Financial Russian Roulette  —  Will the U.S. financial system collapse today, or maybe over the next few days?  I don't think so — but I'm nowhere near certain.  You see, Lehman Brothers, a major investment bank, is apparently about to go under.  And nobody knows what will happen next.

OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL  —  WHILE campaigning in public for a speedy withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, Sen. Barack Obama has tried in private to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement on a draw-down of the American military presence.

McCain: Fundamentals are (still) strong  —  Delighting Democrats: “The fundamentals of our economy are strong,” McCain reiterates at a Florida rally this morning, before noting that “these are very, very difficult times.”  —  It's a line for which Democrats have criticized McCain before …

Despite record month, Obama needs more cash  —  Barack Obama's $66 million haul in August donations may set records but it's only a down payment on the huge sums the Democratic presidential nominee must continue to collect in order to compete through the Nov. 4 election.

Bad voter applications found  —  Clerks see fraudulent, duplicate forms from group  —  Several municipal clerks across the state are reporting fraudulent and duplicate voter registration applications, most of them from a nationwide community activist group working to help low- and moderate-income families.

On the stump, Obama moves past hope  —  CHICAGO — The “hopemonger” is gone.  —  Barack Obama sounds more like a man trying to shake a rain cloud these days, dispensing a teeth-clenching, I-get-your-pain stump speech in town after town that offers only snippets of the unbridled optimism that long permeated his campaign pitch.

Chairman Rangel  —  Mounting embarrassment for taxpayers and Congress makes it imperative that Representative Charles Rangel step aside as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee while his ethical problems are investigated.  —  This recommendation does not come easily …

Palin's Project List Totals $453 Million  —  McCain Campaign Says Record Shows Drop in Requests  —  Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative.

Luskin: Economy's Fine  —  Donald Luskin, seemingly upset that he hadn't been bashed recently in the progressive blogosphere, decided to write a baffling and extremely long column that ran over the weekend arguing that the economy's fine.  The Washington Post opinion section, for reasons I don't care to speculate on, decided to run it.

Why Feminists Hate Sarah Palin  —  Left-wing feminists have a hard time dealing with strong, successful conservative women in politics such as Margaret Thatcher.  Sarah Palin seems to have truly unhinged more than a few, eliciting a stream of vicious, often misogynist invective.

Biden speech to take hard hit at McCain  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Joe Biden will deliver a high-profile first attack in a sustained anti-McCain offensive in a speech called “Bush 44” Monday in the key battleground state of Michigan.  —  While the lines of attack have long been drawn …

Candidates Strive to Break Through Media Fog  —  Senator Barack Obama had come to Granby High School in Norfolk, Va., last week to talk about education.  But first, he said, “I've got to spend just a brief moment talking about politics.”  —  For the next few minutes, he offered …