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.

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 …

VP debate moderator Ifill releasing pro-Obama book  —  Focuses on blacks who are ‘forging a bold new path to political power’  —  The moderator of Thursday's vice-presidential debate is writing a book to come out about the time the next president takes the oath of office that aims to …

Obama Boosts Leadership Image and Regains Lead Over McCain  —  Growing Concerns About Palin's Qualifications  —  Barack Obama has achieved a significant lead over John McCain in the days following the first presidential debate.  Pew's new survey conducted Sept. 27-29 finds that Obama …

GRUMPY MCCAIN EMERGES IN IOWA....With recent polls showing John McCain struggling in Iowa — a state Bush won four years ago — the Republican nominee swung through the Hawkeye State yesterday, including a lengthy chat with the Des Moines Register, which endorsed McCain before January's Iowa caucuses.

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.

Senate to Vote Today on the Bailout Plan  —  WASHINGTON — Senate leaders scheduled a Wednesday vote on a $700 billion financial bailout package after accepting tax breaks and a higher limit for insured bank deposits in a bid to win House approval and send legislation to President Bush by the end of the week.

Recapitalise the banking system  —  The emergency legislation currently before Congress was ill-conceived - or more accurately, not conceived at all.  As Congress tried to improve what Treasury originally requested, an amalgam plan has emerged that consists of Treasury's original Troubled …

A Vote Against Rashness  —  His name was George F. Babbitt.  He was 46 years old now, in April 1920, and he made nothing in particular, neither butter nor shoes nor poetry, but he was nimble in the calling of selling houses for more than people could afford to pay.

Nervous GOP urges McCain to attack  —  John McCain's fade in recent polls, combined with a barrage of negative news coverage during the financial crisis, has leading Republican activists around the country worrying about his prospects and urging his campaign to become much more aggressive …

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 …