News-7 Poll: Webb surges ahead of Allen  —  Democrat Jim Webb has surged ahead of Republican George Allen in the last poll of the campaign, conducted for News-7 by SurveyUSA.  —  The survey shows Webb with 52% of the likely voters, with 44% going to Allen.

Saddam verdict lacks details  —  The final court session and verdict today were fast, direct and clear, but not clear at all.  —  In less than 10 minutes, Saddam Hussein was told he was guilty of crimes against humanity, but never exactly how or why.  —  Was it the witness testimony that proved Saddam's guilt?

STRATEGY/POLL MEMOS  —  Memorandum From RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman To Republican Leadership And Interested Parties  —  TO: REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP AND INTERESTED PARTIES  —  FROM: KEN MEHLMAN  —  RE: MOMENTUM  —  New polls say our party is heading into Election Day with strong momentum.

Underdog Ford Gets a Little Help From His Illinois Friend  —  NASHVILLE — In his race for U.S. Senate, Rep. Harold E. Ford Jr. (D) has been outspent by millions, and his image has been battered by a barrage of negative ads, including the now-infamous spot with a blonde floozy that has been pulled off the air.

Prediction thread  —  Here are my predictions.  Note, for the record, that I've been way off on my predictions the past two cycles.  So there's no particular wisdom or inside knowledge or track record to give these predictions any more weight than anyone else's.  They're just for fun.

U.S. envoy to Iraq likely quitting post  —  WASHINGTON - Zalmay Khalilzad, the plainspoken dealmaker and Republican insider who has won praise and criticism for attempts to broker Sunni political participation in Iraq's fragile government, is likely to quit his post as U.S. ambassador in Baghdad …

The Press at War  —  What ever happened to patriotic reporters?  —  We are told by careful pollsters that half of the American people believe that American troops should be brought home from Iraq immediately.  This news discourages supporters of our efforts there.  Not me, though: I am relieved.

GOP 'robocalls' enrage Democrats  —  Somewhat ironically, I have received a deluge of emails since last night from Democrats complaining about the flood of last-minute phone calls Republicans are making to voters in an effort drive down the Democratic vote tomorrow.

Sleepwalking into the gathering storm?  —  The Washington DC Examiner Newspaper, The Examiner  —  WASHINGTON - "You ask, what is our aim?  I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival."

Hot Air introduces...the Absolute Moral Authority card  —  Find yourself in a jam?  Are your anti-war lies catching up with you?  Then use the Absolute Moral Authority card and get right out of trouble free.  Once you play the Absolute Moral Authority card, no one can ever question you again, no matter what you say or do!

Saddam: a tribute  —  Three months ago, Tony Blair warned the world that an "arc of extremism" now stretches across the Middle East from Iran to Lebanon.  This phenomenon, he suggested, threatens the survival of the very values on which western society is based.  Yet, when Blair came to power, no such claim could have been made.

Even Lower  —  Here's a flyer being distributed by the New York State Republican party:  —  The Democrats, in other words, want to let a darker-skinned man rape your white wife.  You know what?  I just found out nothing about Democratic values.  But I learned a hell of a lot more about Republican ones.

NARAL: Lying for Lieberman  —  I guess it should be no surprise that Nancy Keenan and the national NARAL PAC are lying to Connecticut voters on behalf of Joe Lieberman.  They endorsed him even after he voted for cloture on Samuel Alito and came out against CT NARAL's signature issue of last year …

Soldiers in Iraq Say Pullout Would Have Devastating Results  —  For the U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, the war is alternately violent and hopeful, sometimes very hot and sometimes very cold.  It is dusty and muddy, calm and chaotic, deafeningly loud and eerily quiet.