In Dozens of Calls, Palins and Aides Pressed for Trooper's Removal  —  ANCHORAGE — The 2007 state fair was days away when Alaska's public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan, took another call about one of his troopers, Michael Wooten.  This time, the director of Gov. Sarah Palin's Anchorage office was on the line.

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 …

Anger Is Crowd's Overarching Emotion at McCain Rally  —  There were shouts of “Nobama” and “Socialist” at the mention of the Democratic presidential nominee.  There were boos, middle fingers turned up and thumbs turned down as a media caravan moved through the crowd Thursday …

Voter registration forms faked, officials say  —  CNN Special Investigations Unit  —  CROWN POINT, Indiana (CNN) — More than 2,000 voter registration forms filed in northern Indiana's Lake County by a liberal activist group this week have turned out to be bogus, election officials said Thursday.

We Have the Tools to Manage the Crisis  —  Now we need the leadership to use them.  —  Today, the financial crisis has reached a critical point.  The sharp decline in the stock market and its volatility dramatically make the point.  More important if less visible, the flow of credit through …

Pollster: Don't believe the Dem hype  —  The presidential race is still too close to call and could come down to the very last weekend before voters decide if they like or distrust Barack Obama, a national pollster predicts.  —  “I don't think Obama has closed the deal yet,” pollster John Zogby told the Herald yesterday.

Fictitious Donors Found in Obama Finance Records  —  Last December, someone using the name “Test Person,” from “Some Place, UT,” made a series of contributions, the largest being $764, to Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign totaling $2,410.07.  —  Someone identifying himself as …

Obama tried to sway Iraqis on Bush deal  —  In private conversations on troop presence, candidate pitched delay  —  At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried …

Moment of Truth  —  Last month, when the U.S. Treasury Department allowed Lehman Brothers to fail, I wrote that Henry Paulson, the Treasury secretary, was playing financial Russian roulette.  Sure enough, there was a bullet in that chamber: Lehman's failure caused the world financial crisis, already severe, to get much, much worse.

Dodd and Countrywide  —  The Senator should take the witness stand.  —  Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld was under oath Monday when he was grilled on Capitol Hill about his role in the current financial meltdown.  But if Members really want to understand the credit mania, they should also call Chris Dodd.

As Fears Ease, Baghdad Sees Walls Tumble  —  BAGHDAD — Market by market, square by square, the walls are beginning to come down.  The miles of hulking blast walls, ugly but effective, were installed as a central feature of the surge of American troops to stop neighbors from killing one another.

Iceland is all but officially bankrupt  —  REYKJAVIK: People go bankrupt all the time.  Companies do, too.  But countries?  —  Iceland was on the verge of doing exactly that on Thursday as the government shut down the stock market and seized control of its last major independent bank.

Obama's Magic  —  And now, America, we introduce the Great Obama!  The world's most gifted political magician!  A thing of wonder.  A thing of awe.  Just watch him defy politics, economics, even gravity!  (And hold your applause until the end, please.)  To kick off our show tonight …

JOHN MCCAIN'S SUPPORTERS ARE MADDER (AND SCARIER!)  THAN HE IS.  —  At a normal campaign rally, it's the candidate who tries to whip the crowd into a frenzy.  At John McCain's town-hall Waukesha, Wis., Thursday, it was the other way around.  “I'm mad, and I'm really mad,” said one man who'd been called on to ask a question.

The world is at severe risk of a global systemic financial meltdown and a severe global depression  —  The US and advanced economies' financial system is now headed towards a near-term systemic financial meltdown as day after day stock markets are in free fall, money markets have shut …

McCain surrogate raises Obama's past drug use  —  (CNN) — A prominent surrogate for John McCain on Thursday raised Barack Obama's admitted cocaine use as a teenager and said the Illinois senator should speak candidly about it to the American people.  —  Speaking to Dennis Miller …

Hoover vs. Roosevelt?  —  Hope vs. fear, new vs. old: Barack Obama and John McCain have placed their bets.  These are the terms on which the 2008 presidential campaign will be decided.  —  That's why it's unfair for political bystanders to attack Obama and McCain for offering few specifics as to how they'd fix an ailing economy.