Obama Over 50 Percent In Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll Finds; Debate, Palin's Fade, Economy Put Democrat On Top  —  FLORIDA: Obama 49 - McCain 43 pre-debate; Obama 51 - McCain 43 post-debate; OHIO: Obama 49 - McCain 42 pre-debate; Obama 50 - McCain 42 post-debate …

WHAT IT'S LIKE TO DEBATE SARAH PALIN  —  I know firsthand: She's a master of the nonanswer.  —  Republish  —  When he faces off against Sarah Palin Thursday night, Joe Biden will have his hands full.  —  I should know.  I've debated Governor Palin more than two dozen times.

A debate “moderator” in the tank for Obama; Update: McCain campaign didn't know about book  —  My first syndicated column of the week, filed this afternoon, shines light on PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who will moderate Thursday's only vice presidential debate.  Try as she might to deflect questions …

Palin Opens Up On Controversial Issues  —  VP Candidate Speaks Frankly With Katie Couric About Feminism, Homosexuality, Abortion And The Environment … The day began early.  After being briefed by her staff, Sarah Palin heads out with her 14-year-old daughter Willow in tow.

Bill v. Barack on Banks  —  Clinton instructs Obama on finance and Phil Gramm.  —  A running cliché of the political left and the press corps these days is that our current financial problems all flow from Congress's 1999 decision to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that separated commercial and investment banking.

Lawmakers Revise Rescue Plan  —  Stocks Rise; Senate Aims To Vote Tonight  —  Prodded by a wave of angry calls from constituents, congressional leaders dialed back partisan bickering over the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan yesterday and advanced modest changes to the legislation …

Feisty McCain duels with Des Moines Register  —  An emphatic, combative and at times surly John McCain today tangled with the Des Moines Register editorial board over his running mate, the nature of his campaign and whether he can appreciate the health care needs of Americans.

The Omen In My Mail  —  Allow me to introduce myself.  I am a traitor and an idiot.  Also, my mother should have aborted me and left me in a dumpster, but since she didn't, I should “off” myself.  —  Those are a few nuggets randomly selected from thousands of e-mails written in response …

Rescue the Rescue  —  I was channel surfing on Monday, following the stock market's nearly 800-point collapse, when a commentator on CNBC caught my attention.  He was being asked to give advice to viewers as to what were the best positions to be in to ride out the market storm.

Sarah Palin On Today's Show  —  I will air an interview with the governor at the top of the first hour and repeat it in the third hour.

We erred in our judgment  —  More than 300 people have taken the trouble this month to complain to the CBC ombudsman about a column we ran on CBCNews.ca about Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Sept. 5.  —  The column, by award-winning freelance writer Heather Mallick …

Lesson From a Crisis: When Trust Vanishes, Worry  —  In 1929, Meyer Mishkin owned a shop in New York that sold silk shirts to workingmen.  When the stock market crashed that October, he turned to his son, then a student at City College, and offered a version of this sentiment: It serves those rich scoundrels right.