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Democrats’ opinions on the 2012 campaign have grown increasingly positive during the year, while Republican sentiment on the same measures has lagged, according to a Pew Research poll released Wednesday.

Two-thirds of Democrats said in September that the campaign was interesting and 68 percent said it was informative, a dramatic shift since March, when just 36 percent found the campaign interesting, and 44 percent thought it was informative. Republican opinion, which grew more positive in June after the end of the primaries, fell again this month, with about half saying the campaign was interesting and informative.

From Pew’s surveys of the last three elections:

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Happy Apple Christmas! Tim Cook’s Annual iPhone Gymboree didn’t just give us a slick 4-inch, iPhone 5 with LTE—we got a beautiful new iPod Nano, a new version of iTunes, an upgraded iPod touch, plus tons more loot. Here’s everything you need to know about the gadgets you’ll be lining up to buy next week and beyond. More »

In just a few short weeks, the long-awaited series of presidential debates will begin at the University of Denver, where Jim Lehrer will pepper President Barack Obama and former Gov. Mitt Romney with questions on domestic policy. Judging from the commentary of the Sunday Morning Political Chat-Show punditocracy, these debates will be a make-or-break moment — indeed, perhaps the makiest-or-breakiest moment — for the Romney campaign, the conventions period having been judged to have insufficiently “bounced” his standing in the polls.

For the media, the debates are, indeed, a shiny object that, critically, they have budgeted a lot of money to cover. Political scientists, however, disagree on whether presidential debates can have a significant impact on the race. Here’s John Sides, making that point:

That presidential debates can be “game changers” is a belief almost universally held by political pundits and strategists. Political scientists, however, aren’t so sure. Indeed, scholars who have looked most carefully at the data have found that, when it comes to shifting enough votes to decide the outcome of the election, presidential debates have rarely, if ever, mattered.

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Leslie Knope will be rubbing elbows with some very powerful Washington players when “Parks & Recreation” Season 5 premieres.

In a behind-the-scenes video, the comedy’s stars talk about filming with Senators John McCain, Barbara Boxer and Olympia Snowe. “We shot today with Senator McCain, one of my old acting buddies,” Amy Poehler says in the video. “He and I have worked together before and he was great.”

“We get actual scenes with them where they’re being hilarious,” Adam Scott says. “And I have a feeling that they will be more hilarious than me.”

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The more things change, the more they stay the same — for our old pal the iPod Classic, at least. Sure Apple went and revamped the rest of its music playing brethren, but the HDD stalwart is, as its name implies, staying true to its roots. Death rumors aside, the high-capacity player is sitting pretty over in Apple’s online store. Those who need a shot of 160GB nostalgia can still pick one up for $250.

Filed under: Handhelds, Home Entertainment

iPod classic lives to play another day originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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