Top Items:
Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
McCain Wins Debate — Although the fate of tonight's presidential debate in Mississippi remains very much up in the air, John McCain has apparently already won it — if you believe an Internet ad an astute reader spotted next to this piece in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal this morning.
Discussion:
WJHL-TV, Campaign Silo, News Hounds, Colorado Independent, The Gun Toting Liberal, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Comments from Left Field, Open Left, techPresident, MoJoBlog, The Daily Dish, The Field on the Narcosphere, Spin Cycle, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Martini Revolution and Towleroad.com
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The Huffington Post:
Ex-Adviser: McCain “Blinked,” Campaign “Governed By Tactics, Not Ideology” — Scroll down to see McCain ad... After days of saying that John McCain would not attend Friday's presidential debate unless an agreement on a bailout package for the markets was “locked-down,” the McCain campaign has gone back on its word.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, TPM Election Central, MyDD, The New Republic, Taylor Marsh, The Democratic Daily, All Spin Zone and Washington Monthly
The Politico:
McCain will go to debate — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ended three days of suspense on Friday morning and announced that he will leave bailout negotiations in Washington and fly to Oxford, Miss., for the opening presidential debate. — McCain had previously said that he would suspend …
Mary Katharine Ham / Weekly Standard: All-In in Oxford — Well, I confess I didn't think John McCain would debate tonight.
The Politico:
GOP concerned about Palin — A growing number of Republicans are expressing concern about Sarah Palin's uneven — and sometimes downright awkward — performances in her limited media appearances. — Conservative columnists Kathleen Parker, a former Palin supporter, says the vice presidential nominee should step aside.
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Kathleen Parker / National Review:
Palin Problem — If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin. — To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.
Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
PUSHING FOR A GRACEFUL EXIT.... Kathleen Parker, a columnist syndicated …
PUSHING FOR A GRACEFUL EXIT.... Kathleen Parker, a columnist syndicated …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Crooks and Liars, The Caucus, The Raw Story, Left in the West and Boztopia.com
The Huffington Post:
Sarah Palin's Beauty Pageant Swimsuit Competition Footage (VIDEO) — Sarah Palin's 1984 beauty pageant swimsuit competition video has hit the web. An Alaskan has uploaded what he claims to be 100% real footage of Sarah Palin in a red tank suit in the 1984 Miss Alaska contest.
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
Out Of Juneau — Yep: it's here. You have to endure this dude yammering on for a 50 seconds but after that, Sarah Heath, now known as Sarah Palin, takes the stage in the Miss Alaska Pageant:
Dr. Rusty Shackleford / The Jawa Report:
Video: Sarah Palin Swimsuit Competition
Video: Sarah Palin Swimsuit Competition
Discussion:
The Other McCain
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO): McCain “stopped a deal” yesterday at the White House — House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) was just interviewed by Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC, and he told Mitchell that McCain killed the deal yesterday at the White House:
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Natalie Gewargis / Political Punch:
The Role of John McCain in the Bailout Bill
The Role of John McCain in the Bailout Bill
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
Amanda / Think Progress:
Bachmann Blames President Clinton, ‘Blacks,’ And ‘Other Minorities’ For Current Financial Crisis — Yesterday in a Senate hearing on the financial crisis, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) spoke on what caused the situation. To make her point, she read from an article called …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
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Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
National Review asks: Did WaMu fail because it employed minorities?
National Review asks: Did WaMu fail because it employed minorities?
Discussion:
The Corner, Seattle Times, Steve Sailer's iSteve Blog, StephenBainbridge.com, Hullabaloo, WaMu, Daily Kos, Open Left and The Poor Man Institute
Washington Wire:
Ku Klux Klan Members Plan to Appear at Presidential Debate Site — Corey Dade reports from Oxford, Miss., on the presidential race. — When the University of Mississippi hosts the first presidential debate tonight, the two sides of its troubled racial history could converge.
Discussion:
Think Progress
Judd Legum / The Huffington Post:
Ignore The Pundits: How To Figure Out Who Won The Debate — There were 23 debates during the Democratic primary and part of my job on the Hillary campaign was to monitor the post-debate reaction in the media. I watched hundreds of self-described political experts instantly declare who won and who lost.
Don Kaplan / New York Post:
MAD ABOUT LETTERMAN — MCCAIN VIDEO 'JACKED FROM KATIE — CBS News executives were red- faced yesterday trying to explain how David Letterman used unaired news footage of Sen. John McCain with Katie Couric to embarrass the Republican presidential candidate.
CNN:
Evangelist arrested in child porn case — (CNN) — Evangelist Tony Alamo was arrested Thursday in Flagstaff, Arizona, on charges related to a child porn investigation, an FBI spokesman said. — The 74-year-old founder and leader of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries was arrested without incident at 2:45 p.m. …
Jim DeMint:
What Caused The Economic Crisis? Watch This! — Senator DeMint wanted to share this video on the federal bailout with you. Thanks for your support.
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
MSNBC Refusing To Run Outside Group's Ad Questioning McCain's Health — MSNBC has notified an independent group running an ad questioning John McCain's health that it will no longer air the spot, only a half day after Fox's Bill O'Reilly attacked NBC's corporate bosses on the air over the ad, the group tells me.
Larry Kudlow / The Corner:
A Paulson-Cantor Plan Is a Win-Win for Taxpayers — The single-biggest mistake in the Paulson bank-rescue-plan marketing effort has been the failure to explain clearly how taxpayers are going to recoup $700 billion used to buy toxic assets at auction in order to unfreeze the banking system.
Discussion:
StephenBainbridge.com
Jesse Walker / Reason:
Barack Obama vs. Free Speech — Here's an ad the National Rifle Association is running in Pennsylvania: — The Obama campaign disputes the accuracy of the advertisement, which is fine. It has also threatened regulatory retaliation against outlets that show it, which isn't fine.
DealBook:
Wachovia Begins Early Deal Talks with Citi — Updated: Wachovia has begun preliminary talks with Citigroup about a potential merger, people briefed on the matter said Friday afternoon. — Feelers have also been extended between Wachovia and Wells Fargo and Spain's Banco Santander, these people said.