Economic Fears Give Obama Clear Lead Over McCain in Poll  —  Turmoil in the financial industry and growing pessimism about the economy have altered the shape of the presidential race, giving Democratic nominee Barack Obama the first clear lead of the general-election campaign over Republican John McCain …

Democrats to let offshore drilling ban expire  —  WASHINGTON - Democrats have decided to allow a quarter-century ban on drilling for oil off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week, conceding defeat in a months-long battle with the White House and Republicans set off by $4 a gallon gasoline prices this summer.

Bush Mouthpiece Admits: They've Been Sitting on this Plan  —  Hidden in an article reporting that Cheney's going to go hunt up some support for the $700,000,000,000 bailout is this admission that the Bush Administration has been sitting on it for some time: … Which raises three questions for me:

McCain Aide's Firm Was Paid by Freddie Mac  —  WASHINGTON— One of the giant mortgage companies at the heart of the credit crisis paid $15,000 a month to a firm owned by Senator John McCain's campaign manager from the end of 2005 through last month, according to two people with direct knowledge of the arrangement.

Palin Camp Goes To New Lengths To Shut Out Media  —  From CBS News' Scott Conroy:  —  (NEW YORK) Update: After media outlets complained to the McCain/Palin campaign about its attempt to prevent an editorial presence at Gov. Palin's first meeting of the day, a pool producer was allowed …

Bernanke and Paulson: Here's Why We're Screwing You  —  At today's Wall Street Bailout Hearings, we finally learned what Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke are thinking.  Specifically, we learned what prices they plan to pay for the crap assets they're buying (more than they're worth).

57% of Public Favors Wall Street Bailout  —  Obama Seen As Better Able to Address Crisis  —  By a margin of almost two-to-one the American public thinks the government is doing the right thing in investing billions of dollars to try to keep financial institutions and markets secure.

Chris Rock To Bill Clinton: ‘Hillary Lost!’  —  As in his appearance on the View, Bill Clinton offered the most tepid support possible for Barack Obama's presidential ticket on David Letterman's Late Show last night.  After repeatedly invoking his vanquished wife Hillary …

Biden garbles Depression history  —  Joe Biden's denunciation of his own campaign's ad to Katie Couric got so much attention last night that another odd note in the interview slipped by.  —  He was speaking about the role of the White House in a financial crisis.

And the Media Worries about Palin's Experience and McCain's Age?  —  I think in the space of about the last 24 hours, Joe Biden claimed that the AIG bailout was bad, but then said it wasn't bad;  —  that his apology about the dirty McCain ad was, as they say, inoperative;

Obama Dramatically Ramping Up Overall Ad Spending; Now Outgunning McCain  —  In a sign that the Obama campaign is getting serious about tapping his financial advantage over McCain with six weeks to go, Obama's overall spending on TV ads has jumped 50% in the last two weeks …

Chattanooga: UT student not indicted in Palin e-mail hacking case … A federal grand jury in Chattanooga ended its session around lunch time today without indicting a University of Tennessee student who authorities believe may have hacked into vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail account.

Credit Is Not a Civil Right  —  I have no way of judging whether the Wall Street bailout is a necessary evil or an impending disaster.  But we're in this mess, ultimately, because our political elites thought it was good social policy to encourage banks to give mortgages to uncreditworthy people …

‘Grim’ Afghanistan Report To Be Kept Secret by US  —  “No Plans to Declassify” New National Intelligence Estimate for White House  —  US intelligence analysts are putting the final touches on a secret National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Afghanistan that reportedly describes the situation as …

If Ohio polling looks like Chicago, ‘thank’ Brunner  —  Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has a reputation as the most partisan state official in Ohio.  And she works hard to earn it.  The Democrat's latest stunt rejected absentee ballots for thousands of Republicans.  —  But it's not her first rodeo.