10:25 am ET

If you are looking for green shoots for Republicans at a time when many members of the Gang of 500 and the public are really down on Romney’s chances, here you go:

• There are a few state polls showing closing in battleground states, such as Sunday’s Des Moines Register numbers.
• Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, and others did a good job Sunday hitting on the “why would the next four years be any different than the last four?” argument.
• The press is finally picking up on the Libya tick tock and its potential political implications.
• I hate to even bring it up, because I find the debate expectations game so very meaningless and annoying, but Romney is on a trajectory to have won the expectations game by Wednesday.

To be sure, Chicago still has more cards up its sleeve and the better candidate — and a lead. But Romney has won or tied four news cycles in a row. Which ain’t nothing, after losing so many consecutively.

If Boston is right that what was killing Romney was the combination of the Charlotte bounce, the 47% video, and the relentless poll/process media questions, this week could see some interesting trends.

Assuming the father of five aces the debate.