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.â€
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.
Josh Haner/The New York TimesVice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. spoke to reporters before boarding his flight on Tuesday from Columbus, Ohio, to Sarasota, Fla.
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.â€
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.
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?â€
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.
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'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.â€
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.â€
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:Â 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.
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.
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.â€
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.
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.
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.
