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.

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.

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:

Putting Country Last  —  I don't know John McCain as well as David Brooks does.  In fact, I don't know him personally at all.  But I covered his 2000 and 2008 primary campaigns, and I spent considerable time interviewing him, including several long interviews I did for a profile in 2006.

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.

Gallup Daily: Obama 48%, McCain 45%  —  Obama's slight edge consistent with his positioning over the past week  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has regained the edge over John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Sept. 23-25, 48% to 45%.  —  Today's three-day rolling average includes interviewing …

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.

SLATE PREDICTS MCCAIN'S NEXT 10 HAIL MARY STUNTS.  —  1. Returns to Vietnam and jails himself.  —  2. Offers the post of “vice vice president” to Warren Buffett.  —  3. Challenges Obama to suspend campaign so they both can go and personally drill for oil offshore.  —  4. Learns to use computer.

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.

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:

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

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.

National Review asks: Did WaMu fail because it employed minorities?  —  (updated below)  —  National Review's Mark Krikorian notes that (1) Washington Mutual became the largest bank to fail in American history yesterday and (2) its last press release touted the fact that it was named …

Mike Pence  —  There are very few members of congress with whom I've ever had the opportunity to discuss a substantive matter of public policy.  But as it happens, one of them — the one with whom I've had the second-longest exchange — is Mike Pence (R-IN) who I've seen …

Dems bury resolution due to war fears  —  The House Democratic leadership has effectively shelved a resolution calling for what critics say would amount to a naval blockade of Iran because of concerns that it could provoke another war, officials on Capitol Hill said.

RNC going up in Indiana  —  Two sources familiar with the media-buying plans say the Republican National Committee is set to spend six figures shoring up John McCain in the traditionally Republican state of Indiana.  —  The RNC's independent expenditure arm — which is outside the direct control …