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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

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 …

100,000 in St. Louis, MO: “All I can say is, wow.”  —  Barack just concluded his speech underneath the Gatway Arch in St. Louis, in front of a record crowd of over 100,000 people.  “All I can say is, wow,” Barack said as he took the stage. … Read the full remarks of Barack's speech in St. Louis, as prepared for delivery . . .

Stadium Star  —  Palin didn't need Greek columns.  People react to her because they believe she represents what the Greeks established.

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 …

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.

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.

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.

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.