The Palins' un-American activities  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, at a rally in Vienna, Ohio, on Sept. 16, 2008.  —  “My government is my worst enemy.  I'm going to fight them with any means at hand.”  —  This was former revolutionary terrorist Bill Ayers back in his old Weather Underground days, right?

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

McCain dumps racial-joking campaigner  —  The McCain campaign has denounced a racially charged, anti-Barack Obama newspaper column written by one of the Republican campaign's organizers in Virginia, and has removed the author-activist from his post as a member of the candidate's statewide leadership team …

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 …

After Bailout, AIG Executives Head to Resort  —  Less than a week after the federal government offered an $85 billion bailout to insurance giant AIG, the company held a week-long retreat for its executives at the luxury St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, Calif., running up a tab of $440,000 …

A follow-up follow up  —  Lynn Sweet reported yesterday that the two campaigns had reached an agreement under which, among other things, moderator Tom Brokaw wouldn't ask follow-up questions tonight.  —  But Brokaw wasn't a party to the deal, I'm told, and hasn't agreed to it …

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 …

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.

U.S. debt grows too big for National Debt Clock.  —  The National Debt Clock in New York's Times Square — first erected in 1989 when the debt was less than $3 trillion — cannot keep pace with the growing national debt, now at more than $10 trillion.  NBC's Brian Williams reported last night that …

Obama Team Ready for Mud  —  NASHVILLE — Barack Obama's advisers are usually cautious about managing expectations — never predicting a landslide, always downplaying how well their candidate will do in the debates.  But with just a few hours until the second presidential debate here on Tuesday night …

Peggy Noonan Admits GOP Base Is Full Of Racist A**holes  —  A rather revealing exchange on ‘Hardball’ last night in which Nooner tells the truth about her fetid, decaying party (ignore the BS about Nooner being undecided about who to vote for): … Calling Obama a terrorist?  Fine.

THE RIGHT BLAMES THE CREDIT CRISIS ON POOR MINORITY HOMEOWNERS.  THIS IS NOT MERELY OFFENSIVE, BUT ENTIRELY WRONG.  —  We've now entered a new stage of the financial crisis: the ritual assigning of blame.  It began in earnest with Monday's congressional roasting of Lehman Bros. CEO Richard Fuld …

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 …

Iceland teeters on the brink of bankruptcy  —  REYKJAVIK, Iceland - This volcanic island near the Arctic Circle is on the brink of becoming the first “national bankruptcy” of the global financial meltdown.  —  Home to just 320,000 people on a territory the size of Kentucky …

Robert Gibbs Still Doesn't Know Much About Obama and Ayers  —  The McCain campaign is trying to take the Ayers connection beyond mere association to an issue of judgment and trustworthiness, which is one step closer to whether you can trust Obama on issues like the economy.

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 …

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 …

State reviewing per diem payments to Palin  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's practice of charging the state when she stays in her home must be reviewed to determine if she should pay taxes on the payments, state Finance Director Kim Garnero said Tuesday.