WHY A LIBERTARIAN SUPPORTS ROMNEY:  Well known libertarian law professor Brad Smith explains why he supports Mitt Romney over Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson.  Smith explains:

Today’s libertarian oriented Tea Parties are middle-aged men and women who came of age with the pro-freedom rhetoric of Ronald Reagan.

Romney may not be a libertarian, yet Romney not infrequently launches wonderful verbal defenses of hard core libertarian views. I can scarcely imagine another major party presidential candidate who would take on leftist hecklers about the rights of individuals organized using the corporate form; or defend the value of being able to fire people for incompetence; worry openly about individual dependency on government; or demand that voters “take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

So next week, this libertarian will be voting Romney. No regrets, no doubts.

This libertarian agrees whole-heartedly.

TOO LATE FOR SANDY, BUT SHE WON’T BE THE LAST: Up to 25% off on Winter Storm Essentials. (Bumped).

OOPS: Jefferson County “Democrat of the Year” Convicted of Felony Theft.

BENGHAZI-GATE:  Frank Miele reminds us that the 1972 re-election of Richard Nixon was due, in part, to an elaborate cover-up of the Watergate break-in that occurred 5 months earlier, in June 1972.  But eventually, Nixon’s involvement was discovered and the American people demanded justice and accountability.  Says Miele:

And now here we are again, with a popular president who may very well win re-election despite the seriousness of the accusations made against him (though certainly by a much smaller margin that President Nixon did). The nation is divided and polarized, just as it was in 1972, and some people cannot bring themselves to think the worst of President Obama, no matter how damning the evidence is.

But one thing is certain. Just as Nixon could not escape the whirlwind of Watergate merely by winning an election, neither will Barack Obama avoid the judgment of history and the American people for what happened the night of Sept. 11, 2012. And as Nixon discovered to his chagrin, sometimes the sword of that judgment is terrible and swift.

Let’s hope the American people see the need for change, even if the full facts of Benghazi-gate aren’t made known until after the election.

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Some related thoughts from Ann Althouse:

A Romney victory would give us the benefit of leaving the Benghazi scandal in the past. It will still be important to investigate, but it won’t — like the Watergate scandal, after the Nixon re-election — cripple a sitting President.

Another reason for Obama to go.

SOCIAL MEDIA: How Conservatives on Twitter Forced Obama to Face the Benghazi Debacle.

UPDATE: Sorry, I seem to have killed his server. Here’s an alternate link.

FROM 1980 AND 2000, SOME REMINDERS that polling data and final results may vary just slightly.

(The 2000 link goes to the Wayback Machine; here’s a backup if it fails to load.)

A REAL SIGN OF MITT-MENTUM:  The latest Washington Post presidential tracking poll shows that Romney supporters are now voting for Romney rather than against Obama. 

ROMNEY SENDING HIS CAMPAIGN BUS to be used for East Coast storm relief efforts.

OUCH: Former National Security Adviser Bud McFarlane: For Obama to Do Nothing During Benghazi Attack is “Dereliction of Duty” (Video).

VODKAPUNDIT’S WEEK IN BLOGS:

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JONATHAN KARL: Romney event in Marion, Ohio doesn’t start for 3 hours, but already there’s a long line of people waiting in the rain.

CHRIS CHRISTIE ON SANDY: Don’t be stupid; get out:

[youtube 5hpxj6BD8So]

AMITY SHLAES: Obama’s Bad Economic Choices.

NEW YORK POST: Obama: A Case Study In Incompetence. “Myriad are the failures of the Obama administration, but none is more tragic, or more frightening, or more foreboding of catastrophe than the appalling mishandling of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi.”

And don’t miss this story from the Christian Science Monitor.

A NEW VIDEO FROM WILSON GETCHELL: Brother, Can You Spare A Dime? Love the fading-poster reference.

THEY TURN OFF THIS WOMAN: How Obama’s Tactics Repel Women Voters.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Obama Tried to Normalize Iran Relations, according to the Times of Israel.

ROGER SIMON: Tehran, Mon Amour: Obama Tried to Establish Ties with the Mullahs. “For all those bewildered about why Barack Obama made no attempt to reach out to the democracy demonstrators dying in the streets of Tehran (shades of Benghazigate), it seems our president had his eyes set on a bigger prize – diplomatic relations with Iran’s Islamofascist Mullahs.”

OUCH:  The Canada Free Press indicts Obama for a failed presidency. 

WOULD VOTER ID HAVE SAVED POE’S LIFE: Death by voter fraud?

WELL, THIS EXPLAINS THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Study: Highly Educated Americans Most Likely To Take On Unmanageable Debt. Smarter, more educated people are better at lying to themselves persuasively.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA MONKEYS:  And their approach to Benghazi:

SCIENCE: Women with ‘wimpy’ partners are more picky and critical when they are ovulating and lust after other men – but girls with alpha guys get MORE content.

UNEXPECTEDLY: Hooray — Warmists Find One Obama Green Project That Has Not Failed.

(Via Maggie’s Farm, which has loads more links today.)

ALL THE UGLY PEOPLE AGREE: As scientists find that attractive people tend to be conformist, you have to agree that ugly has more fun.  One thing I’ll say though — when I gained a lot of weight during my first pregnancy, I found I had to work harder to be interesting.  Of course, this diminution of beauty is something every woman faces if she lives long enough.