Cheat Sheet - Obama and Romney Spend a Night Together

Today: In Massachusetts Race, Romney Narrowed His Gender Gap Late , Main Libya Attack Suspect Unconcerned , U.S. Jobless Claims Spike October 19, 2012 FUNNY MAN 1. Obama’s Cautious Comedy The president killed at the Al Smith dinner opposite rival comic Mitt Romney at the Waldorf in New York last night. Then he got chummy with Jon Stewart at The Daily Show, poking fun at himself and yada. Lloyd Grove on which candidate will have the last laugh. Read it at The Daily Beast Campaign Strategy 2. How Mitt Once Won Women Voters Take note, Team Obama. In 2002, the future governor managed to win over a sizable percentage of women voters with a last-minute effort to blunt his female opponent’s appeal, writes The Daily Beast’s David Freedlander. Read it at The Daily Beast UNFAZED 3. Main Libya Attack Suspect Unconcerned One of the alleged masterminds behind the attack on the Libyan compound that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens says Libya’s army is “chicken” and continues to go about his day-to-day business. Though Libya has called Ahmed Abu Khattala commander of the attack, he tells The New York Times that he hasn’t even been questioned about it. Abu Khattala asserts that the compound guards provoked a peaceful demonstration by shooting at protesters and insists he wasn’t part of the attack. He also accused U.S. leaders of “playing with the emotions of the American people” and “using the consulate attack just to gather votes for their elections.” Read it at The New York Times Ouch 4. U.S. Jobless Claims Spike Jobless claims in the United States spiked last week, according to data released Thursday by the Labor Department. Although this represents a change from the steadily declining number of claims from past weeks, the change at this point still seems to be an outlier indicating that the economy is on a long, slow road to recovery. Claims for state unemployment benefits also slightly exceeded expectations, and factory activity increased slightly in the mid-Atlantic region.  Read it at The New York Times War Tech 5. CIA Seeks to Expand Drone Fleet Officials said on Friday that the CIA is asking the White House for a significant expansion to its fleet of armed drones. If approved, the increase could add up to 10 drones to a force currently numbered at 30 to 35 and would enhance the ability of the CIA to carry out lethal strikes in the Middle East. The move, needless to say, is eliciting concerns that the CIA is moving away from its roots in intelligence toward a more paramilitary identity. Read it at The Washington Post Damage Control EU Agrees on Bank Supervisor To intervene in future crises. BUNGA BUNGA Berlusconi: ‘No Intimate Ties’ With underage prostitute. #Busted Britain Investigates MEP’s Twitter Suspended account allegedly promoted anti-gay protest. First Amendment? Judge: TX Cheerleaders Can Quote Bible Rick Perry defends cheerleaders. JUICY Spears’s Manager Says She Used Meth Claims she shaved head to hide drug evidence. GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET Culture Beast Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. Romney: 'Big Bird Didn't Even See It Coming' At the historic Alfred E. Smith dinner in New York, Mitt Romney cracked jokes about President Obama, the press, and even Sesame Street. Obama's remarks that night, he said, would be brought to you by the letter 'O'—and the number 16 trillion. Debt burn. More Videos The Boy Scouts’ Coverup Scandal by Winston Ross Undercover Muslim Agents Get the Job Done by Michael Daly RuPaul’s Favorite Drag Looks by Maria Elena Fernandez

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