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WASHINGTON -- President Obama is leaning on two of America's favorites -- Bubba and the Boss -- for a little get-out-the-vote action next week in critical swing states. Bruce Springsteen will headline a free event Thursday in the Parma, Ohio, area, where he will be joined by Bill Clinton, before heading for a second show later that day in Ames, Iowa, the Obama campaign announced, as Obama turns to the power of pop culture to get voters to the polls. That same night, the president will make a return visit to "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart"; on Saturday, the campaign released a new TV ad with the unmistakable voice of actor Morgan Freeman.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Mitt Romney lashed out at President Obama and his campaign for saying that the GOP ticket had politicized the killing of an ambassador and three other Americans in Libya, saying Thursday evening that their reaction shows that they do not understand the threats facing  the nation. “They said this and I quote: 'The entire reason this has become the political topic it is, is because of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.' No, President Obama, it's an issue because this is the first time in 33 years that a United States ambassador has been assassinated,” Romney told thousands of supporters in a stadium here.

President Obama may be playing humble these days , but his campaign isn't afraid of puffing its chest a bit. Obama campaign manager Jim Messina on Thursday declared the campaign's operation the “largest and most innovative grass-roots campaign in American political history.” The fact check on that statement will come on Nov. 6. But as the Obama campaign tries to recover from the president's ugly debate performance against Mitt Romney,...

Mitt Romney turned down the volume on abortion as a priority for his campaign this week, but supporters of President Obama said he is falsely downplaying the issue with voters who don't like his opposition to reproductive rights. In an interview with the Des Moines Register published Tuesday, Romney said there is “no legislation with regards to abortion that I'm familiar with that would become part of my agenda.” On Wednesday morning, a top Obama campaign official charged that the former CEO is trying to soften his views in an attempt to "close the deal, just like he did in the boardroom.” “He's trying to soften his image,” said deputy Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter, “not just with women voters but with all voters.” The Romney campaign pushed back against the early reaction to the Register interview, saying there has been no change in the position Romney staked out in the Republican primary. Romney is "proudly pro-life and will be a pro-life president," a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON -- Spurred on by the Democratic National Convention, new donate-by-text capability and an expanding lead in state and national polls, President Obama raised $181 million for his reelection effort in September, his campaign announced Saturday. The immense haul pushes the total raised for the incumbent's campaign this cycle to $947 million, making it a near certainty he'll surpass $1 billion raised for his campaign, the Democratic National Committee and other affiliated campaigns.

It's debate night in America, to borrow the hype-tastic monicker of one of the major cable networks: the first face-to-face meeting between President Obama and GOP challenger Mitt Romney. That means 90 minutes of what are likely to be the most substantive exchanges between the candidates to date, sandwiched between hours of spin. Both parties moved into expectations-setting mode long before the much-anticipated Q&A session in Denver, but nonetheless offered a fresh helping to start the day Wednesday.

WASHINGTON -- After Wednesday night's debate is over, both campaigns will send representatives into the nearby “spin room” to check, challenge and spin the evening's proceedings their way. But the spin game will be an hour and a half old by that point, judging by the campaigns' plans to start the process right when the candidates take the stage. Republican Mitt Romney's campaign will respond to charges lodged against him via Twitter. Where longer responses seem necessary, they'll link to Tumblr, a spokeswoman said.

WASHINGTON - President Obama is on track to be the first $1-billion candidate. The notion seemed almost astounding two years ago, when Republican strategists first predicted Obama could raise that much money for his reelection bid. For their part, Obama campaign officials discounted the idea that they were aiming that high, telling donors that their goal was to bring in “north of $750 million.” Obama surpassed that mark by Aug. 31. By...

WASHINGTON -- One of the big challenges Mitt Romney faced after effectively clinching the GOP presidential nomination in late April was ramping up his campaign to match the behemoth operation President Obama already had in place across the country. The Republican challenger finally caught up last month - at least when measured by money. The Romney campaign spent $4.04 million on payroll in August -- nearly twice as much as it spent in July -- while the Obama campaign spent $4.37 million, according to campaign finance disclosures filed last week with the Federal Election Commission.

COSTA MESA, Calif. - Mitt Romney, speaking to reporters Monday evening at a hastily called news conference meant to blunt the impact of a newly released video, said that he chose his critical words about Obama's supporters poorly but did not back down from their substance. “It's not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. I'm speaking off the cuff in response to a question and I'm sure I can state it more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that,” he said, before calling on the source of the video to release the full recording.