No, Matt Drudge, the McCain Gap Isn't Closing

'Anybody but Obama' not enough for crucial independents in swing states

(NEWSER) - The bruising, highly negative Republican presidential nomination fight appears to be creating a new casualty as the race moves into swing states like Colorado—independent voters, reports the Los Angeles Times . President Obama may have disappointed many voters over the past three years, but the GOP candidates' continuing bashing of each other is turning off a lot of voters even more. Independent voters "want to vote for a Republican, but they've got to like the one we nominate," said a former GOP state chairman. "It's not 'anybody but Obama.'" Independent voters are the dominant political force in Colorado—and other swing states—and appear to be warming to Obama. More»

There are plenty of reasons the president should be worried

(NEWSER) - Democrats, and many pundits, seem to believe that President Obama is rebounding, and will surely win re-election, but Jim Vandehei of Politico isn't buying it. Here's why he thinks the president should be sweating right now:

• The economy: The recent CBO report not only projected another trillion-dollar deficit, it predicted that unemployment will rise to 8.8% in the third quarter—something Obama's own advisers doubt he could recover from.

And Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin is still pretty scary: reactions

(NEWSER) - If you thought Julianne Moore's Sarah Palin was terrifying in the first Game Change teaser , wait until you see her in the full trailer, where she utters lines such as, "We have to win this thing. I so don’t want to go back to Alaska." Watch below, then read on for some reactions:

• This will clearly be "a Frankenstein-esque story about McCain’s staffers coming to regret the choice they made in bringing a little-known governor into the limelight," writes Jon Bershad at Mediaite . "The full trailer ... gives us even more famous actors getting their turn to stare in horror at the 'monster' they’ve created."

Gallup, Rasmussen have him leading Mitt Romney

(NEWSER) - Newt Gingrich can lay claim to the title of frontrunner for real now: Gallup's daily tracking poll has him ahead of Mitt Romney nationally 31-27, reports USA Today , while Rasmussen Reports gives him an ever bigger lead of 35-28. Both surveys credit conservative voters for the Gingrich surge. One caveat: The new polls don't take into account yesterday's debate, in which Romney aggressively went after Gingrich, and the House speaker "seemed to fall flat," notes the Hill . More»

HBO debuts first teaser

(NEWSER) - For all of you who have spent the past nine months wondering how Julianne Moore’s Sarah Palin impersonation will stack up against Tina Fey’s , you finally have your answer. HBO debuted its first teaser trailer for Game Change, the film due in March that's based on the Mark Halperin-John Heilemann book about the 2008 presidential election. Neither Ed Harris as John McCain nor Woody Harrelson as top adviser Steve Schmidt sound much like their real-life counterparts, notes David Jackson in USA Today , but Moore’s Palin is spot-on: Numerous publications including People , New York , the Huffington Post , and Jezebel are fairly impressed. More»