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.

Obama on Ayers: ‘I assumed that he had been rehabilitated’  —  In an interview with the sympathetic conservative talk radio host this afternoon, Obama offered the clearest explanation yet of how an extremely careful politician allowed himself anywhere near a former '60s radical who would become …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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.

“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.

Two kinds of fraud  —  “Acorn” may not exactly be a household word, but it was on the cover of one of the newspapers I read in hard copy today, so it seemed worth getting into a marginal story that the GOP is trying to make central.  —  The key distinction here is between voter fraud …

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 …

Rothenberg Warns of GOP “Bloodbath”  —  The horizon looks bleak for House and Senate Republicans.  AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite  —  UPDATE, 4 pm: The Cook Political Report is also amping up their predictions of Democratic gains in the House and Senate next month.

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

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.