Unleashed, Palin Makes a Pit Bull Look Tame  —  FORT MYERS, Fla., Oct. 6 John McCain is collapsing in the polls in Florida and other swing states, but Sarah Palin, God bless her, has a solution.  —  “For me, the heels are on, the gloves are off,” she announced at high noon Monday to a group …

William Ayers' past was unknown: Obama  —  NASHVILLE — Barack Obama has since condemned the Vietnam war-protest tactics of William Ayers, though a top adviser said today Obama didn't know of his past when Ayers hosted a campaign reception for Obama in 1995.

Gallup Daily: 9-Point Obama Lead Ties Campaign High  —  Voters prefer Obama to McCain by 51% to 42%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking poll shows registered voters preferring Barack Obama to John McCain for president by 51% to 42%.  —  The nine percentage point lead …

Fact-Checking the Fact-Checkers  —  Ed Whelan takes apart Howard Kurtz's fact-check of the McCain ad posted above: … Today, on the Washington Post's Trail blog, Kurtz fact-checks a new McCain ad that says Obama has lied about McCain's record.  —  Kurtz writes: “Both presidential candidates …

Hulu, NBC Pull SNL Skit  —  But Political Skits Bringing in Huge Numbers  —  The presidential campaign has been good for “Saturday Night Live” — and for Hulu.com.  In a few short weeks, the first clip of Tina Fey impersonating Gov. Sarah Palin has become the site's most-viewed of all time.

Obama Outspending McCain Nearly 3 to 1 on Television  —  Barack Obama is outspending John McCain at nearly a three-to-one clip on television time in the final weeks of the presidential election, according to ad buy information obtained by The Fix, a financial edge that is almost certainly contributing …

Court Orders Release of 17 Innocent Guantanamo Detainees into U.S.  —  Tallahassee and D.C. Religious and Community Leaders Offer Plan for Men's Support  —  Today, for the first time, a federal court ordered the release into the United States of 17 innocent Uighur men who have been imprisoned …

Dukakis on the Election: Obama Knows How to Win, ‘McCain Has Nothing’  —  When John McCain's campaign made it clear over the weekend that their stretch-run strategy would lean heavily on raising questions about Barack Obama's personal history and past “associations,” Obama's communications director provided …

Bush Now Least Popular President Since Polling Began  —  Not sure how I missed this yesterday, but with the new Gallup poll, George W. Bush has passed Nixon and Truman, and become the least popular President of all-time.  According to the Roper Center, here is the worst net approval / disapproval result …

McCain also said U.S. troops killed civilians  —  John McCain in 2000 said because of tactical decisions U.S. troops were put in the position of killing civilians in Kosovo — something awfully similar to the comments he's now attacking Barack Obama for.  —  During a Republican primary debate …

When Will The Press Do Its Job?  —  They have blinked, as Richard Cohen reiterates today.  A good contrast with Hillary Clinton: … My view is that the Palin candidacy is such a farce the mainstream media simply do not know what to do.  The sane response is to dismiss it as a joke …

How McCain could pull this one off  —  Can John McCain possibly win this thing?  Can he actually win in November?  —  The outlook is bleak: The polls are ugly, the Electoral College map is grim, the economy is getting worse, and McCain's choice of Sarah Palin may have energized the Republican base …

Advisers worry about ‘grumpy McCain’  —  When Politico's Ryan Grim approached Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) after the evening of the Senate bailout vote, the reporter didn't even get his question out.  —  “Excuse me, you're bothering me,” McCain said.  —  It was a surprising rebuke …

ACORN office in Vegas raided in voter-fraud probe  —  LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada state authorities are raiding the Las Vegas headquarters of an organization that works to get low-income people to vote.  —  A Nevada secretary of state's office spokesman said Tuesday that investigators are looking …

Jerome Corsi, anti-Obama author, detained in Kenya  —  A leading American neo-conservative author has been detained by immigration authorities in Kenya as he tried to launch a book smearing Barack Obama.  —  Jerome Corsi, of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth fame, was this morning being held after failing to reckon with Obamamania.

After Bailout, AIG Execs Head to California Resort  —  Rescued by Taxpayers, $440,000 for Retreat Including “Pedicures, Manicures”  —  Less than a week after the federal government committed $85 billion to bail out AIG, executives of the giant AIG insurance company headed for a week-long retreat …

FIRST THOUGHTS: NEEDING A GAME-CHANGER  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann  —  NASHVILLE, Tenn. — McCain heads into tonight's debate here down in the polls and in need of a game-changer.  Three weeks after the Wall Street crisis began …

Man shot three times in street by racist gunman - for wearing Barack Obama T-shirt … A man told today how he was shot three times in a London street for wearing a Barack Obama T-shirt.  —  Dube Egwuatu was buying a mobile telephone top-up card in an off-licence when the gunman confronted …

CNN Polls: New Obama gains in battleground states  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Polls in five key battleground states in the race for the White House released Tuesday suggest that Sen. Barack Obama is making major gains.  —  The CNN/Time Magazine/Opinion Research Corporation polls of likely voters in Indiana …