McCain unsure how many houses he owns  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.  —  “I think - I'll have my staff get to you,” McCain told us in Las Cruces, N.M. “It's condominiums where - I'll have them get to you.”

When Daley says shhh, library is quiet on Obama  —  Conservative writer Stanley Kurtz—researching an article for the National Review about connections between Barack Obama and former Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers—made a big mistake.  —  The poor man took a wrong turn on the Chicago Way.

The Anatomy of a Deception: How The McCains Changed Their Baby Adoption Story Just Before 2008 Campaign Began  —  As was pointed out yesterday by the Christian Science Monitor, the McCain campaign was called out for lying about the purported urging of Cindy McCain by Mother Teresa herself …

The decay of serious journalism and Rachel Maddow's new show  —  (updated below)  —  As our political culture, economic security, standing in the world and our media institutions have all degraded beyond recognition after eight years of right-wing rule (much of it cheered on by The New Republic) …

Kristol: A Vice Presidential Clue  —  Here's what Barack Obama told Time's Karen Tumulty and David Von Drehle earlier this week, when asked what we would learn about him from his vice presidential pick: … Is there a clue here as to Obama's pick?  Perhaps not—he'll claim these nice statements would apply to anyone he chooses.

Obama campaign to deploy surrogates to hit McCain's houses  —  Barack Obama's campaign, moving rapidly to exploit what they see as a major opportunity, is deploying high-profile surrogates in 16 states across the country today to highlight John McCain's uncertainty yesterday about how many houses he owns …

Report Says Fire, Not Explosion, Felled 7 W.T.C.  —  GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Fires in the 47-story office tower at the edge of the World Trade Center site undermined floor beams and critical structural columns, federal investigators concluded Thursday, as they attempted to curb still-rampant speculation …

The joke's on McCain: Late-night comedians lay off Obama  —  A hilarious new study of late-night political jokes, due to be released later today, finds the network comedians clearly avoiding humor about Democratic candidate Barack Obama, while piling the jokes on President Bush and Sens. John McCain and Hillary Clinton.

The ‘New York Times’ Votes Big for Obama Economics  —  As economist Arthur Laffer told me a while back, Obamanomics “should be a fascinating economic experiment.”  To see just how fascinating, you should check out the big (nearly 8,000 words) New York Times Magazine story on Obama's economic agenda …

MCCAIN, REED, NORQUIST, AND ABRAMOFF.  —  To give a little more context to the attack ad Obama released yesterday linking John McCain to Ralph Reed and Jack Abramoff, you have to remember that the Abramoff revolved around the fedora-wearing lobbyist's efforts to bilk Native-American tribes out of millions of dollars.