Holtz-Eakin: McCain helped create BlackBerry  —  Asked what work John McCain did as Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that helped him understand the financial markets, the candidate's top economic adviser wielded visual evidence: his BlackBerry.  —  “He did this,” Douglas Holtz-Eakin …

Fed Readies A.I.G. Loan of $85 Billion for an 80% Stake  —  By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and ERIC DASH  —  In an extraordinary turn, the Federal Reserve was close to a deal Tuesday night to take a nearly 80 percent stake in the troubled giant insurance company, the American International Group …

And now this  —  From an e-mail sent overnight by Anchorage attorney Kevin Clarkson:

Fiorina: Palin Doesn't Have Experience To Run A Major Company  —  Carly Fiorina, a key surrogate for John McCain on economic issues, said on Tuesday that Sarah Palin does not have the experience needed to run a major company like the one that Fiorina formerly headed.

GOP delegate's hotel tryst goes bad when he wakes up with $120,000 missing  —  He met her in the bar of the swank hotel and invited her to his room.  Once there, the woman fixed the drinks and told him to get undressed.  —  And that, the delegate to the Republican National Convention told police, was the last thing he remembered.

MCCAIN, SOCIAL SECURITY PRIVATIZATION, AND THE FINANCIAL CRISIS.  —  I sort of buried this in a previous post, but it's worth drawing out.  Today, John McCain said, “Wall Street has betrayed us.  They've broken the social contract between capitalism and the average citizen and the worker.

Count the Lies  —  John McCain may be trying to sell himself as a “maverick” and a “straight talker” who will tell the truth no matter the consequences, but independent, non-partisan watchdog groups aren't buying it.  But, since he wrapped up his party's nomination, John McCain has offered more of the same false attacks and smears.

Cash-poor Obama says no to Reid  —  Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made a personal appeal to Barack Obama: Help me grow the Democrats' Senate majority by sharing some of the $77 million you've got in the bank.  —  Obama's campaign said no.

McCain press pack stages mini-insurrection  —  Amie Parnes reports:  —  Reporters traveling with John McCain are slightly miffed that the senator hasn't had any face time with them in, well, a month and three days (But who's counting?)  —  So, when Straight Talk Air departed Tampa today, a dozen reporters chanted, “Bring Mac back!

Whose policies led to the credit crisis?  —  The credit crisis and the lack of oversight over government-subsidized lenders like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac occurred on the watch of George Bush, and many blame his economic team for their lack of oversight in the collapse.

Palin's Favorability Numbers Eroding  —  As voters have taken a second look at Sarah Palin in venues like the Charlie Gibson interview and even Tina Fey's SNL sketch, they may not be as enamored of what they're seeing.  —  The Research 2000 poll for Daily Kos now has Palin's favorability-unfavorability scores at 45-44 — just a +1.

Obama vs. Palin  —  If you want to know why Gov. Sarah Palin drives liberal Democrats crazy — and is helping Sen. Barack Obama raise money at a record pace — here's an excerpt from an viral email making its way around the country:  — If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're “exotic, different.”

Gallup Daily: Presidential Contest Remains a Dead Heat  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The Sept. 13-15 Gallup Poll Daily tracking update shows John McCain (47%) and Barack Obama (46%) locked in a close contest when registered voters are asked for whom they would vote if the election were held today.

Reaching Critical Mass  —  The sudden change in the polls the last 10 days, even though it may be temporary, has prompted a furor in the media that has no parallel in modern election history.  Vicious words like “treason”, “abasement”, “liar”, and “lying” are in the air now in an unheralded attack on McCain …

Russia halts trading after 17% share price fall  —  By Catherine Belton and Charles Clover in Moscow and Rachel Morarjee in London  —  Russian shares suffered their steepest one-day fall in more than a decade on Tuesday, losing up to 20 per cent, as a sharp slide in oil prices …