memeorandum: McCain turns irritable, sarcastic in interview (Mike Glover/Associated Press)

11:50 PM ET, October 1, 2008

Top Items:

Palin, Biden Trade Views On Abortion — CBS Evening News: Biden And Palin Answer Katie Couric's Vice-Presidential Questions … Katie Couric: Why do you think Roe v. Wade was a good decision? — Joe Biden: Because it's as close to a consensus that can exist in a society as heterogeneous as ours.

Discussion: The Corner, Townhall.com, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Reaction, Liberal Values, Liberty Street, Amygdala, Patterico's Pontifications, MyDD, Hullabaloo, The Debatable Land, TBogg, Oliver Willis, unbossed.com, Donklephant and Democratic Strategist

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

DEAD TO RIGHTS — Not knowing any Supreme Court decision she opposes except for Roe v. Wade ain't great. Frankly, though, for the Christian right, that's really the only Supreme Court jurisprudence they want you to know. But there was a bigger goof in this latest segment from the Couric interview …

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

The Palin Supreme Court stumble — Tonight's installment of Katie Couric playing Roger Mudd to Sarah Palin's Ted Kennedy features the much-anticipated Supreme Court non-answer. — The bad news for McCain: This offers yet more evidence that Palin has thought little about many policy issues facing the country and world.

Discussion: Donklephant

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Couric vs. Palin, round 17

Discussion: AMERICAblog News

CBS News:
Palin, Biden On Roe V. Wade

Discussion: The Caucus, Washington Monthly, Taegan Goddard's …, Undiplomatic, Democratic Strategist, TIME.com, Slog and Political Punch

Ali / Think Progress:
Palin can't name a Supreme Court case she disagrees with.

Discussion: CBS News and MyDD

Ramesh Ponnuru / The Corner: Palin and Privacy — Those excerpts from Couric's interviews give …

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
Sarah Palin: Supreme Court rulings?

Discussion: New York Times and Top of the Ticket

Chris Good / The Hill:
Palin questioner rejects ‘gotcha journalism’ charge

Discussion: Booman Tribune

KCCI-TV:

NEW KCCI Poll: Clear Presidential Frontrunner Emerges — DES MOINES, Iowa — An exclusive KCCI poll shows Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama widening his lead here in Iowa. — The new poll interviewed 600 Iowans on Monday and Tuesday who regularly vote in elections for opinion on the upcoming presidential election.

Discussion: MSNBC and Daily Kos

CNN:

CNN Polls: Major gains for Obama in battleground states — ST. LOUIS, Missouri (CNN) - New polls in five crucial battleground states that could decide the race for the White House suggest Barack Obama is making some major gains. — CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls …

Discussion: American Power, Open Left and TPM Election Central

CBS News:

CBS Poll: Obama Widens Lead Over McCain — CBS News Survey Shows Obama Opening Up Nine-Point Edge On Strength Of Debate Performance And Handling Of Financial Crisis — (CBS) Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama leads GOP rival John McCain 49 percent to 40 percent among registered voters in a new CBS News poll.

Discussion: TalkLeft, Hot Air and The Anonymous Liberal

New York Times:
New Poll Shows Obama Has Significant Lead

Discussion: Daily Kos

Quinnipiac University:
Obama Over 50 Percent In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania Quinnipiac …

Discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, FiveThirtyEight.com, Marc Ambinder, Associated Press, Political Radar, MyDD, Liberal Values, Swampland, The Politico, Below The Beltway, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Salon, Spin Cycle, Comments from Left Field and Top of the Ticket

Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Poll: Obama gaining in battleground states

Discussion: Marc Ambinder, Tales from the Trail, Donklephant, Wall Street Journal and tboblogs.com/index.php/news

Liz Sidoti / Associated Press: AP Poll: Obama takes a 7-point lead over McCain

Pew Research Center:
Obama Boosts Leadership Image and Regains Lead Over McCain

Discussion: Time, ABCNEWS, Matthew Yglesias, Taylor Marsh, unbossed.com, Comments from Left Field, MyDD and TPM Election Central

Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama 48%, McCain 44%

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, The Moderate Voice, Below The Beltway and The Strata-Sphere

Kos / Daily Kos:
More blowout numbers — The McCain campaign, pushing …

Discussion: MyDD and AMERICAblog News

Mike Glover / Associated Press:

McCain turns irritable, sarcastic in interview — DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain, once renowned for his jocular sessions with journalists, appeared irritable and at times sarcastic in an interview in which he defended running mate Sarah Palin's experience …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com and Campaign Silo

Mike Murphy / Swampland:

Des Moines Register... As a former general in the GOP, I get a lot of emails from various operative types around the country. Many are old comrades from the forgotten wars of old Republican statewide campaigns. Unlike the well meaning but under-experienced six month wonders who seem …

Discussion: Washington Post, Ben Smith's Blogs, Buck Naked Politics, Don Surber, Salon, Top of the Ticket, Comments from Left Field, Commentary, marbury, Weekly Standard, Ta-Nehisi Coates and TIME.com

Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
McCain: The Angry Warrior?

Discussion: The Caucus, Boston Globe, Spin Cycle and Washington Wire

Ben / Think Progress:
McCain: ‘I Always Aspire To Be A Dictator’

Discussion: PERRspectives Blog

CNN:

Controversy brews up around VP moderator — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Controversy swirled over vice presidential debate moderator Gwen Ifill one day before the face-off between Gov. Sarah Palin and Sen. Joe Biden, after new scrutiny was drawn to her upcoming book featuring Barack Obama.

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Fox News, unbossed.com, BAGnewsNotes and Politics Blog

Jim Treacher / Mother, May I Sleep with Treacher?:
A PARTIAL LIST OF GWEN IFILL'S QUESTIONS FOR THE VP DEBATE

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

David Bauder / Associated Press:
VP debate moderator's impartiality questioned

Discussion: Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, Patterico's Pontifications, The Swamp, Washington Post, The Politico, The Corner, Hot Air, www.redstate.com, Power Line, Pajamas Media, Boston Herald, Top of the Ticket, The Caucus and StephenBainbridge.com

Yahoo! News:

Senate passes $700B rescue; House votes lured — AP - After one spectacular failure, the $700 billion financial industry bailout found a second life Wednesday, winning lopsided passage in the Senate and gaining ground in the House, where Republicans opposition softened.

Discussion: Stop The ACLU and Donklephant

Michelle Malkin:
The Senate votes: Crap Sandwich 2.0 with sugar on top passes 74-25

Discussion: Gateway Pundit and Jules Crittenden

David Rogers / The Politico:

Senate bailout bill keeps growing — The Senate hopes to revive Treasury's $700 billion financial rescue plan Wednesday night by packaging it together with more than $100 billion in popular tax breaks as well as aid to rural schools important to House Republicans.

Discussion: The Swamp, Michelle Malkin, www.redstate.com, Don Surber and A Blog For All

David Rogers / The Politico: By large margin, Senate passes bailout bill

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:

Something just went wrong with McCain's face on national TV — UPDATE: There's now slow-motion video making it painfully clear that something is wrong. — In the post below, we showed a scene that just took place in which McCain was momentarily confused on stage, not knowing where to go.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Wonkette and Open Left

William R. Kapfer / Washington Blade:

McCain's gay Q&A — ‘I hope gay and lesbian Americans will give full consideration to supporting me’ — Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the Blade in an exclusive written interview this week that he appreciates the Log Cabin Republicans' decision to endorse him …

Discussion: Pam's House Blend, The Moderate Voice, Marc Ambinder, Think Progress, Salon, The Daily Dish, Ben Smith's Blogs and Matthew Yglesias

Issam Ahmed / Christian Science Monitor:

FLIRTING WITH PALIN EARNS PAKISTANI PRESIDENT A FATWA — A leading religious leader condemned Asif Ali Zardari's comments to Sarah Palin at the UN. … After the flirtation came the fatwa. — With some overly friendly comments to Gov. Sarah Palin at the United Nations …

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

The Obama channel — Channel 73 on the Dish Network is now The Obama Channel. — Obama's media buying strategy has been marked by a willingness to work the angles, and to try to pick up a few votes at the margins. The decision to go to everything from extensive radio buys …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org

Michelle Malkin: Obama has his own channel on the Dish Network

David Nather / Beyond the Dome:

Obama Makes McCain Very Uncomfortable — Let the record reflect that Barack Obama made the approach to John McCain tonight. — As the two shared the Senate floor tonight for the first time since they won their party nominations, Obama stood chatting with Democrats on his side of the aisle …

Discussion: Emptywheel

The Nation:

McCain's Kremlin Ties … Over the course of the presidential campaign, John McCain has repeatedly emphasized his willingness to stand up to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as proof that only he possesses the fortitude and judgment to become the next leader of the free world.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs