VIDEO: The McCain-Palin mob in Strongsville, Ohio  —  UPDATE - THANK KOS & WONKETTE & DIGG!!  Please donate to keep my camera charged and the gas tank filled for more Ohio fun!  —  It's no wonder that the slightest incitement from Sarah Palin or John McCain will turn one of their rallies into a lynch mob.

McCain goes full frontal on Obama-Ayers connection  —  Team McCain has a new ad out this morning called “Ayers”, a comprehensive attack on Obama on his relationship with former Weather Underground terrorist William Ayers.  This isn't just a suggestive 30-second spot.

NUTS!  —  HOW ACORN GOT ME INTO VOTE SCAM  —  CLEVELAND - Two Ohio voters, including Domino's pizza worker Christopher Barkley , claimed yesterday that they were hounded by the community-activist group ACORN to register to vote several times, even though they made it clear they'd already signed up.

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.

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 …

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.

BAITING MCCAIN.... One almost gets the sense that Barack Obama wants John McCain to confront him directly with some of these guilt-by-association attacks.  ABC's Charlie Gibson sat down with Obama yesterday, and asked whether he was surprised that McCain didn't go in this direction during Tuesday's debate.

How did Newsweek get Sarah Palin to pose with a rifle?  —  How did Newsweek convince Gov. Sarah Palin to pose with a rifle for its cover?  —  Simple.  It didn't.  —  Instead, it used an archive (fancy speak for old) stock photo of her taken back in June 2002 and used it for the cover without her knowledge.

McCain changes homeowner plan  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) made an overnight change in the homeowner bailout he proposed at Tuesday's presidential debate, making it more generous to financial institutions and more costly for taxpayers.  —  McCain's staff says it was always meant that way.

Todd Palin campaigned years for firing trooper  —  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 …

Bill Ayers: I've been saying for 40 years, you can't separate “the concept of progressive education from the concept of politics and political change”  —  Reader John Rylanders points Cornerites to this very interesting October 2006 interview of Bill Ayers in Revolution (the self-styled …

From Outsider To Politician  —  SPRINGFIELD, Ill. The taunting began as soon as Barack Obama joined the Illinois Senate in January 1997.  He had expected to face some skepticism as a political neophyte, but not such outright hostility.  For the first few months of his career as a lawmaker …

McCain Campaign Tries To See Glass as Half Full  —  Behind in Polls, Republican Needs Momentum  —  It was a late night for John McCain's campaign — a post-debate repast of karaoke until the wee hours of the rain-soaked morning.  They sang neither in celebration nor to drown their sorrows.

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.

Reporter's Notebook: Seeing How The Other Half Lives  —  From CBS News' Dean Reynolds:  —  (NASHVILLE, TENN.) - After most of the previous 12 months covering Barack Obama's campaign for the presidency, it was interesting, instructive and, well, relaxing to follow John McCain for the last few days.