The latest polls: A new round from the New York Times/CBS/Quinnipiac: In Florida, Obama’s up 9, 53-44%, in Ohio, it’s Obama by 10, 53-43%, and in Pennsylvania, Obama’s up 12, 54-42%.

National: Bloomberg has Obama up 49-43% among likely voters.

The reason for Obama’s lead – Romney’s likability scores. “‘If I have to choose between the two, I prefer Barack over Mitt,’ said Stephanie Martin, a 41-year-old insurance agent in Glasgow, Virginia, who describes herself as a libertarian. ‘I think Mitt Romney is just so out of touch. It’s mostly a protest against him and the Republican establishment; it’s not that I think Obama has done such a great job.’”

Said pollster Ann Selzer: “This race could be a referendum on Obama -- except that Romney hasn’t given people reasons to say ‘yes’ to him.”

Political Wire: “A new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 54% of Americans have unfavorable views of Mitt Romney's comments -- caught on film at a fundraiser -- regarding the ‘47 percent’ of people who pay not federal income taxes and simply would not vote for him. Just 32% saw them favorable. In addtiion, 61% of all Americans ‘express negative views of how Romney is running his campaign. That number is up significantly from July -- the near-certain result of the much-publicized comments by Romney.’”

And: “A new Associated Press-GfK poll finds 72% of Americans think President Obama's health care law will go fully into effect with some changes, ranging from minor to major alterations,” Political Wire writes.

Steve Lombardo: “The problem for the Romney campaign is that the president's lead in several of those states is slowly moving beyond the margin of error. If the current trajectory continues, we may have to move three or four of those states into the ‘lean Obama’ column within the next week. With just 42 days to go before Election Day, this is Barack Obama's race to lose.”

Charlie Cook: “The presidential race remains remarkably stable, which is good news for President Obama and Democrats and bad news for Mitt Romney and Republicans. This race is certainly not over; with three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate to go and two upcoming unemployment reports — and all against a backdrop of a very unstable world — it’s not hard to conjure up scenarios that could change the trajectory of this election. But a change of the trajectory is exactly what would have to happen for Romney to win; his current one simply doesn’t intersect with Obama’s before Nov. 6. Leading Democratic and Republican pollsters and strategists privately say that the Obama lead is around 4 or 5 points and is neither widening nor narrowing. The convention bounces have dissipated, but Romney’s negatives remain quite high and are not diminishing.”

The Washington Monthly has published a new ebook, “Elephant in the Room: Washington in the Bush Years,” to argue how the 2012 presidential election is still being shaped by George W. Bush. The magazine’s Paul Glastris writes, “We are still feeling the reverberations of the Bush years — in an unfinished war, an enduring recession, and the long shadows of Supreme Court appointments and decisions. And the possibility of a new period of unified GOP control of Washington, in 2012 or 2016, remains very real.” 

The Washington Post’s fact checker gives Obama four Pinocchios for saying on 60 Minutes, “Over the last four years, the deficit has gone up, but 90 percent of that is as a consequence of two wars that weren’t paid for, as a consequence of tax cuts that weren’t paid for, a prescription drug plan that was not paid for, and then the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”

“We are not trying to make excuses for the fiscal excesses of the Bush administration — and Congress — in the last decade,” the Post writes. “But at some point, a president has to take ownership of his own actions. Obama certainly inherited an economic mess, and that accounts for a large part of the deficit. But Obama pushed for spending increases and tax cuts that also have contributed in important ways to the nation’s fiscal deterioration. He certainly could argue that these were necessary and important steps to take, but he can’t blithely suggest that 90 percent of the current deficit “is as a consequence” of his predecessor’s policies — and not his own.”

Here’s Obama’s second ad hitting Romney for his 47% comments. It notes that people pay other taxes than just income taxes.

This past weekend, per NBC’s Kirstin Garriss, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, urging delegates to vote this November while using the history of the organization to remind members of the importance of their vote on Saturday night. “And make no mistake about it: This is the march of our time -- marching door to door, registering people to vote. Marching everyone you know to the polls every single election,” she said. “See, this is the sit-in of our day. Sitting in a phone bank, sitting in your living room, calling everyone you know.”

Also during her speech, Garriss adds, Mrs. Obama  reflected on civil rights events such as the Montgomery bus boycott and the March on Washington as examples of regular people working together to get the right to vote. She called on the African Americans in the audience to take their right to vote seriously. “So when it comes to casting our ballots, it cannot just be ‘we the people’ who had time to spare on Election Day. Can't just be ‘we the people’ who really care about politics, or ‘we the people’ who happened to drive by a polling place on the way home from work.  It must be all of us,” she said. 

Romney has his first ad speaking directly to camera, and he wants everyone to know he cares about everyone. “Both President Obama and I care about poor and middle-class families,” he says in the ad. “The difference is my policies will make things better for them. We shouldn’t measure compassion by how many people are on welfare, we should measure compassion by how many people are able to get off welfare and get a good-paying job.”

The Boston Globe: “Less than two weeks before an investment firm controlled by Mitt Romney decided to invest in a China-based home appliance company, the company put out a detailed document to investors promoting itself as a low-wage, low-tax firm that would not be subject to taxes in the United States. It used ‘inexpensive labor,’ Global-Tech Appliances wrote in a prospectus meant to attract investors on April 8, 1998.”

MASSACHUSETTS: It’s Brown vs. Warren, now on asbestos: “Elizabeth Warren stood beside asbestos union workers Tuesday and accused Senator Scott Brown of running a distraction campaign, hours after the senator said that she served as a ‘hired gun’ for two corporate clients,” the Boston Globe writes.

Which candidate, by the way, on the presidential campaign could have said this: “I’m not opposed to people making a living and representing businesses. But when you’re out there saying, by the way I’m representing the little guy and the middle class and in fact, we find out that’s not true, that’s an issue. That’s an issue of honesty and character.”

But that was Scott Brown talking about Elizabeth Warren.

MISSOURI: Here’s Claire McCaskill’s ad hitting Todd Akin for his “legitimate rape” comments and more, including Social Security, Medicare, abolishing the minimum wage, and eliminating student loans. “What will he say next?” an announcer asks.

WISCONSIN: The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports on a video showing Tommy Thompson saying he wants to “do away” with Medicare. Here’s the headline: “Video: Thompson would ‘do away’ with Medicare; instead, wants to reform it.”

Here’s a chunk of what he said: “[W]ho better than me, who’s already finished one of the entitlement programs, to come up with programs to do away with Medicaid and Medicare? Let’s block-grant what the state has, and allow the states to determine what’s going to go into Medicaid. And Medicare, let’s wait until everybody that’s right now is under 55 reaches 55 … and give them a choice whether they want to purchase health insurance with a subsidy from the federal government, or stay on Medicare."

Here’s what his campaign said: “Medicare is quickly headed towards insolvency… In this video, Thompson was making the case for reforming Medicare so that we can protect it for current seniors and preserve it for future generations. That is evidenced by his comments at the end of the video where he says he wants people to have a choice to either stay on Medicare as it is or give people another option. Thompson is a proven reformer.”

After his speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, President Obama today addressed the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting, where he called for an end to human trafficking.

The president also unveiled new initiatives aimed at combatting the practice -- which the administration says impacts more than 20 million people around the world.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

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

Launch slideshow

“It ought to concern every person,” Obama said, “because it is a debasement of our common humanity. It ought to concern every community because it tears at our social fabric. It ought to concern every business because it distorts markets. It ought to concern every nation because it endangers public health and fuels violence and organized crime."

Among the initiatives announced today:
-- prohibiting federal contractors from engaging in specific trafficking-related activities
-- establishing a process to better identify industries that have a history of human trafficking
-- improving training measures aimed at cracking down on the practice.

“Human trafficking is not a business model; it is a crime, and we are going to stop it,” the president told the CGI crowd.

The president, who addressed the crowd a few hours after Mitt Romney did, also talked about new efforts to help victims of human trafficking, and he implored the crowd to follow suit, calling on business leaders, faith leaders, and individual citizens to get educated and join the fight against trafficking.

In a more emotional moment, Obama shared the real-life stories of a few women who survived the “unspeakable horror” -- including Sheila White, a Bronx woman.

“Fleeing an abusive home, [Sheila] fell in with a guy who said he'd protect her. Instead, he sold her -- just 15 years old, 15 -- to men who raped her and beat her and burned her with irons. And finally, after years, with the help of a nonprofit led by other survivors, she found the courage to break free and get the services she needed. Sheila earned her GED.  Today she is a powerful, fierce advocate who helped to pass a new anti-trafficking law right here in New York.” 

The audience cheered and applauded as Sheila and several other survivors stood to be recognized. 

The president ended his speech on a hopeful note -- and with a direct message to those who are still victims. “We hear you. We insist on your dignity. And we share your belief that if just given the chance you will forge a life equal to your talents and worthy of your dreams.”

The Obama campaign announced it will begin airing a second TV ad hitting Romney over his “47%” remarks. The ad will run in Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Virginia. (Note the state where this won't air: Wisconsin.)

The first TV ad seizing on "47%" -- released yesterday -- was specific to just Ohio.

The script of this latest TV ad:

When Mitt Romney dismissed 47% of Americans for not pulling their weight, he attacked millions of hard working people making 25, 35, 45 thousand dollars a year…
They pay social security taxes. State taxes. Local taxes. Gas, sales, and property taxes.
Romney paid just 14 percent in taxes last year.
On over 13 million in income.
Almost all from investments.
Instead of attacking folks who work for a living…
Shouldn’t we stand up for them?

NEW YORK-- Mitt Romney softened his tone toward teachers unions and highlighted his record as governor of Massachusetts at NBC News' Education Nation summit Tuesday in New York.

The Republican presidential nominee offered one of the most detailed glimpses of his education policy at the forum this morning, laying off his often brusque language toward unions and playing up parents' role in the educational success of their children.

Teachers' unions, long the villains in Romney's public remarks on education, received somewhat gentler handling from the GOP nominee today, who said he "understood" the unions had to look out for their members, and that they had a right to strike over grievances -- but that parents also had the prerogative to look out for their kids' educations.

"The teachers' union has every right to represent their members in the way they think is best for their members, but we have a every right to in fact say, 'No, this is what we want to do, which is in the best interest of our children,'" Romney said, before offering his prescription for improving the quality of teaching. "I believe the best interest of our children is to recognize that teaching is a profession, like your profession, like my profession, like lawyers, like doctors, and that the very best are more highly compensated and rewarded and measured."

Recommended: Romney lays out vision for private sector-infused foreign aid

The former Massachusetts governor spoke and took questions on topics relating to education for 45 minutes here today as part of NBC News' Education Nation summit, and gave some of his most nuanced views yet on the issues at the heart of the effort to improve America's faltering public education system.

Romney also softened his tone, but did not change his argument, on the issue of class sizes, an issue on which he's battled teachers unions before, both in Massachusetts and on the campaign trail. Romney has called the fight for smaller class sizes a union-driven issue designed to spur the hiring of more teachers. He regularly cites a study authored by the consulting group McKinsey & Co. which shows class sizes, within a reasonable margin, are not a leading indicator of successful schools.

Slideshow: On the campaign trail

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

Launch slideshow

Today, Romney said his experience in Massachusetts taught him that class sizes "turned out to be a factor, but not a big one," to successful students, but continued to push for higher standards and pay for the best teachers, and for more parental involvement in education.

"The involvement of parents, particularly two parents, its an enormous advantage for the child," Romney said after retelling a story he heard from a teacher in Massachusetts who told him the way to tell if a student would succeed in school was whether or not their parents came to parent-teacher conferences with regularity.

Related: Education Nation – starkly different visions from Obama, Romney

Education has been one of the top issues for Romney outside 2012's dominant theme, the economy. The former Massachusetts governor often turns to the topic of education in speeches before minority audiences.

Romney held up several models for successful education reform; including his own tenure in Massachusetts, the reforms passed in Florida under Republican governor Jeb Bush, and the charter Harlem Children's Zone, some 100 blocks north of the site of today's event.

Romney even praised the current Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, mostly for his efforts to reward innovative schools and for opening options for more school choice, but stopped short of saying he would offer the Democrat a spot in his own cabinet.

"I'm not putting anybody on my cabinet right now, Brian," Romney laughed to moderator Brian Williams. "It's a little presumptuous of me, but just a little."

The Obama campaign wasn't laughing along.

“Mitt Romney’s education rhetoric today may have sounded nice, but it doesn’t square with his record or policies, which are informed by the mistaken belief that we can somehow improve our schools while cutting their budgets and laying off teachers," Obama campaign spokesperson Lis Smith said in a statement.

More Education Nation content:

• President Obama Addresses Education Nation Summit
• Summit Spotlight: Organizing for the Future
• Summer Spotlight: Getting Back to Work

Updated 2:22 p.m. - CHESTERFIELD, VA -- Vice President Joe Biden continued on Tuesday to hammer away at Mitt Romney's secretly-taped riff about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes, ridiculing the GOP presidential nominee as failing to represent all Americans.

"When he said it’s not my job to worry about ‘these people,’ well, whose job is it?" Biden asked of a crowd of about 500 at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are our brother’s keeper, we are one nation under God, we are all in this together,  and if the 47 percent doesn’t make it, the country doesn’t make it."

Biden, who delivered his first salvo about the taped Romney fundraiser comments this weekend in New Hampshire, offered an extended critique of Romney's own level of tax contributions and said that those in the "47 percent" still pay "a lot of taxes" like Social Security, state and local, and property payments.

"Look, instead of attacking folks who work for a living and pay their way, Romney should be respecting their hard work," he said. "That’s the job of a president: to lift people up, not to tear them down."

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

He also noted that Romney has been widely criticized for failing to release more detailed information from his past tax returns and for paying a lower tax rate than many middle class Americans. (However, Romney's most recent release of some 2011 data showed that the former private equity exec limited deductions from his extensive charitable donations and thus paid a higher-than-required effective rate of about 14 percent.)

"He, Romney? Attacking someone on taxes? I mean, woah!" said the famously rhetorically excitable Delaware pol. "That’s like me attacking someone for being passionate in politics!"

The trip to Virginia was Biden's first since the campaign swing when Biden sparked a firestorm after remarking to a largely black audience in Danville that the banking policies supported by Republicans would "put y'all back in chains."

The vice president did not use similar themes today, focusing instead on the Romney-Ryan ticket's reluctance to raise taxes as a way of addressing the federal deficit.

"These guys think compromise is somehow a dirty word," Biden said. "They are insisting and Romney is insisting on putting back in policies that produced the problem in the first place. “

Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams responded: "President Obama and Vice President Biden’s reckless policies have increased our national debt by $5.4 trillion and resulted in dangerously high unemployment, increased poverty, and plummeting incomes. This election presents a clear choice between Barack Obama’s vision of a government-centered society and Mitt Romney’s vision of an opportunity society. Governor Romney will spur economic growth and create more wealth, while President Obama believes in redistributing wealth. The Romney plan for a stronger middle class will create 12 million jobs and encourage upward mobility instead of more government dependency."

THE UNITED NATIONS -- President Barack Obama today urged Arab nations undergoing radical changes to commit to democracy and tolerance, which he said were not exclusively American or Western values but ones to which all successful nations must adhere.

He made his speech here at the United Nations General Assembly against a backdrop of spiking violence in the Middle East and a domestic election with a newfound focus on foreign policy.

Standing in front of the Assembly's familiar green marble, the president condemned the violent reaction across several Arab nations to a video featuring the prophet Mohammed that led to the deaths of U.S. ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others.

But he said that in order to end such bloodshed, new leaders must support the principles of freedom and self-determination, which Obama called “universal values” -- no matter how tempting the thought of clamping down on protests or funneling anger towards a foreign target.

“True democracy -- real freedom -- is hard work,” he said. “Those in power have to resist the temptation to crack down on dissent. In hard economic times, countries may be tempted to rally the people around perceived enemies, at home and abroad, rather than focusing on the painstaking work of reform.”

The president, who has been criticized by Republican presidential opponent Mitt Romney for not responding to the protests against the video forcefully enough, noted that real change would not come just through putting “more guards in front of an embassy or to put out statements of regret.”

He added that leaders must respect freedom of speech, noting that while millions of Americans took offense to the anti-Muslim video, censuring such expression would be futile in today’s information age, and responding with violence was unacceptable.

“In 2012, at a time when anyone with a cell phone can spread offensive views around the world with the click of a button, the notion that we can control the flow of information is obsolete. The question, then, is how we respond. And on this we must agree: There is no speech that justifies mindless violence."

And Obama said that just as all nations should respect Muslim traditions, the inverse must also be true.

“The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. Yet to be credible, those who condemn that slander must also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.”

He continued, quoting Gandhi: ‘Intolerance is itself a form of violence and an obstacle to the growth of a true democratic spirit,’” he said, garnering applause at the last line.

Don Emmert / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama delivers his address during the 67th United Nations General Assembly meeting August 25 at the United Nations in New York.

As he prescribed broad solutions for the entire Middle East, the president also gave his vision for specific conflict-ridden countries, though he did not offer any new policies or changes to existing ones.

Obama said he was committed to stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. “The United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said.

And he repeated his call for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to step down, one year after he stood before the same assembly to urge U.N. Security Council sanctions against the country, which members China and Russia are still blocking.

He also reaffirmed his vision for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: “The road is hard but the destination is clear -- a secure, Jewish state of Israel; and an independent, prosperous Palestine.”

While the president shied away from overtly political rhetoric, he did tout what he perceives as his accomplishments in foreign policy, an area seen as his strong suit but one which Romney has been increasingly critical.

“The war in Iraq is over, and our troops have come home. We have begun a transition in Afghanistan, and America and our allies will end our war on schedule in 2014. Al Qaeda has been weakened and Osama bin Laden is no more. Nations have come together to lock down nuclear materials, and America and Russia are reducing our arsenals.”

And the president urged listeners to put aside “political debates” and focus not on what divides the world but unites it.

“When you strip that all away, people everywhere long for the freedom to determine their destiny; the dignity that comes with work; the comfort that comes from faith; and the justice that exists when governments serve their people -- and not the other way around,” he said.

“The United States of America will always stand up for these aspirations, for our own people, and all across the world.”

CINCINNATI, OH -- Paul Ryan, an ardent Green Bay Packers fan, blasted NFL replacement referees for their questionable call last night that cost the Packers the game against the Seattle Seahawks.

“I got to start off on something that was really troubling that occurred last night," said the Wisconsin congressman and Republican vice-presidential nominee at the top of his town hall here. "Did you guys watch that Packer game last night? I mean, give me a break. It is time to get the real refs."

But he didn't stop there. Ryan actually tried to draw a line between the replacement refs and President Obama.

"And you know what, it reminds me of President Obama and the economy," he contended. "If you can’t get it right, it is time to get out. I half think these refs work part-time for the Obama administration in the Budget Office. They see the national debt clock staring them in the face. They see a debt crisis, and they just ignore and pretend it didn’t even happen. They are trying to pick the winners and losers, and they don’t even do that very well.”

*** UPDATE *** President Obama tweeted with the personal "BO" signature, meaning it came from him: "NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs' lockout is settled soon. -bo"

The Obama campaign then also tweeted out that Obama already called for the real refs to come back on a radio show last week. 

On WTAM-AM in Cleveland, Obama said, "But one thing I got to say, though, is it just me or do we have to get our regular refs back? ... I can't get involved with it, but I'm just expressing my point of view as a sports fan."

Today's final deadline for embattled Missouri Republican Senate nominee Todd Akin to withdraw from the race is just hours away, and he has scheduled a news conference at 3:00 pm ET.

Is he potentially dropping out of the contest?

Not a chance, his campaign says.

"Staying in the race, as we've said," Ryan Hite, the campaign's communications director, said in a text message to NBC News. 

"Just kicking off bus tour today and talking about Missouri Commonsense values as the bus tour title suggests," Hite continued. "Nothin[g] earth shattering."

Recommended: Education Nation – starkly different visions from Obama, Romney

According to Akin's campaign website, the Missouri Common Sense Bus Tour launches today and runs through Friday.

*** UPDATE *** Declaring that he "was given a trust" after winning a three-way Republican primary contest in August, Akin this afternoon affirmed he wouldn't quit his senate race.

"Over the period of the last number of weeks, a number of people have asked me, 'Are you quitting, are you dropping out?" Akin told supporters this afternoon. He added, "I don't believe that that is really my decision. The decision was made by the voters of the state of Missouri."

The event, meant to mark the kickoff of Akin's bus tour, was billed as a press conference, though Akin didn't take questions from the media.

Vice President Joe Biden held his first debate preparation session last week in Washington, D.C., an Obama campaign official told NBC News on Tuesday.

Biden practiced with Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, the stand-in for Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan, in anticipation of the lone Biden-Ryan debate, scheduled for Thurs., Oct. 11 in Danville, Ky.

In obligatory expectations-setting statement, the campaign adds: "The vice president has been preparing for his debate with Congressman Ryan - a candidate who has an exceptional grasp of policy details and a mastery of policy and budgetary matters."

The session took place last week in Washington DC. (Biden was in Washington Wednesday and Thursday of last week between campaign trips to Iowa and NH.)

Van Hollen and Biden met one-on-one before the Democratic National Convention to plot out their preparation strategy  but this was their first formal mock session.

Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat who has worked alongside Ryan in Congress, told NBC last month that his main focus will be on emulating the GOP nominee's style.

"What I know is how Paul Ryan presents," he said. "What Congressman Ryan does is present a plan that's really bad for the country with a smile."

NEW YORK -- Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on Tuesday laid out his vision for the future of foreign aid, one tied closely to his domestic policy prescriptions which promote the power of free enterprise and of hard work to lift people out of poverty.

In an address to one of the nation's pre-eminent philanthropic groups, the Clinton Global Initiative (the namesake group of former President Bill Clinton), Romney outlined a foreign aid strategy that would emphasize public and private partnerships to boost the economies of developing nations.

"For American foreign aid to become more effective, its got to embrace the principles that you see in these global initiatives," Romney said, referring to his host, the Clinton Global Initiative's annual conference. "The power of partnerships, access the transformative nature of free enterprise, and leverage of the abundant resources that can come from the private sector."

Romney then outlined his views on foreign aid, which he said should be tied to the opening of markets in developing nations. The GOP presidential candidate argued that foreign aid -- coming from either government or private investments -- should be focused on developing long-term economic opportunity so that the money that is spent has a better chance of making a lasting difference.

"A temporary aid package can give an economy a boost. It can fund projects. It can pay some bills. It can employ some people for a time," Romney said. "But it can’t sustain an economy -- not for the long term. It can’t pull the whole cart, if you will -- because at some point, the money runs out. 

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 former private equity CEO then debuted a new model of public and private development in his speech, which he referred to as "Prosperity Pacts."

"To foster work and enterprise in the Middle East and in other developing countries, I will initiate something I'll call 'Prosperity Pacts.' Working with the private sector, the program will identify the barriers to investment, trade, and entrepreneurship and entrepreneurialism in developing nations," Romney said. "In exchange for removing those barriers and opening their markets to U.S. investment and trade, developing nations will receive U.S. assistance packages focused on developing the institutions of liberty, the rule of law, and property rights."

"We will focus our efforts on small and medium-size businesses. Microfinance has been an effective tool at promoting enterprise and prosperity, but we've got to expand support to small and medium-size businesses that are oftentimes too large for microfinance, but too small for traditional banking," he continued.

The 20-minute speech by the GOP challenger to President Barack Obama marked perhaps his most detailed presentation of how the United States might interact with the developing world in a Romney administration. It came just hours before Obama was set to address the United Nations general assembly across midtown Manhattan, in a stretch of campaigning in which foreign policy has supplanted the economy as the election's driving force.

Romney was introduced in his remarks by former Clinton, who has assumed an outsized role in the presidential race in recent weeks, as the Romney campaign elevated the former president in an effort to paint Obama as too liberal and far outside the centrist Clinton tradition. Clinton only turned about to offer an outspoken defense of Obama at the Democratic National Convention, a stirring speech which many analysts credit for boosting Obama's poll numbers immediately thereafter.

Taking the podium, Romney joked about his host's warm introduction.

"If there's one thing we've learned in this election season by the way, its that a few words from Bill Clinton can do a man a lot of good," Romney deadpanned, continuing as the laughter in the room subsided. "All I've gotta do now is wait a couple of days for that bounce to happen."

Education has peeked into the forefront during the 2012 campaign for the White House with President Obama's push for low-interest student loans - and Republican challenger Mitt Romney's contrasting views (“shop around”) on how to pay for college. Obama has also seized on comments Romney made largely dismissing the impact of class sizes, using them for a TV ad running in battleground states.

But what's at stake in this election when it comes to education goes beyond the sound bites. The two candidates, like on so many issues, would take starkly different approaches, if elected.

Mario Tama / Getty Images

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting on September 25, 2012 in New York City.

Obama would likely try to expand many of the same initiatives he has pursued in his first term -- a reform-minded agenda implemented largely through the Department of Education and outside the purview of Congress. That agenda includes content standards that will be implemented in at least 45 states by 2014. Obama, who has not always been in the favor of the teachers’ unions that strongly support him, would continue to try and implement reforms while working with the unions.

Romney, on the other hand, takes a more adversarial approach to unions, which he sees as a large part of the problem. Romney’s plan calls for vouchers and a restructuring of funding for special-needs and low-income students that would assign money directly to individuals instead of schools and school districts. Romney would also try to implement “report cards” and make some changes to No Child Left Behind to recruit teachers.

What would they do – President Obama

1. Preserve funding

The president has warned against steep cuts to education and would fight to preserve funding for the Department of Education and programs like his competition-driven “Race to the Top” initiative.

“I have a question for Gov. Romney,” Obama said Aug. 22^nd in Las Vegas, “how many teachers’ jobs are worth another tax cut for millionaires and billionaires?”

The stimulus included about $100 billion for education. Much of the money went to states to retain teachers. The White House says as many as 160,000 teachers’ jobs were saved.

“Federal stimulus funds appear to have blunted the effects of the economic downturn on the K-12 education sector,” said Maria Ferguson, executive director of the Center on Education Policy at George Washington University after the release of a study from the center on the stimulus’ effect on school districts. “Although many districts still had to eliminate teaching and other key staff positions, our research indicates that the situation would have been worse without the stimulus funds.”

2. “Race to the Top”

“Race to the Top,” an initiative meant to spur innovation in schools, was funded through $4.35 billion in the president’s $787 billion stimulus plan, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The president requested $1.35 billion for the program in his 2011 budget request. The first rounds of grants were announced in April and then September 2010.

Unlike “No Child Left Behind,” officially the “Elementary and Secondary Education Act,” Race to the Top does not set highly specific federal standards. It instead allows local school districts and states to compete over a pot of money – millions of dollars. They come up with their own plans on things like teacher evaluations and initiatives to improve student achievement and submit them to the Department of Education for approval.

The Obama administration argues this approach spurs innovation. Critics say it is too haphazard, inconsistent, and lacks accountability. Romney’s plan charges, for example, that once the money is “out the door,” the Obama administration “can only hope that change occurs.”

3. Common Core

Common Core is a set of math and reading standards developed with the Council of Chief State School Officers and and the National Governors Association. The standards are largely supported by the Obama administration, and the administration has encouraged the adoption of standards by tying them to some Race to the Top money.

Forty-six states will implement them by 2014. Some conservatives have pointed to this as a relinquishing control of state education to the federal government. Others object because the measures are untested.

4. Watering down No Child Left Behind and going around Congress

The Obama administration has largely bypassed Congress on revising NCLB. It was up for reauthorization last year, but the administration – skeptical that Congress would act – instead implemented a series of changes through the Department of Education. Obama’s Education Secretary Arne Duncan called NCLB a “slow-motion train wreck” and noted, “We must fix No Child Left Behind now, not in Washington but in real time.”

Under the Obama administration, states “can request flexibility” from NCLB provisions, “but only if they are transitioning students, teachers, and schools to a system aligned with college- and career-ready standards for all students, developing differentiated accountability systems, and undertaking reforms to support effective classroom instruction and school leadership,” the Department of Education announced on Sept. 23, 2011.

“This is Plan B,” Duncan said in June of last year, previewing the steps the administration would be taking over the next several months. “Plan A is to have Congress move. If that doesn’t happen, we can’t sit here and do nothing.”

Duncan’s criticism of NCLB, highlighted in a January Washington Post op-ed, noted that the law “created an artificial goal of proficiency that encouraged states to set low standards,” was too reliant on test scores, is “overly prescriptive” hasn’t “supported states.”

By February, 37 states and the District of Columbia had requested waivers. Now, 44 states have requested waivers and 33 have already been approved, according a spokesman for the Department of Education.

Members of Congress, who are never fans of the Executive Branch taking steps that bypass them, were not all pleased.

“The best way to fix the problems in existing law is to pass a better one,” said Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa, who is chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, the same committee – with the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) at the helm – that helped write and pass the original NCLB legislation under President George W. Bush. “Given the bipartisan commitment in Congress to fixing [NCLB], it seems premature at this point to take steps outside the legislative process that would address NCLB’s problems in a temporary and piecemeal way.”

Republican John Kline, a congressman from Minnesota and chairman of the House Education and Workforce Committee, chided the president for what he saw as him seeking “sweeping authority to handpick winners and losers.”

As AP reported, “A Senate committee last fall passed a bipartisan bill to update the law, but it was opposed by the administration and did not go before the full Senate for a vote.”

And Democrats in Congress were skeptical that a bipartisan bill would emerge from the House, making it impossible to see a path forward for the legislation.

“Without a bipartisan bill coming out of the House, I believe it would be difficult to find a path forward that will draw the support we need from both sides of the aisle to be able to send a final bill to the president,” Harkin said in December of 2011. “Given that the HELP Committee was able to come to bipartisan agreement on a strong bill to reauthorize [NCLB], I sincerely hope Chairman Kline will reconsider his decision to not pursue a bipartisan bill.

5. On higher education, low-interest student loans

Obama campaigned for months on a provision to keep student-loan interest rates low, pressing Congress to act when visiting college campus after college campus. Young voters, of course, are a key constituency for the president.

The president continually pushed that government-subsidized student-loan interest rates would double if Congress didn’t approve the measure by July 1^st. (The rate would have gone from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent.)

Despite opposition from some Republicans in Congress, in late June, Congress overwhelmingly approved a one-year extension of the low rates.

Obama hammered Romney for saying that his “best advice” is for students to “shop around” for the most affordable school (more on that below).

“He said, ‘the best thing I can do for you is to tell you is to shop around,’ ” Obama said in Ohio last month. “That’s it. That’s his plan.

What would they do – Mitt Romney

1. Vouchers

The most specific criticism from Romney is about the president’s opposition to vouchers for children in Washington, D.C., known as the “D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program,” championed by House Speaker John Boehner.

A bill allocating $60 million over the next five years passed easily in the House, but has not come up in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Democrats argue it takes resources and attention away from public schools. Romney and Republicans contend Democrats are bowing to the teachers unions.

“Instead of eliminating the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program as President Obama has proposed, I will expand it to offer more students a chance to attend a better school,” Romney said in a May speech focused on education before The Latino Coalition’s Annual Economic Summit. “It will be a model for parental choice programs across the nation.”

Romney said in that speech in May that that too many poor and disabled students receive “a third-world education” in the United States. To help remedy this, he would restructure Title I and IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act) funds, meant for schools with low-income students and students with disabilities. Instead of assign the money to school districts and whole schools, Romney would want to assign specific amounts to those students and allow them to choose to attend better-performing schools.

There are a couple of potential problems with this approach: (a) “Any proposal to radically shift the use of that money would be almost certain to face a host of administrative, budgetary, and political hurdles from the Congress and statehouses on down,” Education Week wrote.

The New America Foundation similarly wrote that Romney’s proposal “undermines local control of schools, a concept many conservatives hold dear,” it writes. “Not only would states be required to implement open enrollment systems and transfer funds among districts, but districts and schools could no longer target their Title I funds to the schools or grades of their choosing. If candidate Romney becomes President Romney, we predict a long and tough road ahead for his education proposals, likely with resistance from both sides of the aisle.”  

And (b): There might not be enough money between the two programs to pay for the schooling of all the students Romney would want to support.

There is about $26 billion allocated for Title I and IDEA. There were about 21 million low-income students benefiting from Title I funding in the 2009-2010 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics – and another 5.8 million students covered under IDEA, according to Education Week.

That means the 26 million or so students would only get about $1,000 each.

2. Report cards

Romney pledges to “provide better information for parents through straightforward public report cards and will empower them to hold districts and states responsible for results.”

Of the report cards, Romney said in his May speech: “Parents shouldn’t have to navigate a cryptic evaluation system to figure out how their kids’ schools are performing.  States must provide a simple-to-read and widely available public report card that evaluates each school.  These report cards will provide accurate and easy-to-understand information about student and school performance.  States will continue to design their own standards and tests, but the report cards will provide information that parents can use to make informed choices.”

According to the Romney campaign’s white paper on education: “States will be required to provide report cards that evaluate schools and districts on an A through F or similar scale based primarily on their contribution to achievement growth,”. “These report cards will provide accurate and easy-to-understand information about student and school performance, as well as information about per-pupil spending in the local district. States will continue to design their own standards and tests, but information on the state’s National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) performance will appear on the school and district report cards, and the grading system will be standardized so that states with poor NAEP performance cannot assign artificially high grades to their schools.”

3. Attracting good teachers, eliminating seniority for hiring, firing

Romney’s plan would “eliminate” what he calls “NCLB’s ineffective ‘highly qualified’ certification requirement.

He would also “block grant” money “for states that adopt policies focused on improving teacher effectiveness. For instance, states seeking block grants will be required to establish evaluation systems based in part on effectiveness in advancing student achievement, reward effective teachers and principals with additional compensation and advancement opportunities, eliminate or reform teacher tenure, streamline the certification process for becoming a teacher, and prohibit seniority-based transfer and dismissal rules (including Last In, First Out layoffs).”

That is known colloquially as LIFO, an aspect of seniority that is a sticking point for teachers unions.

4. Seeking distance from NCLB

As noted above, Romney’s plan mentions NCLB, but he has largely distanced himself from the plan that was the chief domestic accomplishment of his Republican predecessor in the White House, George W. Bush.

Romney indicates a move away from federal standards. His white paper, instead says his administration would “work closely with Congress to strengthen NCLB by reducing federal micromanagement.”

5. Romney against Common Core, then for it -- just not tying federal money to standards

During an October 2011 interview with Huckabee on FOX, Romney praised Obama Education Secretary Arne Duncan for trying to “reward school systems that reward teachers for doing a good job, that remove bad teachers, that test kids to see how the kids are doing.”

But he added, “By the way, not everything that Arne Duncan is doing do I agree with. So, for instance, this national core curriculum they are pushing and trying to get states to take that on. I don’t like a national curriculum.  I like states to be able to draft their own curriculum.”

But in May, before Romney’s education speech, his campaign indicated he had shifted position. Education Week: “Romney's campaign staff said he is supportive of the Common Core State Standards, but thinks the Obama administration has gone too far in encouraging states to adopt them. Those policies ‘effectively are an attempt to manipulate states into’ adopting common core, said Oren Cass, Romney's domestic policy director on a call with reporters.”

Romney also said in a 2010 Fox interview that the federal government has a role in “overseeing our schools, or some portion of our schools.”

He does not mention “Common Core” in his white paper.

6. Supporting testing, “standing up” to unions

In 2007, Romney said he supported NCLB and, “I like testing in our schools.”

In 2012, he hinted at testing as part of the solution as well as “standing up” to unions.

“We looked at what drives good education in our state,” Romney said in a September 2011 debate. “What we found is the best thing for education is great teachers, hire the very best and brightest to be teachers, pay them properly, make sure that you have school choice, test your kids to see if they are meeting the standards that need to be met, and make sure that you put the parents in charge. And as president I will stand up to the National teachers unions.”

7. Supported temporary student-loan extension but opposes long-term government intervention - “shop around”

In April, Romney said, “I fully support the effort to extend the low interest rate on student loans. There was some concern that that would expire halfway through the year, and I support extending the temporary relief on interest rates for students as a result of – as a result of student loans, obviously – in part because of the extraordinarily poor conditions in the job market.”

But Romney has also said the “best advice” he could give students trying to figure out how to afford college is to “shop around” and not take out loans.

“The best thing I can do for you is to tell you to shop around and compare tuition in different places,” Romney told a student in Ohio in March. “And make sure you get the education you want for the cost you want. Make sure you can get your degree in four years – or less. Work hard. Get done in two-and-a-half years. Recognize, I mean, that college is expensive. You don’t want to have huge debts. And I know it would be popular for me to stand up and say I’m going to give you government money to pay for your college. But I’m not going to do promise that.”

He added, “My best advice is find a great institution of higher learning, find one that has the right price. Shop around. In America, this idea of competition, it works. And don’t just go to the one that has the highest price. Go to one that has a little lower price where you can get a good education and hopefully you’ll find that and don’t take on too much debt, and don’t  expect the government to forgive the debt that you take on. Recognize you’re going to have to pay it back. I want to make sure every kid in this country that wants to go to college gets the chance to go to college. If you can’t afford it, scholarships are available. Shop around for loans. Make sure you go to a place that’s reasonably priced. And if you can think about serving the country because that’s a way to get all that education for free.”

8. Continue Pell Grants (and the Ryan budget)

The budget proposed by Congressman Paul Ryan, Romney’s pick to be his vice president, would put a hard cap on Pell Grants spending. But Romney, at a Univision forum -- meant to appeal to Latino voters – took a different position, saying he would want them to “go with the rate of inflation.”

“I care about your education and helping people of modest means get a good education and we’ll continue a Pell Grant program,” he said. “I think the Republican budget called for a Pell Grants being capped out at their current high level. My inclination would be to have them go with the rate of inflation. I think it’s important in higher education that we get serious about the fact that the inflation of tuition has been much faster than inflation generally. And my view is we have to hold down the rate of tuition increases and fee increases in higher education.”

The candidates have sparred over how much the Ryan budget would cut. The Obama campaign charges it could mean 20 percent across-the-board cuts to domestic programs. But it’s unclear how cuts in the Ryan budget would be applied. Romney has said, although he’s broadly supportive of the Ryan budget, he’s not in favor of every detail.

9. Welcome the private sector

But when it comes to college loans, “Romney favors bolstering the role for the private sector, which he contends has been decimated by the Obama administration's choice to scrap the Federal Family Education Loan Program and ensure that all loans originate through the U.S. Department of Education,” Education Week writes.

“We welcome private sector participating instead of pushing it away,” said Oren Cass said, Romney’s domestic policy adviser.

Obama has criticized Romney for that, charging that would cause rates to increase.

10. Class-size controversy

At a charter school in Philadelphia back in May, Romney ran into tough questioning from a teacher when he said, in talking about the success of schools in other countries: “It’s not the classroom size that is driving the success of those school systems.”

At a GOP debate in Florida, Romney was more blunt. “[A]ll the talk about we need smaller classroom size, look that's promoted by the teachers’ unions to hire more teachers,” Romney said, adding, “[A]s president, I will stand up to the National Teachers Unions.”

Of course, as First Read has written previously, Obama’s pushes for performance pay, teacher evaluations tied to student achievement, and support for charter schools, have rankled those unions.

Part of the Chicago teachers’ strike, in fact, had to do with teacher evaluations. Obama’s former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is mayor of Chicago.

*** UPDATE *** The post has been updated with the most recent number of states that have requested and been approved for waivers from No Child Left Behind.

*** UPDATE 2 *** The section on Common Core has been adjusted.

Good luck trying to avoid Obama, Romney today. They’ll be doing interviews and high-profile speeches in the media capital of the world … Romney wins a news cycle … The risk for Obama in trying to do no harm in meeting with foreign leaders … In UN speech, Obama to take on two Romney criticisms … This might be Romney’s make-or-break-week in Ohio … The shrunken battleground (what happened to PA, NM and what does it mean for the future of politics) … Obama up in new polls in OH, FL, PA, NC … Akin’s drop dead deadline … And Massachusetts Senate race takes a nasty turn. … And just 1,000 hours to Election Day – tick, tick, tick.

*** Saturation: We’re now inside 1,000 hours to Election Day (can you believe it!?!?!), and get ready to see A LOT of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, starting with a near unprecedented level of media saturation. Let’s run through the schedule: the two candidates are holding high-profile speeches -- with world leaders and a former popular president and both appear in interviews for NBC’s “Education Nation” – all in the media capital of the world. On top of that, Romney will appear in distinct interviews today that will air on NBC, MSNBC, CNN and Fox and that doesn’t count the usual slate of local TV interviews. Bottom line: It’s going to be nearly impossible to miss either of them today. And New Yorkers, by the way, good luck with the traffic. Here’s the rundown: 7:00 am hour: Clip of Obama’s interview with NBC on Education Nation aired on TODAY. 9:00 am ET: Romney speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative. 10:00 am ET: Obama addresses the United Nations General Assembly. 11:00 am ET: Obama interview on The View airs. 11:00 am ET: Romney interviewed by NBC’s Brian Williams at Education Nation (then heads to Vandalia, OH, for a 3:00 pm ET rally with Paul Ryan and Sen. Rand Paul). Noon ET: Obama speaks at CGI (then returns to Washington). That’s a lot of Obama and Romney.

*** Romney wins a news cycle: While both will be very public today, what will be interesting to see is if Romney’s doing as much attacking today as he did yesterday. It’s not likely. His speech at CGI, for example, will focus on his vision for foreign assistance and he’s presenting a fairly interesting public-private idea for foreign assistance that will likely get lost in partisan attacks but deserves some attention. Back to the raw politics -- yesterday, Romney and his campaign had a plan and they executed. Sure, some will say they were chasing the news cycle, but they were chasing with a plan. They had a point they wanted to drive home – on “bumps in the road” before the UN General Assembly and did so with mini interviews with all the networks and were on message. They were able to win a news cycle, which right now, a one-day win is important compared with what they’ve been through over the last three weeks starting with Clint Eastwood.

*** The harm in trying to do no harm: With football on the minds of many today (after last night’s refereeing debacle – full disclosure: one of us is a big Packers fan), Obama’s plan today has a whiff of prevent defense. What it’s doing – like in a prevent – is it allowing the opposition to pick up yards over the middle and get a couple of first downs. If you compare former President Bush’s 2004 schedule at the U.N. and Obama’s it’s a pretty big difference. It made sense politically for Bush to meet with world leaders, given that his election was largely about foreign policy, and we get Obama’s strategy – first, do no harm, don’t make any news before the debates, take the criticism from the “media elites.” But it doesn’t show a lot of courage -- and winding up on The View (and not doing one-on-one meetings with foreign leaders while they are conveniently in NYC) makes him subject to criticism from the right. If foreign policy is supposed to be one of Obama’s strengths and multilateralism is a hallmark of his policy, why wouldn’t Obama want to HIGHLIGHT that? Why wouldn’t he want to meet with both Israel’s Netanyahu and Egypt’s Morsi? And above politics, it’s striking with all that’s going on in the Arab world that the ostensible leader of the free world is not meeting with anyone. For their part, the Obama folks are counting on the public not caring about this issue as much as the Romney campaign or the media. And perhaps they will be proven right. After all, Mr. and Mrs. Ohio will see the president address the United Nations. Sure looks like he’s dealing with foreign affairs.

Brendan Smialowski / AFP - Getty Images

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Joy Behar talk during a break in a taping of "The View" at ABC Studios September 24, 2012 in New York, New York.

*** Obama to take on two Romney criticisms: All of that said, Obama is addressing the U.N., and that speech, according to excerpts, will likely make the “bumps in the road” attack seem pretty petty. Obama will say, per prepared remarks, "The attacks of the last two weeks are not simply an assault on America. They are also an assault on the very ideals upon which the United Nations was founded.” He will add, “We must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our United Nations." On Iran, Obama will say, “America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so. But that time is not unlimited.” And: “The United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon." Those statements on Libya and Iran go right to the heart of two of Romney’s chief criticisms – that the president said developments in the Middle East and North Africa were “bumps in the road,” and that Obama hasn’t been tough enough on Iran. By the way, we mentioned The View above, Obama did talk foreign policy on the show and largely admitted the attacks were terrorism: "There's no doubt that the kind of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault, that it wasn't just a mob action." Speaking of “bumps,” flashback to 2005, when then-Bush foreign policy adviser, now Romney foreign policy adviser Dan Senor said of violence in Iraq: “It's democracy. We often said that when we're there, democracy is messy. If you want clean and tidy, there's dictatorship.”

*** Romney’s make-or-break week for Ohio: We noted yesterday the importance of Ohio in this presidential election and to Romney. But it’s hard to overstate it – this may be the make-or-break week for the campaign in the state. If this week’s bus tour doesn’t move the needle, as the Romney campaign might say, they very well could decide to all but write off the Buckeye State. They won’t say it explicitly; they’ll go through the motions, but they may have no choice than to try and shore up or make in roads in places like Wisconsin, Colorado Florida, and Virginia.

*** Cheap applause line alert for Battleground Wisconsin: Which candidate takes a stand against replacement refs? Does Paul Ryan do it, given he’s a Packers fan? Something to watch today perhaps. Ryan holds a rally in Cincinnati at 11:30 am ET.

*** Ad spending – the shrunken battleground: Last presidential cycle, then-candidate Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain were running ads in 21 states, according to SMG Delta – Obama (21): AZ, CO, FL, GA, IN, IA, ME, MI, MN, MO, MT, NV, NH, NM, NC, ND, OH, PA, VA, WV, and WI; McCain (16): CO, FL, IN, IA, ME, MN, MO, NV, NH, NM, NC, OH, PA, VA, WV, WI. This week, both campaigns are spending (so far) $19 million in the exact same states and there are just nine of them – IA, CO, FL, NC, NH, NV, OH, VA, and WI, with one outside group (Restore Our Future) running almost $1 million in ads in MI. Just look at all those states from last time to this. It’s a striking shift – the candidates are spending more money in fewer states and in fewer markets. Nowhere, by the way, that’s left out jumps out more than Pennsylvania and New Mexico. If this election is supposed to be like 2004, remember, George W. Bush only lost the Keystone state 2.5 points and he WON New Mexico (albeit by less than a point). It highlights, once again, how Romney has to largely run the table in these toss-up states and -- in the bigger political picture for the future – how the changing demographics currently favor Democrats. (With outside groups factored in, total spending is more than $33 million, with Team Romney outspending Team Obama $18.8 million to $14.5 million.)

*** Polling update – Obama up in FL, OH: Speaking of Ohio, another poll shows Obama with a sizable lead. A Washington Post poll has Obama up 52-44%. … In Florida, the Post has Obama up 51-47%. … In Pennsylvania, a Mercyhurst University poll shows the president with a 48-40% lead. … And in North Carolina, a Civitas poll (conducted by National Research) shows Obama up 49-45%.

*** Akin, remember that? And Massachusetts gets nasty: Today’s the drop dead deadline for Todd Akin (R) to drop out of the Missouri Senate race. Remember that story? It’s not going to happen. Watch your TV sets in Missouri at 5:01 pm for those McCaskill ads featuring Republicans obliterating Akin. … In Massachusetts, the Senate race has taken a nasty turn – focusing again on Elizabeth Warren’s Native American claims. Both candidates don’t seem to particularly like each other and it’s getting personal. There’s some risk for Brown here though -- if he goes too far, he might make Warren look like a victim. There’s a fine line here. You do wonder if he needs to dial it back a little. By the way, the new tack probably means Brown’s polling shows him down.

*** Education Nation – starkly different visions: As part of NBC’s Education Nation, First Read will have a detailed look later this morning at where the candidates stand on education. The subject has peeked into the 2012 campaign with Obama's push for low-interest student loans, Romney's contrasting views (“shop around”) on how to pay for college, Obama seizing on comments Romney made on class sizes for a TV ad, and of course debate over proposed domestic cuts in the Ryan budget. But, like on so many other issues, Obama and Romney would take starkly different approaches, if elected. Obama would likely try to expand many of the same initiatives he has pursued in his first term -- a reform-minded agenda implemented largely through the Department of Education and outside the purview of Congress. That agenda includes content standards that will be implemented in at least 45 states by 2014. Obama, who has not always been in the favor of the teachers’ unions that strongly support him, would continue to try and implement reforms while working with the unions. Romney, on the other hand, takes a more adversarial approach to unions, which he sees, in large measure, as part of the problem. Romney’s plan calls for vouchers and a restructuring of funding for special-needs and low-income students that would assign money directly to individuals instead of schools and school districts.

Countdown to 1^st presidential debate: 8 days
Countdown to VP debate: 16 days
Countdown to 2^nd presidential debate: 21 days
Countdown to 3^rd presidential debate: 27 days
Countdown to Election Day: 42 days

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*** Tuesday’s “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” line-up: “MSNBC Live with Thomas Roberts” Line-up:  Mitt Romney will outline his education plans for the nation in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams live from the New York Public library.  MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts will talk with U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Obama Campaign Traveling Press Secretary Jen Psaki.  Today’s Power Panel includes  The Hill’s A.B. Stoddard, Republican Strategist Hogan Gidley and Democratic Strategist Doug Thornell. 

*** Tuesday's "News Nation with Tamron Hall" line-up": Tamron’s guests include Rana Foroohar & Jim Frederick from Time Magazine, MSNBC contributor Michael Smerconish, Suzanne Gamboa from The Associated Press.  Plus, Savannah Guthrie’s entire interview with President Obama where he talks about his plan to improve students’ standing in math and science.

The Washington Post: "President Obama has grabbed a significant lead over Mitt Romney in Ohio and holds a slender edge in Florida, according to two new polls by the Washington Post that indicate there are fresh hurdles in the way of the Republican nominee’s best route to victory in the Electoral College. Among likely voters, Obama is ahead of Romney in Ohio by 52 to 44 percent. In Florida, the president is up 51 to 47 percent, a numerical but not statistically significant edge. Among all registered Florida voters, Obama is up nine percentage points. The new numbers come one week after a Washington Post poll in Virginia showing Obama with a clear lead there. More than half of all money spent in the campaign has focused on these three states, and many analysts say Romney has to win two of the three to capture the White House.

Nate Silver: “The polling at this stage in the election cycle has been reasonably predictive. Since 1936, of the 19 candidates who led in the polls at this point, 18 won the popular vote (Thomas E. Dewey in 1948 is the exception), and 17 won the Electoral College (Dewey, again, and Al Gore in 2000). Even eliminating the candidates with clear double-digit leads, the front-runner’s record is 8 wins out of 10 in the Electoral College, or a batting average of 80 percent.”

“In many ways, Mr. Obama’s remarks at the State Department two weeks ago — and the ones he will make before the General Assembly on Tuesday morning, when he addresses the anti-American protests — reflected hard lessons the president had learned over almost two years of political turmoil in the Arab world: bold words and support for democratic aspirations are not enough to engender good will in this region, especially not when hampered by America’s own national security interests,” the New York Times reports. “In fact, Mr. Obama’s staunch defense of democracy protesters in Egypt last year soon drew him into an upheaval that would test his judgment, his nerve and his diplomatic skill. Even as the uprisings spread to Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and Syria, the president’s sympathy for the protesters infuriated America’s allies in the conservative and oil-rich Gulf states. In mid-March, the Saudis moved decisively to crush the democracy protests in Bahrain, sending a convoy of tanks and heavy artillery across the 16-mile King Fahd Causeway between the two countries. That blunt show of force confronted Mr. Obama with the limits of his ability, or his willingness, to midwife democratic change. Despite a global outcry over the shooting and tear-gassing of peaceful protesters in Bahrain, the president largely turned a blind eye. His realism and reluctance to be drawn into foreign quagmires has held sway ever since, notably in Syria, where many critics continue to call for a more aggressive American response to the brutality of Bashar al-Assad’s rule.”

AP: “Campaign politics shadowing every word, President Barack Obama on Tuesday will challenge the world to confront the root causes of rage exploding across the Muslim world, calling it a defining choice ‘between the forces that would drive us apart and the hopes we hold in common.’”

Here’s the kicker of another New York Times piece: “Mr. Obama was scheduled to attend a reception for world leaders at the United Nations on Monday night. But a campaign adviser acknowledged privately that in this election year, campaigning trumped meetings with world leaders. ‘Look, if he met with one leader, he would have to meet with 10,’ the aide said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.”

In a web video, the RNC blasts Obama for the events in the Arab world, calling it a “crisis of leadership.”

Politico: "Mitt Romney's campaign may be struggling, but his transition operation is moving full steam ahead. The GOP presidential candidate’s Washington team is intensifying its efforts, moving into official office space and holding meetings on Capitol Hill. The team has also begun reaching out to K Streeters and former Republican administration officials to get guidance on the Senate confirmation process and recommendations for jobs in a possible Romney White House. Dubbed “The Readiness Project” inside Romneyworld, the effort began in earnest after the Republican National Convention and is not only focused on compiling a list of job candidates, but also designed to create a 200-day roadmap for congressional relations during the post-election lame duck session and beyond."

Per National Journal's Hotline: "House Majority PAC is launching a quartet of new television ads Tuesday, expanding the Democratic super PAC's reach to two more districts in Arizona and returning to one each in Illinois and Virginia with follow-ups to previous ads. Each spot is tailored to specifics of the districts. Three (Arizona's 1st District, Illinois's 17th District, and Virginia's 2nd District) are Republican-held, while the fourth (Arizona's 9th District) is a new seat created in redistricting. The ad for GOP Rep. Bobby Schilling's sprawling Illinois district is being broadcast in two media markets (Peoria and Rockford) by House Majority PAC while SEIU, the super PAC's frequent TV advertising partner, is paying for an identical ad in the Quad Cities market."

MASSACHUSETTS: "As Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) and challenger Elizabeth Warren (D) enter the final phase of their exceedingly tight race, each is seeking to undermine the other on the very traits that had been considered their greatest political strengths: his independence and her character. Brown is suggesting that the woman who made a national reputation as a fierce advocate for the middle class and consumers is a phony. Warren, meanwhile, is urging Massachusetts voters to look beyond their affection for Brown to consider the votes he has cast and the national consequences of an election that could help return the Senate to Republican control," The Washington Post writes. "Brown on Monday launched the most brutal salvo yet in a campaign that until recently was notable for its civility. His new television ad highlights the controversy over Warren’s unproved claim that she is of Native American heritage. It also raises the possibility — also unproved, and denied by those involved in hiring her — that she claimed minority status for professional advancement."

LIMA, OHIO – Kicking off the “Romney Plan For A Stronger Middle Class” bus tour across Ohio, Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan proclaimed during a townhall that Americans have begun giving up hope under President Barack Obama’s presidency.

J.D. Pooley / AP

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan gives a thumbs-up to supporters, Sept. 24 at the Veterans Memorial Civic & Convention Center in Lima, Ohio.

“People are beginning to give up hope. People are beginning to think that the American dream’s not for them because of this stagnant economy,” Ryan told the nearly 1,500-person crowd along Ohio’s key I-75 corridor. “And when you take a look at what your government’s doing to you in every nook and cranny of America, it’s not good.”

The seven-term Wisconsin congressman – speaking next to a large “we can’t afford four more years” sign in West Central Ohio – tried to strike a personal chord at the Veterans Memorial Civic & Convention Center Monday afternoon, talking about defense cuts and protecting the local tank plant.

“We are being equivocal on our values, we are being slow to speak up for individual rights, for human rights, for democracy. We are seeing countries stifle freedom in Iran, in Russia, in all these other areas and we are saying we are going to gut our national security, our military. That projects weakness,” Ryan said, noting that turning on the TV makes you think of 1979 Tehran.

Ryan – joined by both Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus – continued: “This is why you don’t, for a budget gimmick, shut down your only M1 tank plant in America, this is why you don’t gut national security, this is why you have peace through strength because if we are strong, if we are clear with who we are and what our values are, our adversaries will respect us more and our allies will trust us more, and that’s why peace through strength is going to be the Romney-Ryan administration’s doctrine.”

All eyes are on the Buckeye State this week. Romney and Ryan are barnstorming the state with a three-day bus tour beginning today and President Obama will campaign in the state Wednesday.

Romney is currently trailing President Obama in Ohio, recent polls show. The University of Cincinnati poll released Sunday has Obama ahead 51%-46% and the NBC News/WSJ/Marist poll of Ohio had Obama up 50%-43%.

With just 43 days before the election, Ryan fielded questions from the crowd dealing with a range of topics including why Republicans who may have supported another candidate in the primaries should vote for the Romney-Ryan ticket come November.

“Do you want Barack Obama to be re-elected?” Ryan asked the man.

“Then don’t vote for Ron Paul,” the nominee said to applause.

DENVER -- Mitt Romney today attempted to shift focus to what he called President Barack Obama's lack of leadership in the Middle East, as world leaders began to gather in New York City for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Romney campaign this afternoon offered a series of interviews with major U.S. TV networks, in which Romney hammered Obama for referring to a series of flare-ups in the Middle East as "bumps in the road."

"When the president was speaking about 'bumps in the road' he was talking about the developments in the Middle East, and that includes an assassination. It includes a Muslim Brotherhood individual becoming president of Egypt. It includes Syria being in tumult," Romney told NBC's Peter Alexander. "It includes Iran being on the cusp of nuclear capability. It includes Pakistan being in commotion."

Romney continued, "There are extraordinary events going on in the Middle East, and considering those events, either one of them or all of them collectively, as bumps in the road shows a person who has a very different perspective about world affairs than the perspective I have. I think this is a time for America to exert leadership and this is not something that we are doing in the Middle East ... ."

Romney was referring to an answer Obama gave in an interview which aired last night on CBS News' "60 Minutes," in which the president defended his support for emerging governments in the Middle East as a result of the Arab spring.

Charles Dharapak / AP

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney boards his plane in Denver, Monday, Sept. 24, 2012.

Kroft: Have the events that took place in the Middle East, the recent events in the Middle East given you any pause about your support for the governments that have come to power following the Arab Spring?

Obama: Well, I'd said even at the time that this is going to be a rocky path. The question presumes that somehow we could have stopped this wave of change. I think it was absolutely the right thing for us to do to align ourselves with democracy, universal rights, a notion that people have to be able to participate in their own governance. But I was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain that there are going to be bumps in the road because, you know, in a lot of these places, the one organizing principle has been Islam. The one part of society that hasn't been controlled completely by the government. There are strains of extremism, and anti-Americanism, and anti-Western sentiment. And, you know, can be tapped into by demagogues. There will probably be some times where we bump up against some of these countries and have strong disagreements, but I do think that over the long term we are more likely to get a Middle East and North Africa that is more peaceful, more prosperous and more aligned with our interests.

The Romney campaign seized on those comments -- in an attempt to chip away at the president's approval rating on foreign affairs, which slid in the last NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll to 49 percent.

(However, a series of NBC/WSJ/Marist polls in the battleground states of Colorado, Iowa, and Wisconsin show Obama enjoying a double-digit lead over Romney when it comes to who would better handle foreign policy.)

The Obama White House fired back on Romney, arguing that it was "offensive" to suggest that the president was minimizing the deaths of four Americans in Libya, including the U.S. ambassador there.

"That assertion is both desperate and offensive," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "The president was referring to the transformations in the region, to this process that has -- only began less than two years ago, as we saw in Tunisia, and continues to this day, with remarkable transformations occurring in countries around the region."

Also in the interview, NBC's Alexander pressed Romney on the current polling that shows him trailing Obama.

Romney remained defiant.

"I'm very pleased with the fact that we have a campaign that is taking our message to the people across America,  and look --- we're gonna win," Romney said. "There is no question in my mind. We're gonna win."

NBC's Jordan Frasier contributed to this article.

LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Donald Trump says Mitt Romney's campaign needs to spend more money and flood the airwaves before Nov. 6th.

"They've got to be very, very smart," Trump said. "They need great commercials."

The remarks came during a press conference following Trump's address to students here at Liberty University, a private Evangelical Christian school established by the late pastor Jerry Falwell.

"He's been able to raise tremendous amounts of money," Trump said of Romney. "So hopefully that money's going to be spent really wisely on incredible media, incredible commercials," he added. "Because if they tell the facts, and if they tell the truth, they should win."

Pressed if he thought the Republican nominee is winning the race, Trump called polling "even" but said that he thinks Romney has time to recover.

"You know, a month and a half politically is eternity," he said.

Trump later told reporters that Romney's controversial "47%" remarks unearthed in a video last week tackled social issues that the United States will need to discuss in order for the economy to improve.

"A lot of people are saying that was a good thing, not a bad thing," Trump said of the remarks.

Last week, Trump said on the TODAY show that Romney shouldn't apologize over the controversy.

Trump's address to students this morning was a mix of old-fashioned career advice and the sort of sharp attacks on President Obama's politics and background that have become Trump's political brand. Trump even seemed to take a shot at Obama's religion.

As he explained why he was so happy to visit the Liberty campus, Trump, who has been married three times, described himself as a "Christian, and a very proud Christian."

Then he added, after a pause: "And a real Christian. People are going to say, 'Gee, I wonder what he meant by that?'"

To students, he gave this advice: "Don't let people take advantage -- get even!"

He said the same goes for international politics.

Earlier he said the White House should be demanding 50% of Libya's oil production.

"They go out and kill our ambassador and other Americans, and guess where China gets a lot of its oil -- from Libya," Trump said, referring to the September 11th attack on the American mission in Eastern Libya that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens.  

Introducing Trump, Liberty University's Chancellor Jerry Fallwell, JR. praised Trump's political style, calling him an influential leader.

"In 2011, after failed attempts by Sen. John McCain and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump single-handedly forced President Obama to release his birth certificate," Falwell said, spurring cheers.

School officials say 10,000 students attended Trump's speech at the University's Vines Center, and several thousand more watched a live feed in overflow rooms located in other campus buildings.

Officials say the speech was also made available over the web to the University's online student body, which numbers around 80,000.

Trump was joined on stage by a surprise guest: Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN), who sat among school officials during the address.

Bachmann visited students here in late September last year, during her failed presidential run. She is the mother of a Liberty student.