McCain camp criticism rife with errors  —  Sen. John McCain's top campaign aides convened a conference call today to complain of being called “liars.”  They pressed the media to scrutinize specific elements of Sen. Barack Obama's record.  —  But the call was so rife with simple …

Dodd  —  Very preliminary, no details — but this sounds like a big step in the right direction.  —  One of the problems with this blog is that I ruffled a few feathers back when Bush had an 80 percent approval rating, and somehow I wasn't impressed.  People remember, and as a result …

CNN Poll: GOP takes brunt of blame for economy, Obama gains  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll suggests that by a 2-to-1 margin, Americans blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis that has swept across the country the past few weeks …

Ron Paul's Presidential Endorsement.  For Real, This Time.  —  Two weeks after his “third party alliance” press conference, three weeks after the Rally for the Republic, Ron Paul finally dives in and endorses a presidential candidate.  This guy.  —  Paul's reasoning had a lot to do with Bob Barr's snub of the third party presser.

Hypocrisy Bombshell: Antigay John McCain has a Gay Chief of Staff  —  What does John McCain's loyal chief of staff - a man who apparently is in a long-term relationship with another man, and appears to be open about it to John McCain — think about the fact that Sarah Palin devoutly worships …

Ethan Winner Responds: Claims He Produced Video  —  Ethan Winner responds.  Written like a VP in a public relations firm that specializes in crisis management and grassroots organization.  I'll post the whole thing below.  —  He produced the video?  He paid for the voice-over narration which he found through a talent agency?

Limbaugh repeats baseless Obama smear: “He's Arab. ...  [H]e's not African-American”  —  On the September 22 broadcast of his syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh baselessly claimed that Sen. Barack Obama is “not black,” and went on to ask: “Do you know he has not one shred of African-American blood?”

Bailout Plan Talks Advance in Congress  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration and Congressional leaders moved closer to agreement on a historic $700 billion bailout for financial firms on Monday, including tight oversight of the program and new efforts to help homeowners at risk of foreclosure.

FOX News/Rasmussen Poll: Race in Swing States Mirrors 2004 Election  —  Results from four of the five battleground states in the FOX News/Rasmussen Reports polling are similar to the presidential election four years ago.  Virginia, however, is more competitive than it was in 2004.

Palin's town charged women for rape exams  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's hometown required women to pay for their own rape examinations while she was mayor, a practice her police chief fought to keep as late as 2000.  —  Former state Rep. Eric Croft, a Democrat …

Now is the Time to Resist Wall Street's Shock Doctrine  —  I wrote The Shock Doctrine in the hopes that it would make us all better prepared for the next big shock.  Well, that shock has certainly arrived, along with gloves-off attempts to use it to push through radical pro-corporate policies …

Opening For A Maverick  —  Ed Kilgore over at the Democratic Strategist has posted an interesting take on the politics of this bailout.  He points to a post yesterday by Patrick Ruffinni that outlines a probable McCain strategy for dealing with this: … Note the framing of the “Bush-Pelosi” bailout plan.

Spies Warn That Al Qaeda Aims for October Surprise  —  Intercepted Messages Asking Local Cells To Be Prepared for Imminent Instructions  —  WASHINGTON — In the aftermath of two major terrorist attacks on Western targets, America's counterterrorism community is warning that Al Qaeda may launch …

John Steele Gordon on the Financial Mess: Greed, Stupidity, Delusion — and Some More Greed  —  John Steele Gordon, an author who specializes in financial and business history, has a helpful pedigree: both his grandfathers held seats on the New York Stock Exchange.

Bill Clinton: Hillary Never Wanted to be Obama's VP  —  ABC News' Russell Goldman Reports: Despite saying she would accept the offer to be vice president, Hillary Clinton never really wanted to be Barack Obama's running mate, her husband former President Bill Clinton told ABC's The View.

Axelrod Called Ethan Winner?  —  Updated with slightly longer video — In the interests of the kind of openess I know Ethan Winner would support, I'm posting this AV file of an alleged phone call from David Axelrod to Ethan Winner after Rusty's story broke.

WHY IS OBAMA SO VAPID, HESITANT, AND GUTLESS?  —  Last week really ought to have been the end of the McCain campaign.  With the whole country feeling (and its financial class acting) as if we lived in a sweltering, bankrupt banana republic, and with this misery added to the generally Belarusian atmosphere …

The Story Behind Biden's Emergency Helicopter Landing in Afghanistan  —  “Ladies and gentlemen, where are we now?  Where are we now?”  Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., said to the National Guard Association today, talking about the war in Afghanistan.  —  “If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives …

‘Palin Syrah’ Wine Drops in Sales After Sarah Palin Veep Pick  —  Editor's note: This dispatch comes to us from wine guru Amy Monroe.  She works in the grape business in the Bay Area, and literally stumbled across the “Palin Syrah” this month at a San Francisco wine bar.