With election funding for the 2012 election cycle passing $2 billion this month, and with the election itself just six days away, theAssociated Presshas taken a look at the top donors for both major parties’ presidential candidates.

In an election marked by big money donations and the influence of super PACs, the Republicans‘ top donors have vastly outpaced the Democrats. The fifth highest Republican donor has given more than the top Democratic donor, and the top five Democratic donors still have less than the third most generous Republican giver.

Several factors have contributed to this disparity. Mitt Romney has the support of many wealthy business owners, and the Republican party in general was quick to take advantage of the unlimited donations super PACs can take in, both during their primary season and after Romney won the nomination. The Democrats and Obama, who were opposed to the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that gave rise to super PACs, were slower to jump on board — and not all of them did. Read 

David Axelrod is putting his money where his mouth is. Or his mustache, at least.

In an appearance today on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Axelrod, a senior adviser with Barack Obama’s campaign, bet the show’s host Joe Scarborough that Obama would win Minnesota, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. If Obama fails to win all three states, Axelrod said he would shave his mustache “of 40 years.”

Axelrod then challenged Scarborough to grow a mustache if Obama won any of those three states, but the TV host declined. Scarborough then made a counter-offer : if Obama won either North Carolina or Florida, he would grow a mustache. Axelrod accepted this offer. Read 

Barack Obama may not always be able to get both sides of the political aisle to agree, but there’s one area of his life in which there’s something for almost everybody: his iPod.

In an interview with Cincinnati hip-hop radio station WIZF, the president was asked what was on the “presidential iPod.” To which he responded that he had “a pretty good mix.”

“I’ve got old school — Stevie Wonder, James Brown. I’ve got Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan. And then I’ve got everything from Jay-Z, to Eminem, to the Fugees, to you name it. There’s probably not a group that you play that I don’t have on my iPod.” Read 

If Barack Obama thought he had caught hell from conservatives for his stimulus package, the Affordable Care Act, or his administration’s reaction to the consulate attack in Libya, well, he ain’t seen nothing yet.

In a recently published interview with Rolling Stone, one of the journalists interviewing the president in the Oval Office told Obama that his six-year-old sun supported him. Obama’s response?

“You know, kids have good instincts. They look at the other guy and say, ‘Well, that’s a bullshitter, I can tell.’ “ Read 

The three presidential debates have all been held, and now the candidates are off on a mad dash to visit every swing state, some several times, before the general election on Nov. 6. Mitt Romney used a strong performance in the first debate to slingshot himself back into the presidential race, and Barack Obama took on a stronger tone in the following debates to try and blunt Romney’s momentum.

During the debates, the candidates discussed a variety of issues: the economy, the middle class, the attacks in Libya, and Obama’s health care plan, among others, saw significant discussion. Perhaps just as significant, though, were the issues that were not discussed during the debates. In particular, three hot-button issues didn’t get brought up at all during the debates. Gay Marriage

In May, Obama publicly expressed support for gay marriage, a few days after Joe Biden had done the same. The move brought Obama praise from gay rights groups, condemnation from socially conservative groups, and accusations from Romney that Obama had flip-flopped on the issue. It also helped Obama pull in $9 million, at a time when his campaign was getting beaten convincingly by Romney in fundraising. Read 

Anyone who thought Donald Trump’s announcement today was going to actually be a smoking gun that supported his birther beliefs, well, you’re out of luck.

Instead, he issued a new challenge to Barack Obama: release your college records, applications, and passport records, and Trump will give a $5 million donation to a charity of Obama’s choice. “I have a deal for the president, a deal that I don’t believe he can refuse, and I hope he doesn’t,” Trump said.

The Donald set a deadline for accepting his offer of 5 p.m. at October 31. Read