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 …

The Bomber as School Reformer  —  Back in the early eighties, in an interview with David Horowitz and Peter Collier, Bill Ayers remembered his reaction upon learning that he would not be prosecuted by the government for his bombing spree as a member of the Weather Underground.

About That Middle-Class Tax Cut . . .  Remember the last time a charismatic Democrat made such a promise?  —  “It's like déjà vu all over again.”  —  As John McCain heads into the second round of presidential debates tonight, Yogi Berra's words come to mind.

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 …

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.

Fed Moves to Thaw Credit Markets  —  The Federal Reserve said today it is establishing a special fund to lend money directly to businesses so they have adequate cash to operate, a major move by the central bank to ensure that “main street” companies are not crippled by the financial crisis gripping Wall Street …

The missing SNL bailout skit — and the Soros connection  —  Over the weekend, I watched a hilarious, dead-on, and surprisingly honest skit on Saturday Night Live about the craptastic bailout and its Democrat roots.  The skit called out Fannie/Freddie and featured Nancy Pelosi dragging out various sob-story …

THEATER FRAUD?  Sabotage of An American Carol and Its Opening-Week Numbers?  —  Now this sounds like enemy action.  Help me out here, folks.  —  Mpower pictures and Vivendi are starting to hear complaints about sabotage of An American Carol by employees of theaters that are carrying the movie.

Why McCain's Time With Council Of World Freedom Matters  —  Read More: John McCain, John Singlaub, Mccain, Mccain Begala, Mccain Communism, Mccain Communist League, Mccain John Singlaub, Mccain u.s.  Council Of World Freedom, Meet The Press, Paul Begala, Politics News

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 …

HOW TOWN-HALL DEBATES CAN GO VERY WRONG FOR A CANDIDATE.  —  In advance of Tuesday's town-hall debate, both candidates have apparently decided to have a cleanse.  Before facing questions from an audience of undecided voters who say they don't like negative campaigning, Obama and McCain are engaging in an orgy of it.

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 …

IS MCCAIN OBLIVIOUS?  —  Via Andrew, this video of John McCain asking who Barack Obama is and getting the answer “terrorist!” has been bouncing around the internets:  —  For this entry in the annals of amateur political psychology, take a look at McCain's face after one of his supporters shouts his answer.

This Debate's Biggest Loser  —  Reading William Kristol's column in yesterday's New York Times, I discover that Sarah Palin and I have something in common.  Kristol, who was once Dan Quayle's chief of staff and therefore, shall we say, has a Mister Rogers approach to certain politicians …