McCain on financial bailout: 'Just like Iraq, I'm not afraid to go it alone.'  —  Today, the Washington Post reveals more details about what happened during the White House meeting on Thursday between President Bush and top lawmakers.  Despite indicating that his presence was pivotal …

Round 1 in debates goes to Obama, poll says  —  OXFORD, Mississippi (CNN) — A national poll of people who watched the first presidential debate suggests that Barack Obama came out on top, but there was overwhelming agreement that both Obama and John McCain would be able to handle the job of president if elected.

Paul Newman, a Magnetic Titan of Hollywood, Is Dead at 83  —  Paul Newman, one of the last of the great 20th-century movie stars, died Friday at his home in Westport, Conn. He was 83.  —  The cause was cancer, said Jeff Sanderson of Chasen & Company, Mr. Newman's publicist.

SO ANGRY  —  McCain's unwillingness to make eye contact with Obama through the debate seems to be getting picked up by a lot of observers.  Here's an interesting exchange on the subject between Chris Matthews and the Post's Eugene Robinson ...  Here's one comment we got from TPM Reader EO ...

Why Obama Won Big  —  Nate Silver is a must-read.  This is a fascinating nugget: … The more it sinks in, the more I think Obama actually knocked it out of the park last night.  He is, in some ways, the inverse McCain.  McCain is all drama and explosions but then ... the air smells like damp, finished fireworks smoke.

Next up: Biden and Palin prep for VP debate  —  (CNN) — Now that Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain have their first presidential debate out of the way, the focus turns to their running mates.  —  Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin will face off Thursday at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

A Genuine and Immediate Crisis  —  What Congress has to do now.  —  I've received phone calls in the last hour from two economists I respect, one of them Larry Lindsey, the other in a position where he'd prefer not to be named.  Both have government experience, neither is alarmist by nature, and they say this:

The Mac is back  —  John McCain was very lucky that he decided to show up for the first presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., Friday night.  Because he gave one of his strongest debate performances ever.  —  While Barack Obama repeatedly tried to link McCain to the very unpopular George W. Bush …

“Horses**t”: Correction  —  I've removed the original post of a little time ago because after listening to the clip about two dozen times, what sounded like McCain saying “horses**t” actually comes through as having a hard “c” at the front of it.  My husband insists that McCain said “Course not.”

The Washington Panic  —  The Paulson plan is a tool to avoid a deeper downturn.  —  Thursday night's negotiated sale of Washington Mutual to J.P. Morgan Chase was a nifty bit of financial plumbing that minimized the damage to taxpayers while putting a banking zombie in sounder hands.

Palin grabs a seat at the bar  —  Perhaps it was coincidence that the song “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” was playing as Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin worked the crowd at the Irish Pub last night.  —  But her amorous fans were definitely ready to let the moose-hunting Alaska governor rule.

On strategy and tactics  —  The least self-aware moment for John McCain in last night's debate came at the half-way point, when he said, “I'm afraid Senator Obama doesn't understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy.”  —  In a sense McCain was sticking to his battle plan in saying this …

What Sayeth the Undecideds?  —  From TIME's Amy Sullivan:  —  Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg ran a dial-group with 45 undecided voters in St. Louis during the debate, polling them before and after to judge how the event changed their reactions to Obama and McCain.

Gallup Daily: Obama Holds 5-Point Lead  —  Momentum in his favor going into debate  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama leads John McCain, 49% to 44%, when registered voters are asked who they would vote for if the election were held today, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update.

Ratings Shock — Last Night's Audience Smaller than Bush-Kerry's  —  After predictions that these Obama-McCain debates would earn record audiences in the 80-100 million range, the “overnights” from the five broadcast networks are in — and at least where they are concerned, the viewership for last night's debate was surprisingly low.

Behind Insurer's Crisis, a Blind Eye to a Web of Risk  —  “It is hard for us, without being flippant, to even see a scenario within any kind of realm of reason that would see us losing one dollar in any of those transactions.”  —  Two weeks ago, the nation's most powerful regulators …

Palin on CBS  —  I've been swamped with other stuff, but just for the record: I thought Palin was dreadful.  She obviously didn't have the reaction to the Charlie Gibson interview that I had hoped.  She had better be better prepared for next week or she risks damaging her political brand forevermore.