Poll: Obama Opens 14-Point Lead On McCain  —  CBS News/New York Times Survey Shows Major Swing Among Independents, Suggests McCain's Strategy May Be Hurting Him  —  (CBS) Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is entering the third and final presidential debate Wednesday with a wide lead …

Buckley Bows Out of National Review  —  Obama: Better to Be Lucky Than Smart by Tina Brown  —  Christopher Buckley, in an exclusive for The Daily Beast, explains why he left The National Review, the magazine his father founded.  —  I seem to have picked an apt title for my Daily Beast column …

McCain Transition Chief Aided Saddam In Lobbying Effort  —  William Timmons, the Washington lobbyist who John McCain has named to head his presidential transition team, aided an influence effort on behalf of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to ease international sanctions against his regime.

Bush Strategist: McCain Knows He Put Country At Risk With Palin Pick  —  Matthew Dowd, a prominent political consultant and chief strategist for George W. Bush's reelection campaign eviscerated John McCain on Tuesday for his choice of Sarah Palin as vice president.

THE O JESSE KNOWS  —  JACKSON ON OBAMA'S AMERICA  —  EVIAN, FRANCE  —  PREPARE for a new America: That's the message that the Rev. Jesse Jackson conveyed to participants in the first World Policy Forum, held at this French lakeside resort last week.  —  He promised “fundamental changes” …

Court casts doubt on Ohio voter rolls  —  COLUMBUS - With the nation watching not just Ohio's voters but its voting process, Tuesday marked another tumultuous day of bitter partisan accusations over the security of Ohio's elections - with new lawsuits, press conferences, calls for investigations and court decisions.

“Monty Python Could Have Written This”  —  John Cleese on Sarah Palin:

Rush Interviews Governor Sarah Palin  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen.  Rush Limbaugh and Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress by The Hollies taking us into our little chat here with Governor Sarah Palin, the vice presidential nominee for John McCain.

McCain's brother blasts campaign strategy  —  In e-mail statement, he calls on top aides to “Let John McCain be John McCain”  —  WASHINGTON - Frustrations inside John McCain's camp boiled over on the eve of Wednesday night's presidential debate as the candidate's brother unleashed …

An Unwitting Assist From the Hockey Mom  —  PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 13 The Hillary voter has come home.  —  It wasn't primarily the work of Hillary Clinton, though by her count she has made more than 50 public appearances for Barack Obama.  Nor was it the work of Obama, who has kept Clinton and her advisers at arm's length.

Halloween display aims for ‘shock value’  —  Democratic backer sends message by showing McCain, in KKK robe, chasing Obama  —  CATHARINE — Ron Havens has a reputation for provocative Halloween displays that reflect his strong political views.  —  But even Havens was pretty sure his latest effort was over the top.

Bulls, Bears, Donkeys and Elephants  —  Since 1929, Republicans and Democrats have each controlled the presidency for nearly 40 years.  So which party has been better for American pocketbooks and capitalism as a whole?  Well, here's an experiment: imagine that during these years …

Obama's Ayers ad  —  Here's the audio of Obama's new radio spot responding to attacks on his relationship to Bill Ayers.  It's a version of his television spot accusing McCain of using “smears” to avoid talking about the economy, but — unlike the TV spot — mentions Ayers by name and discusses him at some length:

Palin concludes Scranton appearance  —  STAFF REPORT  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, made her first Scranton appearance today at Riverfront Sports Complex.  She took the stage joined by her husband Todd and country singer Lee Greenwood.

David Gregory: Meet Pollster.com and FiveThirtyEight.com  —  In a set up to an interview with Senators Jim Webb (D-VA) and Richard Burr (R-NC), MSNBC's painful David Gregory gave an “update” on polling in those two states:  —  Notice the dates of those polls?  —  The Virginia poll is two weeks old.

Obama's WealthSpread™: I Can't Believe It's Not Earned!  —  While canvassing neighborhoods in Ohio this Sunday, Barack Obama advised a tax-burdened plumber not to worry about money because under his presidency money will disappear since it will no longer have any meaning anyway.

Who Are Obama's Donors?  —  The Obama campaign has failed to release the names of donors responsible for approximately half of his campaign's $426.9 million: those  —  who have contributed less than $200.  —  In addition, press reports allege Barack Obama's presidential campaign …

McCain Tries To Blame Financial Crisis On Democratic Takeover Of Congress In 2007  —  In April, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) claimed that “you could make an argument that there's been great progress economically” since President Bush took office.  He then revised that argument in August …

Who's in control of McCain's campaign?  —  John McCain's campaign is pretty much a shambles right now.  —  If you don't believe me, just listen to John McCain.  His chief goal these days is calming down his crowds, not firing them up.  —  And that is an honorable thing to do.

The Georgia surge continues  —  The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported recently on disproportionate early voting among African-Americans.  Georgia doesn't appear to be in play in the presidential election, but it tracks early votes contemporaneously (and online), so it may be a useful bellwether for what's happening elsewhere.

Roubini Sees Worst Recession in 40 Years, Stock Drop  —  Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) — Nouriel Roubini, the professor who predicted the financial crisis in 2006, said the U.S. will suffer its worst recession in 40 years, driving the stock market lower after it rallied the most in seven decades yesterday.

DISGRACE  —  I always used to think former Sen. John Danforth (R-MO) was a respectable guy.  So why is he prostituting himself for the McCain campaign phony ‘vote fraud’ scam.  Just disgraceful.  —  Let's be clear about what this is.  These are random stories about fake vote registrations.

GOP ditches recruits to save incumbents  —  Darren White and Erik Paulsen were prized Republican recruits, House candidates poised to be the new face of the GOP on Capitol Hill.  —  But as the two head into the homestretch of their campaigns, GOP operatives say they'll probably have to win — or lose — on their own.

In Support of Bill Ayers  —  There's a petition making the rounds that has academics purportedly defending Ayers against unrepentant terrorist and other (factual) labels.  It also has my name on it.  It has Jonah's name is on it.  And it includes others who you know obviously didn't sign it.