Politics

Rosie Castro was a Mexican-American civil rights activist during the 1970s. She passed down her passion for change to her children: Texas State Representative Joaquin Castro and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. For Hispanic Heritage Month, Rosie Castro speaks with host Michel Martin about the Chicano movement and raising her twin sons.

A poll out from ABC News and The Washington Post on Monday, shows President Obama with a slight edge over GOP nominee Mitt Romney. As the candidates head into Tuesday night's debate, host Michel Martin gets the latest on election news from Republican strategist Ron Christie and Corey Ealons, a former Obama White House advisor.

Last week, we discussed state-by-state differences in online conversations around the issue of unemployment. That analysis of millions of words from news posts, blogs and user comments showed how the conversation in the swing states of Florida, Ohio and Virginia varies greatly because of cultural and socioeconomic factors.

Imagine a lawyer's lawyer, a fighter's fighter and a pol's pol. Now imagine one person as all three. That was Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who died Sunday at age 82.

Over the course of three decades in the U.S. Senate (1981-2011), Specter came to personify the pragmatic, independent operator who sized up the substance and politics of every issue for himself. His vote could be one of the hardest to get, and often the one that made the difference.

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Never mind Election Day, we're in the middle of election season. That's definitely true in Iowa, one of the states that allows early voting and a state that is being fiercely contested. Supporters of both President Obama and his Republican rival, Mitt Romney, are urging people to beat the last-minute rush.

Here's NPR national political correspondent Don Gonyea.

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Something tells me the late Arlen Specter would not mind if we remember him with a joke. Specter was one of the most influential senators of the past half century, but shortly before his death of cancer at age 82, he turned to stand-up comedy, poking fun at fellow politicians like Newt Gingrich.

ARLEN SPECTER: I've known Newt so long, I knew him when he was skinny.

(LAUGHTER)

Since April, more than 825,000 presidential campaign ads have been broadcast in the battleground states. Oddly, the dominant Republican voice on TV hasn't been that of nominee Mitt Romney. The big advertisers are four heavily funded SuperPacs and tax-exempt groups.

More Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders are running for Congress than ever before. A total of 36, including incumbents, launched campaigns this year — more than double the number from a record set just two years ago, according to the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

Of those, a record 21 contenders — 18 Democrats and three Republicans — claimed victories in their primaries and are now vying to represent districts across the nation.

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With only 23 days left until the presidential election, the race is heating up. Thursday, the vice presidential candidates duked it out in their only debate of the campaign season. This Tuesday, President Obama and Governor Romney will face-off at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, for the second of three presidential debates. NPR's Ari Shapiro is on the road with the Romney campaign. Hi, Ari.

ARI SHAPIRO, BYLINE: Hi. How are you doing?