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.

Soldier's mother “ecstatic” about Obama's bracelet  —  MILWAUKEE - The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was “ecstatic” during Friday's debate when Senator Barack Obama mentioned the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son.  —  Tracy Jopek of Merrill told …

Kucinich says not enough votes for bailout  —  A prominent liberal Democratic lawmaker said Sunday there are not enough votes to pass the bailout package as it stands now.  —  “I will tell you right now I don't know if they have votes,” said Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

AP Investigation: Palin got zoning aid, gifts  —  WASILLA, Alaska (AP) — Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.

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.

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 …

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

Tom Brokaw's bizarre idea of what fairness required.  —  Steve Schmidt and David Axelrod were on “Meet the Press” this morning, and they spewed talking points and evaded the questions asked by Tom Brokaw.  Here's the best example of that: … Translation: The Wall Street Journal is absolutely right!

Mayor ‘just curious’ if Obama is antichrist  —  FORT MILL, S.C. — Fort Mill Mayor Danny Funderburk says he was “just curious” when he forwarded a chain e-mail suggesting Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama is the biblical antichrist.  “I was just curious if there was any validity to it …

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

No Grand Jury for Gonzales  —  Report to Call for Continued Probe of U.S. Attorneys' Firings  —  Former attorney general Alberto R. Gonzales will not be referred to a federal grand jury for his role in the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys, but a long-awaited report to be released today …

Exclusive: Fox ‘News’ Scrubs Story on Conservatives ‘Questioning Palin Heft’  —  We were surprised as anyone to see this listed today at Google News...  We were somewhat less surprised when we clicked on it to find the page it linked to was now an error page at the Fox “News” website, reading...

Chemical irritant empties Islamic Society of Greater Dayton's mosque  —  DAYTON — Baboucarr Njie was preparing for his prayer session Friday night, Sept. 26, when he heard children in the Islamic Society of Greater Dayton coughing.  Soon, Njie himself was overcome with fits of coughing and …

Opening Step on Long Road  —  The government's planned financial bailout is a significant if costly step intended to avert economic calamity, but it may not be the last one, according to economists and finance experts.  —  The rescue plan would use taxpayer money — $350 billion initially …

Palin treads carefully between fundamentalist beliefs and public policy  —  Her faith views are strong and sometimes controversial.  Her aides say she seeks to share but not impose her faith; her critics say she has ‘a fine-tuned sense of how far to push.’  —  ANCHORAGE — Soon after Sarah Palin …