is intended for Wisconsin, but it is also dispatching former President Bill Clinton to Minnesota for two campaign events tomorrow.

The Obama campaign says Clinton is headed to Minnesota to rally activists, many of whom do door-knocking in neighboring Wisconsin.

“President Clinton’s visit is part of a multi-state swing to battleground states as well as areas with a strong Democratic base,” said Adam Fetcher, an Obama campaign spokesman, “and he’s starting in the Midwest, in part, because of weather concerns out East. We’ve had a strong organization in place for months in Minnesota, and our staff and volunteers there have played a key role in supporting our massive grassroots operations in Wisconsin and Iowa. This visit will help fire up our supporters who we need to help us turn out every vote possible heading into the final week.”

Republicans don't see it that way.

“The Obama campaign continued with their desperate and flailing spin in an attempt to explain why suddenly states that were never considered in play are up for grabs," Romney Political Director Rich Beeson said in a statement. "We’ve said all along this election is a choice between the status quo and real change – change that offers promise that the future will be better than the past. President Obama’s misguided policies and broken promises have let down millions of Americans, and we’re seeing the effects of that in states across the country with more support and enthusiasm for Governor Romney every day we get closer to November 6th."

Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski accused the Obama campaign of being "extremely defensive about Pennsylvania." She added in an email to reporters, "Oh, and Axelrod made it two days in a row that the campaign has attacked the Des Moines Register. You’re right Axe, 8 days and we’ll see who is bluffing."

The Des Moines Register endorsed Romney on Saturday after endorsing Obama in 2008. 

Pro-Romney outside groups are flush with cash and have tried to test the waters in various states previously -- spending millions in Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Michigan -- to try and move the needle to no avail. Despite Minnesota not going Republican since 1972 -- the longest streak outside of Washington, D.C. -- outside groups took a shot there early on.  In 2008, Minnesota, which Obama won 54 to 44 percent, was actually closer than Michigan.

The Romney campaign, with the help of outside groups is hoping for a late surge. Currently, its path is very narrow. It almost has to run the table or at least win most of the remaining crucial tossups, like Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Iowa. Outside of Wisconsin, those were all states won by George W. Bush (R) in 2004.

"What the facts and numbers clearly show is that the president is going to win this election,” Messina said, contending, “We're leading in every battleground state." He added, “The Romney campaign wants you to think it's expanding the map, but it's not. … The reason they're expanding the map is because they're down in the places they need to get 270 electoral votes. … We're not going to take anything for granted, and we're going to continue to make sure we're doing what we need to do on the ground.”

Just today, a CNN poll in Florida showed Romney up 50 to 49 percent. And a Pew national poll showed the race dead even at 47 percent between the two candidates.

NBC’s and others’ polling have shown tight races in Virginia, Florida, and Colorado. Even today, an Elon poll showed even North Carolina, a state which NBC has Lean Romney, a tossup, 45 to 45 percent.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

Romney has undoubtedly made gains nationally and in battlegrounds after the president’s lackluster first presidential debate. Despite the president winning the next two debates, the damage was done. Romney pulled even or ahead in Colorado and Virginia and now seems a very narrow favorite in Florida, a state he must win. There’s almost no conceivable path to 270 for Romney without it.

The question is, however, whether Romney can make up enough ground in places like Ohio, Wisconsin, and Iowa, where the president retains structural advantages.

Because of the auto bailout, President Obama has maintained a lead over Romney in Ohio. It’s why there has been a push from Romney since the last debate to shift his auto-bailout messaging. If Romney’s latest salvo on the auto bailout doesn't catch on in the Northwestern part of the state, it may be difficult to see him make up the necessary ground.

It’s impossible to know where the race will be in eight days. But the reality remains that Romney has made up ground, but in the battlegrounds and nationally, it is what it has been -- exceedingly tight.

NBCNews.com’s Michael O’Brien and NBC's Mark Murray contributed to this report.

AVON LAKE, OH — Hurricane Sandy's impact spread from the East Coast to Ohio this morning, where Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's campaign announced it was scrapping planned events across the Midwest, while the candidate himself called upon supporters to donate to relief agencies and send prayers to those in the storm's path. 

"On the Eastern Coast of our nation, a lot of people are enduring some very difficult times. Our hearts and our prayers go to them as we think about how tough it's going to be there," Romney told an audience of some 2,500 supporters in a high school gym this morning. "I'd like to ask those of you that are here today to think about  making a contribution to the Red Cross or another relief agency, to be of help if you can in any way  you can imagine to help those who are in harm's way." 

Recommended: Sandy gives unpredictable twist to 2012 election

Romney, whose campaign has suspended fundraising appeals in the afflicted states, also asked his supporters to donate to relief organizations, either through the campaign's infrastructure, or on their own.

"I know our victory centers are making collections of items and cash that we can send along to the Red Cross," Romney said, echoing an email sent by his campaign this morning. "But whether you come to our victory center or just do it with your email, your internet account, do your very best to help."

"We're counting on Ohio," Romney continued. "I know the people of the Atlantic Coast are counting on Ohio and the rest of our states, but I also think the people of the entire nation are counting on Ohio because my guess is, my guess is if Ohio votes me in as President, I'll be the next president of the United States."

Romney's remarks on the storm came at the end of his stump speech here this morning, and are indicative of the delicate balance the GOP challenger must maintain between keeping up a campaign predicated in no small part on criticizing the record of President Barack Obama, and not looking opportunistic or unconcerned about the impact of a potentially devastating weather event affecting a large portion of the country.

Absent from Romney's remarks this morning was his now traditional attack on Obama for running a "small" campaign, focusing instead primarily on his own day-one agenda and five-point plan, along with a promise to work across the aisle should he be elected.

"I am going to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats. I’m going to find common ground. We have to find a way to work with people in the opposition party," Romney said. "Democrats love America. Republicans love America. We can come together."

As Romney spoke, his campaign announced it was canceling a planned event tonight in Wisconsin, and tomorrow's scheduled events in Ohio and Iowa. The campaign also cancelled events in Florida for Romney's running mate Paul Ryan, and said the campaign schedule remains in flux. 

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

Everyone agrees the importance of the Latino vote in this year’s close election all boils down to one thing: turnout.  While the conventional wisdom has been that Latinos are not as enthusiastic about the election as in 2008, this is not what a new impreMedia-Latino Decisions tracking poll has found.

“It looks like the “Sleeping Giant” has woken up,” stated Monica Lozano, CEO of impreMedia. “The poll shows that this year we can anticipate record participation among Latino voters.”

The new poll finds 87 percent of Hispanics say they are almost certain they will vote, including 8 percent of Latinos who have already cast their ballots through early voting.  ”Eight percent of Latinos is about a million voters, that’s a pretty big deal,” says Gabriel Sanchez, a University of New Mexico political scientist.

What is more, the poll finds voter enthusiasm is going up – 45 percent of Hispanics say they are more enthusiastic about voting in this election than in 2008, and this number has increased in the last ten weeks, when the number was 37 percent. In 2008, 84 percent of registered Latinos voted, according to the Census.

Overall, President Obama is favored by 73 percent of all Latino registered voters, compared to 21 percent for Romney.  According to the poll, this 52-point gap matches the largest gap among Latinos this year, also found in the October 1 tracking poll. However, with a week (and a big storm in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, to boot) left for the election, a good number of Latino voters are pessimistic about the candidates’ abilities to break through the Congressional impasse and logjam.

More from NBC Latino here.

New polls in Ohio and Virginia could shake up President Barack Obama's and Mitt Romney's paths to 270 electoral votes.

And here are three likely paths to 270. Plus, a possible tie that could keep the election going until January:

Updated 12:58 p.m. ET — President Barack Obama urged Americans to heed local officials' warnings about Hurricane Sandy on Monday as his re-election said it would determine the president's campaign schedule on a "day-to-day basis."

The president appeared at the White House and said he was "confident" states and local governments were prepared to weather the megastorm barreling toward the East Coast of the United States, though he cautioned that it could take time to restore transportation and electricity in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Obama said Sandy would be "a slow-moving storm through a wide swath of the country."

"We're confident that the assets are pre-positioned for an effective response in the aftermath of this storm," he added.

The hurricane forced Obama to cut short a trip to Florida and canceled events scheduled for Tuesday. Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney followed suit, as he and running mate Paul Ryan canceled most of their events on Monday afternoon and Tuesday.

The storm reshuffled the race for the presidency, just eight days before voters head to the polls. Surrogates for Obama — like former President Bill Clinton — stepped forward in place of the president at campaign events as Obama remained in Washington to handle the storm. In addition to canceling stops in Colorado and Virginia, the White House said Monday that Obama would no longer travel to Wisconsin tomorrow, either. The next campaign events on Obama's schedule are on Wednesday, in Ohio.

Romney canceled an afternoon event in Wisconsin and Ryan would no longer appear in Florida. 

"Governor Romney believes this is a time for the nation and its leaders to come together to focus on those Americans who are in harms way," said Gail Gitcho, Romney's communications director. "We will provide additional details regarding Governor Romney's and Congressman Ryan's schedule when they are available." 

Obama met in the White House situation room in order to be “updated on the latest forecast for Hurricane Sandy and the extensive federal effort underway to support the state and local response to this historic storm," according to press secretary Jay Carney. Multiple cabinet secretaries, many members of the president’s White House staff and the heads of FEMA and the National Hurricane Center will participate in this meeting.

But the president's official duties put his campaign schedule in flux, just as the presidential campaign enters its final phase.

"The president's focus is on the storm and governing the country and making sure our people are safe," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said on a conference call with reporters. He said the president's campaign would take scheduling on a day-by-day basis. 

"We're obviously going to lose a bunch of campaign time, but that's obviously how it has to be, and we'll try to make it up on the back end," added David Axelrod, a senior adviser to the Obama campaign. 

Speaking Monday afternoon at the White House, the president said he wasn't concerned about the potential impact of the storm on voting. 

"I am not worried at this point on the impact on the election," he said. "I'm worried about the impact on families and our first responders."

Clinton took Obama's place at a rally this morning in Wisconsin and was set to join Vice President Joe Biden in Ohio later this afternoon. 

Romney pushed forward with his campaign schedule on Monday, which took him to Ohio early in the day and to Wisconsin later in the day. The Republican's campaign put a hold on its fundraising pitches to voters in states in Hurricane Sandy's path, and urged supporters to remove lawn signs for fear that they might become debris. 

Romney campaign offices also collected donations to the Red Cross, items which its bus was supposed to deliver to storm victims.

"Sandy is another devastating hurricane by all accounts, and a lot of people are going to be facing some real tough times as a result of Sandy's fury. And so if you have the capacity to make a donation to the American Red Cross, you can go online and do that," the former Massachusetts governor told an overflow crowd in Avon Lake, Ohio. "If there are other ways that you can help, please take advantage of them because there will be a lot of people that are going to be looking for help and the people in Ohio have big hearts, so we're expecting you to follow through and help out."

NBC's Shawna Thomas contributed reporting.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

As Sandy begins hitting the East Coast, the campaign goes on -- sort of… Making three larger points about Sandy… Who benefits from a freeze in the campaign?.... A Jeep-load of controversy… And not all newspaper endorsements are equal. 

*** The campaign goes on -- sort of: With Sandy already beginning to hit the East Coast, our October Surprise has arrived, producing plenty of uncertainty in this presidential election with just eight days to go. (How does this impact the campaign? Does it halt Romney’s perceived momentum? Does it complicate the Obama campaign’s early-vote strategy, especially in Virginia? Or does it give Obama a chance to look presidential?) Despite the uncertainty, the campaign must go on -- well, sort of. So while President Obama canceled both of his scheduled trips today with Bill Clinton, the former president campaigns solo in Florida and with Vice President Biden in Youngstown, OH. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney stays out of the storm’s path and hits the three states that, if he loses them, would give Obama more than 270 electoral votes -- Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin. And Paul Ryan stumps in Florida, while First Lady Michelle Obama hits Iowa.

*** Three larger points to make about Sandy: But there are three larger points to make about Sandy: One, you’re not going to see the candidates campaign in Virginia or New Hampshire for the rest of theweek and perhaps for the rest of the campaign. (They can’t bring their motorcades and Secret Service protection to these areas.) Two, three days from this campaign are essentially going to be erased. (Yes, Romney is hitting three battleground states of Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin. And Bill Clinton and Biden are stumping in Florida and Ohio. But how much coverage is that going to receive?) And three, if you’re the president, you do your job. That’s probably why you saw the president -- who landed in Florida yesterday -- decide to return immediately to the White House today. The only unforced error a campaign can make during this storm is acting TOO political. And the Obama campaign erased their unforced error without having today’s awkward campaign event play out on TV potentially. The person in the real bind right now is Romney. What does he do that doesn’t look overly-political or insensitive? He has no specific job right now.

*** Who benefits from a freeze in the campaign? You can also argue that any freeze in the campaign benefits Obama. Why? Because it stops any PERCEPTION of Romney’s momentum. Now, the Obama campaign argued on Friday to NBC News that talk about Romney’s momentum has been overblown the past couple of weeks, since Romney hasn’t made up more ground in the battleground states since mid-October. "His momentum narrative does have an impact on how people view the race on the ground in the states," an Obama campaign official said, per NBC’s Mike O’Brien. "And we wanted to correct it." What is going on here? The fact is, there is momentum -- it’s just not apparent as much (if at all) in the battleground states. We are seeing momentum in what we’d call the fringe states -- that’s why Romney has shot up in the national polls, and why states like Minnesota and Pennsylvania are suddenly a bit closer. But little has budged in the battleground states. Yet here’s the simplest reason for why this freeze in the campaign hurts Romney. Instead of every news organization in the country covering his campaign like this, “Mitt Romney took his message of change to X, while Barack Obama took his message of don’t go backwards to Y,” the lead for the next three days will be the storm and fallout from it. And the president will be more legitimately involved in that story than Romney -- simply because the president runs the government, period.

Jonathan Ernst / Reuters

President Barack Obama asks a question during a briefing about Hurricane Sandy, as it threatens the East Coast, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) headquarters in Washington, Oct. 28, 2012.

*** Cancellations and adjustments: Although the campaign still goes on, there also were plenty of cancellations and adjustments. In addition to skipping his Orlando and Youngstown event, Obama cancelled tomorrow’s planned stops in Virginia and Colorado. Romney nixed Sunday’s activity in Virginia, and he also cancelled a planned New Hampshire stop of Tuesday. Furthermore, the Romney camp announced yesterday, per NBC’s Alex Moe and Garrett Haake, that it would stop sending fundraising appeals to those in states that will likely be affected -- North Carolina, Virginia, Washington DC, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. And the Obama camp announced that it will be doing the same. (Noticeably, the one state NOT included on this list is New York, which is such an important fundraising hub for both campaigns.) 

*** A Jeep-load of controversy: How concerned is the Romney campaign about Ohio? And how concerned is it about the auto-bailout issue? The answer: Concerned enough that it’s airing a TV ad in the state that has created a truckload -- or Jeep-load -- of controversy, pushing the credibility envelope to another level. "Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job," the ad goes. The ad is misleading because Chrysler is simply building Jeeps in China the same way Toyota builds cars in the U.S. TheDetroit News: “Chrysler previously built Jeeps in China — and the move would not be unusual. Ford Motor Co. builds Ford vehicles in China for Chinese buyers and General Motors Co. builds Buicks in China for local consumers. The new 30-second ad doesn't repeat a false claim Romney referenced Thursday night in a speech in Ohio that the Auburn Hills automaker plans to shift all Jeep output from the United States to China — including vehicles built for U.S. consumers.” In fact, Chrysler had to release a statement “flatly denying it has any plans to move Jeep output to China from the United States,” the Detroit News adds. The fact that the Romney ad forced Chrysler to put out a statement may have invited more trouble for the Romney campaign than they intended. 

*** Not all endorsements are equal: On Saturday and Sunday, our inboxes were full of campaign emails announcing newspaper endorsements for either Obama or Romney. But not all endorsements are equal: A paper that backed Obama in ’08 and is doing so again isn’t all that surprising. Ditto a paper that supported McCain four years ago and is now endorsing Romney. But a paper that switches sides -- like the Des Moines Register, which backed Obama in ’08 and announced it was endorsing Romney this election -- is news. And the Des Moines Register’s endorsement is definitely a shot in the arm for Romney, who NEEDS to win the state. It’s a validator that Romney needs to have in the state that launched Obama in ’08. Iowa is as important (if not MORE important) to the Romney 270 math. All that said, one can’t help but wonder if the newspaper’s decision to publish an editorial criticizing Obama’s off-the-record conversation with the paper’s editor and publisher (which they agreed to take) was a hint as to where they were leaning. Bottom line: There was a lot of drama about this endorsement before it ever went public.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

*** On the trail: Bill Clinton stumps in Orlando, FL at 10:00 am ET… Then Biden campaigns in Youngstown, OH with Clinton at 5:20 pm ET… Romney hits Avon Lake, OH at 11:50 am ET, in Davenport, IA at 4:10 pm ET, and in West Allis, WI at 8:40 pm ET… Paul Ryan is in Florida… And Michelle Obama is Iowa City, IA and Sioux City, IA.

Countdown to Election Day: 8 days

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*** Monday’s “The Daily Rundown” line-up: latest news and developments on Hurricane Sandy… DNC Chairwoman and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) on the state of the race with one week left… A deep dive into battleground Virginia and analysis from Democratic strategist Dave “Mudcat” Saunders… The Washington Post’s Dan Balz, GOP ad maker Kim Alfano, The Chicago Tribune’s Clarence Page and former Clinton White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers on the politics of disaster management and the race moving to the Midwest.

*** Monday’s “Jansing & Co.” line-up: MSNBC’s Chris Jansing has complete Sandy coverage, plus Rep. Marsh Blackburn; David Wiegel & David Nakamura; Anne Lewis on the Clinton effect; John Feehery & David Goodfriend; and Victoria Defrancisco Soto looks at the Latino vote.

*** Monday’s “NOW with Alex Wagner” line-up: Alex Wagner's guests include The Nation’s Ari Melber, theGrio.com Managing Editor Joy Reid, msnbc “The Cycle” Co-host Steve Kornacki, Daily Show Co-creator Lizz Winstead, msnbc “The Last Word” Host Lawrence O’Donnell, and artist Shepard Fairey

*** Monday’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” line-up: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell interviews Obama Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), NBC’s Chuck Todd and the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza.

*** Monday’s “News Nation with Tamron Hall” line-up: MSNBC’s Tamron Hall interviews former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, MSNBC Contributor Michael Smerconish, Republican strategist Chip Saltsman, Democratic strategist Keith Boykin and The Washington Post’s Anne Kornblut.

*** Monday’s “MSNBC The Cycle” line-up: MSNBC’s Toure, Krystal Ball, Steve Kornacki, & S.E. Cupp interview the Des Moines Register’s Kathie Obradovich, CEO & Editor-at-Large- David Rothkopf; Sister Simone Campbell; and Author Seth Reiss

“The presidential race’s final full week was devolving into a scheduling nightmare as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney grappled with how to push on with campaigning while a massive storm churned toward the East Coast,” the AP writes. “Parts of four competitive states were in the path of Hurricane Sandy: Virginia, North Carolina, Ohio and New Hampshire.”

Latest polls: MN: St. Cloud U.: Obama 53-45%. Mason-Dixon: Obama 47-44%. (Obama was up 8 a month ago in the poll.) OH: Ohio Newspaper Association/University of Cincinnati: Tied 49-49%. A month ago, Obama was up 51-46% in the poll. PA: Philadelphia Inquirer: Obama 49-43%. VA: Washington Post: Obama 51-47%.

“Many political analysts believe Ohio is the most critical of the tossup states. The candidates have visited the state more than any other. Romney and his running mate, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, were scheduled to hold three events in Ohio on Sunday as part of a bus tour through the state,” theBoston Globe writes. “Obama planned to return to Ohio on Monday evening, after campaigning in Florida with Bill Clinton.” 

The AP: “President Barack Obama is poised to eke out a victory in the race for the 270 electoral votes needed to win re-election, having beaten back Republican Mitt Romney’s attempts to convert momentum from the debates into support in all-important Ohio, according to an Associated Press analysis a week before Election Day. … While in a tight race with Obama for the popular vote, Romney continues to have fewer state-by-state paths than Obama to reach 270. Without Ohio’s 18 electoral votes, Romney would need last-minute victories in nearly all the remaining up-for-grabs states and manage to pick off key states now leaning Obama’s way, such as Iowa or Wisconsin.”

This is why Ohio’s so key for Obama – if he holds the Kerry states, wins New Mexico and Nevada, but loses Ohio and Colorado, Romney’s at 275. And if Romney tacks on Iowa, he’s at 281, and with Wisconsin he’d be at 291. Suddenly, Obama’s path shrinks.

Obama’s favored in Nevada, but it’s close, in part, because of voters like this: “It’s people like Paul Prekop who make Nevada a maddeningly difficult state for President Barack Obama to lock down, and who give Republican Mitt Romney hope that there’s a route to the White House even if he loses the big prize of Ohio,” AP writes. “Prekop, 54, said he benefits from a union contract in his job as a casino craps dealer. He credits Democrats for the stock market’s four-year rise. And he’s grateful that Obama’s health care law lets him keep his young-adult son on his insurance plan. ‘I'm not really a big Romney fan,’ he adds. So, did Prekop help re-elect the president when he voted early on a gorgeous afternoon in a northwest Las Vegas suburb on Thursday? No. ‘We just need a change,’’ he said, explaining his vote for Romney. ‘‘I'm scared of Obama the next four years, the socialistic things he’s into.’”

More AP: Racial attitudes have not improved in the four years since the United States elected its first black president, an Associated Press poll finds, as a slight majority of Americans now express prejudice toward blacks whether they recognize those feelings or not. Those views could cost President Barack Obama votes as he tries for re-election, the survey found, though the effects are mitigated by some people’s more favorable views of blacks. … In all, 51 percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.”

More: “The poll finds that racial prejudice is not limited to one group of partisans. Although Republicans were more likely than Democrats to express racial prejudice in the questions measuring explicit racism (79 percent among Republicans compared with 32 percent among Democrats), the implicit test found little difference between the two parties. That test showed a majority of both Democrats and Republicans held anti-black feelings (55 percent of Democrats and 64 percent of Republicans), as did about half of political independents (49 percent).”

USA Today: “While President Obama's and Mitt Romney's campaigns are both pointing to absentee- and early-voting data as reasons to be optimistic about their candidates' chances, a review of election data in seven swing states offers further evidence that the race for the White House will remain extraordinarily close to the end. Already, more than 12.3 million ballots have been cast throughout the country, according to the United States Election Project at George Mason University in Virginia. There has been an increase in key battleground states such as Florida, Iowa and North Carolina, areas where both campaigns have used their formidable ground operations to encourage supporters to not wait until Election Day to vote.” 

“Five individuals and couples have contributed more than $10 million each to super PACs, the new independent political groups responsible for the record amounts of outside money gushing through this year's presidential and congressional elections. Together these super-wealthy donors account for 20% of the $644 million raised by super PACs through Oct. 17, a USA TODAY analysis of new campaign-finance reports shows.”

More: “All but one, Chicago media executive Fred Eychaner, donated to conservative groups. Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his physician wife, Miriam, surged to the top of the list early in the Republican presidential primary season and haven't turned off the spigot since, propelling them to an unprecedented $57.2 million in donations to a constellation of conservative groups. By comparison, billionaire financier George Soros, the previous record-holder for political spending, pumped $24 million into the 2004 election in an unsuccessful attempt to oust President Bush.”

Already there are several election problems being found, from bogus mailers and phone calls to state government printing errors and allegations of bullying at the polls. That’s not to mention the emails from some bosses to employees promoting Mitt Romney as well as talk from bosses around offices (here and here.) 

The Boston Globe looks at the possibility of third-party contenders getting enough votes to have an impact on the outcome of the election between Mitt Romney and President Obama.

“President Obama focused on preparations for a massive storm on Sunday, stepping off the campaign trail just nine days before the election,” The Boston Globe writes. “Obama met with officials from FEMA, after attending church with his daughters, and spoke on a conference call with governors and mayors whose states and cities are likely to be affected by the storm.”

Obama said during a news conference at FEMA: “Anything they need, we will be there. And we’re going to cut through red tape. We’re not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules.”

The AP: “Obama, seeking to project presidential leadership, scraped plans to hold three events in three states Monday with former President Bill Clinton. Instead, Obama was to attend only a morning rally in Florida before returning to Washington to oversee the government’s emergency response.” Obama: “I'm not going to be able to campaign quite as much over the next couple of days.”

“President Obama will skip Monday morning's campaign event in Florida, and return to the White House to monitor the deadly trek of Hurricane Sandy, aides said,” USA Today writes. “Obama flew to Orlando on Sunday night, and had planned to attend a re-election rally at Central Florida University with former President Bill Clinton.”

So now Benghazi’s as bad or worse than Watergate for John McCain on Face The Nation: "You know what, somebody the other day said to me that this is as bad as Watergate. Well, nobody died in Watergate. But this is either a massive cover-up or an incompetence that is not acceptable service to the American people." (via Political Wire.)

In New Orleans, Madonna was booed and people walked out when she told a concert-goers to vote Obama.

The Des Moines Register endorsed Romney over the weekend: “American voters are deeply divided about this race. The Register’s editorial board, as it should, had a vigorous debate over this endorsement. Our discussion repeatedly circled back to the nation’s single most important challenge: pulling the economy out of the doldrums, getting more Americans back in the workforce in meaningful jobs with promising futures, and getting the federal government on a track to balance the budget in a bipartisan manner that the country demands. Which candidate could forge the compromises in Congress to achieve these goals? When the question is framed in those terms, Mitt Romney emerges the stronger candidate.”

The Boston Globe: “Mitt Romney embarked on a swing of Florida Saturday by pledging to work in bipartisan fashion with Democrats and by seeking to demonstrate that he has empathy for families who are struggling economically. To a remarkable degree, Romney in the home stretch of the 2012 campaign is sounding like President Obama during the 2008 race. In emotional terms during a stop in Pensacola, he expressed his connection to the economically disadvantaged.”

Romney: “I think of single moms today who are scrimping and saving to have a good meal on the table.”

Misleading… The Detroit Free Press: “Romney repeats false claim of Jeep outsourcing to China; Chrysler refutes story.” Where it came from: “Romney apparently was referencing conservative bloggers who misrepresented a Bloomberg story from Monday that discussed Chrysler’s decision to consider starting Jeep production in China, the world’s largest new-vehicle market.”

And get this: “In fact, Chrysler is investing $500 million at its Toledo North Assembly Plant and plans to add 1,105 new workers by the third quarter of 2013 to build an all-new SUV that will replace the Jeep Liberty.”

And then… “Mitt Romney's campaign has released an ad in Ohio that says he -- and not President Barack Obama -- will do more to help the auto industry, even though Obama's administration is widely credited with helping to turn around General Motors and Chrysler when they faced collapse,” the Detroit Free Press writes. “In the ad, the Romney campaign also says that Jeep, now owned by Italian automaker Fiat after going through a structured bankruptcy in 2009, is going to make cars in China. While true, that production would represent an expansion or return of jobs to China for Chrysler, not a transfer of North American jobs. It is also a move which analysts say could improve the brand's global standing.” More: The ad “is an attempt by Romney to try to turn the auto rescue against Obama in a state that could make or break Romney's presidential hopes. After Michigan, Ohio had more auto manufacturing jobs as of September than any other state, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.”

The Toledo Blade: “Romney's TV ad is a more accurate interpretation of a Bloomberg News report last week than what he said at a rally in Defiance Thursday. There he told the crowd he had read a report that, ‘one of the great manufacturers of this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China.’” But: “Mr. Romney indicated his support of federal loan guarantees in the 2008 newspaper column, titled ‘Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,’ but he opposed the extension of federal cash directly to the two companies, which he later criticized as ‘crony capitalism.’”

The piece the Romney campaign cites as back up “goes on to say, however, that Chrysler currently builds all Jeep SUV models in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio, and any production sites in China would be new ones making cars for Chinese buyers,” National Journal writes. More: “The ad is correct in saying that Obama took Chrysler and GM into bankruptcy (narration that’s illustrated with footage of cars being crushed). What the ad doesn’t say is that Obama helped the car companies through the process by providing government loans, which Romney opposed.”

Bloomberg/BusinessWeek’s Josh Barro after the last debate: “The president has it right on the merits that if you didn’t inject cash at the same time that you did that backed by the government that at least Chrysler would not have been possible to reorganize.”

Some guy in Indiana tattooed his face with the Romney logo for $15,000. The man “said a lot of people have hurled insults at him. But he plans to auction off space on his forehead next.”

CELINA, Ohio – As Hurricane Sandy makes its way up the Eastern Seaboard, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign has decided to not only cancel all events in the storm’s path but also stop sending fundraising appeals in several states that will likely be affected.

The Romney campaign will halt fundraising efforts in North Carolina, Virginia, Washington, D.C., New Jersey and Pennsylvania for the duration of the storm, adviser Kevin Madden told reporters following a rally here.

This news comes just a day after Romney himself was forced to cancel stops in the battleground state of Virginia Sunday so that emergency personnel could focus on storm preparations. The Republican presidential nominee headed to Ohio instead, meeting up with his running mate, Paul Ryan, for the conclusion of a two-day bus tour across the Buckeye State.

"Our top concern is safety and security and making sure that people who are in the presumed track of the storm are safe and that we're not taking away from response efforts, that's why we cancelled our events there today," Madden said.

Romney spoke about Hurricane Sandy while in Findlay, Ohio Sunday evening, telling the crowd: "I know that right now some people in the country are a little nervous about a storm about to hit the coast. And our thoughts and prayers are with the people who will find themselves in harm's way."

The campaign announced that Romney's event in Milford, N.H. on Tuesday is now cancelled due to the impending weather.

Ryan also discussed the storm and those in its path at the top of his remarks today.

“Look, first let me start on a slightly different note. Let’s today when we get home put in our prayers the people who are in the east coast in the wake of this big storm that’s coming. Let’s not forget those fellow Americans of ours,” Ryan told a crowd of roughly 2,000 supporters.

Thousands of people have already been ordered to evacuate along the East Coast as Hurricane Sandy begins to make landfall. States of emergency have been declared in nine states and D.C.

Romney-Ryan and Victory offices across Virginia are collecting donations in preparation for storm relief efforts and Madden told reporters the campaign is in constant communication with their regional offices and indicated that the campaign may have to cancel more events, depending on the storm's impact.

“Our folks in headquarters are staying in contact with folks in the states to get the best assessment on the storm and how it’s impacting the states, so we're just continuing to get updated on it,” Madden said.

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan sing along with Janna Ryan as the Oakridge Boys perform during a campaign rally at the Marion County Fairgrounds in Marion, Ohio on Sunday.

Ohio's Republican governor said Sunday that private polls show Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney beating President Barack Obama in the all-important battleground state of Ohio just as auto industry politics assume a dominant role in the closing days of the campaign. 

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) predicted outright that Romney would win Ohio on "Meet the Press" and, with it, the presidential election — a overall contest which Kasich said wouldn't be that close.

"Right now, I believe we're currently ahead. Internals show us currently ahead," he said, referring to the private polling candidates routinely conduct. "Honestly, I believe that Romney is going to carry Ohio."

The governor's show of confidence comes after a week in which Obama and Romney — along with their respective running mates — barnstormed the Buckeye State in hopes of securing the state's 18 electoral votes, which would greatly enhance either candidate's hopes of winning the presidential election.

A Cincinnati Enquirer/Ohio News poll released Sunday and conducted Oct. 18-23 showed the two candidates tied at 49 percent apiece among likely voters in the state. Two other public polls earlier in the week, by CNN/ORC and TIME magazine, showed Obama leading by a small margin.

Romney was set to spend Sunday touring the Buckeye State after canceling a series of stops in Virginia due to the impending Hurricane Sandy; Obama will make a quick trip to Youngstown on Monday before returning to Washington to monitor the hurricane. The president canceled planned stops in northern Virginia and Colorado in the first half of this week. 

Both the president and Romney are battling to turn out their supporters to the polls and shake loose the few remaining undecided voters in a handful of swing states. The Romney campaign has claimed that momentum is on their side, a claim which the Obama campaign argues is a bluff. 

The Romney campaign circulated on Sunday several newspaper endorsements — the Des Moines Register and the Cincinnati Enquirer among them — to argue that the Republican ticket had made inroads in crucial swing states. The Obama campaign responded in kind by sending reporters endorsement editorials from the Youngstown Vindicator and the Toledo Blade, both of which referenced the 2009 auto industry bailout as a point in Obama's favor. 

The auto bailout — which Romney had opposed, memorably, in a New York Times op-ed entitled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" — has assumed a central role in the closing days of the campaign, especially as the election plays out largely on a Midwestern, industrial and economically-battered playing field. 

RELATED: Auto politics haunt Romney in NW Ohio

Kasich argued that the auto bailout hadn't actually boosted Ohio's economy as much as Obama would have the state's voters think.

"We are thrilled that we have a strong auto industry," he argued, "but it doesn't account for the growth of 112,000 jobs in our state."

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

Reuters, Getty Images

In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.

Launch slideshow

The Romney campaign also aired a new ad in Ohio touting an endorsement from the right-leaning Detroit News and iconic automan Lee Iacocca, while also making a controversial claim about productions of Jeeps in China.

"Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China," the ad says in reference to plans by the auto company to build a new production facility in China to sell vehicles in that country. 

The ad is accurate but plays to misinformation that spread earlier this week — partly because Romney had previously voiced the claims — suggesting that Chrysler was planning to move production of all Jeeps to China. The automaker has strongly disputed those reports, though they could have an impact in battleground corners of Ohio like Toledo, a major hub for Jeep production in North America. 

First Read: Romney's Ohio fortunes tied to softening bailout stance

The governors of two other battleground states — John Hickenlooper (D) of Colorado and Scott Walker (R) of Wisconsin —  relied on more traditional fare to make the case for and against their candidates. 

"What are those deductions and tax credits he's going to get rid of?" Hickenlooper asked of Romney's tax reform plan, seizing on the former Massachusetts governor's refusal to specify which loopholes and deductions he would eliminate to finance his proposed tax cuts. 

And Walker, whose contentious collective bargaining reforms sparked a standoff with his state legislature and a recall election which he won, argued that Romney has a track record of working in a bipartisan manner. 

"He's proven that he can do it in a state like Massachusetts," Walker said. 

But neither Walker nor Hickenlooper seemed as confident as Kasich, who predicted that the fate of Ohio's electoral votes — and the election — would be known early on election night. 

"I'm not sure the election's going to be as close as what everybody is talking about today," he said.