Here the People Rule  —  According to the silver-penned Peggy Noonan, writing in The Wall Street Journal over the weekend, “In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics.”  —  Leave aside Noonan's negative judgment on Sarah Palin's candidacy, a judgment I don't share.

Pat Buchanan says Colin Powell endorsed Obama because he's black  —  Liberals in general are no fans of Colin Powell, but watching the right wing ideologues slam Powell because of his endorsement of Obama, I can only assume that they fear this particular endorsement because it will have an impact on undecided and independent voters.

Barack Obama is the better choice for our president  —  In the past 50 years, The Eagle has never recommended a Democrat for president.  We made no recommendations in 1960 and 1964 — when Texas' own Lyndon B. Johnson was on the Democratic ticket — nor did we in 1968 …

Jon Stewart to Sarah Palin: ‘[Expletive] You.’  —  Speaking to a college audience in Boston, Mass. Friday, “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart used his stand-up routine to respond to Sarah Palin's comments about “pro-America” parts of the country, shedding the profanity restrictions that govern his Comedy Central show.

More Challenges for McCain, From Ayers to the Palin Pick  —  Obama leads on optimism and temperment in final weeks.  —  More challenges for John McCain: Likely voters overwhelmingly reject his effort to make an issue of Barack Obama's association with 1960s radical William Ayers.

The Republicans have lifted the lid off their rightwing id  —  Now McCain's supporters are casting Obama as anti-American.  This may well scare voters, but not the way they mean to  —  A year or two ago, if you'd told me that Barack Obama would be leading John McCain by a seemingly comfortable margin …

Ontario police arrest man in voter fraud case  —  Mark Jacoby, who owns a firm hired by the California Republican Party, violated state laws with his own registration, authorities say.  —  SACRAMENTO — The owner of a firm that the California Republican Party hired to register tens of thousands …

Many Holes in Disclosure of Nominees' Health  —  Fifteen days before the election, serious gaps remain in the public's knowledge about the health of the presidential and vice-presidential nominees.  The limited information provided by the candidates is a striking departure from recent campaigns …

Nafta-Plus  —  Canada looks to Europe in anticipation of Obama protectionism.  —  Barack Obama's promise to unilaterally rewrite the North American Free Trade Agreement if Canada and Mexico won't go along with his ideas on labor and the environment has not gone unnoticed in Ottawa.

Military report: Terms ‘jihad,’ ‘Islamist’ needed  —  Team sees no reason to soften words  —  A U.S. military “Red Team” charged with challenging conventional thinking says that words like “jihad” and “Islamist” are needed in discussing 21st-century terrorism and that federal agencies …

The Real Plumbers of Ohio  —  Forty years ago, Richard Nixon made a remarkable marketing discovery.  By exploiting America's divisions — divisions over Vietnam, divisions over cultural change and, above all, racial divisions — he was able to reinvent the Republican brand.

‘Joe the Plumber’ in media cross hairs  —  The eyes of Joe the Plumber stare sightlessly from the media pike that his head has been impaled upon.  A few crows fly over.  As crows are curious, they become interested in the offering below.  They lock their wings, caw and begin their swoop.

Palin on the Angry Tone at Rallies  —  In a one-on-one interview with The Brody File, Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin says she has not personally heard vicious attacks directed at Barack Obama at her rallies.  If she ever were to hear any, she says she would put an end to it.

Obama ‘Flooding’ Florida Beginning With Tampa Visit  —  TAMPA - As early voting begins in Florida, some of the biggest names in Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign will barnstorm Florida for three days, starting with Obama's appearance at a rally today at Tampa's George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Obama & Ayers Shared an Office Building... A Little Office Building (Photos)  —  OBAMA LIED ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH TERRORIST BILL AYERS  —  He wasn't just some “guy who lived in the neighborhood” in Chicago.  —  They worked on the same floor of the same office building for several years.

Troopergate investigator, Palins to meet this week  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband will meet this week with an investigator determining whether she violated state ethics law when firing her public safety director.  —  Thomas Van Flein …

Palin says voters ‘irritated’ by robocalls  —  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) - All of a sudden, Sarah Palin is eager to meet the press.  —  John McCain's running mate took questions from her press corps for the second time in three days late Sunday after flying into Colorado Springs.

AP IMPACT: Mortgage firm arranged stealth campaign  —  WASHINGTON - Freddie Mac secretly paid a Republican consulting firm $2 million to kill legislation that would have regulated and trimmed the mortgage finance giant and its sister company, Fannie Mae, three years before the government took control to prevent their collapse.

Obama's September Haul Provides Huge Advertising Edge  —  Democratic Sen. Barack Obama announced yesterday that he raised more than $150 million in September, obliterating previous fundraising records and giving him an enormous tactical advantage over Republican Sen. John McCain in the final weeks of the presidential campaign.