This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Sesame Street to Obama: pull the Big Bird ad. Critics question Chaffetz's Libya probe. 27 days until Election Day.
Happy Wednesday. Tomorrow, Vice President Joe Biden and VP-hopeful Paul Ryan will face off in a one-time debate. In a Reuters poll of likely voters, 39 percent said Biden was more qualified to be president, while 33 percent felt it was the other way around. [Reuters]
-> Revisit six of the most memorable vice presidential debate moments, including Sarah Palin's 2008 "Can I call you Joe?" [WaPost]
Topping the news: State Sen. Margaret Dayton is sponsoring a bill that would prohibit abortions by mothers upset by the gender of her unborn baby. [ABC4]
-> Rep. Jason Chaffetz's Libya investigation yielded harsh criticism from Jim Dabakis, chairman of the Utah Democratic Party, who said the "big stunt" was "pathetic." [Trib]
-> The makers of the politically-neutral Sesame Street ask the Obama campaign to pull its new Big Bird-themed attack ad. [SesameWorkshop] [Politico] [DailyBeast] [CBSNews] Ironically, the woman behind the original creation of Big Bird donated over $200,000 to the president's campaign in the past two years. [BuzzFeed]
Tweet of the day: From @daveweigel: "I'm more than ready for a 'time to swap places on the ticket?' news cycle if Biden wins this debate."
Happy birthday: To former HHS chief of staff and top Mike Leavitt aide, Rich McKeown.
In other news: Surprise, surprise: Josh Romney endorses Republican Salt Lake County mayoral candidate Mark Crockett. [Trib]
-> Mia Love, Utah's Republican District 4 candidate, spent the weekend campaigning for Romney in Ohio, arguably one of the most critical battleground states. [Trib]
-> A Democratic blogger accused Crockett of falsely claiming support from companies who said they did not endorse the mayoral candidate. [DNews] [Fox13]
-> Paul Rolly discusses the relationship between LDS President Thomas Monson and the late Jack Gallivan, Jim Matheson's appearance at a Mia Love fundraiser and propaganda at a St. George fundraiser. [Trib]
-> Former Utah Gov. Olene Walker said the political climate has turned increasingly negative since her time in office, specifically citing the Matheson-Love race. [DNews]
2012 watch: Among likely voters, Gallup credits Romney with a 49-47 lead. Among registered voters, they say Obama leads 49-46. [Gallup]
-> The tightened presidential race is getting intense. [Reuters]
-> Romney touched base with rural American at the James Koch farm in Iowa yesterday. [Politico] While there, he emotionally recanted how he first met one of the Americans who died in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya. [ChiTrib] [Yahoo]
-> An interactive map of this election cycle's swing states shows Obama leading Romney with 57 to 53 electoral votes. [Politico]
-> A Brookings Institute economist says Romney's tax plan doesn't add up, just like you can't drive across the country in 15 hours without speeding. [Brookings]
-> An Obama campaign spokesperson said that recent Romney-favoring polls haven't changed their plan of attack: "We've always run this race like we're 5 points down." [Politico]
-> For the first time in recent years, the Democratic National Committee had more debt than cash on hand in the final two months of the election. [WaPost]
Where are they?
Rep. Jason Chaffetz participates in a hearing on the Libya consulate attack.
Gov. Gary Herbert takes part in a KUTV interview and later attends the groundbreaking of the Olene Walker Institute at Weber State University.
Attorney General Mark Shurtleff joins a conference call for an immigration forum.
SL Co. Mayor Peter Corroon meets with community council chairs.
SLC Mayor Ralph Becker attends a Summit County Council briefing on Mountain Transportation.
WVC Mayor Mike Winder welcomes singer Carrie Underwood to West Valley City.
President Barack Obama campaigns at Ohio State University.
Got a tip? A birthday, wedding or anniversary to announce? Email us at cornflakes@sltrib.com. If you haven't already, sign up for our weekday email and get this sent directly to your inbox. [Trib]
— Thomas Burr and Betsy BlanchardTwitter.com/thomaswburr and Twitter.com/betsyblanchard