Today's Polls, 9/28  —  Here's the long and short of it for John McCain: Barack Obama has as large a lead in the election as he's held all year.  But there is much less time left on the clock than there was during other Obama periods of strength, such as in February, mid-June or immediately following the Democratic convention.

McCain retracts Palin's Pakistan comments  —  WASHINGTON (CNN)— Sen. John McCain retracted Sarah Palin's stance on Pakistan Sunday morning, after the Alaska governor appeared to back Sen. Barack Obama's support for unilateral strikes inside Pakistan against terrorists

Comparison of original Paulson bailout to compromise proposal  —  House Republican Whip Roy Blunt's office provides this side-by-side comparison of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's original Wall Street bailout proposal with the final compromise agreed to over the weekend by congressional and Treasury negotiators:

Family Told Obama NOT To Wear Soldier Son's Bracelet... Where is Media?  —  Barack Obama played the “me too” game during the Friday debates on September 26 after Senator John McCain mentioned that he was wearing a bracelet with the name of Cpl. Matthew Stanley, a resident of New Hampshire …

TARP draft  —  So there's a draft version of the bailout out there.  Pretty much as expected.  Section 113, MINIMIZATION OF LONG-TERM COSTS AND MAXIMIZATION OF BENEFITS FOR TAXPAYERS, is where the rubber meets the road — it's where the plan says something about how the deals will be done.

Dick Morris says Obama won the debate and that angers Hannity  —  It was pretty comical watching Sean Hannity attack his own team player Dick Morris becuase Dick wouldn't follow Hannity's talking points after the debate.  Even Morris gets honest once in a while.  —  Download |  Play wmv

Frank's fingerprints are all over the financial fiasco  —  'THE PRIVATE SECTOR got us into this mess.  The government has to get us out of it.  That's Barney Frank's story, and he's sticking to it.  As the Massachusetts Democrat has explained it in recent days, the current financial crisis …

Fmr. President Bill Clinton, Steve Schmidt, David Axelrod, Rep. Mark Udall (D), Fmr. Rep. Bob Schaffer (R)  —  MR. TOM BROKAW: Our issues this Sunday: the race for the White House.  Two more debates and 37 days to go as both sides make their case and a deal on the financial bailout does seem near.

Why I Oppose the Bailout  —  Our nation has been confronted by a serious crisis in our financial markets.  The President and this Congress were right to act with all deliberate speed in addressing this crisis.  —  We now have a deal that promises to bring near term stability to our financial turmoil, but at what price?

Pirates die strangely after taking Iranian ship  —  A tense standoff has developed in waters off Somalia over an Iranian merchant ship laden with a mysterious cargo that was hijacked by pirates.  —  Somali pirates suffered skin burns, lost hair and fell gravely ill “within days” of boarding the MV Iran Deyanat.

Palin Will Spend More Time With Couric, Cont'd  —  Team McCain tells me the strategy of having Palin talk to traditional broadcast networks ABC and CBS was designed to allow Palin to reach the maximum number of viewers.  “Coming off her tremendous performance at the convention …

The Power of Political Cartoons  —  Political cartoonists distill their opinions on power and culture into art and commentary with the sharp points of their pens.  They can make readers gleeful — or angry.  Readers deserve to know more about this breed for whom being fair is not a virtue.