Politics

While the presidential election consumes the nation's attention, the Republican Party is poised to expand its dominance of state politics with this year's contests for governor.

If predictions of strategists in both parties and polling prove correct, the November elections could give the Republicans their highest number of governors in 91 years.

Among the current governors, 29 are Republicans, 20 Democrats and one is an independent. Next month, Republican candidates could take away as many as five governorships from Democrats.

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SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: And I'm Scott Horsley, traveling with President Obama, who's eager to regain the advantage he once enjoyed with women voters. The Obama campaign spent much of yesterday taking Governor Romney to task for what some regard as his out-of-date comments about women in the workplace.

Mr. Obama drove the point home last night in front of 14,000 supporters on a college campus in Athens, Ohio.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

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After their lively town hall debate on Long Island Tuesday night, President Obama and his Republican rival Mitt Romney jetted off in different directions yesterday to rally the faithful and woo the undecided in some key battleground states.

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President Obama spent part of this week's debate pressing his opponent on the federal deficit. Mitt Romney has promised to cut tax rates by 20 percent, but he's vague about how he would do that without making the deficit even bigger. Mr. Obama promised he would raise taxes on the wealthy.

Former Maine Gov. Angus King is convinced that if the math works out he could be the power broker in the U.S. Senate, the independent candidate whose vote will break the political gridlock in Washington. But first he has some explaining to do.

A day after their second presidential debate, President Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney were in different swing states, reprising some of their greatest hits from Tuesday night.

And "hits" is the exactly the right word because each man energetically repeated attacks he made on his rival.

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been firmly anti-abortion during this campaign.

But during Tuesday's debate on Long Island, N.Y., Romney charged that President Obama misrepresented his position on birth control. Here's what Obama said, during what began as a discussion of pay equity for women:

Though she's dipped her toe into the world of TV journalism, we don't hear a lot from Chelsea Clinton about whether she might one day get into the family business.

But now the BBC has posted an interview in which the daughter of former President Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton doesn't rule out getting into politics herself.

It is now clear that we are living in a world of viral memes that take no sides when it comes to spoofing politicians or debate moderators.

So what's a politician to do as the target of a social media parody?

Run with it.

"By kind of winking along with the electorate, you're humanizing, personalizing yourself, authenticating yourself," says Rory O'Connor, author of Friends, Followers and the Future. O'Connor argues that social media will be critical to deciding who is elected as the next president.

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MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:

Presidential campaigns have a way of conferring instant popularity on certain people and phrases.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Big Bird.

BLOCK: Joe the Plumber.

SIEGEL: The economy, stupid.

BLOCK: You didn't build that.

SIEGEL: Well now, add another. During last night's debate, it came from Mitt Romney talking about recruiting women to his cabinet when he was governor of Massachusetts.