The Note’s Must-Reads for Wednesday October 24, 2012

“After the Debate, Tagg Romney Apologized to the President” Last week the oldest of Mitt Romney’s five sons, Tagg, 42, raised eyebrows when he explained to a radio interviewer what it was like to watch President Obama assail his dad’s truthfulness. Tagg said the comments made him want to “jump out of my seat and … rush down to the debate stage and take a swing at him.” He made the comments to North Carolina radio host Bill LuMaye. .

Boston Globe’s Matt Viser: “Mitt Romney calls president barren of ideas” Mitt Romney Tuesday night came to this tossup swing state and cast his campaign as an inevitable movement that is sweeping across the country. “You see, the president’s status quo campaign, going forward with the same ideas … is why he’s slipped,” Romney said before a crowd of thousands at the Red Rocks Amphitheater on the outskirts of Denver. “And it’s why our campaign is gaining.”

Bloomberg: “Romney Swaps Apology Charge With Obama Jab: Reality Check” President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney made competing assertions during their foreign policy debate yesterday in Boca Raton, Florida. How did they square with the facts? The Claim: Both candidates declared success in turning security in Afghanistan over to that nation’s forces. Romney said the “surge has been successful, and the training program is proceeding apace.” Obama said, “There’s no reason why Americans should die when Afghans are perfectly capable of defending their own country.”

RACE

The New York Daily News’ Celeste Katz In Boca Raton, Fla. AND Jonathan Lemire:”Presidential debate: Determined Obama goes on attack, paints Mitt Romney as reckless and inconsistent in world affairs” President Obama lacerated Mitt Romney Monday during their third and final debate Monday, repeatedly painting his Republican rival as wrong, reckless and inconsistent in world affairs. Romney accused Obama of being ineffective on the global stage — but in a surprise, he soft-pedaled several of his differences with Obama and even agreed with the President on a host of policies. 

The New York Times’ Michael Shear and Helene Cooper: “With Debates Over, Candidates Race to Clinch Vital States” President Obama started making his closing argument for a second term on Tuesday, beginning a furious two-week effort to beat back a late surge by Mitt Romney and hang on to battleground states where voters are already casting ballots in large numbers.

The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker and David Fahrenthold: “Candidates reveal their strategies for the home stretch” On Tuesday, the presidential candidates unveiled their endgames. After a debate season that reversed the two men’s fortunes in the polls, President Obama indicated that he would run in the last two weeks of the race as an underdog. “I don’t want to lose this election,” he told supporters in an e-mail.

Politico’s Alexander Burns: “What the campaigns really meant” Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama have just two weeks to make their closing arguments. There are few if any opportunities left for either candidate to move the 2012 race in a big way. Both campaigns are hoping that either a powerful turnout operation or a perfectly resonant message will tip the race ever so slightly in their direction.

SWING STATES

The Wall Street Journal’s Carole E. Lee. Patrick O’ Connor and Danny Yadron:  “Candidates Battle to Lock Up Key States” Backed by a ramp-up in TV ad purchases, Mitt Romney will spend much of the final two weeks of the campaign presenting himself as a bipartisan bridge-builder, aides said, while President Barack Obama tries to persuade voters that his Republican rival is painting a centrist veneer over conservative policy positions. With the last of their debates behind them, the candidates offered Tuesday a look at the closing arguments they plan to make in the home stretch and where they intend to work hardest to drive them home.

The Hill’s Amie Parnes and Justin Sink: “Obama, Romney battle to define state of tight White House race” President Obama and Mitt Romney battled Tuesday to define the state of the presidential race with just two weeks to go before Election Day.  Senior Obama campaign officials blitzed the airwaves a day after a combative performance by Obama at the third presidential debate, with senior strategist David Axelrod saying his candidate was “even or ahead” in every battleground.

The Los Angeles Times’ Seema Mehta:”Voters in Ohio village skeptical of both Obama and Romney” They gather at this old watering hole every week, watching Steelers games and catching up, talking about their children and grandchildren, layoffs and job prospects, marriages and divorces. With the 2012 presidential election two weeks away and Ohio one of the most vital states on the path to the White House, talk easily turns to politics, and the salty language flows as freely as the Miller Lite.

The Washington Times’ Dave Boyer: “In homestretch, Obama, Romney begin battleground blitz“President Obama lacerated Mitt Romney Monday during their third and final debate Monday, repeatedly painting his Republican rival as wrong, reckless and inconsistent in world affairs. Romney accused Obama of being ineffective on the global stage — but in a surprise, he soft-pedaled several of his differences with Obama and even agreed with the President on a host of policies.