Debate Prep By Mark Halperin

If Mitt Romney is to mount a robust comeback, he'll need a strong series of debate performances, starting Wednesday in Denver...He's spent a lot of time sparring in private with Ohio Senator Rob Portman, who has portrayed President Obama in debate practice sessions...A Romney revival would require many changes. Foremost, the candidate must improve his personal performance, both on the stump and in the debates; he needs to stop making errors, sharpen his message and deliver something more nourishing in TV interviews...Obama remains vulnerable on what he would do with a second term, but Romney hasn't filled in the details of his own plans...If Romney continues to claim his campaign is on track--or is not seen to be fighting for the job--his chances of victory will become even more remote...Increasing the number of campaign events per day would reach more voters and add a required sense of urgency. But Romney will also need some luck...Improving economic conditions and a rising confidence in Obama's ability to turn things around are compounding the Republican's problems...Romney's daily hopscotching from one message to another is baffling GOP pols...Meanwhile, large polling deficits in battleground states are leading many voters and Republican strategists to doubt that the challenger has any chance to win the race...Another headache for the GOP: weakness at the top of the ticket could mean the return of Nancy Pelosi to the House speakership, and Democrats could actually gain a seat or two in the Senate, with genuine prospects for victory in Massachusetts, Nevada, North Dakota, Virginia, Wisconsin, Indiana and Arizona.

FIELD OPERATIONS

Topical landscapers have combined two autumnal mainstays--the corn maze and the presidential election--to create a new rural attraction: waves of grain from Arkansas to Idaho (pictured above) sport the faces of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. "This year's such an important year that everybody go out and vote," says Teresa Summers Greenwood, who carved portraits into her 13-acre Maryland spread. "We're trying to remind everybody." It's certainly something to stalk about.

MAZES WITH A MESSAGE

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Meridian, Idaho

New Carlisle, Ohio

Winterset, Iowa

Frederick, Md.

Springdale, Ark.

THE TALLY

AUG.

SEPT.

Number of days the U.S. Senate has convened since Aug. 3. A slightly harder-working House has met on 10 days in that time. Legislators broke for another recess on Sept. 21, making this the longest pre-election hiatus since 1960

URBAN AGRICULTURE

Ready to taxi: Chicago's O'Hare airport plans to use goats, sheep or other grazing stock to consume heavy brush on part of the city's property