memeorandum: Fact check: Obama said he would ‘spread his wealth around’? (CNN)

3:35 PM ET, October 18, 2008

Top Items:

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 …

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Dissecting Cindy McCain's private world — The New York Times today has a very strange, lengthy front-page story on Cindy McCain — by Jodi Kantor and David Halbfinger — dredging up some unpleasant episodes in the distant past of her private life without adding any new information …

Discussion: Eschaton

Thomas M. Defrank / NY Daily News:

Signs that Republican Colin Powell will support Barack Obama for president — WASHINGTON - After months of playing political Hamlet, Colin Powell is finally ready to tell America who he likes for President - and the smart money says Barack Obama is Powell's choice.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Sundries Shack, Riehl World View, Salon, PoliBlog (TM) and Yahoo! News

Martina Stewart / CNN:

Obama seeks special prosecutor in fraud inquiry — WASHINGTON (CNN) — The Obama campaign announced Friday that it is asking Attorney General Michael Mukasey to turn over any investigations of voter fraud or voter suppression to Special Prosecutor Nora Dannehy.

Discussion: John McCain 2008, Gateway Pundit, Buck Naked Politics, Sweetness & Light, ABCNEWS, Riehl World View, A Blog For All, The Strata-Sphere, Jules Crittenden, The New Editor and Truthdig

Mary Pat Flaherty / Washington Post:

Thousands Face Mix-Ups In Voter Registrations — In New Databases, Many Are Wrongly Flagged as Ineligible — Thousands of voters across the country must reestablish their eligibility in the next three weeks in order for their votes to count on Nov. 4, a result of new state registration systems that are incorrectly rejecting them.

Discussion: Daily Kos, Electoral-vote.com, TIME.com, The Caucus and New York Times

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Maintains Lead — Among registered voters, Obama now leads 50% to 42% — PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report from Wednesday through Friday, including two days of interviewing after Wednesday night's final presidential debate …

Discussion: Real Clear Politics and MyDD

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:

Obama Viewed as Winner of Third Debate — Completes “sweep” of three debates for Obama — PRINCETON, NJ — Round three of the presidential debates went to Barack Obama, according to a one-night USA Today/Gallup poll of debate watchers conducted Oct. 16, completing a sweep of the three debates for Obama.

Discussion: The Swamp

David Neiwert / Crooks and Liars:

Michelle Bachmann gives voice to the right's darkest impulses — Chris Matthews just gave Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Outer Wingnuttia, all the rope she wanted yesterday on Hardball, and boy did she make a handy little noose with it. — First Matthews tried to get Bachmann to tell his audience …

Discussion: American Power, Wake up America, Rising Hegemon, Washington Monthly, Alas, a blog, DownWithTyranny!, DemConWatch, MyDD and The Reaction

CNN:

Fact check: Obama said he would ‘spread his wealth around’? — The Statement — Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, during a speech on October 16 outside Philadelphia, recounted the story of “Joe the Plumber,” a man who held a conversation with Democratic candidate Sen. Barack …

Discussion: The Swamp and Lawyers, Guns and Money

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:

Sarah Palin's Future — Alaska's most valuable resource. — Six thousand tickets were grabbed up in three hours for Sarah Palin's speech here at the baseball field of Elon University. An even larger crowd—9,000 inside, 3,000 outside—showed up across the state in Greenville a few days earlier.

Discussion: Washington Monthly and ATTACKERMAN

McClatchy Washington Bureau:

GOP turnout lagging in heavy N. Carolina early voting — Thursday's first day of early voting drew record numbers across North Carolina, election officials said, as more than 100,000 people turned out. — That exceeded the 2004 figure by about 40 percent, said Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and Donklephant

Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:

Obama's Ad Effort Swamps McCain and Nears Record — PHILADELPHIA — Senator Barack Obama is days away from breaking the advertising spending record set by President Bush in the general election four years ago, having unleashed an advertising campaign of a scale and complexity unrivaled in the television era.

Discussion: Townhall.com, Newsweek Blogs and TIME.com

Ross Douthat:

What Is The Conservative Cocoon? — Ach, okay, I'll wade back in to this debate one more time, because I think Mark Steyn has slightly mistaken the thrust of this post: … Just to clarify: Sarah Palin's Alaska is not the conservative cocoon. Neither is Tim Pawlenty's Minnesota …

Discussion: Eunomia

Mark Steyn / The Corner:
Cocoon: The Return — On this business of “elite cocoons” and “conservative cocoons”:

Discussion: Commentary

John McCormick / The Swamp:

Obama draws record crowd in St. Louis — ST. LOUIS - Standing under the Gateway Arch, Sen. Barack Obama spoke this afternoon before a crowd his campaign said totaled 100,000, a new U.S. record for his presidential bid. — “All I can say is wow,” Obama said as he took the stage …

Discussion: Chicago

Gail Collins / New York Times:

Is Anybody Happy? — Now is the October of our discontent. — First of all, George W. Bush showed up on TV Friday morning to reassure the nation. What could possibly be worse? — Everybody knows that anything our president says is very likely wrong, and certainly won't happen.

Discussion: Firedoglake, The Sideshow and Commentary

Brian M. Carney / Wall Street Journal:

Bernanke Is Fighting the Last War — ‘Everything works much better when wrong decisions are punished and good decisions make you rich.’ — On Aug. 9, 2007, central banks around the world first intervened to stanch what has become a massive credit crunch.

Discussion: LewRockwell.com Blog

Faiz / Think Progress:

Pfotenhauer Insults Virginians: ‘Real Virginia’ Is Only Where McCain Is Winning — On MSNBC this morning, McCain adviser Nancy Pfotenhauer asserted that “real Virginia” does not include Northern Virginia: … MSNBC host Kevin Cork gave Pfotenhauer a chance to revise her answer, telling her …

Discussion: inRich.com

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

MCCAIN: MIDDLE-CLASS TAX CUT IS ‘WELFARE’.... And here I thought John McCain couldn't slip further from reality on economic matters. I stand corrected. … We talked the other day about why McCain doesn't know what he's talking about, but Obama is prepared to deliverer a speech in St. Louis today that drives the point home nicely.

Discussion: Wake up America and Newshoggers.com

Associated Press: McCain suggests Obama tax plans socialist

Jim Lindgren / The Volokh Conspiracy:

Joe and Barack's Tax Problems. I was stunned to see some document showing Joe the Plumbers' tax problems on my 10pm (CT)newscast on the local NBC affiliate in Chicago on Thursday night. They have very little time for any national news and they actually spent time on Joe the Plumbers' tax problems.

Discussion: JustOneMinute, The Corner and TaxProf Blog

Howie Klein / Firedoglake:

Blue America and Races in Ohio — digg it — Today Blue America is proud to host our friends from Progressive Majority and Matt Patten, the Democrat running for an open red seat in Ohio's 18th state legislative district (in the Berea area). Like Barack Obama and Jesus, Matt came up as a community organizer.

CNN:

Biden lashes out at Palin's ‘pro-America’ comment — (CNN) — Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden ripped into recent comments by his Republican counterpart that suggested that some places in the U.S. are more “pro-America” than others. — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told a fundraiser …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Connecting.the.Dots, Hullabaloo, Jesus' General, Truthdig and RADAMISTO