Trump’s October Surprise, Malkin Criticizes Coulter, and More

Election Countdown:

With two weeks left to go until Americans head to the polls, top strategists for the Obama and Romney campaigns say they will be primarily spending their money and resources in seven states: Colorado, Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin. So if you happen to live in one of those, prepare to be inundated with campaign ads and phone calls. (Read more)

Balloting Begun: Early voting means that for millions, Monday night’s presidential debate didn’t factor into their decision. The Associated Press reports that so far, roughly 4 million people have cast their ballots in more than two dozen states. (Read more)

The Donald’s Declaration: Donald Trump, King of the Birthers and self-promoter extraordinaire, claims to have yuuuuuuge news about President Obama that will shake up the election. However, he won’t reveal his potential October surprise until Wednesday. But he told Fox News, “It’s going to be very big. I know one thing — you will cover it in a very big fashion.” It’s Fox News, so on that count he’s right. (Read more)

Foreign Relations: The rest of the world wants President Obama to be re-elected, according to a new BBC World Service poll of 21 countries. According to the survey, Obama has a much higher approval rating overseas than Republican nominee Mitt Romney. The most pro-Obama nation was France, where the president had a favorability rating of 72 percent. Pakistan was the only country where respondents said they wanted Romney to win. (Read more)

Hoosiers Halted: Indiana cannot defund Planned Parenthood just because the organization provides abortions, a federal court ruled Tuesday. The Indiana law that the court blocked would have cut off Medicaid funding from Planned Parenthood, leaving many low-income residents in the state without access to medical care. (Read more)

Pundit Putdowns: Conservative commentator Michelle Malkin (among many, many others) rightly pounced on fellow conservative Ann Coulter after Coulter tweeted during Monday night’s debate that President Obama was “a retard.” “What a stupid, shallow thing to say, Ann,” Malkin said. Not going to argue with Malkin over that one. Coulter, meantime, later reiterated her criticism of the president, tweeting that “If he’s ‘the smartest guy in the room’ it must be one retarded room.” (Read more)

Pick St. Nick: Could Santa Claus be headed from the North Pole to the White House? Mr. Claus, a resident of Nevada, will appear as a write-in candidate on the ballot in 15 states. Claus, who legally changed his name from Thomas Patrick O’Connor, promises that, if elected, “he will be the first chief executive to fasten the presidential seal to the back of a flying reindeer sleigh.” (Read more)

Video of the Day: For those who couldn’t get enough of Obama’s “horses and bayonets” comment from Monday night’s debate, here it is set to music. And with that, the debates are officially over.