Debate Night in Kentucky!
Vice President Joe Biden faces off against Paul Ryan in the first and only vice presidential debate tonight at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Can Biden do what his boss didn't? Can he challenge the Romney ticket and blunt Romney's gains over the past week? We'll find out tonight. MSNBC's coverage kicks off at 5pm ET on "Hardball", live from Danville. Then at 6 it's "PoliticsNation" with the Rev. Al Sharpton. At 7 it's another live edition of "Hardball" before Rachel Maddow, Chris Matthews and the MSNBC team take over live coverage at 8pm. The debate goes from 9 to 10:30 and we'll have all the reaction and analysis afterwards until 1am.
Our new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polling finds the race getting tighter in Florida and Virginia, but President Obama is still maintaining his lead in the firewall state of Ohio.
And new New York Times/CBS News/Quinnipiac polls show voters in swing states giving Romney higher marks on leadership, but there hasn't been much shift in the head-to-head numbers. The conclusion? President Obama has been buttressed by the 7.8 unemployment number and the race is settling down.
