If you haven’t already done so, read through Paul Ryan’s comments to me yesterday. They provide a complete preview of tonight’s debate, especially of the emerging theme of a “choice election.” That’s high ground for the Romney/Ryan campaign, and Mitt Romney should get there early and stay there. The country has two very different, radically diverging paths in front of it. President Obama’s path begins with a second recession, a recession that might not be over by the next presidential election, so traumatic will be the combined consequences of his tax hikes and the Obamacare roll-out. (The recession has already hit the Euro-zone, as the New York Times reports this morning.) Governor Romney is promising a return to the low tax growth of the ’80s and ’90s, combined with entitlement reform to save us from the Greek example. This isn’t a tough choice, but the president will do all he can to prevent focus on it (and on his abysmal record) while Mitt Romney needs to refuse to get into sideshows with the president.

The latest polling and especially its direction is very encouraging for Romney, and represents the turning of the race and the awakening of the electorate to the fact that the choosing is five weeks away. (The National Journal survey showing a dead heat stilll had a D 7 sample.) Romney has the perfect opportunity to accelerate the momentum of the turn towards him tonight. (Yes, I know, more junk from the Marist folks on Ohio. Hope you heard yesterday’s conversation with Cuyohoga County GOP Chairman Rob Frost. Like the Roanok College Survey of Virginia, the Marist poll is simply nonsense based on absurd samples.)

I will be broadcasting from Dallas, and will conduct a special 90 minute broadcast after the debate with some of our regular experts in order to give you relief from the usual suspects on television. A button will be up later on the sidebar that allows you to listen to the debate and the post-debate show.