McCain: Last Debate Will Probably Include Ayers  —  Speaking on St. Louis radio, the candidate says Obama's recent comments have “probably ensured” the former Weather Underground leader will come up in Wednesday's debate.  —  “I was astonished to hear him say that he was surprised I didn't have the guts” to talk about Ayers last week.

Obama and Acorn  —  Community organizers, phony voters, and your tax dollars.  —  At the recent Emmy Awards, historian Laura Linney averred that America's Founders had been “community organizers” — like Barack Obama.  Too bad they aren't like that any more.

Palin vindicated?  —  Governor offers Orwellian spin  —  Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.  —  She claims the report “vindicates” her.  She said that the investigation found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part.”

Wright 101  —  Obama funded extremist Afrocentrists who shared Rev. Wright's anti-Americanism  —  It looks like Jeremiah Wright was just the tip of the iceberg.  Not only did Barack Obama savor Wright's sermons, Obama gave legitimacy — and a whole lot of money — to education programs built around …

U.S. Announces Plan to Buy Stakes in Largest Banks  —  Recipients Include Citi, Bank of America, Goldman; Government Pressures All to Accept Money as Part of Broadened Rescue Effort  —  WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush announced Tuesday morning that the U.S. government is taking stakes …

DEMANDING A DOUBLE STANDARD.... The Washington Post's Dan Balz had an online item yesterday that was so odd, I read it a couple of times, just to make sure I wasn't misinterpreting his point.  —  As Balz sees is, John McCain is very likely to lose on Nov. 4, so “the real focus now ought to be on Barack Obama.”

Big Government Ahead  —  We're in the middle of a financial crisis, but most economists say there is a broader economic crisis still to come.  The unemployment rate will shoot upward.  Companies will go bankrupt.  Commercial real estate values will decline.  Credit card defaults will rise.

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” …

America Will Remain the Superpower  —  When the tide laps at Gulliver's waistline, it usually means the Lilliputians are already 10 feet under.  —  Constantinople fell to the Ottomans after two centuries of retreat and decline.  It took two world wars, a global depression and the onset of the Cold War to lay the British Empire low.

Confirmed: Obama Is Campaigning on Xbox 360!  —  Last week we noted unconfirmed sightings of an “Obama for President” billboard in the Xbox 360 racing game Burnout Paradise.  Today we're able to report that it is, in fact, an official advertisement placed by the senator's campaign team.

Obama Widens Lead in Four Key States  —  Barack Obama widened his lead considerably over John McCain in four key battleground states during the past three weeks, providing further evidence that the economic crisis has greatly enhanced the Democrat's advantage with just 21 days left before Election Day.

Racine schools hand out textbook with 15 page Obama love-fest...  This comes from the mother of a Racine Unified School District 8th grader.  She has asked to keep her name out of this but frankly I can't add much to what she has said here but I do have one question.

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.

Hillary Clinton says a second White House run is unlikely  —  WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton puts the chances of her running for president again at near zero — slightly higher than the chances she gives for becoming Senate majority leader or a Supreme Court justice.

‘Fraud’ vs. ‘Suppression’  —  The campaigns are sparring today over voter fraud and voter suppression, with the McCain camp demanding that David Plouffe respond to a letter proposing cooperation against “voter fraud” and the Obama campaign saying he already wrote back (after the jump) in a letter that raises fears about “suppression.”

Complete coverage: Scranton welcomes Palin  —  STAFF REPORT  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, is making her first Scranton appearence today at Riverfront Sports Complex.  She has taken the stage and was joined by her husband Todd and country singer Lee Greenwood.

First Time FBI Calls Case an ‘Honor Killing’  —  Almost a year after two teenage girls were found dead — allegedly executed by their father — in the back seat of a taxicab in Texas, the FBI is saying for the first time that the case may have been an “honor killing.”

Icelanders Sink Under Foreign-Currency Loans as Krona Plunges  —  Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) — Karl Karlsson, a Reykjavik taxi driver, has canceled his winter vacation.  The money he saved is being eaten up by his car loan payment, which has jumped more than 20 percent since June.