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.

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.

The Role of John McCain in the Bailout Bill  —  Sen. John McCain's role in the current dealings on Capitol Hill should not be overstated positively or negatively, Capitol Hill sources from both parties say.  —  Democrats are blaming McCain, R-Ariz., for the disastrous meeting yesterday.

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.

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.

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.

Morally bankrupt  —  I cannot address all the patently untrue things that McCain and Obama are saying, but I must protest when Barack Obama claims that people are going bankrupt because of health expenses.  There is no evidence to suggest that this is a widespread phenomenon.

Sen. Kennedy released from hospital  —  BOSTON (Reuters) - Ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy, a liberal giant and patriarch of America's most storied political family, was examined and released from a Massachusetts hospital on Friday after suffering a mild seizure, officials said.

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. …

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.

Barnett: ‘Unprecedented,’ ‘free-form’ debate format  —  Bob Barnett, the D.C. lawyer who helped negotiate out the debate agreement for Obama's side, said this evening that the debate would take an “unprecedented” format with the potential for some “free-form discussion” debate.

Presidential Debate Live-Blogging  —  11:04: Keith Olbermann highlights the fact that McCain admitted that the U.S. tortures.  McCain has previously said waterboarding is torture, while noting that the U.S. has waterboarded.  —  11:00: On ABC, New York Times columnist Tom Friedman called McCain's claim …

‘McCain is right’  —  The McCain campaign is up with a very fast YouTube on Obama's repeated assents to things McCain said.

What Caused The Economic Crisis?  Watch This!  —  Senator DeMint wanted to share this video on the federal bailout with you.  Thanks for your support.

Obama Memo: We're Really, Really Bad At Debates...  And John McCain is really good.  —  If it's 2pm the day of the debate, it must be an expectations-lowering memo.  —  Read it all after the jump.

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 …

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.

McCain's High-Stakes Debate  —  Tonight, John McCain has more to gain and lose.  This week, McCain raised the stakes for himself a thousand percent.  All those people that didn't realize there was going to be a debate tonight, those 60% of Americans who are tuned in to the economic crisis — now they'll all want to catch the debate.

A Hostile Audience  —  One side effect of McCain's debate gambit is, I'm told, that everyone at Ole Miss now hates him.  It will make for a very hostile audience tonight among those students and faculty attending.  He might have to apologize for creating the uncertainty or make some explanation up front, which is never ideal.