BIDEN: SAY IT TO HIS FACE  —  From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli  —  ST. JOSEPH, MO - Joe Biden echoed the campaign's response to continued Republican efforts to highlight Obama's past associations, adding a personal touch to the idea that McCain wasn't willing to make the attacks in person.

Exclusive: Obama buys half-hour of network primetime  —  Barack Obama has purchased a half-hour of primetime television on CBS and NBC, sources confirm.  —  The Obama campaign is producing a nationwide pitch to voters that will air on at least two broadcast networks.

USA TODAY/Gallup Poll signals that debate boosted Obama, not McCain  —  Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama convinced many more viewers to think more favorably of him during Tuesday night's presidential debate than did his Republican opponent, John McCain, a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll signals.

Exclusive: Inside Account of US Eavesdropping on Americans  —  US Officer's “Phone Sex” Intercepted, Recorded, Shared Across NSA Listening Post  —  Despite pledges by President George W. Bush and American intelligence officials to the contrary, hundreds of US citizens overseas have been eavesdropped …

Keating to McCain in 1986: 'I'm yours til death do us part.'  —  The Washington Times reports that in 1986, John McCain wrote a note on House stationery to Charles Keating, chairman of a failed savings and loan association who went to prison in the late 1980s.

McCain Co-Chair Calls Obama “A Guy Of The Street,” Raises Drug Use  —  Former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, a McCain campaign co-chairman, edged up to an explicitly racial attack on Barack Obama on Thursday, describing the Illinois Senator as a “guy of the street” before raising his youthful drug use.

Boehner escalates war on ACORN  —  House Republican leader John A. Boehner of Ohio escalated the war on ACORN today, calling for it to be cut off from all federal money and going so far as to call for a ban on ACORN contracting with candidates for federal office.

QUESTIONER: ‘I ACTUALLY DID’ KNOW FANNIE  —  From NBC's Michael Levine  —  I tried to get in touch via Facebook with Oliver Clark, the man who McCain said probably didn't know what Fannie Mae was before the financial crisis (at Tuesday's debate).  Apparently others have done the same.

Obama: ‘Unravel’  —  A new Obama ad, airing (at least) in Florida, paints an alarming picture of McCain's health care plan, warning that it could cause viewers to lose their health care.  —  The campaign hasn't released the ad, or other attacks on McCain's plan, but the Republican National Committee caught …

Economists Expect U.S. Crisis to Deepen  —  The U.S. economy has sunk into a recession and government action is critical to stem the damage, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey.  —  “We're in the middle of a very dark tunnel,” said Brian Fabbri of BNP Paribas …

Dem strategists see landslide in the making  —  Three weeks of historic economic upheaval has done more than just tilt a handful of once-reliably Republican states in Barack Obama's direction.  Democratic strategists are now optimistic that the ongoing crisis could lead to a landslide Obama victory.

Pressing Ayers  —  McCain isn't putting any money behind an Ayers ad at the moment, but he is still pressing the issue, Amie Parnes reports from his Wisconsin town hall.  —  There, a man asked how Obama came to be where he is, but didn't mention Ayers.  —  “Everyone here is just tickled …

McCain in a Bear Market  —  Time was, the Baltimore Orioles' manager was Earl Weaver, a short, irascible, Napoleonic figure who, when cranky, as he frequently was, would shout at an umpire, “Are you going to get any better or is this it?”  With, mercifully, only one debate to go, that is the question about John McCain's campaign.

Todd Palin campaigned years to get trooper fired  —  SWORN STATEMENT: He says he wanted to protect his family.  —  bwhite@adn.com  —  Todd Palin talked with over a dozen state officials, many of them repeatedly, in his crusade to get a state trooper fired whom he considered to be a bad cop …

Obama vs. S&P 500  —  A friend of mine who works in the finance industry sent this to me:

Most Left-Wing Ever?  —  I was just chatting this over with Jonah.  If Obama is elected, won't we have our most left-wing government ever?  Obama is to the left of FDR and LBJ, Democrats who existed in a different world, prior to the cultural revolution in the Democratic party.

States' Actions to Block Voters Appear Illegal  —  Tens of thousands of eligible voters in at least six swing states have been removed from the rolls or have been blocked from registering in ways that appear to violate federal law, according to a review of state records and Social Security data by The New York Times.

Supreme Court won't block Troopergate inquiry  —  The Alaska Supreme Court today rejected an attempt by a group of six Republican legislators to shut down the Legislature's investigation of Gov. Sarah Palin.  —  The ruling means that Steve Branchflower, the investigator hired by the Legislative Council …

After Second Presidential Debate, Undecideds Move Toward Obama - Obama 57%, McCain 43%  —  Nearly Two Thirds (61%) Think Obama Performed Better in Town Hall Debate  —  Undecided voters perceive Obama as stronger on key issues — change (Obama 69%/McCain 31%), helping the middle class …

In Manner, Obama Is Far From Clintonesque  —  CHICAGO — Though their politics have much in common, the man who aspires to be the next Democratic president could hardly seem more different than the last one in terms of temperament.  —  During the 1992 presidential race …

Today's Polls, 10/9  —  The idea of Barack Obama winning North Carolina or perhaps Indiana, I think we have gotten accustomed to.  But Obama winning ... West Virginia, a state where he got barely a quarter of the vote in the Democratic primary?  —  That's what American Research Group says …

Third Party Groundswell  —  I don't think we can look to Ralph Nader draining enough lefties away from Barack to save a few purplish states.  His big campaign stop at Dartmouth College on Monday drew an audience of eight.  The Connecticut Valley Spectator reported the news on its obituaries page.

“He's Got The Bloodlines”  —  McCain-Palin supporters at a Palin rally tell us what they think of the “terrorist” running for president.  More accusations from McCain supporters in Pennsylvania that Obama is a “commie faggot” and a Muslim terrorist here.

Obama as “terrorist”  —  A sad video taken by an Obama backer outside a McCain visit yesterday in Ohio featuring Republicans saying Obama is “a terrorist,” among other things.  —  Party activists of the sort who show up at rallies always tend to be more partisan, but it's difficult to imagine …