(CNN) - A candidate for Michigan's Supreme Court is getting a little help from "The West Wing"… television show.

Bridget Mary McCormack, whose sister Mary McCormack played deputy national security adviser Kate Harper on NBC's television series "The West Wing," is on the ballot this fall in Michigan as a nonpartisan candidate for the state's Supreme Court.
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Sarasota, Florida (CNN) - GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney launched a new line of attack against President Barack Obama on Thursday, seizing on comments Obama made about change in Washington earlier in the day.

"The most important lesson I've learned is that you can't change Washington from the inside. You can only change it from the outside," Obama said Thursday afternoon at a presidential forum the candidate taped to run on the Spanish-language network Univision.
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Washington (CNN) - The major super PAC backing Mitt Romney, Restore Our Future, spent almost $21.2 million last month – three times more than the $7 million it raised. The figures were contained in the group's monthly report filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission.

Overall the group reported it has just under $6.3 million cash on hand.
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CNN's GUT CHECK | for September 20, 2012| 5 p.m.
- n. a pause to assess the state, progress or condition of the political news cycle

BREAKING: WITH 47 DAYS TO GO, PRESIDENTIAL RACE TIED NATIONALLY: 47% – 47% among registered voters.

And in the battleground state of Nevada, a new CNN/ORC Poll tells us: Obama 49% - Romney 46%, well within the margin of error. Our take below.

OBAMA: NO WE CAN'T, BUT YOU CAN... President Barack Obama at a forum hosted by Univision: "I've learned some lessons... Most important is you can't change Washington from inside, only from the outside. That's how some of our biggest accomplishments like health care got done – mobilizing the American people."

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(CNN) – President Barack Obama appears more comfortable sharing "The View's" famed couch with the show's five female hosts than Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

The show announced Thursday both the president and first lady Michelle Obama will appear on the couch next Tuesday in an interview to be taped Monday. The president and the first lady have appeared a number of times on the couch individually but next week's interview marks the couple's first joint interview on the show.
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Washington (CNN) – In response to sagging battleground polls and criticism from some Republican party insiders, the Romney campaign – as part of its recalibration – intends to get more specific with its economic message, trying to reach out to the increasing number of voters who believe Mitt Romney doesn't understand their problems.

In interviews with senior Romney advisers and outsiders close to the campaign, the emerging strategy appears to boil down to a simple point: "We need to reassure Americans that Romney can fix things, and he (President Obama) can't," says one campaign insider. "Voters already believe Romney has a better chance of fixing the economy. We have to tell them just how it will be better for them."
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(CNN) – One day before Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney campaigns in Nevada, a new poll indicates the state remains very much a battleground in the race for the White House.

According to CNN/ORC International survey (PDF) released Thursday, 49% of likely voters in Nevada say if the election were held today, they'd vote for President Barack Obama, with 46% supporting Romney. The president's three point margin is within the poll's sampling error, suggesting the two candidates are effectively tied in the fight for the Silver State's six electoral votes.
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TOPICS: Presidential election in Nevada

Full results (pdf)

Washington (CNN) - Republicans are moving three staffers out of Democratic-leaning New Mexico and shifting them to Colorado and Nevada, two states where the presidential race is more competitive.

The Republican National Committee and Mitt Romney's campaign will continue to maintain staff and victory offices in New Mexico, a spokesman for the RNC said.
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(CNN) - Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal delivered a focused defense of Mitt Romney - and offense against President Barack Obama - on a conference call with reporters on Thursday, even declining to comment on Romney's sense of humor.

"I can't speak to the governor's sense of humor," Jindal said, in response to a question. "I think he's made it very clear, though: in this election, there's a fundamental choice. You've got one candidate, President Obama, who is doubling down on a failed policy... Governor Romney has made it very clear, one of his very first actions will be to repeal and replace this bad law."
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Washington (CNN) - Republican lawmakers Thursday complained to Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz that his report on Operation Fast and Furious was "too soft" on the head of the Criminal Division, one of Attorney General Eric Holder's top assistants.

Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer was criticized in the nearly 500-page report issued Wednesday for failing to follow up on internal documents showing use of flawed tactics in the controversial gun trafficking investigation on the Arizona-Mexico border.