Weekend Uptick: Happy Monday! New polls suggest that independents are leaning Republican this year, as the GOP now leads the generic ballot 47% to 42% — and scored 14 more percentage points among independent voters. (Politico)

And Now For Something Different: Simeon Kolko, a rabbi in Rochester, offers religious guidance for behavior this year’s “silly season” and beyond, outlining his Ten Commandments of Jewish political behavior. (MitzVote)

Closing Time: With very little time until the election, Florida’s Republican senatorial candidate Marco Rubio is making his final push. After Sunday’s CNN debate, he’s embarking on a five-day bus tour — called “The Road to Reclaim America” — and new television ad campaign. (YouTube, via Politico’s Morning Score)

Kirk Cashes In: Remember all that business about that bank in the Illinois senate race? Republican Mark Kirk used opponent Alexi Giannoulias’s vague description of his work in a bank with alleged mob ties to paint him as untrustworthy — and it seems to be paying off. Kirk’s previous deficit recently swung 5 points to a lead, and he is now 3 percentage points ahead of Giannoulias. (Chicago Tribune)

California Girls: Where Republican Marco Rubio is seen as the leader in the Sunshine State, the polls in California’s senatorial race are much closer — and that’s why Republican Carly Fiorina’s final punches may matter more. She has a new ad that paints opponent incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer as a loser on this year’s biggest issue: jobs. “Barbara Boxer failed to protect California jobs,” the ad from Fiorina, who cut jobs as CEO of Hewlett-Packard, says, calling a deficit “the legacy of Barbara Boxer.” (YouTube via Politico)

Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief

- Alyssa Katz, Editor-in-Chief

You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.

And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.

That’s where you come in. Gifts of any size keep the Forward free and accessible to everyone and ensure we have the resources we need to power the Forward at this critical time for American Jews.

Don't just read the Forward - invest in it. Will you support our work today?

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$120 $180 $360 OTHER AMOUNT