Last-Minute Help From Wealthy Donors

Some wealthy donors appear to be acting as a kind of SWAT team for Democratic and Republican candidates by pouring last-minute contributions into competitive House races. These 11th-hour gifts are often their first to these campaigns.

Joseph A. DiMenna Jr., a hedge fund manager, and his wife, Diana, have put at least $40,000 into nine House races since Oct. 17, including the campaigns of Representative Bobby Schilling of Illinois, a conservative freshman facing a tough re-election bid, and Andy Barr, a Republican lawyer from Kentucky, challenging an incumbent Democrat, Ben Chandler.

Previously, the DiMennas had given more than $70,000 to the Romney Victory Fund, which helps Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and Republican Party committees.

David and Susan Duff, who own Pine Bluff Coal in Kentucky, gave at least $30,000 in October to House campaigns in Arizona, California, Florida, Minnesota and New York, including those of Ann Marie Buerkle of New York and Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, both freshman Republicans. The Duffs had donated $60,000 to American Crossroads, a “super PAC” that supports Mr. Romney and other Republican candidates.

Democratic donors are also getting in on the act. One donor, Gilbert Silverman, a Michigan developer, has given at least $33,000 to 27 Democrats in more than a dozen states.

Mary and Steven Swig, a California couple whose business interests include a real estate firm and a lingerie company, sank at least $15,000 this month into seven campaigns in Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. Among those they supported were Representative Betty Sutton, who, as a result of redistricting, is battling a freshman Republican, James B. Renacci, in Ohio.

The Swigs and Mr. Silverman have been major contributors to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, each contributing $30,800.

Video: Romney In His Own Words

From a speech Wednesday at a campaign rally in Tampa, Fla.:

My view is pretty straight forward and that is, I believe that this is time for America to take a different course, that this should be a turning point for our country. And I say that because I look at where we are and with 23 million Americans - you think about that, these are real people, these are folks trying to put food on the table - twenty-three million people struggling to find a good job. This is something that requires in my view a different path than we've been on. Likewise, we have half our kids coming out of college who can't find work. This hasn't happened before in our history. We're at a 30-year low in new business formations. This is a real challenge for a nation that normally grows through innovation and risk-taking and start-ups of all kinds.

We also have one out of six people living in poverty. We need to take a new course. We have 47 million people on food stamps. Think of that - richest country in the history of the earth, largest economy in the world, and yet 47 million people need food stamps? So I believe that this is the year for us to take a different course. I will bring real change and real reform and a presidency that brings us together. Now, I don't just talk about change; I actually have a plan to execute change and to make it happen.

Go back to related article '

Total Cost of Election Could Be $6 Billion

The total cost of the 2012 election could reach $6 billion, according to estimates from a leading research organization, which would obliterate the previous record by more than $700 million.

The increase has largely been driven by rapidly increased spending among “super PACs” and outside groups that can raise unlimited amounts of money from donors. Spending by outside groups could reach to more than $970 million for the 2012 cycle, although precise estimates are difficult because the rate of spending by outside groups has been rising so quickly since Labor Day

But even that increase could substantially understate the total. While super PACs - political committees that sprang into being after the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United ruling - spent at least $539.4 million through Oct. 31, hundreds of millions of dollars more are being spent below the radar by groups that do not register with the Federal Election Commission and purport to focus on educational, not political, activities. Such groups spent at least $203 million in the last two months, a window during which federal law requires formal disclosure of any expenditures that mention a candidate, and they spent even more earlier in the campaign cycle, on “issue ads” that are not subject to disclosure. Measured merely by the spending that is disclosed, three of the top six outside groups in 2012 are issue groups that are not required to publicly reveal their donors.

“One thing we can say for certain is that the transparency the Supreme Court relied upon to justify this new framework has been sorely lacking,” said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, which released the estimates on Wednesday.

The center said that the presidential election would likely account for about $2.6 billion in total spending, including spending by the candidates, parties, and outside groups. That figure would represent a decrease from 200 8, in part because of lower spending by candidates in the primaries: President Obama, the incumbent, had no significant opposition, and the Republican candidates on the whole raised much less than the field did in 2008. But total spending by the two parties and their nominees through Election Day is likely to easily outpace 2008, because neither Mr. Obama nor Mitt Romney is accepting public financing and spending caps for the general election.

Perhaps the biggest expansion of outside spending has been in the battle for the House and Senate this year. Between 2008 and 2012 - neither a midterm election - independent expenditures in the House and Senate races increased from $46 million to $445 million, a tenfold increase that does not include issue ads run early in the cycle to soften up incumbents of both parties.

Follow Nicholas Confessore on Twitter at @nickconfessore.

App Snapshots: Storm Diversions

Returning to normal life, for many, has been a struggle after the storm, and there might not be as much time as usual for politics. So ease back in slowly with some lighter news you might have missed, plus some unusual insights into the race in the key states of Florida and Ohio. We collect the best of it all, essential and diversionary on the Election 2012 app.

BATTLEGROUNDS

• In Florida, ‘Cuban Conundrum' Vexes Pollsters - and Obama
  President Obama comfortably leads Mitt Romney among Hispanics nationwide, but only narrowly in Florida - thanks to conservative Cuban-American voters. (The Miami Herald)
• In Ohio, Teachers Run for Statehouse - and Could Give Obama a Boost
  A surge of candidacies by Democratic teachers is a byproduct of last year's voter referendum repealing a stat e law that would have curbed public employees' bargaining rights. Another byproduct is reusing teacher phone banks from that effort to support Mr. Obama. (NPR)

2016
During a stop at a diner in Florida, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. made a joke - we think - about his White House intentions.

• Biden Already Thinking About 2016
  “Look, I'm not trying to talk you into voting for me, I just wanted to say hi to you. And after it's all over, when your insurance rates go down, then you'll vote for me in 2016. I'll talk to you later,” Mr. Biden said to a Florida Republican. (The Hill)

VIRAL VIDEO
A video of a girl's tearful frustration with the election is quickly becoming an Internet sensation. Also, a look at a campaign aide out to make viral videos of opponents' gaffes.

• Video: ‘Tired of Bronco Bamma and Mitt Romney'
  A 4-year-old in Colorado bursts into tears after hearing one too many election stories on NPR. (YouTube)
• Dear Little Girl: Sorry We Made You Cry About ‘Bronco Bamma' and Mitt Romney
  NPR apologizes. (NPR)
• A Day in the Life of a Campaign Tracker
  “You truly never know when a seemingly innocuous statement will eventually emerge as a major issue,” writes a tracker, who follows the opposition to record their every word. (Marketplace)

10 House Races to Watch

Weary of the race for the White House? You're not alone! So, how about dialing into some of the most exciting House races of 2012?

Thanks to the powerful force of gerrymandering, the vast majority of the hundreds of races around the country are anti-climactic, with the party registration numbers in each Congressional district dictating the outcome. Republicans appear poised to hold their majority in the House, but Democrats are likely to pick up at least a few seats. Many races, though, mirror the fight for the presidency - tight, exciting and riddled with tough advertisements. While there are more than 10 competitive races, some of them even closer than the ones we have listed list here, these House races are 10 worth watching.

California's 15th District
History and tradition suggest that Representative Pete Stark, who has served nearly four decades, should cruise to re-election, and maybe indeed he will. But this race is on the radar screen because Mr. Stark, who has not faced a serious challenge in years, has been knocked off his game many times by competition - a situation illustrated by his announcement at California newspaper editorial board meeting, absent any proof, that some of its members had donated to his primary opponent. No Republican qualified in the California primary for this race, so Mr. Stark, 81, will have to beat back a Dublin City Council member, Eric Swalwell, a perky 31-year-old prosecutor with the stomach for a fight.

California's 36th District
For eight terms, Representative Mary Bono Mack, the Republican incumbent, has won in this largely blue state, and redistricting seemed to favor another good outcome for her. But she found herself in a scrappy fight against the Democrat, Dr. Raul Ruiz, an emergency room physician. Latinos make up nearly a third of the district's voters, and Ms. Bono Mack, one of the most moderate Republicans in the House may have boo-booed when she said on the campa ign trail that she would reach out to Latinos “after the election.” Twist: If she loses, and her husband, Representative Connie Mack of Florida, fails in his Senate bid, they will be a married Congressional couple out of work.

Colorado's 6th District
As goes this district, so likely goes the presidential candidate in this western bellwether state. Representative Mike Coffman, a favorite of the Tea Party movement, is known for his colorful statements, including calling into question President Obama's American-ness, and his path to a third term narrowed after political mapmakers redrew his overwhelmingly Republican district to include near-equal amounts of registered Republican, Democratic and independent voters. His Democratic rival, Joe Miklosi, a state lawmaker, has struggled to raise money for his own campaign and has had to rely on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to keep afloat. (Colorado Race Turns Fierce Aft er Republican's Anti-Obama Remark, Oct. 30)

Florida's 18th District
Representative Allen B. West is one of the few nationally known freshmen Republicans, a former Army officer who in 2010 became one of only two black Republicans to be elected to the House since Reconstruction. A Tea Party favorite who works the talk-show circuit and is a fund-raising powerhouse, he is in a too-close-to-call contest with a wealthy construction executive, Patrick Murphy, and Democrats would love to see Mr. West go. This race has also featured some of the nastiest ads, in a year with a high bar for that.

Illinois's 17th District
Among the many lawmakers who came to Washington with no political experience, Representative Bobby Schilling was among the most unlikely. The affable pizzeria-owning father of 10 won in a district near the Iowa border that had not elected a Republican in nearly 30 years, and Illinois Democrats drew him into an even tougher district this year, mak ing him one of the most vulnerable incumbents. But his opponent Cheri Bustos, a former East Moline alderwoman and close ally of Senator Richard J. Durbin, has had to work hard to fight Mr. Schilling, who has tried to charm the working-class voters in this district. The race has remained a nail-biter, though Democrats think this one is in the bag. (Ex-Outsiders, Running on Record in Congress, Oct. 28)

Iowa's 3rd District
This race was the war of the nice guys. Iowa lost a seat after the 2010 census, and two veteran incumbents - Representatives Leonard L. Boswell, a Democrat, and Tom Latham, a Republican - found themselves facing off in a new district made up of a nearly equal number of Republican, Democratic and independent voters. The cash advantage went to Mr. Latham, who got a ton of fund-raising help from his B.F.F., House speaker, John A. Boehner. But more of the district is currently held by Mr. Boswell, and Mr. Obama enjoys a narrow edge in the state.

Georgia's 12th District
The last white Democrat laboring in the deep South, Representative John Barrow has hung on through every attack that Republicans have launched over the course of four terms. This year, he is forced to compete in an even more Republican district, and has worked to emphasize his Blue Dog status and his “I vote my district not with the president” cred. His opponent is Lee Anderson, a state representative who nabbed the Republican nomination by a mere 159 votes in a primary runoff, and Mr. Barrow has given as hard as he has gotten in this close race.

Massachusetts's 6th District
So, an openly gay Republican member of the House from Massachusetts? Get ready, as it could happen. Representative John F. Tierney, an eight-term Democrat, should have cruised to re-elected, but he has been dogged with nagging questions about his in-laws' illegal offshore gambling enterprise. His opponent is the former state senator Richard Tisei, an openly gay Republican who supports abortion rights, and polling shows Mr. Tisei heading into the last month of his campaign with a strong lead.

New York's 27th District
There are many close races in New York, and a few involving freshmen, but the first-term incumbent, Representative Kathy Hochul, is considered among the most vulnerable Democrats in the country. Ms. Hochul, a former county clerk, won her seat in a closely watched special election in a conservative district in the Buffalo area last year in a race that was viewed nationally as a referendum on a Republican proposal in Washington to overhaul Medicare. This year, redistricting has given her an even more Republican district than the one she had and her well-known Republican opponent, Chris Collins, the former Erie County executive, has gotten a lot of help from his party.

Utah's 4th District
Representative Jim Matheson, one of the last remaining Blue Dogs, is used to winning in a district and stat e where the Republican nominee for president always prevails. But this time, Mr. Matheson is in a battle against Mayor Mia Love of Saratoga Springs, who is looking to become the first African-American woman ever to join the House of Representatives as a Republican. Ms. Love is sure to have big coattails from Mitt Romney to ride, and her party is giving her strong support, but incumbency is not without its benefits, even in this district. (Utah Mayor Hopes Star Turn, and Romney's Star Power, Lift Her to the House, Oct. 31)

- All New York Times House Race Ratings

Christie Greets Obama in New Jersey Prior to Touring Storm-Ravaged Coast

Doug Mills/The New York Times President Obama greeted Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey in Atlantic City.

Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, greeted President Obama as he emerged from Air Force One on Wednesday for a joint tour of the state's devastated coast.

The two shook hands at the bottom of the stairs from the president's plane, and Mr. Obama patted the governor on the back several times. Craig Fugate, the head of FEMA, also shook hands with Mr. Christie.

Mr. Christie and Mr. Obama talked to each other as they walked to Marine One, the president's helicopter, for the brief ride to the storm-damaged area. Mr. Obama gestured to Mr. Christie to board the helicopter first.

The tour of the area was expected to last about an hour.

Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.

Jobs Report Will Be Released Friday as Planned

Labor Report on Jobs to Arrive Friday on Schedule

WASHINGTON - The October jobs report - the most anticipated piece of economic data still to be released before the election - will come out as scheduled on Friday morning, the government said Wednesday.

The hurricane had shut down government offices on Monday and Tuesday, and threatened to delay the release of the monthly jobs numbers. That led to hand-wringing in the presidential campaigns and even some accusations that the Obama administration might delay the numbers for its political benefit.

But a Labor Department spokesman said Wednesday in an e-mail message that the report would come out as planned, at 8:30 a.m. E.S.T. on Friday.

Economists expect the jobs figures to show slow, steady employment growth, the product of an anemic but persistent recovery, with the unemployment rate remaining about where it is in the coming months, and employers expected to add workers too slowly to pull the overall jobless rate down further.

Last month, the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent, the lowest since President Obama took office. Regardless of the results, the numbers will immediately become headline fodder for an Obama campaign looking to trumpet a 25th consecutive month of job growth and a Romney campaign looking to underscore the historical weakness of the recovery and the failure of Mr. Obama's economic policies.

Economists estimate that the report will show that the economy added around 100,000 jobs in October, though there is a large margin of error in any given report. Recently the economy has been adding jobs at a pace of about 90,000 a month.

Recent economic data has been mixed, with manufacturing and exports showing significant weakness but consumer spending and confidence on the rise.

Lost Phones Flares As The Battery Dies

Many smartphones and tablets have some kind of tracking software that allows owners to find lost or stolen gear â€" as long as the device's battery is charged.

But it's a common scenario for the battery die before they can find it.

A mobile security software suite called Lookout offers a solution to that problem with an app called “Signal Flare.” When a battery is about to die, Signal Flare sends its location to Lookout. You can go to the Web site to find where the phone was when it shut down.

This week Signal Flare is being added to the free Lookout app for Apple products. It has been available for Android devices for some time.

The Apple and free Android versions are very similar. They protec t devices from attacks, they backup contacts, and locate lost phones both through Signal Flare and through an app called “Scream,” which causes the phone to emit a loud siren sound while the screen flashes.

A premium version of Lookout for Android adds protective browsing that guards the phone from unsafe Web sites, locks and wipes out the phone's data remotely, provides a “privacy advisor” that tells you what information various apps access, and backups your photographs. The cost is $3 a month or $30 a year.

The product can manage a mix of devices, so a household with both Apple and Android products can manage them from a single account.

Poll Watch: Track the Polls In the Race\'s Final Days

Less than one week to Election Day, national polls are showing a close race betweenPresident Obama and Mitt Romney among likely voters in a number of polls. Check back here daily to track the race as it heads into its final days.

Q&A: Sticking With Windows 7

Q.

With Windows 8 here, how long will Microsoft still sell Windows 7?

A.

Microsoft's latest edition of the Windows operating system has just landed, but Windows 7 is not going anywhere soon. As explained on Microsoft's site, copies of Windows 7 will be available for retail purchase for another year, and PC manufacturers then have an additional year to keep selling Windows 7 installed on new computers.

The company has long-term technical support plans for Windows 7 too. According to the Microsoft Support Lifecycle page for Windows 7, mainstream support lasts through Jan. 13, 2015, and provides paid and free support, warranty claims, security patches and feature updates. Extended support, which includes feature updates and warranty claims, continues through Jan. 14, 2020.

Microsoft does allow plenty of transition time to new systems. Extended support for Windows XP, which arrived in 2001, is scheduled to fin ally end in April 2014.

Motorola Maxxes Out, This Time in HD

Bebeto Matthews/Associated Press The Droid Razr Maxx HD

Motorola's flagship Droid RAZR Maxx has been updated and reissued as the Droid RAZR Maxx HD, and the company continues to aim for the iPhone's soft spots.

At the top of the list is battery life. The RAZR Maxx HD claims the same 21 hours of talk time as the prior model. That's an estimated 32 hours of “mixed use,” a formula based on a study of how people use their phones. As a very light user, I found it lasted several days without a charge.

The Maxx HD also has the Google goodies that were banished from the iPhone, like Google Maps and Google Talk, and it uses the speedy Google Chrome as its default browser. It also has the latest YouTub e app, which you won't find on the iPhone.

While the Maxx HD comes with the Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, it will be among the first to upgrade to the Jelly Bean operating system at the end of the year. Jelly Bean will add Google Now, an app that learns how a phone is used and provides alerts based on where the user is and what that person is doing; voice search, which is Google's version of Siri; and actionable notifications, which build in shortcuts for dealing with alerts.

The phone comes with 32 gigabytes of built-in storage, and a slot that will accommodate an additional 32 gigabytes in a microSD card.

The Maxx HD has a slightly faster processor than the older Maxx, at 1.5 gigahertz versus 1.2 gigahertz for the prior phone.

It also has a slightly larger Amoled screen than the old Maxx, 4.7-inch, 720p to the old version's 4.3-inch screen. Video played smoothly, clearly and without interruption.

The main camera is eight-megapix el, with an LED flash; the front-facing camera is a 1.3-megapixel.

It is 4G LTE compatible and works with 3G, 2G and many overseas networks.

It has a comfortable heft and and the Kevlar back is coated with a soft material.

Also unlike the iPhone, it's available only at Verizon, for $300 with a two-year contract.

The Early Word: Countdown

Today's Times

• The latest poll of likely voters by Quinnipiac University/The New York Times/CBS News, along with interviews with strategists and supporters in the three battleground states, illustrates the dynamic facing both campaigns in the final days of the race, Jeff Zeleny and Dalia Sussman report. In Ohio, President Obama has a slight edge, and the race is essentially tied in Florida and Virginia.

• For a president locked in a razor-thin battle for re-election, the storm has presented Mr. Obama with a moment â€" both promising and perilous â€" to project the image of a leader responding forcefully to a crisis and to shift the tone of a campaign that had settled into a grinding slog to Election Day, Mark Landler writes.

• Just a year ago, Mia Love was an unheard-of mayor in Utah. Now, she could be the first black Republican woman in the House, with humble beginnings and Tea Party credentials to boot, Jennifer Steinhauer reports.

• The storm that ravaged the East Coast has pushed the presidential campaign into a delicate and ambiguous phase, with many Americans watching an improvised leadership test for both candidates as they navigate the politics of a natural disaster, Michael Barbaro and Michael D. Shear report.

• Many election officials in storm-battered states are asking themselves how to get ready for Election Day next week as early voting sites have been closed and postal service disruptions are threatening to slow the delivery of absentee ballots, Michael Cooper reports. In an age in which the voting process depends heavily on electricity, the obstacles are formidable.

 Happenings in Washington

• The Labor Department will release the third-quarter employment cost index.

• The Supreme Court will hear arguments in two cases about the use of drug-sniffing dogs.

 

Poll: Democratic Senate Candidates Lead in Ohio, Florida and Virginia

The Democratic candidates for Senate in Florida, Ohio and Virginia are leading their Republican challengers, according to the latest Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News polls of likely voters, which complicates efforts by Republicans to win a Senate majority.

Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, holds an advantage over Josh Mandel, the state treasurer. Mr. Brown was the choice of 51 percent of likely voters to 42 percent for Mr. Mandel. Six percent said they were undecided.

In Virginia, a race between two former governors, Tim Kaine, a Democrat, holds a narrow edge over George Allen, a Republican. Mr. Kaine was the choice of 50 percent to 46 percent for Mr. Allen. Four percent said they were undecided.

In Florida, Senator Bill Nelson, a Democrat, holds a wider lead over Representative Connie Mack, a Republican. Mr. Nelson was the choice of 52 percent to 39 percent for Mr. Mack.

The polls, which were conduc ted Oct. 23 to 28 by landline and cellphone, have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

Follow Jeff Zeleny on Twitter at @jeffzeleny.

Another Republican Group Buys Pennsylvania Air Time

Another major Republican player is making a big bet that Mitt Romney has a chance at winning Pennsylvania.

Americans for Prosperity, the conservative advocacy group that is backed by the Koch brothers, will spend $1.5 million to run commercials criticizing President Obama there.

Pennsylvania has suddenly become a hotbed of action in the presidential race, after appearing largely out of play for the last few months.

But with polls showing Mr. Romney closing in on the president's lead there, Republican groups have rushed to get on the air and forced the Obama campaign to spend more it they had hoped to defend its position.

Restore Our Future and Americans for Job Security, two super PACs backing Mr. Romney, and the Republican Jewish Coalition are all spending large sums of money to advertise there.

Their moves prompted the Obama campaign to announce on Monday that it would shift resources to the state. As of Tuesday afternoon, the campaign had r eserved about $1.1 million in commercial time.

The new Americans for Prosperity campaign will add even more pressure on the president.

“The president likes to say, ‘Look at the math,'” said Tim Phillips, the group's president. “Well, when you look at the math in Pennsylvania, it's dangerous for the president.”

Mr. Phillips said Republicans believe the president's standing among women is particularly vulnerable now, and that much of his group's advertising effort will be aimed at reaching undecided women in the Philadelphia suburbs.

The group will run two ads. One features former supporters of the president's who explain why they have since changed their minds. The other features a Canadian woman who says that her country's government-run health care system prevented her from receiving valuable treatment.

Americans for Prosperity will also spend another $1.5 million advertising in Michigan.

The Caucus Click: For Biden, It\'s On to Florida

Josh Haner/The New York Times Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. spoke to reporters before boarding his flight on Tuesday from Columbus, Ohio, to Sarasota, Fla.

Obama and Christie to Assess Damage in New Jersey

President Obama will join Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, in viewing damage of the storm on Wednesday, the White House announced Tuesday as Mr. Obama praised relief efforts at a Red Cross headquarters in Washington.

The president canceled campaign rallies that had been scheduled for Wednesday. Instead, Mr. Obama will join with Mr. Christie - who has been one of his harshest Republican critics - in talking with victims of the storm and thanking first responders, officials said.

That announcement came moments after the president described what he called the “heartbreaking” hardship from the storm that he and other Americans witnessed during the past 24 hours.

“America is with you,” the president said to the victims of the storm living states across the mid-Atlantic and the Northeast. “Obviously this is something that is heartbreaking for the entire nation.”

Mr. Obama's visit to the Red Cross and the announcement of a tour of the damage on Wednesday comes at the beginning of the final seven days of the presidential campaign. The president is locked in a tight battle with Mitt Romney, according to national polls and surveys in battleground states.

Mr. Christie had been one of the president's most ardent critics until the storm's arrival. In the last 24 hours, he has praised Mr. Obama's leadership and the administration's actions to speed relief resources to New Jersey.

At the Red Cross, Mr. Obama said his message to officials in the federal government is ” “no bureaucracy. No red tape.” And he federal officials are “going to continue to push as hard as we can” to provide resources to places like Newark, New Jersey, where there are major power outages.

He praised the work of emergency responders, and singled out workers at a New York hospital who he noted were “carrying fragile newborns to safety” after power backup systems fai led Monday night.

He also praised firefighters who waded into deep water to save people's lives in the aftermath of the storm.

Romney Campaign Doubles Down on Auto Bailout Attacks

The Romney campaign is continuing to attack President Obama's effort to rescue the auto industry, arguing in a new radio commercial that the federal government's $80 billion assistance plan actually helped China more than it did the United States.

The commercial, which is running in Ohio, asserts that the bailout allowed General Motors and Chrysler to boost their production in China, where both companies plan to build more vehicles.

“Barack Obama says he saved the auto industry. But for who? Ohio or China?” the commercial asks. “What happened to the promises made to auto workers in Toledo and throughout Ohio?  The same hard-working men and women who were told that Obama's auto bailout would help them?”

What the ad leaves unsaid is that the auto industry bailout has also enabled General Motors and Chrysler to add thousands of new jobs in the United States, including in Ohio.

Chrysler hit back on Tuesday against the suggestion by the Romney c ampaign that it was adding jobs in China at the expense of American workers. A television ad running in Ohio implied that Chrysler was doing just that, drawing a response from Sergio Marchionne, the company's chief executive, that those claims were inaccurate.

“I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China,” Mr. Marchionne wrote in an e-mail to employees.

New Poll Gives Warren the Edge in Massachusetts Senate Race

BOSTON - A poll released Tuesday by Suffolk University shows Elizabeth Warren with the support of 53 percent of likely voters compared with 46 percent for Senator Scott P. Brown in the hard-fought Massachusetts Senate race.

The lead for Ms. Warren falls within the margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points.

The Suffolk poll follows one released Monday by The Boston Globe that showed Mr. Brown with 45 percent of likely voters and Ms. Warren with 43 percent. Most polls in recent weeks have given the edge to Ms. Warren.

The candidates were scheduled to face each other Tuesday night for one last time in their fourth and final debate, but Mr. Brown pulled out Monday, saying it was inappropriate to engage in politics while Hurricane Sandy threatened serious damage. Ms. Warren followed suit, announcing that the focus should be on public safety.

Nonetheless, both candidates continued to run attack ads against each other on television, the result of their having already bought the time.

The debate sponsors, a consortium of news outlets, said they were working with the campaigns to try to reschedule the debate, though with the election one week away, time was short. Ms. Warren issued a statement Tuesday afternoon saying she believed a debate “should occur” and that she would be available Thursday night, putting the ball in Mr. Brown's court.

While Massachusetts escaped the devastation that the storm delivered to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, there were still a considerable number of power failures as well as coastal flooding. Mr. Brown scheduled seven stops throughout the state on Tuesday to assess the damage, a schedule announced by his Senate office as opposed to his campaign office to emphasize the official nature of his appearances. Ms. Warren, a Harvard Law professor who does not hold public office, announced she would be visiting flooded are as in Westport and Scituate.

Follow Katharine Q. Seelye on Twitter at @kseelye.

Chrysler CEO: Jeep Production Isn\'t Moving to China

Chrysler's chief executive on Tuesday strongly refuted claims that production of Jeeps would shift to China, an insistence that cast further doubt on the Romney campaign's recent efforts to undercut President Obama's support for the auto industry as it fights for Ohio's 18 electoral votes.

In an e-mail to employees, the chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, said that Jeep's commitment to the United States was unequivocal. “I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position: Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China,” he wrote. “It is inaccurate to suggest anything different.”

Mr. Marchionne's response - an unusually forceful gesture from the chief executive of a major American corporation a week before Election Day - came as the politics of the auto bailout took center stage in the presidential campaign.

The Romney campaign has come under considerable criticism in recent days for taking liberties with the facts in a new te levision commercial that suggests Jeep, a recipient of federal bailout money, will soon outsource American jobs to China. Chrysler, Jeep's parent company, does not in fact have plans to cut its American work force but is considering opening a facility in China where it would produce Jeeps for sale locally.

Mr. Marchionne said that those efforts would only bolster the strength of Chrysler in the United States, not undermine it.

“Jeep is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change,” he said.

The politics of the auto bailout have become a vexing problem for Mr. Romney as he competes fiercely with President Obama for Ohio. Mr. Obama carried the state in 2008 with just 51.2 percent of the vote and has remained ahead of Mr. Romney in many recent polls, a strength that is due in some measure to the rebound of the auto industry.

Mr. Romney opposed the bailout, most famously in a New York Times op-ed that carried the headline “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” Mr. Romney did not write the headline; the newspaper did. But even his supporters in the Midwest have questioned his logic in arguing that Chrysler and General Motors should have been denied federal assistance, which he deemed at the time “a handout.”

The Romney campaign has insisted that its most recent ad - which is carefully worded enough that it is not factually inaccurate - merely states the truth: that Jeeps are not currently made in China but will be soon. But the ad makes no mention of the point Mr. Marchionne and others have made, which is that no American jobs will be lost.

The memo from Mr. Marchionne is below:

Chrysler Group's production plans for the Jeep® brand have become the focus of public debate.

I feel obliged to unambiguously restate our position:  Jeep production will not be moved from the United States to China.

North American production is critical to achieving o ur goal of selling 800,000 Jeep vehicles by 2014. In fact, U.S. production of our Jeep models has nearly tripled (it is expected to be up 185%) since 2009 in order to keep up with global demand.

We also are investing to improve and expand our entire U.S. operations, including our Jeep facilities. The numbers tell the story:

n  We will invest more than $1.7 billion to develop and produce the next generation Jeep SUV, the successor of the Jeep Liberty - including $500 million directly to tool and expand our Toledo Assembly Complex and will be adding about 1,100 jobs on a second shift by 2013.

n  At our Jefferson North Assembly Plant, where we build the Jeep Grand Cherokee, we have created 2,000 jobs since June 2009 and have invested more than $1.8 billion.

n  In Belvidere, where we build two Jeep models, we have added two shifts since 2009 resulting in an additional 2,600 jobs.

With the increase in demand for our vehicles, especially Jeep b randed vehicles, we have added more than 11,200 U.S. jobs since 2009.  Plants producing Jeep branded vehicles alone have seen the number of people invested in the success of the Jeep brand grow to more than 9,300 hourly jobs from 4,700. This will increase by an additional 1,100 as the Liberty successor, which will be produced in Toledo, is introduced for global distribution in the second quarter of 2013.

Together, we are working to establish a global enterprise and previously announced our intent to return Jeep production to China, the world's largest auto market, in order to satisfy local market demand, which would not otherwise be accessible. Chrysler Group is interested in expanding the customer base for our award-winning Jeep vehicles, which can only be done by establishing local production. This will ultimately help bolster the Jeep brand, and solidify the resilience of U.S. jobs.

Jeep is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change. So much so that we committed that the iconic Wrangler nameplate, currently produced in our Toledo, Ohio plant, will never see full production outside the United States.

Jeep assembly lines will remain in operation in the United States and will constitute the backbone of the brand.

It is inaccurate to suggest anything different.

Sergio Marchionne

In Wake of Storm, Christie Breaks From Attacks to Praise Obama

Chris Christie was supposed to be one of Mitt Romney‘s most aggressive surrogates, constantly attacking President Obama in the waning days of the presidential campaign.

Instead, the governor of New Jersey has spent the last eight hours repeatedly heaping praise on Mr. Obama for effectively leading the federal government's response to the monster storm that slammed into his state on Monday.

Eight days ago, Mr. Christie described Mr. Obama as “blindly walking around the White House looking for a clue.” On Tuesday morning, he was effusive about Mr. Obama's administration, calling the storm response “wonderful,” “excellent” and “outstanding.”

The overnight transformation of Mr. Christie from political slasher to disaster governor is a reflection of the magnitude of the devastation that struck New Jersey when the storm smashed into the state's coast. Asked on Fox News whether Mr. Romney might tour damage of the state, Mr. Christie was dismissive.

“I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested. I have a job to do in New Jersey that is much bigger than presidential politics,” Mr. Christie said. “If you think right now I give a damn about president politics, then you don't know me.”

But some Republicans have already begun grumbling about Mr. Christie's over-the-top praise of the president at such a crucial time in the election. One Republican in Washington said Mr. Christie could have simply expressed appreciation for what any president would have done. Another Republican strategist observed that Mr. Christie's kind words for the president were delivered with the kind of gusto that he often uses to criticize Mr. Obama.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Christie, who was scheduled to tour damage along the New Jersey coast, dec lined to comment about presidential politics.

Aides to Mr. Romney declined to criticize Mr. Christie, saying that they recognized the need for the governor to focus on the efforts to rescue his residents and begin recovering from the storm. Kevin Madden, a spokesman for Mr. Romney, noted that Mr. Christie said “this isn't a time for politics.”

And yet, the presidential campaign marches forward in spite of the storm. And it looks like Mr. Romney's campaign may have to do without Mr. Christie's powerful voice in the homestretch.

At a rally in Richmond, Virginia last week, Mr. Christie lashed out at the president in the way that few of Mr. Romney's surrogates can. He seized on Mr. Obama's previous comment about not being able to effect change from inside the White House and offered to buy him an airplane ticket back to Chicago.

He said the president had never learned how to lead anything, having served as a community organizer, state legislator and o ne-term senator.

“He's like a man wandering around a dark room, hands up against the wall, clutching for the light switch of leadership and he just can't find it,” Mr. Christie said at the rally.

That likely would have been the message that Mr. Christie delivered repeatedly during the final days of the presidential campaign. But the storm's arrival - and the damage it inflicted on Mr. Christie's constituents - have changed that dynamic.

In several appearances on morning news programs on Tuesday, Mr. Christie went out of his way to thank the president personally in addition to praising the operation of the federal government and its response teams.

“It's been very good working with the president,” Mr. Christie said on MSNBC's “Morning Joe” program. “He and his administration have been coordinating with us. It's been wonderful.”

Speaking about the damage to his state on NBC's “Today” show, Mr. Christie called the president “o utstanding” and said the response from F.E.M.A. had been “excellent.”

In a Twitter message from his official account, Mr. Christie said he wanted to “thank the President personally for all his assistance as we recover from the storm.”

Mr. Romney's campaign had said on Monday that the Republican presidential candidate had talked with Mr. Christie and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, as the storm approached over the weekend. Mr. Christie did not mention on Tuesday his conversations with Mr. Romney.

Follow Michael D. Shear on Twitter at @shearm.

Obama Oversees Disaster Response

WASHINGTON â€" President Obama worked through much of Monday night to oversee the federal response to Hurricane Sandy, telephoning state and local leaders in New York and New Jersey and signing federal disaster declarations for both states, according to the White House.

After abruptly leaving the campaign trail on Monday to fly home to Washington, Mr. Obama spent the day in briefings in the White House Situation Room, and spoke with Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Mayor Cory Booker of Newark.

His last of three calls to Mr. Christie came at midnight, the governor said on Tuesday, hours after the storm made landfall on the Jersey coast. “The president's been all over this,” Mr. Christie said on “Morning Joe,” “He deserves great credit.”

Mr. Christie said he asked Mr. Obama to expedite the process of declaring New Jersey a major disaster area, which would provide additional federa l support, as well as direct financial assistance to people in hard-hit areas.

At 2 a.m., the governor said, he got a call from officials in Washington clearing the last bureaucratic hurdles to a declaration, and at 5:44 a.m., the White House issued a statement saying the president had signed the order, which will free up funds to aid in recovery in eight counties of New Jersey.

Fifteen minutes earlier, the White House announced that Mr. Obama signed an order declaring New York a major disaster area. Hours earlier, the president declared states of emergency in Virginia and West Virginia, which authorizes the Federal Emergency Management Authority and other federal agencies to aid in the response.

Insect Robots, Just in Time for Halloween

Remote-controlled cars, trucks and helicopters are common these days. Insects, on the other hand, are relatively new on the scene.

Hexbug Scarab XL and Spider XL ($40 each, from www.hexbug.com) are big brother editions of their tiny button-cell counterparts, with many more features. Powered by AA batteries, the robots come in your choice of colors of translucent plastic, allowing you to see the fascinating gear-driven mechanics of each of the legs, as they work in concert to create forward motion.

Of the two, the spider is the more sophisticated, with a LED eye on a head that turns 360 degrees like a gun turret, allowing it to move in a complete circle. But the faster Scarab can pop from its back to its feet if it is place d upside down.

The remote control, powered by a single nine-volt battery, makes steering easy. It offers three forward moving speeds (slow, medium and fast) and one reverse speed, and two channels, allowing multiple bugs to be operated independently or at the same time. Both are in stores now, in case you want to infest your Halloween decorations.

Q&A: Moving Pictures on the Web

Q.

What is the technical difference between an animated GIF and a video?

A.

Both types of files show moving images, but they differ in several areas. An animated GIF, which is a series of still pictures (frames) combined together to create action or motion, does not contain sound like most video formats do.

Because of limitations in the file format, a GIF can support only 256 colors, giving it much less color depth than most video file formats. Video files typically have at least 24 frames per second or higher to create fluid motion in a wide range of colors. Animated GIF files are generally smaller than the average video file, which led to their relative popularity in the early days of the Web when dial-up connections were too slow to handle much (if any) streaming video.

Despite their limitations, animated GIFs are enjoying something of a renaissance lately, as people use the format to create humorous In ternet memes or low-resolution video clips of events. The Tumblr site even hosted a “live GIF” event to capture moments from the recent presidential debates. In case you want to give GIF-animating a try, several sites and programs available around the Web have tutorials or software to convert regular video clips (or a collection of images) into animated GIF files.

Senator Scott Brown Pulls Out of Debate

BOSTON - Senator Scott P. Brown's campaign announced Monday afternoon that he would not participate in his fourth and final debate with Elizabeth Warren, his Democratic challenger, on Tuesday night, citing Hurricane Sandy.

“It is simply not appropriate to go forward with a political debate when a disaster strikes,” Colin Reed, a spokesman for Mr. Brown, said in a statement.

The announcement came with little notice to the debate sponsors, a consortium of Massachusetts media outlets.

The Warren campaign subsequently issued a statement saying that Ms. Warren agreed that safety was paramount and that the debate should not be held.

A poll in The Boston Globe on Monday showed Mr. Brown, above, in a dead heat with Ms. Warren, a positive turn of events for the Republican, who had been trailing in most recent polls.

Still, some political experts said Mr. Brown's pullout seemed risky.

“He appears to be slightly down in this race and he could use a big debate to change the dynamic,” said Rob Gray, a Republican consultant not involved in the race. “We're not talking about an incumbent who is up by 10 points; we're talking about a death match where you need to do everything you can to beat the other candidate.”

The Caucus Click: Biden and Clinton in Ohio

Meg Roussos for The New York TimesVice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and former president Bill Clinton were greeted with a strong gust of wind as they exited Air Force Two on Monday in Youngstown, Ohio.

With Obama Tending to Storm, Clinton Campaigns for Him in Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. - With Hurricane Sandy barreling towards the Northeast on Monday, former President Bill Clinton played stand-in for President Obama at a campaign rally here at the University of Central Florida.

Mr. Obama had canceled his appearance to return to Washington, but Mr. Clinton easily (and happily) became the event's headliner, rescuing a potentially disappointing turn of events. Revving up the crowd of several thousand students who woke up early and waited hours outside on the state's first crisp autumn morning, Mr. Clinton talked about jobs, higher education and rising tuition costs. He was joined by Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, and Charlie Crist, the former Republican governor turned independent who incensed Republicans here in August by backing Mr. Obama.

“I'm supposed to be the warm-up man for President Obama today, but that storm on the East Coast had other ideas,” Mr. Clinton said.

Mr. Clinton told the students that univers ities must focus more on teaching science and technology. This will allow America to better compete for jobs, he said.

“We have a demand every year in America for 120,000 jobs in computer science, and we're only educating 40,000 computer scientists in the whole country,” Mr. Clinton said. “We can do better than that. President Obama wants to do that.”

Mr. Clinton also praised Mr. Obama's efforts in expanding student loans, a crowd-pleaser here at the university.

“On this issue alone, every person within the sound of my voice should vote for Barack Obama,” said Mr. Clinton, who added that Mitt Romney supports reducing funds for Pell Grants and higher education.

One of the biggest cheers from Obama supporters came when Mr. Clinton praised the president's health care law and its provision allowing children to remain on their parents' insurance policies until age 26.

Mr. Crist, the onetime Republican who became an independent in 2010 for his unsuccessful Senate run against Marco Rubio, praised Mr. Obama for his willingness to work across party lines.

“He didn't care about parties, he only cared about people,” Mr. Crist said, reflecting on the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. “The president was here day after day after day, just like he's fighting for people in the Northeast now.”

App Snapshot: Romney\'s Move to the Middle and What Happens After Jan. 20

The presidential candidates suspended their campaign activities on Monday because of the major Atlantic storm barreling into the East Coast. Voters can take advantage of the down time to examine the candidates' statements - in the past and about the future - a bit more closely. In any weather, we're collecting the most important politics news in the Election 2012 app.

THE NARRATIVE
The Boston Globe tracks how Mitt Romney's tone has changed since the Republican primary, and The Los Angeles Times looks at how he has used his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin.

• Romney's Shift to the Middle
  Here are statements Mr. Romney has made recently, contrasted with statements he made earlier in the election contest. (Globe subscription not required.) (The Boston Globe)
• As Ro mney Edges Toward Moderation, Ryan Takes a Lower Profile
  As Mr. Romney highlights moderate views, care is taken to ensure he isn't upstaged by his conservative running mate. (The Los Angeles Times)

AFTER JAN. 20
Mr. Romney's closing argument paints a picture of his “day one” in office, and President Obama said his “first order of business” in a second term would be the deficit.

• Romney's Closing Argument a Picture of ‘Day One'
  Mr. Romney's final message will focus on tasks he hopes to take on during his first day in office if elected; all of the points relate to the economy, according to an outline. (CNN)
• Obama Says ‘First Order of Business' in Second Term Would Be Deficit
  In an interview, Mr. Obama listed deficit reduction, immigration reform, education, and infrastructure as top priorities that he would tackle if he were re-elected. (The Hill)

New Ad Attacks the Romney Campaign\'s Claims on Auto Bailout

As the presidential campaigns intensify their fight over the auto bailout, the Obama campaign releases a new ad that criticizes Mitt Romney for running an ad that misleadingly implies that Chrysler, a bailout recipient, is moving jobs to China from Toledo.

Donors Make Last-Minute Investments in House Races

A group of wealthy donors from around the country appear to be functioning as a sort of SWAT team on behalf of Democratic and Republican candidates by pouring last-minute contributions into competitive House races. What is notable about these 11th-hour gifts is that they often represent the first time the donors have given to these campaigns.

The hedge fund manager Joseph A. DiMenna Jr. and his wife, Diana, have put at least $40,000 into nine House races since Oct. 17, including the campaigns of Representative Bobby Schilling of Illinois, a conservative freshman facing a tough re-election bid, and Andy Barr, a Kentucky lawyer who is the Republican challenger to an incumbent Democrat, Ben Chandler.

Previously, the DiMennas had given more than $70,000 to the Romney Victory Fund, a committee benefiting Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and Republican Party committees.

David and Susan Duff, who own and operate Pine Bluff Coal in Kentucky, have given at least $30,000 in October to House campaigns in New York, Minnesota, California, Arizona and Florida. Among the six candidates they supported are Ann Marie Buerkle of New York and Chip Cravaack of Minnesota, two other freshman Republicans. Earlier in the election cycle, the Duffs donated $60,000 to American Crossroads, a “super PAC” that supports Mr. Romney and other Republican candidates.

But Democratic supporters are also getting in on the act during the campaign's final days. Gilbert Silverman, a Michigan developer, has given at least $33,000 to 27 Democrats in more than a dozen states stretching from New Hampshire to California. Mary and Steven Swig, a California couple whose business interests include a real estate firm and a lingerie company, sank at least $15,000 this month into seven House campaigns in Ohio, Arizona, Florida, Illinois and California. Among those they supported were Representative Betty Sutton, who is trying to defeat a freshman Republican, James B. Renacci, in Ohio.

Before October, the Swigs and Mr. Silverman were major contributors to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, with each of the three contributing $30,800.

Candidates for the House and the Senate are required to file reports with the Federal Election Commission during the final 20 days of the campaign detailing contributions of at least $1,000. The full accounting of fund-raising during this period will be available in early December.

Hurricane Sandy Disrupts Campaign as Obama Cancels Appearances

Storm Roils Campaign as Obama Cancels Appearance

Doug Mills/The New York Times

President Obama greeted his motorcade at Andrews Air Force Base on Monday in Washington. Mr. Obama canceled his campaign plans on Monday to be at the White House as Hurricane Sandy made landfall in the Northeast.

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Monday morning abandoned political campaigning in the face of the huge storm barreling down on the East Coast, canceling an event in Florida and quickly heading back to Washington to coordinate emergency response from the White House.

Hurricane Sandy had already scrambled the political calendar in the final week of the campaign, forcing Mr. Obama and his rival, Mitt Romney, to call off events in Virginia and New Hampshire. Even so, the president flew on Sunday night to Orlando to attend a rally there on Monday.

But the magnitude of the storm and the potential for damage only increased overnight. And so did the prospect that Air Force One might not get back to Washington if it did not leave early Monday.

“Due to deteriorating weather conditions in the Washington area, the president will not attend today's campaign event in Orlando,” Jay Carney, the president's press secretary, said in an early-morning statement. “The president will return to the White House to monitor the preparations for and early response to Hurricane Sandy.”

The president's aides said that former President Bill Clinton would stand in for Mr. Obama at the Orlando rally. The campaign canceled the president's scheduled event in Wisconsin on Tuesday.

Mr. Romney, who flew to Ohio on Sunday night, is expected to keep his schedule of three rallies in Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin. Mr. Romney campaigned in Ohio with his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan, on Sunday.

The storm has hampered Mr. Obama's ability to campaign much more. Pursuing political gain while millions face the possibility of power outages, flooding and high winds could make the president look ineffective and uncaring.

On the other hand, the storm also provides Mr. Obama the opportunity to look presidential at a time when voters have become tired of the caustic political talk they hear in television ads and at rallies. Conversely, wall-to-wall coverage of the storm may make it tough for Mr. Romney's campaign message to get through.

Even as the storm bears down, the presidential campaign is continuing on television, with ads for Mr. Romney and Mr. Obama filling in virtually all the space between storm reports on the cable and broadcast networks.

Mr. Obama's campaign announced on Sunday that it would suspend fund-raising e-mails to the states directly affected by the storm, and Mr. Romney's campaign did the same. And the Obama campaign said it would use its Web site, Twitter feed and Facebook page to urge people to donate to the Red Cross instead.

“We urge everyone to take appropriate safety precautions and to follow the guidance of emergency management and public safety officials, and we will continue to monitor the storm to ensure the safety of our supporters, volunteers and staff,” Jen Psaki, a campaign spokeswoman, said on Sunday.

Polls released over the weekend continued to show a tight race between the two men, nationally and in some of the battleground states that will decide which one reaches 270 electoral votes. A Gallup poll of likely voters on Sunday showed Mr. Romney leading Mr. Obama, 50 percent to 46 percent.

Mr. Romney's campaign said on Monday that he had been in touch with the governors of Virginia and New Jersey and that campaign workers in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and New Jersey would be collecting relief supplies to deliver to local emergency facilities. In Virginia, the campaign will be loading storm-relief supplies onto the Romney bus for delivery, the campaign said.

Mr. Obama departed Orlando just after 8:30 a.m. and arrived in the Washington area just before 11 a.m. The press corps assigned to follow him has not been as lucky. Pilots of the charter plane carrying the reporters said on Monday that it was not safe to fly back to Washington from Florida, according to an e-mail from Ed Henry, the Fox News correspondent and president of the White House Correspondents Association. Mr. Henry said the reporters would stay in Orlando overnight.

Mr. Romney issued a statement on Sunday expressing his concern for the people in the path of the storm.

“For safety's sake, as you and your family prepare for the storm, please be sure to bring any yard signs inside. In high winds they can be dangerous and cause damage to homes and property,” Mr. Romney said. “I'm never prouder of America than when I see how we pull together in a crisis. There's nothing that we can't handle when we stand together.”

The Youth Vote: Was It Better Back Then?

Boomers, Millennials and the Ballot Box

V. Richard Haro/Fort Collins Coloradoan, via Associated Press

A Colorado State University student heads to a voting booth on Oct. 22, the first day of in-person voting. 

So, the election is approaching and you're a boomer. Many of the issues that will have a direct impact on you - Social Security, Medicare, government pensions - are likely to be affected by who wins the presidency.

You're certainly going to vote, but you're frustrated because your adult children may not. They do not have as much at stake.

Of course you'll want to shame them into it and you communicate this in a way that they can't possibly ignore.

You text them.

“Vote! When we were your age, we always voted :(”

Wrong.

Resend.

When boomers were their age, they voted at almost the exact rate that the young do now.

In 1976, when boomers were between 18 and 30 years old, their turnout rate was 50 percent. In 2008, 51 percent of millennials - ages 18 to 28 at the time - voted.

And in 1972, when boomers had many incentives to go to the polls, including the Vietnam-era draft, the numbers still weren't too different. A total of 54 percent of boomers voted in the Nixon-McGovern election, versus 49 percent of millennials in the 2004 Bush-Kerry race.

Even Peter Levine, an expert on young American voting patterns who compiled these statistics at my request, was surprised at the results he produced.

“I would have guessed there's more of a youth voting problem today,” he said. As the director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, a nonpartisan research institute based at Tufts University, he specializes in civic issues affecting young people.

“The fact that they're right on par surprised me,” he said. “There's a lot of rhetoric about back in the day. I'm delighted.”

Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

Even in 1972, during the Vietnam-era draft, turnout by boomers was not enormously higher than it was for millennials when they got a chance to vote.

It is not too surprising that as people age, they're more likely to vote. In the 2008 Obama-McCain election, 69 percent of boomers - aged 44 to 62 at the time - turned out compared to the 51 percent of 18- to 28-year-olds.

Connie Flanagan, a developmental psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says voting is habit forming. “Once you've made your first vote, it becomes part of your routine,” she said. “Everyone you know votes. It feels like a moral and civic obligation.”

The young tend to have more chaotic lives, she says; classes on some days, part-time jobs on others, active social lives.

“As you get older, there is more of a steady rhythm to your life,” she said. “I'm an example - this afternoon my husband and I have made an appointment to vote early.”

Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement

The turnout by boomers and millennials at comparable ages has been fairly similar.

Mr. Levine points out that there are more issues to unite the boomers - born during the 1946 to 1964 post World War II population explosion - than the young. “A young person may be anything from a medical student to a prison inmate, and there's not lots of commonality of interests there,” he said. “Relationships are very varied and miscellaneous.”

While some younger voters might share an interest in military service or Pell grants, it's not as far-reaching as for older voters.

“No matter what your status as a boomer,” he said, “you're concerned with Social Security and Medicare - which gives a lot of people a personal reason to vote.”

According to a November 2011 poll by the Pew Research Center, 13 percent of millennials name Social Security as one of the issues that matters most to them, compared to 33 percent of boomers.

The 69 percent voting rate for boomers in the 2008 presidential race was the highest since 1972, the earliest comparable year and the first time eligibility was lowered to the current age of 18.

The number of boomers registered to vote in the 2008 election - 75 percent - is also the highest, except for 87 percent in 1972, which was an exceptional year for several reasons, including the draft and the lowering of the voting age.

But in 2008, 18- to 28-year-olds actually registered at a higher rate (61 percent) than the boomers of the same age for the Carter-Ford race in 1976 (58 percent).

“This is such good news,” Mr. Levine said. “Millennials have been getting such a bad rap.”

Connect with Michael Winerip on Facebook.

You can follow Booming via RSS or visit nytimes.com/booming.

Pro-Romney Group Makes Advertising Buy in Pennsylvania

The “super PAC” aiding Mitt Romney, Restore Our Future, is making a push into Pennsylvania, a state that has been considered a strong bet for President Obama.

On Monday the group put down just under $1 million for a slate of television commercials through next Monday, the day before the presidential election.

Right now no other political groups supporting the presidential candidates - nor either of campaigns - have deemed Pennsylvania competitive enough to place any resources on the air there. But Restore Our Future's advertising purchase could prompt others to follow suit.

Much of the $200,000 purchase includes the voter-rich Philadelphia media market, where Republicans believe they can make inroads with a number of different demographics, including Jewish voters who may be open the arguments put forward by the Romney campaign that Mr. Obama has not been supportive of Israel. Republicans have sought to drive distance between Mr. Obama and his Jewish constituency because of the recent tension between the United States and Israel over Iran.

To be sure, Restore Our Future has been making some of the more long-odd bets in recent weeks. It continues to have a strong presence on the air in Michigan, which has been strongly leaning toward Mr. Obama in many recent polls. But the group also placed what ended up being a smart - and seemingly long-shot - bet on Wisconsin earlier this fall when few others were willing to devote resources there.

Now many polls show Wisconsin, home of the Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, to be competitive.

Follow Jeremy W. Peters on Twitter at @ jwpetersNYT .

Hurricane Sandy Likely to Be Biggest of Late October Surprises

Hurricane Sandy is hardly the only late October surprise to disturb the careful choreography of recent presidential campaigns, though it will probably be the most disruptive.

The late October surprises of recent elections have been much more subtle â€" changes at the 11th hour that had far less impact on the nation and its voters, but which nonetheless forced campaigns off their carefully drafted blueprints just before Election Day. Here is a look at a few.

- Four years ago, President Obama left the frenzied campaign trail only 11 days before the election to travel to Hawaii to say goodbye to his ailing grandmother, who had helped raise him. He then returned to the final sprint of the campaign, which had already been upended by the September surprise of the financial crisis, and she died the day before he was elected president.

- In the waning days of the 2004 election, the race was upended by the release of a video of Osama bin Laden telling the Ameri can people, “Your security is not in the hands of Kerry or Bush or Al Qaeda; your security is in your own hands.” Some analysts believed that its release helped President George W. Bush win re-election, by putting the focus on terrorism just before people went to the polls.

- And days before the 2000 election, news leaked that Mr. Bush had been arrested in 1976 for drunken driving in Kennebunkport, Me., throwing a late curveball into the campaign.

Hurricane Sandy promised to be a much bigger late October surprise. The candidates have scrambled their schedules to avoid the storm; Maryland suspended its early voting on Monday, and other states may follow suit; the Sunday talk shows were pre-empted in large parts of the East Coast for hurricane coverage; television stations in some states are not running the ads both campaigns bought as they cover the storm nonstop; and both campaigns are having to calculate how to continue their tasks of trying to persuade vot ers without seeming callous in the face of a potential disaster. And looming behind it all is the worry that lasting damage could disrupt the election in places.

Follow Michael Cooper on Twitter at @coopnytimes.

Q&A: Turning Off Mac Screen Notifications

Q.

Ever since I upgraded to Mountain Lion on the Mac, I get distracted by little balloons that appear on the screen when I get new e-mail messages. I looked in the Mail preferences and didn't see a way to turn these off. Is this an irreversible feature?

A.

Those little alert balloons are part of the Notifications feature of OS X 10.8, the system otherwise known as Mountain Lion. You can change their appearance or turn them off entirely, but to do so, you need to visit the preferences for Notifications.

To get there, click the System Preferences icon in the Dock or go to the Apple Menu in the top left corner of the screen and choose System Preferences. In the System Preferences box, click the Notifications icon in the top row.

In the list of programs on the left side of the box, select Mail. On the right side of the box under “Mail alert style,” click the None icon. Other controls in the Notification bo x allow you to adjust other audio and visual alerts for incoming messages.

Alerts for other programs on the Mac - including Calendar, Twitter, and the FaceTime video-chat service - can be adjusted in the Notifications Preferences box. You can also rearrange the vertical order in which messages from programs appear in the OS X Notification Center list; you can see your Notification Center messages by clicking the icon on the top right corner of the Mac's toolbar.

App City: Tracking the Election

A Deeper Look at the Elections, or Not

Along with records for spending by candidates, every presidential election seems to set records for use of technology, and this one is no exception.

Digital tools are being used in myriad ways in 2012. The Obama campaign created a smartphone app to help volunteers canvass. Two clever apps will listen to political ads and give users information about the organizations that paid for them: Ad Hawk, by the Sunlight Foundation, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that uses the Internet to promote government transparency, and Super PAC App by Glassy Media, an offshoot of the M.I.T. Media Lab.

For $1, Presidential Election Race 2012 will allow people to obsess over political polls and prediction markets. And this is to say nothing of the election news apps that The New York Times and other publications have created.

Just in time for Election Day comes Vote Planner, a Web app also from the Sunlight Foundation that is to go live on Monday. It is designed to help voters with decision-making up and down the ballot, not just in the presidential race.

Log on by entering your address into the site, and you are presented with a list of the choices on your ballot. (The site does not show what the ballot will actually look like, however.) The site also shows contributions the candidates have received, broken down by industry, and endorsements from dozens of local and national groups. (Sunlight primarily focused on gathering the opinions of local groups in New York and San Francisco for this election cycle.) The information extends from the presidential race to state legislative contests.

You can create a voting plan and publish it to a link that you can share with others or e-mail to yourself. By linking the app to a Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus account, you share whom you have selected for each race, and you get to see whom your friends are voting for. The idea is that voters who publicize their choices will encourage other people to vote, and there is some evidence that peer pressure on social media makes a difference: A study published last month by the journal Nature found that a special “get out the vote” message on Facebook had a demonstrable impact on voter turnout.

If you are not interested in sharing, do not link to a social media account. Your choices are public immediately, even if you have not clicked “publish.”

According to the Sunlight Foundation, the tool was initially envisioned as a mobile guide that voters could bring into the booth with them. But deadlines caught up with the developers, and Vote Planner exists only as a Web site that works best on a standard Web browser or a tablet, rather than a mobile phone.

It also seems strange that Vote Planner does not tell people where to vote, even though that was part of Google's Civic Information A.P.I., or application programming interface, which Sunlight used to create its project.

Vote Planner is not the only project to use the A.P.I., however; it is open to any developer who wants to build an app with it. Google is also working with the Pew Center on the States and public officials on the Voting Information Project, which is creating a number of Web apps to help people monitor the voting process.

But maybe you are looking for less information about politics, not more. There is a technological solution for that as well. Unpolitic.me, an extension for Google's Chrome Web browser, will block all political updates from your Twitter and Facebook feeds and replace them with pictures of cats.

Have a favorite New York City app? Send tips via e-mail to appcity@nytimes.com or via Twitter to @joshuabrustein.

A version of this article appeared in print on October 28, 2012, on page MB2 of the New York edition with the headline: A Deeper Look at the Elections, or Not.

The Caucus Click: The Week in Pictures, Oct. 21-27

Damon Winter/The New York TimesPresident Obama and Mitt Romney shook hands at the end of the final presidential debate, held at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., on Monday.

A look back at the week in politics.

Des Moines Register Endorses Romney

Mitt Romney won the endorsement of The Des Moines Register on Saturday evening, becoming the first Republican presidential candidate to capture the newspaper's recommendation to Iowa voters since Richard Nixon in 1972.

Four years ago, the newspaper's editorial pages supported Barack Obama. But Mr. Romney secured the endorsement this year, with the editorial saying that he offered a “fresh economic vision.”

“Voters should give Mitt Romney a chance to correct the nation's fiscal course and to implode the partisan gridlock that has shackled Washington and the rest of America - with the understanding that he would face the same assessment in four years if he does not succeed,” the editorial said.

Follow Jeff Zeleny on Twitter at @jeffzeleny.

Rubio\'s Daughter Hurt in Accident

LAKEWOOD CREST, Fla. - Senator Marco Rubio's 12-year-old daughter was involved in a car accident in Miami on Saturday, prompting the lawmaker to abruptly leave Mitt Romney's motorcade along a highway here.

Mr. Rubio's daughter, Amanda, was airlifted to a local hospital, where she was listed in stable condition, according to a statement from his office. The severity of the accident and her injuries are unclear.

Mr. Rubio, who was campaigning with Mr. Romney across Florida, could be seen standing outside of Mr. Romney's bus, which stopped on Interstate 4 a little before 7 p.m. The senator was picked up by a state trooper, presumably to be driven to a local airport, so he could return to Miami.

According to the statement, Mr. Rubio learned of the accident after leaving the stage at a rally for Mr. Romney near Orlando. It appeared that he remained inside Mr. Romney's motorcade so he could be driven as close as possible to an airport.

Sunday Breakfast Menu, Oct. 28

Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

Time is running out for President Obama and Mitt Romney to make their case and encourage their supporters to turn out to vote. With the polls showing a tight race, all eyes are on the swing states that could make or break the candidates.

NBC's “Meet the Press” features Gov. John Kasich, Republican of Ohio; Gov. John Hickenlooper, Democrat of Colorado; and Gov. Scott Walker, Republican of Wisconsin, discussing the ground game to win their critical states on Election Day.

On “Fox News Sunday,” it's the senators who weigh in: Senator Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia; Senator Mark Udall, Democrat of Colorado; Senator Rob Portman, Republican of Ohio; and Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin.

CNN's â €œState of the Union” has David Axelrod, senior adviser to the Obama campaign, and Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, making the case for each of the nominees. And Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, chairman of the Republican Governors Association, and Ted Strickland, former Ohio governor, will also share their thoughts on the race.

Senator John McCain of Arizona, former Republican presidential nominee, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Mr. Obama's former chief of staff, join CBS's “Face the Nation” to weigh in the final days of the race. Mr. McCain will also discuss the latest on the attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Plus, Haley Barbour, former Mississippi governor, and Jennifer Granholm, former Michigan governor, join the program to offer analysis of the contest.

Stephanie Cutter, deputy campaign manager for Mr. Obama's re-election campaign, and Newt Gingrich, former House speaker and Republican presidential candidate, will appear o n ABC's “This Week.”

Bloomberg's “Political Capital” has David Plouffe, senior adviser to the Obama campaign.

Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, joins C-Span's “Newsmakers.”

Univision's “Al Punto” offers a full line-up of political guests, featuring discussions with Carlos M. Gutierrez, former commerce secretary and trade policy adviser for the Romney campaign; Henry G. Cisneros, former secretary of housing and urban development; and Gabriela Domenzain, director of Hispanic press for the Obama campaign.

And the election and its impact on defense spending is one of the hot topics on TV One's “Washington Watch,” offering interviews with Retired Maj. Gen. John R. Hawkins III and Tom Tarantino, an Iraq War veteran and chief policy officer with the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America.

Missouri Senate Poll Shows McCaskill\'s Lead Narrowing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. â€" The Missouri Senate race has narrowed to a dead heat, according to a new poll released on Saturday, a drastic turnaround since Representative Todd Akin, the Republican challenging incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill, upended the race with controversial comments about rape two months ago.

Ms. McCaskill, a first-term Democrat, holds a 45 percent to 43 percent edge, which is within the 4 percent margin of sampling error of the Mason-Dixon Poll, which was commissioned by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, News 4 and the Kansas City Star. The same poll showed Ms. McCaskill with a nine-point edge (50-41) in the immediate aftermath of Mr. Akin's remark in August that in cases of “legitimate rape,” women's bodies had a natural way of fighting off pregnancy.

Mr. Akin's campaign touted the poll in a press release sent out on Saturday morning.

“We were very excited to see the poll,” said Rick Tyler, a spokesman for the Akin campaign, noting Ms. McCaskill's large fundraising advantage in the race. “It just tells me that no amount of advertising and distraction is going to convince the voters to send Claire McCaskill back to Washington.”

The new poll also appeared to grab the attention of the McCaskill campaign, which quickly released the results of its own internal poll on Saturday morning, showing the incumbent senator with a much wider lead.

“While polls in this race have varied, the clear pattern to emerge over the last few weeks is that Claire is consistently leading Akin by a much wider margin,” Caitlin Legacki, a spokeswoman for Ms. McCaskill, said in a statement. “Keep in mind that Mason-Dixon badly missed the mark 10 days before the Senate primary.”

In that poll, Mr. Akin was third among the Republican primary candidates, with just 17 percent of the vote, 16 points behind the frontrunner, John Brunner. Mr. Mr. Akin ended up winning by 6 points with 36 percent of the vote.

Still, the tightened poll presents a dilemma for the national Republican establishment, which quickly abandoned Mr. Akin after his rape comments and urged him to drop out of the race. When he refused to give up his candidacy in favor of another candidate, several deep-pocketed Republican groups said they still would not support him with the millions of dollars they had previously promised because they did not believe he could win the race.

But this race, like all of the other close Senate battles around the country, is seen as critical in Republican efforts to win control of the chamber. The Akin campaign has said it believed the party would have to return to its corner because of the importance of the race. The challenge for Mr. Akin has been to show that he presented a realistic chance of winning. Polling data over the past couple of months has been all over the map, which may cause Republican donors to continue to balk on spending in M issouri as they invest in several other competitive races in other states.

The nonpartisan Rothenberg Political Report on Friday moved the Missouri Senate race more comfortably in Ms. McCaskill's direction to favored Democrat.

“We hope that Congressman Akin wins next month and we continue to closely monitor the race,” said Brian Walsh, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which withdrew a pledge to spend $3 million on the race after Mr. Akin's rape remark.

Spokesmen for American Crossroads, a ”super PAC” founded by Karl Rove that had planned to spend $2.3 million, did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday morning.
Ms. McCaskill raised more than three and a half times as much money ($5.8 million to $1.6 million) as Mr. Akin during the third quarter and spent more than four and a half times as much.

The new poll of 625 likely voters, interviewed on Tuesday through Thursday, showed that Mr. Akin cut his de ficit among female voters in half, to 9 points from 18. It shows Mr. Akin with comfortable leads in all parts of the state except the two major metropolitan hubs, Kansas City and St. Louis.

Ms. McCaskill's favorability rating continued to be a nagging concern, with 47 percent of those polled viewing her unfavorably, compared with 42 percent for Mr. Akin. Ms. McCaskill does, however have a wide lead over Mr. Akin on the favorable side, 40 percent to 28 percent.

The economy, jobs, healthcare and Medicare were the most important issues for 63 percent of voters who had made up their minds, according to the poll. Mr. Akin's rape remarks were either somewhat important or very important to 53 percent of decided voters, the poll said.

The poll also showed Mitt Romney increasing his lead over President Obama in the state to 13 percentage points, 54 percent to 41 percent.

Storm Forces Romney to Cancel Sunday Events in Virginia

PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Romney campaign has abruptly canceled three rallies in Virginia scheduled for Sunday as a major storm approaching the East Coast began to significantly disrupt the final days of a closely contested presidential race.

Mr. Romney was scheduled to appear at rallies in Northern Virginia, Richmond and Virginia Beach, as he seeks to build support in the swing state, where polls show the candidates are running neck and neck.

The campaign said that Mr. Romney would instead divert to Ohio, to attend three events originally set to feature his running mate, Paul Ryan.

The storm is wreaking havoc on the candidates' travel plans at a crucial time, when every minute is carefully calculated in swing states that could determine the outcome of the race.

An aide to Mr. Romney said that he did not want to divert security resources away from the storm. Visits from a presidential candidate require hundreds of police officers, and the image of them traveling with Mr. Romney, rather than preparing for the storm, is something Mr. Romney is eager to avoid.

Follow Michael Barbaro on Twitter at @mikiebarb.

Florida Congressman Fires Up Crowd at Romney Rally in Pensacola

PENSACOLA, Fla. - At a rally for Mitt Romney on Saturday, Representative Jeff Miller, a Republican from Florida, suggested that President Obama had abandoned the American ambassador to Libya and the employees killed in an attack on a consulate there last month.

In a fiery introductory remarks to warm up a crowd here for Mr. Romney, Mr. Miller said that “America deserves a president that will not leave a U.S. ambassador and three others.”

He was immediately drowned out by loud applause.

In a play on the traditional test of a president, the so-called 3 a.m. emergency phone call, Mr. Miller said: “Mr. President, the phone rang and you didn't answer it.”

Mr. Miller began by mocking a now-famous Obama comment from a fund-raiser. “Here we are, clinging to our guns and our religion,” he said, triggering loud applause.

Mr. Romney is visiting Pensacola on the first day of early voting in Florida.

Follow Michael B arbaro on Twitter at @mikiebarb.

Florida\'s Voter Registration Statistics

As Florida's highly coveted voters began going to the polls on Saturday for the first day of in-person early voting at sites across the state, the state released new voter registration statistics that provided reasons for optimism and pessimism for both the Romney and Obama campaigns.

Democrats still hold an edge over Republicans in registered voters, but it is smaller than it was four years ago, when President Obama won the state. The Democratic advantage is now 535,897, down from 657,775 in 2008. There are 11.9 million registered voters in the state.

The biggest question mark this year will be the voters unaffiliated with either party: there are now nearly 2.6 million of them, a jump of 469,782 from four years ago.

The state now has 304,804 more Hispanic voters than it did four years ago, 166,024 more white voters, and 151,387 more black voters, according to the registration statistics.

There are two ways to vote earl y in Florida: by absentee ballot, and in person. Absentee ballots are usually mailed in, and tend to benefit Republicans. Through Friday the state had received 1,129,161 returned absentee ballots, according to the secretary of state's office.

Republican voters sent in 503,625, Democrats sent in 442,860 and other voters sent in 182,676. Democrats hope to mobilize a big in-person turnout.

Follow Michael Cooper on Twitter at @coopnytimes.

The Caucus Click: Biden Goes Cheese Shopping

Josh Haner/The New York Times Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. stopped at the Mars Cheese Castle in Kenosha, Wis., before a campaign rally on Friday at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Mr. Biden purchased some 13-year old sharp cheddar cheese.

Groups in Florida Look to Highlight Changes as Early Voting Begins

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Before the supervisor of elections opened the main polling site here in Duval County at 7 a.m., a line of almost 100 people had already formed, snaking its way along the sidewalk of a strip-mall parking lot.

All but three voters in line were black. As they waited, they held hands and prayed.

“Our father, our God,” began the Rev. R.L. Gundy of Mount Sinai Missionary Baptist Church. “Our ancestors paid a dear price to have a right to vote, and we don't take it for granted. Yet the enemy does all it can to disenfranchise us. God, go with us into these polls and every poll around the country.”

He continued, “We are not fearful. We are not afraid. We will not be turned away.”

And the crowd said a somber “Amen.”

Then, in a more jubilant mood, someone screamed, “Fired up?” And a chant began: “Ready to vote!”

“Fired up” … “Ready to vote” …”Fired up” … â €œReady to vote” …

Many of the black voters who gathered here Saturday morning, the first day of early voting in Florida, had spent the night sleeping in tents and recreational vehicles near the elections office. Their plan was to “Occupy the Polls” in an effort to raise awareness about changes to early voting this year that shorten the number of days for casting ballots.

Mr. Gundy, the Florida president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, helped organize the camping and “blessing of the polls” out of a sense of outrage that the state took away the Sunday before Election Day as an option for early voting. Early voting will end next Saturday.

The Sunday before Election Day had been the main day for churches in Florida to get their “souls to the polls,” a tradition for many black congregations. In 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency, black turnout was particularly strong across Florida on the Sunday before Election Day.

“They're trying to turn back the hands of time,” Mr. Gundy said. “They knew that was an important day for us. They knew minorities tended to vote on the Sunday before Election Day. But we're not going to let that foolishness stop us.”

First in line when the doors to the polls swung open was the track team from Edward Waters College - four women - and their coach, Archie Gallon. They had come in a van in the pre-dawn darkness.

“I wanted to sleep late, but I also thought it was important to be here,” said Amber Durrett, 19. “Very exciting. We're voting for the first time.”

Others in the crowd had been organized by Florida New Majority, a get-out-the-vote organization that helped bring churches, black fraternal groups and others together to “Occupy the Polls.”

With Hurricane Sandy churning up the Atlantic Ocean off the coast, the winds were gusty and cool. People kept warm with McDonald's coffee, doughnuts and breakfast sandwich es.

As the line grew and grew, a woman took a megaphone and announced, “You are not waiting in vain!”

Three Romney supporters showed up with signs. One said he hoped to “convert” the crowd. The group held their Romney-Ryan signs during the blessing, but also held hands in prayer.

“It's a Southern thing,” said Hank Lengfellner, a retired land surveyor who was one of the Romney supporters. “I want to see everybody vote, I do. But I want to see informed voters vote.”

Asked why he had come to this particular poll, in a predominantly black area, Mr. Lengfellner and his friend Rick Hartley, who are white, said it was about convenience. “We're early people,” Mr. Lengfellner said.

But Mr. Hartley seemed keen to ruffle a few feathers. He asked one of the Occupy organizers, Representative Corrine Brown, a Democrat of Jacksonville, if he could take a picture with her holding his Romney sign. She refused. He asked again, then asked other s.

There were mumbles about why this man had come here to have his picture taken.

Eventually, someone snapped a shot of Mr. Hartley and Ms. Brown, but without the political sign.

By 7:30 a.m., the crowd had grown to about 200 people, almost all of them black. There were whole families, college students, and groups of the elderly who had come together from retirement villages. In the parking lot outside the polls, they sang, “When the Saints Go Marching In,” but with a few lyrics changed to express support for President Obama.

“Oh, I want to be in his number.”

Now the sun was up, trying to break through a thick layer of clouds threatening rain.

“Good morning!” a poll worker, Shaela Manning, greeted those standing in line. “Everybody make sure you have a picture I.D. available. Our polls are officially open.”