9/25 Top Political Headlines

*NBC’s FIRST READ: “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.”

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*(NBC News report) In a pre-taped interview for ABC’s The View, President Barack Obama declined to call the lethal attacks on the U.S. Consulate in Libya terrorism despite his administration’s assertion that it was.  The President stated that there are “extremist strains” in the Middle Eastern countries adapting to new governments in the wake of their dictators being overthrown.

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A couple of new battleground polls today from The Washington Post.  In Florida, Obama leads Romney by 4 points (51%-47%).  In Ohio, the President has opened an 8 point lead (52%-44%).

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*WGOG’s new weekly electoral college projection will be released on Wednesday, and it’s expected to show President Obama closing in on the 270 electoral votes needed for victory.  But, NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd says there is a state that could hold to key to everything in 2012.  Todd says Virginia is the “ultimate” swing state.

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*Available on Nook: Elephant in the Room: Washington in the Bush Years by Paul Glastris and Steve Benen.  The book explores why, despite efforts to airbrush him out of today’s political conversation, George W. Bush remains central to it.