MCCAIN LACKS THE CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENT TO BE PRESIDENT.  AND PALIN IS SIMPLY A DISGRACE.  —  I used to nod wisely when people said: “Let's discuss issues rather than personalities.”  It seemed so obvious that in politics an issue was an issue and a personality was a personality …

Congressman's $121,000 Payoff to Alleged Mistress  —  Tim Mahoney Elected to Remove ‘Ethical Cloud’ of His Disgraced Predecessor, Mark Foley  —  West Palm Beach Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-FL), whose predecessor resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, agreed to a $121,000 payment to a former mistress …

McCain's Monday Campaigning Leaves Some Puzzled  —  Elizabeth Holmes reports from Wilmington, N.C., on the presidential race.  —  Several things about John McCain's Monday caused some head scratching, including the tease of some new economic policies to a town hall meeting with no Q&A.

McCain campaign attacks Bill Kristol: 'He's bought into the Obama campaign's party line.'  —  Yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Bill Kristol said John McCain's campaign has really become “a pathetic campaign.”  In his New York Times op-ed this morning, Kristol went further, suggesting that McCain should …

Nobel Prize to Arch-Critic Krugman Is Blow to Bush  —  Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush, whose approval ratings are at historic lows as the U.S. veers toward a recession or worse, got yet another thumb in the eye when one of his most vociferous critics was awarded the Nobel Prize in economics.

Bring Back Rev. Wright  —  Why won't the McCain campaign attack Obama for an association more damaging than Bill Ayers—the one with Chicago pastor Jeremiah Wright?  —  The McCain campaign's attempt to tie Barack Obama to terrorist-turned-professor Bill Ayers appears to have failed.

I Get So Weary of This ...  From the Corner today:  —  Respectfully Disagreeing [Kathryn Jean Lopez]  —  David Frum was on CBS this morning and expressed his view that the choice of Sarah Palin was a mistake.  He complained that it was a play to the base that hurts people like Coleman …

Obama Expands Economic Plans  —  TOLEDO — Senator Barack Obama on Monday expanded his economic platform, including proposals to spur new jobs, to give Americans penalty-free access to retirement savings to help them through the downturn, to urge a 90-day moratorium on home foreclosures …

RICO ACTION TO BE FILED AGAINST ACORN TOMORROW MORNING NOTE MAJOR WALK-BACK OF ORIGINAL STORY  —  Major, Tentative Walk-Back: The “US Attorney” part has been deleted from the headline.  Not bait and switch; just can't stand by that at the moment.  —  Damnit.  In all likelihood this is not as great as first reported.

U.S. Set to Buy Preferred Stock in Nine Top Banks  —  WASHINGTON — The U.S. government is set to buy preferred equity stakes in nine top financial institutions as part of its new comprehensive plan to tackle the credit crisis, according to people familiar with the situation.

Great Moments In Right-Wing Punditry  —  Via the comments, this gem from the Powerline on 8 August 2005: … John Hinderaker, in peak form.  —  Considering my recent past (at least up until mid 2005), I am not really in a position to get all high and mighty, but after being staggeringly wrong …

Ugly Misogyny at the Official Obama Blog Site  —  The media keep hammering away at the “ugly incidents” at McCain-Palin rallies, but oddly they fail to notice stuff like this at the official Barack Obama blog site: Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need |  Rhiannon-Marie Volpe.

Senator Obama's Economic Rescue Plan for the Middle Class  —  Senator Obama delivered a major economic policy address to lay out his economic rescue plan for the middle class in Toledo, Ohio this afternoon.  —  He unveiled his Economic Rescue Plan for The Middle Class.

At Va. Beach rally, McCain seeks to distance himself from Bush policies  —  Associated Press & 13News  —  VIRGINIA BEACH — Republican John McCain pledged to fight for a new direction for the country in an energetic new campaign stump speech Monday that sought to distance him from the economic policies of President Bush.

It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over  —  WASHINGTON — Howard Wolfson, the generally pessimistic Democratic consultant who was a senior adviser to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, wrote an item on his blog at The New Republic the other day, declaring without qualification that Senator Barack Obama would defeat Senator John McCain.

Post/ABC Poll: McCain's Structural Problems  —  Photo by Mary Altaffer of the Associated Press  —  The new Washington Post/ABC News national poll puts John McCain behind Barack Obama by 10 points — his biggest deficit in the survey since the general election began in June.

Acorn pushes back, hugs McCain  —  The beleaguered Democratic-leaning community group Acorn sends over this photograph: John McCain, in March of 2006, sitting beside Florida Rep. Kendrick Meek at an event Acorn co-sponsored in Florida.  —  The immigration event, which other photos show …

Republican activists off-message at McCain rallies (cont)  —  An AFP shot from this morning in Virginia Beach.  —  I'm told in Ricmond, where Palin is now, the signs only accuse Obama of being a communist and Marxist.

Manic Monday: Dow roars back from worst week ever  —  NEW YORK - Wall Street stormed back after its worst week ever and staged the biggest single-day stock rally since the Great Depression on Monday, catapulting the Dow Jones industrials to a 936-point gain and finally offering relief from eight consecutive days of stock market carnage.