Election 2012

On Thursday, voters in Tennessee will decide on a series of ballot issues, including an unusual one that's garnering a lot of attention. The National Rifle Association has turned against one of its biggest supporters and is actively trying to get the Republican booted from office.

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RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

It's MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne.

Nevada has just six electoral votes, but it's a state that's much fought over in presidential elections. In 2008, Nevada gave an unexpectedly big boost to Democratic candidate Barack Obama. He carried the state by more than 12 points, thanks to unions and the Hispanic vote.

This year, the contest is shaping up to be much closer, as Nevada copes with both the worst unemployment in the nation and one of the country's highest home foreclosure rates.

As Mitt Romney nears the end of his seven-day trip abroad, it's safe to call the results mixed at best.

The trip to Great Britain, Israel and Poland had several goals. It was meant to show that Romney has the gravitas and acumen to be this country's top foreign affairs policymaker; to remind U.S. voters of his success running the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics; to appeal to certain voters in battleground states, especially Jewish and Catholic voters of Polish heritage, and to raise campaign cash.

Democrats are on the path to including an endorsement of same-sex marriage for the first time in their official party platform.

NPR's Ari Shapiro reported Monday that the proposal has made it through an important Democratic committee.

The 15 Democrats who serve on the party's platform drafting committee voted unanimously to endorse same-sex marriage in the party's official agenda, says Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who serves on the committee.

Frank recently married his partner.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish. Mitt Romney flew out of Israel this morning for Poland, the final leg of his foreign trip, but before he left, he held an early morning fundraiser in Jerusalem. Comments Romney made there and in a speech yesterday have upset many Palestinians.

From Jerusalem, Sheera Frenkel tells us more.

Appearances on late night TV have become a go-to campaign tool for presidential candidates looking to soften their image. But the candidate who arguably first turned late-night comedy into an effective platform was Richard Nixon in 1968. Audie Cornish talks with the producer from the comedy classic Laugh In about how the Nixon appearance came to be.