Linguist: Palin spoke at higher level than Biden did  —  (CNN) — An analysis carried out by a language monitoring service said Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin spoke at a more than ninth-grade level and Sen. Joseph Biden spoke at a nearly eighth-grade level in Thursday night's debate between the vice presidential candidates.

Do Over!  Palin Answers Katie Couric's Questions ... to Fox News' Carl Cameron (She Reads The Economist, She Says)  —  In a post-debate interview today with Fox News' chief political correspondent Carl Cameron, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin provided some of the answers that seemed to elude her in her past interview with Katie Couric.

McCain Plans Fiercer Strategy Against Obama  —  Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment …

Lawmaker Accused of Fannie Mae Conflict of Interest  —  Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank's efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.  —  So did Frank's partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency's push to relax lending restrictions.

12 Reasons Why McCain Can Still Win  —  Alaska Governor Sarah Palin discussing when she would deploy “nucular weaponry,” the “be-all, end-all of just too many people in too many parts of our planet,” as she put it in last night's vice presidential debate.  She never actually answers the question.

For Treasury Dept., Now Comes Hard Part of Bailout  —  WASHINGTON — It will be one of the world's largest asset management firms with an impressive $700 billion war chest.  Nothing short of the global economy depends on its success.  And the Treasury Department has barely a month to get it up and running.

GOP Strategists Whisper Fears Of Greater Losses in November  —  With the party already struggling to generate enthusiasm for its brand, Republican strategists fear that an outpouring of public anger generated by Congress's struggle to pass a rescue package for the financial industry may contribute …

The Problem Is Still Falling House Prices  —  The bailout bill doesn't get at the root of the credit crunch.  —  A successful plan to stabilize the U.S. economy and prevent a deep global recession must do more than buy back impaired debt from financial institutions.

That rubbish they talk about the credit crunch  —  Capitalism is dead.  America has gone socialist.  US leadership has collapsed.  Europe has shown the way.  Oh yes?  —  Gerard Baker  —  There's something curious about the human imagination.  Confronted with unprecedented events …

Record Refutes Palin's Sudan Claim  —  Palin Administration Against Sudan Divestment Before It Was For It, Documents Show  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's multi-billion-dollar investment fund …

Bush 2000 = Palin 2008.  —  Bush 2000 = Palin 2008.  —  Tonight on MSNBC, Countdown aired a video compilation showing the similarity in rhetoric between George W. Bush in 2000 and Sarah Palin in 2008.  Keith Olbermann reported that “the people around [Palin] — the top-level campaign staffers crafting …

Has the bailout already failed?  —  OK, I know that's premature.  And I place no weight at all on the fact that the Dow plunged after the vote.  —  But it is interesting that short-term Treasury yields are down — only 0.13% on one-month — suggesting that the flight to safety continues unabated.

In Florida's Economic Pain, Obama Gains Ground  —  NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. — Jim Piccillo lost his job as a bank vice president in August, applied for food stamps to support his two young daughters and swore off a life of loyalty to the Republican Party.  He now volunteers here in Pasco County for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

NRCC Ad: Naming Names  —  More of this.  More of this.  Nothing but this for the next 32 days.  —  The election hangs on this single issue.  —  The public believes Republicans caused this disaster, and we'll lose based on that misperception.  —  The Democrats actually caused it …

US cuts funding for condoms in Marie Stopes' African clinics  —  The US government is cutting its funding for the supply of contraceptives to family planning clinics run by Marie Stopes International in Africa, alleging that it condones forced abortions in China.