Ben Carson speaks to the crowd during a campaign rally at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 23, 2015. (Jessica Christian/Jackson Citizen Patriot via AP)

The dozen Republican voters gathered around a table in Indianapolis to talk politics Tuesday night knew what kind of presidential candidate they want in 2016: an outsider.

Politicians "don't keep their word; their morals are loose; they don't have values," said Shonda Sonnefield, 40, a homemaker who is backing Dr. Ben Carson. "We're just tired of them. We're just ready for someone who has not been in that world."

Donald Trump "has spoken his mind, which is new, which is different than any other politician," Christopher Berry, 50, said approvingly.

The Republican and Republican-leaning voters participated in one of a series of focus groups moderated by Democratic pollster Peter Hart and sponsored by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. The free-wheeling discussion made it clear how much these voters are fed up with politics with usual and how ready they are to take a leap of faith to support contenders they acknowledge are divisive.

Asked to cite their top choices for the GOP nomination, only two of the participants failed to include one of the outsider contenders – Trump, Carson and former CEO Carly Fiorina.

The candidates who have been elected to office fared far worse. Former Florida governor Jeb Bush and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio each were included by two people. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were each named by one.

The Indianans expressed little concern about those lacking a background in governing.

"They may not have experience in politics twisting arms, but they may have experience in the business world and other words in twisting arms and getting things done," said Joseph Butera, 23, a restaurant manager.

That said, 10 of the twelve raised their hands when asked if Trump would be a divisive figure as president. "It's his way or the highway," said Lorinda Phelps, 34, a photographer. But she added, "I can overlook him being a jerk" if he can succeed in making the country better.

Trump's manner prompted some to prefer Carson, who expresses his strong views in a milder manner. In one exercise, the voters were asked who the candidates would be if they were members of their family. Carson would be "a grandfather,""an older brother,""a role model."

Trump would be "your father-in-law,""a middle child,""a crazy uncle."

And Bush? "The family dog," one said to laughter. Another called him "your ex-brother-in-law." Shawana Shelby, 45, a child nutritional specialist, said dismissively, "I don't think we need another Bush in there."

The group was asked to name who they thought would be elected president next year, regardless of which candidate they preferred. One named Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders and another Vice President Biden, who hasn't announced whether he'll run.

But most were convinced that the outsider candidates would prevail as the next president: Six named Carson, two Trump and two Fiorina.

Matt Damon attends the European premiere of his latest movie. (Mike Marsland, WireImage)

Hollywood loves Hillary.

The Democratic presidential front-runner is scoring financial support from some of Tinseltown's biggest names, new fundraising reports show.

Among the boldfaced names backing Clinton during the July-to-September fundraising quarter: actor Matt Damon, star of the sci-fi blockbuster The Martian, mega-movie star Tom Hanks, and actor John Leguizamo, who each donated $2,700, the maximum they could give to Clinton for the primary election. Other famous contributors include actresses Meg Ryan and Murphy Brown‘s Candice Bergen.

Actress Meg Ryan in Paris.
(Pascal Le Segretain, Getty Images)

Kanye West, who recently proclaimed he plans to seek the presidency in 2020, signaled that he’d like Clinton to occupy the office first. He donated $2,700 to her campaign in July.

Actress Octavia Spencer, who earned as Academy Award for her role in The Help, and actor Michael Douglas apparently are so confident that Clinton will win the nomination that they have each donated $2,700 for the primary and another $2,700 for the general election.

Mark Ruffalo introduces Bernie Sanders during an event in New York on Sept. 18, 2015. (Mary Altaffer, AP)

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Clinton's rival for the Democratic nomination, also has received celebrity donations in recent months. Husband-and-wife actors Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman each donated $2,700. The Avengers star Mark Ruffalo, known for his environmental activism, donated $2,170 to Sanders.

Other famous donors include actor Richmond Arquette (brother of Patricia) and Maura Tierney of ER fame who currently co-stars in Showtime’s The Affair.

Some Republican contenders have bagged some big-name donors, too.

Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds performs in Hollywood on Dec. 10, 2014. (Mathew Imaging, WireImage)

Singer and music producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds is among donors to the presidential campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as is Johnny Van Zant, the lead singer of Lynyrd Skynrd, who contributed $1,100.

Country singer Toby Keith, listed in federal records by his full legal name, Toby Keith Covel, donated $2,700 to former Florida governor Jeb Bush, as did producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and TV series such as The Amazing Race) and actress Eloise DeJoria, who appeared in the 1989 movie Weekend at Bernie's.

Toby Keith arrives at the Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction and Awards Gala on June 18, 2015, in New York. (Dave Allocca, Starpix via AP)

Vice President Joe Biden (Evan Vucci, AP)

Vice President Biden has revised his account of his advice to President Obama on the raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden in 2011.

While Biden reiterated that he suggested in front of Cabinet officials that Obama wait, on Tuesday Biden added another element to the story: Privately, he told Obama to move forward.

"As we walked out of the room and walked upstairs, I told him my opinion, that I thought he should go but follow his own instincts," Biden said during remarks at the "Walter Mondale: Living Legacy" forum.

The comment followed an account by Mondale of how he would only disagree with President Jimmy Carter in private during his tenure as vice president. Biden agreed and said that advice from Mondale came in "extremely handy" during the decision process leading to the May 2011 raid by U.S. Navy SEALS on bin Laden's compound.

Biden said he was part of a small group that knew as early as August 2010 that bin Laden may be hiding out in Abbottabad, Pakistan. When Obama asked Cabinet officials for their advice, only two were definitive. Then-CIA Director Leon Panetta said to go ahead with the raid, while then-Defense Secretary Bob Gates advised against it, Biden said.

"Others were 59-41," he said. "Some ended up saying 'go,’ but it was such a close call.'"

Biden repeated his previous statement that he advised during that meeting against immediate action and added that he said, "I think we should make one more pass" with a drone to ensure bin Laden was there.

But this time, Biden said he actually didn't want to take a public position that ran afoul of the president's wishes.

"It would have been a mistake," Biden said. "Imagine if I had said in front of everyone, 'don't go, or go' and his decision was a different decision. It undercuts that relationship. I never on a difficult issue, never say what I think, finally, until I go up in the Oval with him alone."

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said he was not in the Situation Room at the time and couldn't shed any additional light on what advice Biden gave.

"There have already been books that have been written about this. I’m confident there will be more," Earnest said. "I will leave the dissection and the oral history of those days to those who were actually there."

After the forum, former White House chief of staff Bill Daley backed up Biden's account, telling reporters in the audience, "I was in the room and I saw him walk out with the president," according to a tweet from Paul Kane of The Washington Post.

"His explanation of that is absolutely on point," Daley said, according to another tweet from Kane.

In January 2012, Biden told Democratic members of Congress during a retreat that his advice was “don’t go” and “We have to do two more things to see if he’s there.” He then ended the story there, citing the situation as an example of Obama’s strength as a leader.

Later, Biden referenced his private conversation with Obama during a May 2012 interview on Meet the Press, saying “I knew he was going to go.”

“He looked at me again, and I said ‘Follow your instincts, Mr. President,'” Biden said.

Biden’s account of the Cabinet meeting, in which Panetta was the only official to definitively green-light the raid, may conflict with the account by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who was then serving as secretary of State.

In her book Hard Choices, Clinton wrote that she respected Biden’s and Gates’ concerns about the risks of a raid. She said she laid out the risks for Obama, but she concluded the raid was worth it.

“I thought we should go for it,” she wrote.

Biden, who is considering a presidential run, made other statements during the Tuesday forum that could be perceived as digs at Clinton, including his reference to his relationship with Republicans. During the first Democratic debate on Oct. 13, Clinton listed Republicans among the enemies she’s most proud of making.

“Whenever there’s a problem, I get sent to the Hill, which, by the way, is a useful use of my time because I really respect the members up there, and I still have a lot of Republican friends,” said Biden, who represented Delaware in the Senate for 36 years before becoming vice president.

“I don’t think my chief enemy is the Republican party,” he said. “This is a matter of making things work.”

Biden also said the administration has had two “great” secretaries of state.

“But when I go, they know I am speaking for the president,” he said.

Contributing: Gregory Korte

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and former president George W. Bush (AP)

Sen. Ted Cruz declined to comment in detail Tuesday on critical comments by George W.  Bush, saying the former president is simply sticking up for his brother Jeb.

“I have great respect for George W. Bush, and was proud to work on his 2000 campaign and in his administration,” Cruz said in a statement. “It’s no surprise that President Bush is supporting his brother and attacking the candidates he believes pose a threat to his campaign. I have no intention of reciprocating.”

Cruz responded to a Politico report that Bush spoke harshly of Cruz over the weekend, telling a group of donors: "I just don't like the guy.”

One donor to the Jeb Bush campaign told Politico that George W. Bush criticized Cruz for “sucking up” to Republican front-runner Donald Trump and “just expecting all of his support to come to him in the end.”

In his statement, Cruz did say of the former president: “I met my wife, Heidi, working on his campaign, and so I will always be grateful to him.

Week 8 results for USA TODAY's GOP Power Rankings (Photos via AP)

Four weeks ago, we were predicting the demise of Donald Trump. Today, his grip on the GOP nominating contest seems as strong as ever.

Twenty-one of the 30 political experts we survey each week gave first-place marks to Trump this week, his highest total since Week 3 of our Power Rankings survey.

Trump’s candidacy appears to be making the transition from an upstart spectacle to a real presidential campaign. He is even raising money despite telling people he does not need them to donate.

Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Las Vegas on Oct. 8, 2015. (John Locher, AP)

“I actually had a chance to attend a Trump rally in Richmond, Virginia last week, and I was struck by the evolution of Trump’s stump speech,” said Emory University’s Andra Gillespie. “He is still invoking the same themes and the same bluster, but his stump speech is evolving into something that looks more traditional. It suggests that Trump may be taking this campaign more seriously than we gave him credit for earlier this year.”

Democratic pollster Margie Omero agreed: “People rejoiced in the last few weeks, thinking Trump’s numbers have faltered but they’ve rebounded some. It seems he stays strong no matter what the press says.”

Part of Trump’s return to dominance is that his challengers keep losing traction. Carly Fiorina took over first place in our Power Rankings after the second Republican debate, but she has quickly faded.

“Fiorina failed to build on debate success,” said Carl Leubsdorf of The Dallas Morning News. She had 13 first-place votes from our panel in Week 4. This week, she had none.

Ben Carson (three first-place votes) and Marco Rubio (four) remain in the hunt, though Rubio was not helped by questions about exactly how much money he raised in the third quarter of this year.

“The depth of Carson’s small dollar support is a unique advantage that no other candidate in the field matches,” said IMGE’s Phil Musser. “It’s a gift that will keep on giving and the result of smart early investment on his behalf.”

Candidates at the bottom of our rankings have largely remained in place for two months, raising questions about how long they can last. “The race is settling into a top tier and the rest are struggling for campaign dollars,” said Henry Barbour. “The field could thin after the Oct 28 and Nov. 10 debates. Cash flow is becoming a big issue for campaigns.”

Week 8 rankings 

1. Donald Trump (Last week: 1)

2. Ben Carson (2)

3. Marco Rubio (3)

4. Ted Cruz (4)

5. Jeb Bush (6)

6. Carly Fiorina (5)

7. John Kasich (7)

8. Chris Christie (8)

9. Rand Paul (10)

10. Mike Huckabee (9)

11. Bobby Jindal (11)

12. Rick Santorum (12)

13. Lindsey Graham (13)

14. George Pataki (14)

15. Jim Gilmore (15)

Week 1 |Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4
Week 5 | Week 6 | Week 7

Participants in USA TODAY’s GOP Power Rankings:

Kristen Soltis Anderson, Republican pollster and author of The Selfie Vote
Henry Barbour, Republican strategist, Mississippi
Paul Brathwaite, principal, Podesta Group
Dianne Bystrom, director, Center for Women and Politics, Iowa State University
Herman Cain, talk show host and former GOP presidential candidate
Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist and CNN Commentator, The Dewey Square Group
Frank Donatelli, former RNC deputy chairman and Reagan advisor
Sara Fagen, partner, DDC Advocacy
Peter Fenn, Democratic political strategist, Fenn Communications
Denise Feriozzi, deputy executive director, EMILY's List
Karen Floyd, CEO, The Palladian Group and former South Carolina GOP chair
Aaron Ghitelman, communications manager, HeadCount
Andra Gillespie, polling analyst and political science professor, Emory University
Nathan L. Gonzales, editor, The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report
Lilly J. Goren, political science and global studies professor, Carroll University
Doug Gross, Iowa attorney and previous Republican gubernatorial nominee
O. Kay Henderson, news director, Radio Iowa
Ken Khachigian, senior partner, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Carl Leubsdorf, Washington columnist, The Dallas Morning News
Deb Lucia, Topeka 912 – the Capital City Tea Party
Matt Mackowiak, Republican consultant and president, Potomac Strategy Group, LLC
Dan Maffei, former Democratic congressman, New York
Phil Musser, chairman, IMGE digital media agency
Margie Omero, Democratic pollster, Purple Insights
Jon Ralston, host, “Ralston Live” on PBS affiliates in Nevada
Craig Robinson, founder and editor, TheIowaRepublican.com
Alan Rosenblatt, Ph.D., Sr. VP of digital strategy, turner4D
Dante Scala, political science professor, University of New Hampshire
Adam Sharp, head of news, government and elections, Twitter
Alex Smith, national chairman, College Republicans
Todd Spangler, Washington correspondent, Detroit Free Press
Kathy Sullivan, DNC committeewoman and former Democratic Party chair, New Hampshire

Special thanks to the Palladian Group for building our survey platform.

Ben Carson and Donald Trump take part in the CNN Republican debate at the Ronald Reagan library in Simi Valley, Calif. (Mark J. Terrill, AP)

Another poll shows Donald Trump and Ben Carson well ahead of the Republican presidential field, while Trump reversed his earlier criticism of the war in Afghanistan during an interview on Tuesday.

Trump maintains the top spot in the CNN/ORC survey at 27%, followed by Carson at 22% — the only two GOP candidates in double digits. Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio are tied for third place at 8% each, followed by Mike Huckabee and Rand Paul at 5%.

Another outsider candidate, Carly Fiorina, is tied for seventh place at 4% along with Chris Christie and Ted Cruz.

The CNN poll came a day after an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey also showed Trump and Carson well ahead of the field, a month after the last Republican debate in California. The GOP candidates meet again Oct. 28 in Boulder, Colo.

Meanwhile, in an interview Tuesday on CNN, Trump defended the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, reversing comments he made to the network earlier this month.

In an Oct. 6 interview, Trump said he wondered whether U.S. troops were going to be in Afghanistan “for the next 200 years”and “we made a terrible mistake getting involved there in the first place.”

On Tuesday, Trump said: “We made a mistake going into Iraq. I’ve never said we made a mistake going into Afghanistan.”

Canada is already done with their national elections and once again they have failed to elect the most influential resident, Santa Claus, as prime minister. You jealous that they're already done? Us too! Our rivals at CANADA TODAY's "For the Record, Eh?" get to take the rest of the year off to hibernate or whatever. Meanwhile, we're still 384 days away from Election Day 2016.

RESULTS ARE IN: DEM DEBATE ENDS IN A SCORELESS TIE

Nothing to see here. Move along. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Hillary Clinton crushed last week's debate, agrees everyone except all your Facebook friends. Sixty-two percent of Democrats and Democrat well-wishers declared Clinton the winner, compared to 35% for Bernie Sanders, according to a CNN/ORC poll taken in the days following the debate. Still, nationwide support more or less held steady for the two candidates nationwide – Hillary at 45%, Bernie at 29%. The needle didn't budge in New Hampshire, either – Sanders has maintained a 10-point lead. So we did all that just to get Jim Webb to bail out on the Democratic primaries? Seems needlessly complex, right?

EVERY VOTE COUNTS! UNLESS IT’S AFTER MID-MARCH

Let your voice be heard! Offer not valid in all 50 states. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In the oddly rigid schedule of primaries and caucuses, there are winners and losers – and any state on the schedule after about the midway point tends to be a non-factor in the presidential race. Even though the calendar runs through mid-June, the major parties' nominees tend to clinch the necessary delegates by May, and the winners probably will be foregone conclusions following the 10-state Super Tuesday free-for-all that will occur on March 1, 2016. One Indiana political analyst says the chances are "maybe 20 percent" that his state's May 3 primary will have any effect on the race (that still seems high to us). Read Indiana's late-state lament in the Indianapolis Star.

OUT AT HOME

For a bunch of people all trying to move in to one house, you’d think they’d be more sympathetic. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

For all the talk among candidates about helping out the middle class, raising the minimum wage and reducing income inequality, there's one topic that remains off-limits in campaign platforms: homeownership. You remember  homeownership, right? It was part of presidential candidates' speeches for most of the previous century, from Calvin Coolidge's promotion for "homeowning families" to George W. Bush calling for an "ownership society." It's also the thing that led to subprime mortgages, which sank the world economy for the better part of the last 10 years. Demanding higher homeownership rates now sounds like calling for more icebergs to save the Titanic. For now, campaigns will call for increased wages or shoring up the middle class – and if you spend that money on a house, that's your own damn business. More from USA TODAY's Rick Hampson.

MORE FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

• Joe Biden's daughter-in-law backs presidential bid. Sure would be nice to know if Joe Biden backs Joe Biden's bid (The News Journal, Wilmington, Delaware)
• Sanders rejects donation from phenomenal jackass (USA TODAY OnPolitics)
• Artist buys Trump's Iowa bus, encourages passersby to throw fruit punch on it because … oh damn (The Des Moines Register)

THE FACT THAT THEY DON’T EXIST IS IRRELEVANT

#ballotselfies, which as far as we can tell barely existed in the first place, were declared illegal by the state of Indiana. Now they're legal again. Whether they will continue to not be a thing remains to be seen.