And the stakes are high. Polls now show a dead heat between the two men – and even swing state polls show a much tighter race. Mitt Romney has already made his debate strategy very clear – which is to lie every chance he gets – and run away from every far right position he’s taken over the last year in hopes of painting himself as a moderate.

In the first debate – Romney employed the Ronald Reagan strategy of saying whatever he needs to to win, just as long as he says it sincerely. And it worked because President Obama adopted the Jimmy Carter strategy and didn’t call out any of Romney’s lies. Tonight, with Joe Biden’s blistering debate performance still fresh in the minds of progressives – the President must channel his inner fighter and not let Mitt Romney the liar go unchallenged for an hour and a half again.

If the President fails, then there’s a good chance he could suffer the same fate as Jimmy Carter – a one-term failed President. Not because he actually failed in his first term, but because he let Republicans convince the American people that he did.

Stay tuned tonight.

-Thom

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Monday's Daily Stack

Quote: "Money is property; it is not speech." -- Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

Hour One: CEO's are forcing people to vote Republican...
- David Keating, Center for Competitive Politics / Club for Growth

Article: "USC Chapter 29 - Elections And Political Activities: Title 18 - Crimes And Criminal Procedure: Part I - Crimes: Chapter 29 - Elections And Political Activities: Sec. 594. Intimidation of voters.".

Article: "Koch Sends Pro-Romney Mailing to 45,000 Employees While Stifling Workplace Political Speech" by Mike Elk.

Article: "Arthur Allen Email: CEO Of ASG Software Solutions Asks Workers To Vote For Mitt Romney" by Paige Lavender.

Law: "Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002" (McCain-Feingold).

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution".

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

Site: Move to Amend

Why they brought call center jobs back to America
- David Friend, CEO-Carbonite

Article: "Charter Schools Sold Like an Investment to Wealthy Foreigners Looking for a Green Card" by Alyssa Figueroa.

Movie: "Waiting for "Superman"".

Movie: "Won't Back Down".

Tomorrow night's debate (talking points pending from the campaign)
- Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL)

Book: "Rebooting the American Dream: 11 Ways to Rebuild Our Country" by Thom Hartmann.

Case: "Brown v. Board Of Education", 1954.

Article: "Death by Ideology" by Paul Krugman.

Article: "A Possibly Fatal Mistake" by Nicholas D. Kristof.

Law: "Full Text of the Affordable Care Act", 2010.

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Victoria Jones, White House Correspondent

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Site: Governor Don Siegelman.

Petition: "President Obama: Please restore justice and pardon my dad!" by Dana Siegelman.

Article: "Crowley's anticipated moderation causing anxiety in both campaigns" by Kathleen Hennessey.

Article: "The Complete M-O-U S-E-E" by Mark Halperin.

Article: "Supreme Court to weigh Arizona voter registration case" by Terry Baynes.

Article: "Mitt Romney cancels 'The View' appearance" by Tim Kenneally.

Article: "SoftBank to inject $8bn in capital into Sprint" by Michiyo Nakamoto and David Gelles.

Article: "TransCanada Orders Texas Grandmother Arrested for Trespassing on Her Own Land" by Jane Kleeb.

Article: "NEW ROMNEY VIDEO: In 1985, He Said Bain Would "Harvest" Companies for Profits" by David Corn.

Site: bainport.com.

Campaigning for the 99%...we all matter not just the wealthiest 1%
- Sr. Carren Herring, Ohio Nuns on the Bus

Article: "Nuns Hop on Bus to Tour Ohio" by Andy Brownfield.

Book: "Interior Castle" by St. Teresa of Avila.

Book: "Dark Night of the Soul" by St. John of the Cross.

The good: The American People: "Over 1,000 People Spell Out 'Dump Citizens United!" on San Francisco Beach" by .

The bad: "Jason Thompson On Obama: 'We Have The Opportunity' To Send The President Back To Kenya (VIDEO)" by Chris Gentilviso.

The very, very ugly: Janis Lane: "Female Tea Party Leader Says Women Are Too 'Diabolical' to Vote" by Alex Kane.

Article: "U.S. charter schools tied to powerful Turkish imam" by CBS.

Article: "Parsing the Truths About Visas for Tech Workers" by Steve Lohr, April 15, 2007.

Article: "How India Became an Outsourcing Magnet" by Manu Joseph.

Article: "Confusion Sown in Pennsylvania by Lingering Voter-ID Ads" by Romy Varghese.

Article: "Lithuania election: Voters 'dump austerity government'" by BBC.

Article: "US homeowners file class action Libor lawsuit".

Article: "Gary Johnson Polls: Latest Presidential Poll Shows Romney Leading Obama, But Trailing When Johnson is an Option" by Michael Luciano.

Debate preview
- Gov. Ted Strickland, Former Governor of Ohio (2007 to 2011) / National Campaign Co-Chair-Obama 2012

Hour Two: What makes a winner in tonight's debate?
- Curtis Sliwa, CEO/Founder of The Guardian Angels & AM970 Radio Host

Hour Three: Taking Our Country Back: Running for Congress against incumbent Republican Mike Coffman
- Joe Miklosi, Colorado State Rep running for Congress (D-CO, 6th District)

And, the best of the rest of the news and your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program...your media support group for "we the people"...

We'll have reaction to the latest Presidential candidates debate...what do you think?

Plus, I'll have a conversation with The Daily Caller's Jamie Weinstein who has a new book out about conspiracy theories..."The Lizard King"...and, no he's not talking about Jim Morrison ;-)

And, of course, the Best of the Rest of the News along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...