Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks like a strong 2016 presidential candidate, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll.

She "would start a 2016 presidential campaign with enormous advantages," said assistant poll director Peter Brown.

She would defeat three top Republican contenders by sizeable margins, the poll found. She beats New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, 45-37 percent; Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, 50-34 percent and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, 50-38 percent.

Vice President Joe Biden doesn't fare as well, trailing Christie but topping Rubio and Ryan. Another possible Democratic contender, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is tied with Rubio and trails Christie and Ryan.

To read the poll:http://www.quinnipiac.edu/institutes-centers/polling-institute/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=1861

Republicans greeted the news that Nancy Pelosi will return as House Democratic leader with this comment:

"There is no better person to preside over the most liberal House Democratic Caucus in history than the woman who is solely responsible for relegating it to a prolonged minority status.  This decision signals that House Democrats have absolutely no interest in regaining the trust and confidence of the American people who took the Speaker’s gavel away from Nancy Pelosi in the first place," said Paul Lindsay, National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman.

Both presidential campaigns are rallying supporters in the final days of the election in Minnesota, a state thought to be firmly for the Demorat but could be more competitive.

Former President Bill Clinton and Republican vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan will campaign in Minnesota today.

Obama’s campaign has dismissed talk that Minnesota is tightening, but several polls show it is close.A Star Tribune poll released this weekend showed the president's lead a mere three percent, within the margin of error.

Mitt Romney is in Denver Tuesday night for his second rally of the day, along with New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, Kid Rock, and Rodney Atkins.

And even the venue -- the Red Rocks Ampitheatre just outside Denver - is getting attention.

The site -- which usually hosts rock concerts offered a twinge of irony for the Republicans with the Denver Post noting today that it's a throwback to the use of government money to create jobs -- a notion that Romney and Ryan have rejected. The newspaper noted the iconic venue was built as part of the Depression-era New Deal employment programs. The Post said "hundreds of those workers took the natural amphitheater at Red Rocks and built it into the functioning venue it is today."

Romney adviser Kevin Madden wouldn't comment on whether it was a good use of campaign funds to spend an estimated $100,000 to rent the venue, saying he was not aware of the cost.

Mitt Romney and running mate Paul Ryan sought to seize momentum in their first post-presidential debate stop in Henderson, Nevada, accusing Obama of failing to revive the economy -- and offering no new plans to do so.

They both portrayed Obama as flailing without an agenda, though neither directly mentioned the 20-page plan Obama released Tuesday. Romney charged that Obama has been relegated to relying on "characters on Sesame Street" to criticize Romney. 

And he repeated a line from the debate that "attacks on me are not an agenda.. That’s why his campaign is taking on water and our campaign is full steam ahead."

"We can handle 2 more weeks of campaign, but we can't handle four more years of what he's given us," Romney said, ticking off unemployment numbers, sinking housing costs and rising gas prices.

He said he'd deliver 12 million new jobs, raise take home pay and pledged in four years to reduce Nevada's "unemployment down to 6 percent."

Obama, he charged, is leading the U.S. on a path that will have it look "a lot like the troubled nations in Europe."

Don't expect any more specifics on how a Romney administration would cut taxes while not blowing up the federal deficit.

Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan said during his Thursday debate that the Republicans would "work with Congress'' on a plan, and Sunday, senior adviser Ed Gillespie reiterated that point.

"In a campaign environment, to start negotiating in a campaign environment, you're going to lock in Republicans, you're going to lock in Democrats," he told "Fox News Sunday."

Host Chris Wallace interrupted noted the Romney campaign locked in on cutting rates 20 percent across the board. Congress' bipartisan Joint Committee on Taxation said Friday that even if virtually all deductions were eliminated, the rates could only be reduced 4 percent if the package was to be revenue neutral.

Gillespie called the 20 percent rate a "principle," adding, if Romney wins, people will understand "the election was about this."

"And then work out the details in the same way, by the way, Ronald Reagan did with Tip O'Neill, with working across the aisle."

During Reagan's 1981-89 presidency, O'Neill, a Democrat, was House Speaker during the first six years. They did work together to craft several major pieces of legislation.

Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan won the Thursday vice presidential debate, according to a new CNN/ORC International poll, but not by much.

48 percent of those who saw the debate thought the Republican won, while 44 percent said Vice President Joe Biden won.

Here's more from CNN:

"Half of all debate watchers questioned in the poll said the showdown didn't make them more likely to vote for either of the candidates' bosses, 28 percent said the debate made them more likely to vote for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney and 21 percent said the faceoff made them more likely to vote to re-elect President Barack Obama.

"According to the survey, 55 percent said that the vice president did better than expected, with 51 percent saying that the congressman from Wisconsin performed better than expected.

"By a 50-41 margin, debate watchers say that Ryan rather than Biden better expressed himself.

"Seven in ten said Biden was seen as spending more time attacking his opponent, and that may be a contributing factor in Ryan's 53-43 advantage on being more likable. Ryan also had a slight advantage on being more in touch with the problems of average Americans."

President Obama evaluated his own debate performance -- he had a "bad night" -- and offered some tips for his vice president who debates Republican challenger Paul Ryan tonight -- in an ABC interview.

"I think Joe just needs to be Joe," Obama told ABC, when asked what advice he'd give his running mate. "Congressman Ryan is a smart and effective speaker, but his ideas are the wrong ones. Joe understands what it means to scrap and knows what it's like to see his dad lose a job and understands what it's like to get incredible opportunities because we live in this incredible country of ours. And when that heart and that story comes out, he's incredibly effective."

Of his own widely-panned performance: "Governor Romney had a good night. I had a bad night. It's not the first time," Obama said in his first televised interview since the Oct. 3 debate.

Democrats have despaired over Obama's showing, but he promised a turnaround: "This was one event. We've got four weeks to go. Nobody is going to be fighting harder than I am. What they need is to make sure they tune in on Tuesday next week."

Paul Ryan -- who will face off against vice president Joe Biden tomorrow in their only debate of the election -- tells CNN he's fond of the veep -- just not his policies.

"You know we've gotten along quite well over the years," Paul said. "You know, I like Joe personally quite a bit. I just disagree with his policies."

Ryan sought to set expectations for the debate, noting that Biden "has been doing this for a long time. He ran for president twice, he's the sitting vice president. He's been on this big stage before, so that's new for me, and I'm just doing my homework and studying the issues."

But he said he's not called the only other person to debate Biden in a vice presidential debate: former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for advice.

"You know, I haven't," Paul said. "I don't really know her. I only met her once and that was about two years ago."

Coming into Thursday's vice presidential debate, a new poll suggests that neither Vice President Joe Biden nor Republican challenger Rep. Paul Ryan is viewed with much enthusiasm.

The national poll finds that more voters view Biden unfavorably than favorably, while opinions about Ryan are more evenly divided. Biden's image is far less positive than it was shortly before his 2008 debate with Sarah Palin; Ryan is viewed less favorably than Palin was just prior to her appearance.

The national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Oct. 4-7 among 1,511 adults, including 1,201 registered voters, finds that 39 percent of voters view Biden favorably, while 51 percent gave him an unfavorable rating. Just more than four-in-ten -- 44 percent -- view Ryan favorably, while about as many -- 40 percent -- have an unfavorable view.