Romney pledges 'real change' that will end partisan gridlock

Darting across eight battleground states, Mitt Romney spent the final weekend of the presidential race delivering a muscular critique of the Obama administration and saying he is uniquely qualified to end the partisan gridlock in Washington that threatens to push the country into a double-dip recession.

Obama's pitch: Slow but steady gains for middle class

With the economy stuck in low gear and deficits soaring, President Obama's closing argument to voters for his re-election Tuesday is that he is moving the nation on the fairest path for the middle class, however slowly.

Obama stops making promises to lead an ethical, open government

President Obama ran in 2008 while making big promises on transparency and ethics. He is making no such promises in this year's campaign, though, nor is he taking a victory lap on those old vows.

Gamblers return to Atlantic City, where residents had most to lose

Many gamblers never leave the multibillion-dollar row of oceanfront casinos towering over the world famous boardwalk here, but if they walked across Pacific Avenue, they would find a church that feeds homeless people.

Behind crisis in Benghazi, a lack of firepower

As Americans fought for their lives in Benghazi, Libya, the Pentagon's options for direct intervention were narrowed to one: a fleet of F-16 fighters parked across the Mediterranean at NATO's air base in Aviano, Italy.

Shanahan assessing talent for next season after Redskins' latest loss

Mike Shanahan shook hands with the opposing coach Sunday afternoon, gracious in defeat. He put his left hand in his front pocket and began a lonely walk to the locker room. A 60-yard stretch of solitude was an opportunity to contemplate the bleak state of the Washington Redskins. Shanahan stared up into the stands with a steadfast scowl. He spoke no words.

CURL: Sandy is Obama's Katrina — but the media looks away

A former top official from the George W. Bush White House and I play a game via email. The slug of each message is always — "Imagine If Bush Had " followed by some egregious act by President Obama. The latest email was, of course, about Hurricane Sandy.

Democrats' odds of holding Senate improving

Far from losing control of the Senate, the latest polling suggests Democrats could actually expand their majority on Tuesday — a stunning turnaround for a party that entered this cycle playing defense across the board.

Inside the Beltway: The odd scenario

An unusual speculation on the election outcome emanates from a small campus in Buffalo, N.Y.: agitated America could end up with President Mitt Romney and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, insist Canisius College political science professors Michael Haselswerdt, a Democrat, and Kevin Hardwick, a Republican. The race is so close that there's a viable chance that the presidential candidates could split the electoral votes evenly, 269-269.

Maine Democrats crown King

Maine has made headlines as far away as California this year for playing host to one of the nation's most convoluted and unique U.S. Senate races — a three-way contest defined as much by the blurring of party lines as the seemingly endless flow of cash into the state from outside sources seeking to manipulate the outcome.

Ballot proposal results could alter Michigan state constitution

Michiganders on Tuesday will decide the fate of six ballot proposals, five of which could alter the state's constitution.

Syrian rebels capture oilfield near Iraqi border

Syrian rebels firing mortars and rocket-propelled grenades captured an oilfield in the country's east on Sunday after three days of fierce fighting with government troops protecting the facility, activists said.

Russian nationalists protest Putin in Moscow march

Thousands of nationalists marched through Moscow on Sunday chanting slogans such as "Russia for the Russians" to protest President Vladimir Putin's government, which they accuse of lavishing privileges on migrants and minorities while ignoring ethnic Russians.

Iraqi VP al-Hashemi receives 3rd death sentence

An Iraqi court handed the country's fugitive Sunni vice president a new death sentence on Sunday after finding him guilty of ordering his bodyguards to attack Shiite pilgrims, the latest verdict in a trial that has fueled resentment among Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority.

China's Communists endorse Bo Xilai's expulsion

China's ruling Communist elite have endorsed the expulsion of former high-flying politician Bo Xilai and approved final preparations for the party's upcoming congress.

Hearing to begin Monday for suspect in Afghanistan massacre

The U.S. soldier accused of carrying out one of the worst atrocities of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is due to appear in a military courtroom Monday, where prosecutors will lay out for the first time their case that he slaughtered 16 people, including children, during a predawn raid on two villages in the Taliban's heartland.

Commentary

WEISS: After Benghazi, Muslims attack free speech

It's unclear if the Obama administration's purpose in condemning the now-infamous "anti-Islam YouTube video" was to deflect from Obama's failed Middle East policies, and those of Benghazi in particular, or if it was his intent to "protect Islam from negative stereotypes" as he promised to do in his Cairo speech.

KEPHART: Inviting criminals across the border

Come Jan. 2, 2013, 3,400 Border Patrol agents, 932 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agents, and 802 ICE deportation and removal officers are going to lose their jobs. Unless President Obama forces Congress to break the gridlock on budget decisions, the layoffs are certain.

DANNENFELSER: Women see through Obama's abortion scare tactics

Written off, derided, neglected - and now ruthlessly exploited by the Obama campaign with a tailwind of media bias - the abortion issue may yet be decisive in the 2012 election. Decisive for Gov. Mitt Romney, that is.

HOWARD: Debunking Obama's terrorist narrative

In recent weeks, President Barack Obama has frequently proclaimed success against al Qaeda.

EDITORIAL: Property rights vs. government wrongs

The right to own and profit from private property is under concerted assault from politicians and interest groups seeking new ways to take what you have so they can use it themselves. Virginians have an opportunity Tuesday to make government think twice about trying to take away their homes.