A Partisan Paper of Record  —  Today the New York Times launched its latest attack on this campaign in its capacity as an Obama advocacy organization.  Let us be clear about what this story alleges: The New York Times charges that McCain-Palin 2008 campaign manager Rick Davis was paid …

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 …

Campbell Brown Rips McCain Camp's “Sexist” Treatment Of Palin  —  A prominent female news anchor chastised the McCain campaign Tuesday evening for engaging in sexism and insulting behavior in its attempt to shield Gov. Sarah Palin from members of the press.  —  In a fiery commentary …

Cell Phones and the 2008 Vote: An Update  —  Current polling in the 2008 presidential election shows a very tight race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.  In part because of the strong support Obama is attracting among younger voters, and as the number of Americans …

To the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President pro tempore of the Senate:  —  As economists, we want to express to Congress our great concern for the plan proposed by Treasury Secretary Paulson to deal with the financial crisis.  We are well aware of the difficulty …

Fed Chief Calls Delay a Threat to the Economy  —  WASHINGTON — President Bush will address the country on Wednesday night in hopes of bolstering public and hence political support for the economic-recovery plan, one on which Republican officials say the administration is now willing to make a major concession.

Intrade Betting is Suspicious  —  There's something funny going on over at Intrade with respect to the pricing of the Obama and McCain contracts.  —  Right now, Obama is trading at 52.3 points.  That is, Intrade implies that he has a 52.3 percent chance to become the next President.

Palin on Thin Ice  —  With today's kerfuffle over the media being kept away from Sarah Palin's meetings with foreign leaders — like there was a risk she'd answer their shouted questions?  — I've been mulling over Colby's post about the Hannity-Palin “100 percent pure infomercial” interview.

The Ignorance Behind the Paulson Plan  —  From The PBS News Hour on September 23: … Ludwig is one of the authors, along with Paul Volcker, of the op-ed that put the bailout proposal on the table in the first place.  —  I am sure that Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and Eugene Ludwig …

NBC/WSJ POLL: DOUBTS ABOUT PALIN  —  From NBC's Mark Murray  —  The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll will be released at 6:30 pm ET, but here's an early look at one set of numbers:  —  Forty-nine percent say that Palin is unqualified to be president if the need arises, compared with 40 percent who say she's qualified.

Bill Clinton cites Jewish holidays to explain delay in campaigning  —  File this one under Ya Can't Make It Up.  —  Call me crazy, but there may some Christian areas of the country that he could stump in for Obama before, after or doing the high holidays.  —  From WJC's interview with Larry King tonight:

Pinpoint Attacks Focus on Obama  —  STERLING HEIGHTS, Mich. — Hundreds of times in the past three weeks, cable television viewers here have been the exclusive audience for two of the roughest advertisements of the political season.  —  One links Senator Barack Obama to the former mayor of Detroit …

FOX News Poll: Obama Reclaims Lead Over McCain, 45% to 39%  —  Barack Obama has recaptured the lead — 45 percent to 39 percent — over John McCain in the presidential race, according to a FOX News poll released Wednesday.  —  As majorities of each party's faithful back their party nominee …

PETA Urges Ben & Jerry's To Use Human Milk  —  VERMONT — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow's milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk …

Palin gets question, looks to McCain, demurs  —  This is what happens when campaigns let reporters into photo ops.  They get all uppity and ask questions.  —  From the pool report account of what happened after McCain and Palin's meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvilli and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko:

It's Judgment Day for McCain  —  Last week, Republican presidential candidate John McCain called for a commission to “find out what went wrong” on Wall Street.  It was an excellent suggestion: Public inquiries into Wall Street practices served the country well in the 1930s.

John McCain Uses Idol Makeup Artist!  —  John McCain, whose ads skewer Barack Obama for his “celebrity” status, has his own close ties to show business, the new issue of Us Weekly reports exclusively.  —  The 72-year-old was recently made TV-ready by makeup artist Tifanie White who's worked …

Anxious Depositors Withdraw Cash From Asian Bank  —  HONG KONG — Throngs of depositors lined up outside the headquarters and branches of the Bank of East Asia here on Wednesday to withdraw their money, underlining widespread anxiety in Asia that Wall Street's recent difficulties might spread across the Pacific.

POLITICS: Neo-cons, Ex-Israeli Diplomats Push Islamophobic Video  —  A group of hard-line U.S. neo-conservatives and former Israeli diplomats, among others, are behind the mass distribution, ahead of the November U.S. presidential election, of a controversial DVD that critics have denounced as Islamophobic.

On Iraq's Northern Front, Echoes of Georgia?  —  The following post is from occasional contributor Douglas Macgregor, an independent military strategist, retired Army colonel, and author of Breaking the Phalanx: A New Design for Landpower in the 21st Century.

Trooper probe now ‘confidential,’ Palin aides say  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) — Republican campaign officials indicated they are done answering questions about an investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner Tuesday, citing a request by a state investigator.

Ivan Moore: Palin remains popular but not like before  —  From David Hulen in Anchorage -  —  Anchorage pollster/consultant Ivan Moore has a new poll out from 500 likely Alaska voters.  While Gov. Palin's popularity remains very high - 68 percent overall give her a positive rating …