Obama's 180 on genocide  —  JOHN MCCAIN'S opening words last night were: “Senator Obama, it's good to be with you at a town hall meeting!”  Indeed it was.  We now know why Barack Obama declined McCain's invitation earlier this year to appear together in a series of 10 town hall meetings around the country.

You Guys Are Nuts  —  We have a disaster here — which is what you should expect when you delegate a non-conservative to make the conservative (nay, the American) case.  We can parse it eight ways to Sunday, but I think the commentary is missing the big picture.

UTK student David Kernell indicted in Palin e-mail hacking case  —  David C. Kernell, 20, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Knoxville, Tennessee., for intentionally accessing without authorization the e-mail account of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.  —  More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel.

Gallup Daily: Obama's Lead Over McCain Expands to 11  —  52% share of the vote is Obama's highest to date  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report shows Barack Obama with a 52% to 41% lead over John McCain.  —  These results, based on Oct. 5-7 polling …

For First Time, Palin Takes Questions  —  ABC News' Imtiyaz Delawala Reports: For the first time in a month on the campaign trail, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin took questions from her traveling press corps, covering topics ranging from her continued connection of Sen. Barack …

They Liked Him, They Really Liked Him  —  From TIME's Amy Sullivan:  —  As he did for the first presidential debate, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg gathered a group of undecided voters in a swing state (this time Colorado) to watch the town hall, polling them before and after to gauge …

Palin's Kind of Patriotism  —  Criticizing Sarah Palin is truly shooting fish in a barrel.  But given the huge attention she is getting, you can't just ignore what she has to say.  And there was one thing she said in the debate with Joe Biden that really sticks in my craw.

For release at 7:00 a.m. EDT Joint Statement by Central Banks  —  Throughout the current financial crisis, central banks have engaged in continuous close consultation and have cooperated in unprecedented joint actions such as the provision of liquidity to reduce strains in financial markets.

SCRAPPING THE AYERS ATTACK ALREADY?.... The political world was told to expect some ugly, guilt-by-association attacks last night.  We'd hear about Bill Ayers.  And Tony Rezko.  And maybe even Jeremiah Wright.  The phrase “unrepentant terrorist” would be bandied about.  —  And then, nothing.

Nobody's dummy  —  What a powerful letter — which I am pleased to share with Salon readers.  Yes, let us not forget the tragic series of dubious political judgments that led the U.S. to lurch into Southeast Asia after the French had prudently packed up and left.

Md. Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists  —  The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday.

GOP likes ‘that one’ too  —  A Republican official emails, on background:

Edited SNL subprime video also happens to excise Barney Frank's involvement  —  Not every comedy sketch on “Saturday Night Live” has to do with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.  —  It just seems that way recently, as The Ticket has reported here and here and here.  —  But there's an unusual twist this week over another SNL skit.

FIRST THOUGHTS: NOTHING CHANGED  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann  —  NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Part three of the four-part debate series is now over, and the one big conclusion is that nothing changed.  And nothing changing isn't a good result for McCain.

Housing Pain Gauge: Nearly 1 in 6 Owners ‘Under Water’  —  More Defaults and Foreclosures Are Likely as Borrowers With Greater Debt Than Value in Their Homes Are Put in a Tight Spot  —  The relentless slide in home prices has left nearly one in six U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage …

The McCain Resurgence Plan  —  On a conference call with reporters, McCain policy chief Douglas Holtz-Eakin spelled out how McCain would pay for his plan for the government to buy troubled mortgages and replace when with more favorable fixed-rate mortgages at minimal direct cost to the homeowners.

Obama is Hiding a Radical Past!  —  Edited and updated at 8:50 p.m. ET.  —  Did you know that Barack Obama was affiliated with a leading national socialist party?  Barack Obama didn't include in his 2008 resume that he entered politics in the mid-1990s endorsed by Chicago's leading socialists.

Moral hazard  —  My colleague Victoria McGrane, late of our Capitol Hill bureau, emails with the most lucid explanation I've seen of what McCain did last night.  The crucial shift from a recent congressional housing bill to McCain's more dramatic plan, she writes, was a move away from concern about moral hazard:

The Early Line: Diageo/Hotline Tracking Poll  — Obama and McCain are now tied 44-44% among men.  Today's Diageo/Hotline poll is the first in which Obama has not led men since he trailed them 46-45% in the survey completed 9/26.  — The candidates remained tied on economic issues.