If you're in DC on Thursday, Common Cause is hosting the premiere of, "The United States of ALEC" at the National Press Club.

Campaign Finance/Fair Elections
AP: Judge upholds campaign finance ruling
"The judge who struck down Montana's campaign contribution limits has upheld his own decision after state attorneys asked him to reconsider."

Mother Jones: Would an Obama win hurt campaign finance reform?
"If Obama defeats Mitt Romney in November, will his victory weaken the opposition to Citizens United by undercutting the notion that a handful of megadonors pouring millions of dollars into super-PACs and shadowy nonprofits have the power to dictate the outcome of an election?"

TPM: Husted to appeal Ohio early voting decision to Supreme Court
Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted really doesn't want to make it easy to vote--he's appealing last week's court decision that restored access to early voting to 3 days before the election. Roll Call.

WV Public Broadcasting: Citizen Action seeks to overturn Citizens United
In West Virginia: "Gary Zuckett with West Virginia Citizen Action presented a petition with over two thousand seven hundred signatures urging the legislature to pass that resolution to Senate President Jeff Kessler today."

WaPo: Leading the Federal Election Commission: An interview with Chairman Caroline Hunter
The Washington Post has an interview with the FEC Chair.

Congress/2012
Politico: Romney’s unusual in-house ad strategy
An unusual media buy strategy by the Romney campaign means they aren't getting as much bang for their buck as the Obama campaign.

The Hill: Done with fundraising, President Obama hits the campaign homestretch
"President Obama will attend his last fundraiser of the 2012 campaign Thursday and then shift into top gear following his disastrous recent debate performance that vaporized his polling lead over challenger Mitt Romney." In mid-August, he had hit 200 events. Not sure what that number is now.

Buzzfeed: Big Bird's creator a big Obama backer
I can't with this news cycle: "The woman who founded the Children’s Television Workshop, which created Sesame Street, is a maxed-out contributor to the Obama campaign and a significant donor to the Obama-backing Priorities USA Super PAC, campaign finance records show."

Sunlight: Obama September surge leaves Romney $360M in hole
"Unless Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney persuaded donors to cough up $360 million in September, President Barack Obama will remain the all-time king of political fundraising."

ThinkProgress: Why the Obama foreign donation "scandal" is pure fiction
Good debunking of the new report on the possibility that foreign small donations are infiltrating the Obama campaign.

AP: Pro-Romney super PAC plans 4-state ad blitz
Crossroads: "An independent group supporting Republican Mitt Romney is launching a major TV advertising push in four presidential battleground states." $7.4M buy.

NaJo: Democrats learn to love the super PAC
That argument that super PACs simply provide more electoral competition, without a discussion about how being indebted to all that money would impact governing.

The Hill: House, Senate campaigns welcome lobbyists shunned by Team Obama
"Democratic lobbyists shunned by President Obama’s campaign are turning their attention to Senate and House races in a bid for relevance as the fall’s action shifts to battleground states. "

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Ohio Democrats want probe of Ohio coal executive's fundraising
Based on last week's TNR story: "The Ohio Democratic Party has asked state and federal regulators to investigate the company practices of one of Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's biggest regional benefactors -- a coal executive who Democrats say may have strong-armed financial contributions from employees for Republican candidates and causes." Here is CREW's complaint to the FEC on this matter.

Washington Times: Super PACs role in race falls short of expectations
"By the time the dust settles, barring a dramatic change in the final weeks, the chief effect of the super PACs on this election may have been as a means for Republicans to attack each other."

Herald Tribune: Ann Romney returning to Sarasota for Mack fundraiser
"Two weeks after her husband visited, Ann Romney is heading to Sarasota for a private fundraiser on Thursday morning."

Buffalo News: Outside groups injecting millions into Hochul-Collins race
"Emboldened by Supreme Court’s ‘Citizens United’ ruling, national groups are injecting torrents of cash into local campaigns – none more superheated than Collins vs. Hochul"

Politico: Boehner to help reeling grim fundraise
Mob ties, what mob ties? John Boehner is heading to Manhattan Thursday to help raise some money for Michael Grimm. He's also heading to Illinois to help Bobby Schilling.

Newsworks: Ethics questions unlikely to derail Rep. Andrews re-election
"Yet though the controversy has cost him at minimum the more than $30,000 he voluntarily repaid to his campaign fund and political action committee, political observers feel certain the ethics charges will not cost the overwhelmingly popular Democrat election to his 12th term in his solidly "blue" South Jersey district, even though he faces three opponents."

States/Other
NYDN: How dark money endagers NY
In short, they’re dragging state politics deeper than usual into the gutter. And they’re getting away with it — thanks to tractor-trailer-sized loopholes in state law and a dozing Board of Elections."

Journal News: Senate Republicans and their friends have $18M in campaign funds
"A report today from NYPIRG found that Senate Republicans and their allies had $18 million in their campaign accounts to wage war in the final weeks of the campaign. Senate Democrats had $3.4 million." My favorite part from the report is the category, "Ex-Legislators Currently In Prison.”