Exclusive: Obama to hit McCain on Keating Five  —  Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Monday will launch a multimedia campaign to draw attention to the involvement of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the “Keating Five” savings-and-loan scandal of 1989-91, which blemished McCain's public image and set him on his course as a self-styled reformer.

In slip up, Palin calls Afghanistan “our neighboring country”  —  SAN FRANCISCO - Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin called Afghanistan “our neighboring country” on Sunday in a speech that could revive questions over her tendency to stumble into linguistic knots.

It's Over: Why Bill Ayers Won't Save John McCain  —  Perpetually fretting Democrats will not want to accept it.  The campaigns themselves can't afford to believe it.  Many journalists know it but can't say it.  And there will certainly be some twists and turns along the way.

Sarah Palin in Burlingame, Calif.  —  I am freshly returned from a Sarah Palin fundraiser in Burlingame, California.  Thank-you to the readers who donated in my name, both the nameless first (who, the campaign insists, is called Joann, and is my wife) and the second.

We can't defeat Taleban, says Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith  —  The departing commander of British forces in Afghanistan says he believes the Taleban will never be defeated.  —  Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, whose troops have suffered severe casualties …

Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviator  —  Three crashes early in his career led Navy officials to question or fault his judgment.  —  John McCain was training in his AD-6 Skyraider on an overcast Texas morning in 1960 when he slammed into Corpus Christi Bay and sheared the skin off his plane's wings.

Candidates Prepare for Tuesday's Town Hall Debate  —  In one of the most beautiful spots on the globe, Sen. John McCain spent much of Saturday holed up in a dark hotel conference room, engaged in intense debate preparation.  At the end of it, the GOP nominee told his aides that was crazy …

Now Wall Street may shun $700bn bail-out  —  Fears are mounting that many Wall Street banks and financial firms will refuse to participate in the US government's $700bn bail-out package, leaving global markets and world economies in a perilous state for months to come.

Supreme Court's Direction Hinges on Who Wins '08 Race  —  There were not many conspicuous tributes to the legacy of President Bush at last month's Republican National Convention, but there was at least one.  —  It was a campaign button with the words “Thanks, W” across the top and photos …

Seven state employees to honor Troopergate subpoenas  —  Alaska Attorney General Talis Colberg announced today that seven state employees will now honor subpoenas to testify in the legislative investigation of the Troopergate affair.  —  Colberg said the decision comes in light of a judge's ruling …

Palin Says Omaha Visit Was Not Campaign's Call, It Was Hers  —  From CBS News' Scott Conroy:  —  (OMAHA, NEB.) - Sarah Palin said at a hastily scheduled Sunday night rally in this solidly red state that the decision to come here was hers alone and was not the defensive move by her campaign …

Barracuda  —  The resentments of Sarah Palin.  —  It's unlikely the name Sarah Palin would mean much to anyone if not for a man named Nick Carney.  Long before she stood up to Republican cronies and “the good old boys” of Alaska, Palin stood up to Carney, a colleague on Wasilla's city council.

Palin and Sudan  —  When I heard Sarah Palin say at the VP debate that she'd had the Alaska Permanent Fund divest from Sudan to protest the Sudanese government's actions in Darfur, I assumed that she had, in fact, had the Alaska Permanent Fund divest from Sudan.