Obama pulls ahead 46 percent to Romney's 44 percent.

With the political conventions over and debate season ahead, here's a guide to the polls, players, money, lingo and more.

The disappointing August jobs report makes Obama's hopes of holding onto his own job even more challenging — especially in closely contested battleground states with painfully high levels of unemployment.

These voters - from Iowa's tiny manufacturing cities to Virginia coal country - are considered the potential tipping point in battleground states.

Both major parties packed their presidential nominating conventions into 72 hours - prompting few complaints from either delegates or the viewing public.

The commercials suggest that Americans are not better off after nearly four years of Obama's leadership.

Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley says he didn't mean to say people are worse off than four years ago when he made that remark earlier this week.

Some organizations are turning to sophisticated data mining, direct mail, the Internet and other strategies to register voters typically underrepresented on the rolls.

Ryan says news that employers added just 96,000 new jobs in August "is not even close to what a recovery looks like."