memeorandum: Race gets ugly as insults start to fly (Thomas M. Defrank/NY Daily News)

1:25 PM ET, October 6, 2008

Top Items:

William Kristol / New York Times:

The Wright Stuff — I spoke on the phone Sunday with Sarah Palin, who was in Long Beach, Calif., preparing to take off on her next campaign trip. It was the first time I'd talked with her since I met her in far more relaxed circumstances in Alaska over a year ago.

Howard Wolfson / The New Republic:

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.

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, The Mahablog, Taylor Marsh, Guardian and The Peking Duck

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:

Videos: The Ayers connection; Update: Obama doesn't read newspapers? — This morning, we have a series of videos dealing with the intersection of William Ayers, Bernardine Dohrn, and the Obamas. Sarah Palin's accusation that Barack Obama “palled around with terrorists” …

Discussion: Power Line, Pajamas Media, The Strata-Sphere, PrestoPundit and Commentary

Thomas M. Defrank / NY Daily News:

Race gets ugly as insults start to fly — WASHINGTON — It's getting McNasty again. — A day after Sarah Palin accused Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists,” Obama struck back Sunday with a tough ad painting John McCain as “erratic.” — “Our financial system is in turmoil.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Think Progress, Spin Cycle, Commentary, Political Machine, AMERICAblog News, MSNBC and Donklephant

Mike Allen / The Politico:

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.

Mark Silva / The Swamp:

Palin softens ‘terrorist’ attack on Obama — Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin may be moving on: — From William Ayers, the Chicago college professor and onetime Sixties radical who has worked alongside Barack Obama in modern-day civic affairs, to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright …

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and The New Republic

Mark Murray / MSNBC:

FIRST THOUGHTS: OBAMA AT 264 — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann — *** Obama at 264: A week after Obama's poll numbers spiked in battleground states and after McCain's campaign announced it was retreating from Michigan, Obama has opened …

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
McCain campaign: Keating Five investigation was 'a political smear job …

Discussion: The Campaign Spot, Emptywheel, Oliver Willis and TPM Election Central

Erick Erickson / www.redstate.com:
In 1996, Media Coverage of Bill Ayers Was Too Extensive to Believe …

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, The Huffington Post, Flopping Aces, Townhall.com and NO QUARTER

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Keating, coming … A couple of quick thoughts on Keating and Ayers.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Washington Monthly, Matthew Yglesias, American Street, Washington Post, The Swamp and Wonkette

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
McCain ad: “Dangerous”

Discussion: Stop The ACLU, Jules Crittenden, JammieWearingFool and American Power

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Palin Attacks Obama Over Wright — Even Though McCain Said Wright Was Off Limits

Discussion: Washington Monthly and Political Machine

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:
McCain Response to Obama Event

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:

McCain: I'm Not Raising Taxes. I'm Cutting Medicare! — Barack Obama says John McCain would raise people's taxes by changing the way the IRS looks at health insurance. McCain says he wouldn't. — Who's right? — Quite possibly McCain. But only because he's decided to slash Medicare and Medicaid instead.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Talking Points Memo and Kevin Drum

Laura Meckler / Wall Street Journal:

McCain Plans Federal Health Cuts — Medicare, Medicaid Spending Would Be Reduced to Offset Proposed Tax Credit — John McCain would pay for his health plan with major reductions to Medicare and Medicaid, a top aide said, in a move that independent analysts estimate could result in cuts …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Think Progress, The New Republic, The Washington Independent and Liberal Values

Paul Krugman / New York Times: Health Care Destruction

Los Angeles Times:

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.

Discussion: The Seminal, Macsmind and The RBC

Todd Beeton / MyDD:
John McCain's October Surprise

Discussion: Shakesville and Democratic Strategist

Joe Bel Bruno / Associated Press:

Dow plunges below 10,000; lowest level since 2004 — NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street tumbled Monday, joining a selloff around the world, as fears grew that the financial crisis will cascade through economies globally despite bailout efforts by the U.S. and other governments.

Discussion: TVNewser and Booman Tribune

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Stocks Slide on Credit Worries in Europe

Discussion: MyDD and Spin Cycle

Wall Street Journal:

Biden's Fantasy World — Sarah Palin may not know as much about the world, but at least most of what she knows is true. — In the popular media wisdom, Sarah Palin is the neophyte who knows nothing about foreign policy while Joe Biden is the savvy diplomatic pro.

Discussion: Power Line, Spin Cycle, Commentary and Betsy's Page

Michael Crowley / The New Republic:

Lieberman: Palin Will Win “With God's Help” — Via CNN streaming video, I watched Sarah Palin's event in Clearwater, Florida, this morning. She was heartily introduced there by John McCain's pal Joe Lieberman. The former Democrat is a very strange figure these days, far from his moorings in the Democratic Party.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Anonymous Liberal and Salon

Nic Robertson / CNN:

Sources: Taliban split with al Qaeda, seek peace — LONDON, England (CNN) — Taliban leaders are holding Saudi-brokered talks with the Afghan government to end the country's bloody conflict — and are severing their ties with al Qaeda, sources close to the historic discussions have told CNN.

Discussion: Hot Air, Times of London, Newshoggers.com, Jihad Watch and Donklephant

Jerusalem Post:

Ex-officials misled by pro-Obama video — A video released by the Jewish Council for Education & Research which appeared to show several retired senior IDF and Mossad officials supporting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has proven to be misleading, with a number of officials …

Discussion: Hot Air and Israel Matzav

James B. Gerber / PolitickerCA:

DeLay leery of a President McCain — CABAZON - Former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay thinks conservative Republicans will have their work cut out for them if John McCain is elected president in November. — “If McCain wins the election, we've got just as much work to do as if Obama won,” DeLay …

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs

Julie Hirschfeld Davis / Associated Press:

Congress hears Lehman sought millions for execs — WASHINGTON - Days from becoming the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, Lehman Brothers steered millions to departing executives even while pleading for a federal rescue, Congress was told Monday. — As well, executives who feared …

3news.co.nz:

Annette Bening defends Sarah Palin — Actress Annette Bening has become the latest celebrity to join the debate over US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin - insisting the politician “deserves our respect”. — The Republican has come under fire from a host of stars …

Discussion: Don Surber