Tribune endorsement: Barack Obama for president  —  Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama campaigns in Roanoke, Va. today.  (Getty photo by Joe Raedle / October 17, 2008)  —  However this election turns out, it will dramatically advance America's slow progress toward equality and inclusion.

Palin Explains What Parts Of Country Not “Pro-America”  —  The McCain campaign is seeking to clarify a remark reported from a Sarah Palin fundraiser in North Carolina yesterday in which the Alaska Governor declared that she loved to visit the “pro-America” areas of the country — implying …

McCain Acorn Fears Overblown  —  Charges of Voter Fraud Are Out of Proportion to Reality, They Say  —  Charges of potential vote fraud volleyed by Republicans, including Sen. John McCain himself, are out of proportion to reality, according to election experts.

“I Am Joe The Plumber?”  Well, Not Exactly  —  The Republican National Committee is sending around this Associated Press photo of overall-clad McCain supporters standing outside an Obama rally, clutching plungers and a sign proclaiming “I Am Joe The Plumber”:  —  The only problem?

Republicans file new lawsuit against Brunner  —  Rebuffed at U.S. Supreme Court, they turn to Ohio's top court  —  Having lost before the U.S. Supreme Court in a lawsuit involving the verification of new voter registrations, Republicans now are turning to the Ohio Supreme Court.

For Immediate Release  —  ARLINGTON, VA - Today, Cindy McCain made available the summary pages of her most recently filed federal income tax return (2007).  This information is available on the McCain campaign's website at http://www.johnmccain.com/mccainfinanci al/.

Barack Obama vows to ‘change the world’  —  Barack Obama has vowed that he will “change the world” even as he urged his supporters to guard against complacency.  —  The supremely confident demeanour and exalted rhetoric of the Democratic nominee at a New Hampshire event betrayed that he is a man convinced he is poised to make history.

Death threat, vandalism hit ACORN after McCain comments  —  WASHINGTON — An ACORN community organizer received a death threat and the liberal activist group's Boston and Seattle offices were vandalized Thursday, reflecting mounting tensions over its role in registering 1.3 million mostly poor and minority Americans to vote next month.

Some Surveys Indicate Tighter Presidential Race  —  Differences in Predicting Outcome Result From How Pollsters Gauge Voter Turnout and Weight Party Affiliation  —  A spate of widely publicized newspaper and network polls over the past week have shown Barack Obama opening a big lead over John McCain.

Obama is the choice  —  The 44th president of the United States will take office in an uncertain and dangerous time for this country.  The challenges we face both overseas and here at home are complex and unfamiliar, and the road ahead is likely to be very different from the road we have traveled to get here.

Behind McCain, Outsider in Capital Wanting Back In  —  Cindy McCain was new to Washington and not yet 30 when she arrived at a luncheon for Congressional spouses to discover a problem with her name tag.  —  It read “Carol McCain.”  That was the well-liked wife John McCain had left to marry Cindy …

Confident Dems take Senate fight into deep-red South  —  Sen. Charles Schumer and Senate Democrats are hoping to turn the tide blue in the South with a massive television advertising campaign in four southern states.  —  Democrats are on the air in the former Republican strongholds of Georgia …

Deep Breaths, Everyone!  —  Peggy Noonan and Kathleen Parker take up the Christopher Buckley business today.  In her Palin-centered column, Peggy says those “whose thoughts lead them to criticism in this area are to be shunned, and accused of the lowest motives,” and then cites Christopher's resignation …

Palin plays the “socialist” card at Ohio rally  —  WEST CHESTER, Ohio (CNN) — It's not uncommon to hear Democrats accused of socialism at Republican campaign events.  It's less common to hear it directly from a Republican candidate — let alone the party's vice presidential nominee.

Fact Check: Would McCain make ‘drastic cuts’ in Medicare?  —  The Statement:  —  At a campaign stop Friday, October 17, in Roanoke, Virginia, Sen. Barack Obama took aim at Sen. John McCain's health care plan.  “The Wall Street Journal recently reported that it was actually worse than we thought.

New Name Pops Up In RNC Chair Race  —  Republican party insiders say that operatives close to Sen. John McCain's campaign are pushing Alec Poitevint, the former state party chairman of Georgia and a member of the Republican National Committee, to run for the RNC chairman's position.

‘Axis of Diesel’ forced to change its ways by plummeting oil price  —  James Bone in New York, Tony Halpin in Moscow and Michael Theodoulou in Nicosia  —  Together they form an “Axis of Diesel”.  Buoyed by petrodollars, Russia, Iran and Venezuela hectored the West as they extended their reach abroad …

MCCAIN'S LEGIONS  —  If you thought those McCain-Palin crowds were feral inside the auditoriums, they've even more rancid waiting in line to get in ...