FIRST COLIN POWELL, NOW...  Ken Adelman is a lifelong conservative Republican.  Campaigned for Goldwater, was hired by Rumsfeld at the Office of Economic Opportunity under Nixon, was assistant to Defense Secretary Rumsfeld under Ford, served as Reagan's director of arms control …

Obama leaving campaign trail to visit grandmother  —  WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is canceling nearly all his campaign events Thursday and Friday to fly to Hawaii to visit his suddenly gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother, his communications director said.

Rep. Hayes: ‘Liberals Hate Real Americans That Work And Achieve And Believe In God’  —  On Saturday, Republican North Carolina Reps. Patrick McHenry and Robin Hayes warmed up the crowd at a rally for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) by throwing red meat to the right-wing audience.

Rick Davis: Campaign Rethinking Playing The Rev. Wright Card  —  John McCain's campaign manager says he is reconsidering using Barack Obama's relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright as a campaign issue during the election's closing weeks.  —  In an appearance on conservative Hugh Hewitt's radio program …

McCain camp looking for way to win without Colorado  —  (CNN) — The McCain campaign is looking at an Electoral College strategy heading into the final two weeks that has virtually no room for error and depends heavily on a dramatic comeback in Pennsylvania, which hasn't backed a Republican for president in 20 years.

Poll: Obama Gained During Debates  —  CBS News/N.Y. Times Follow-Up Survey Of Likely Voters Suggests Democrat's Advantage Grew  —  (CBS) The standing of the Democratic presidential ticket of Barack Obama and Joe Biden improved during the last few weeks of the presidential campaign …

WaPo-ABC Daily Tracking - Release #1  —  Democrat Barack Obama enters the final two weeks of the presidential campaign holding a clear lead over Republican John McCain, aided by voters' focus on the shaky economy and by their perceptions that he is better equipped to handle those problems than his rival.

Wave Watch: Smith's political minefield  —  Rep. Christopher Smith, a Republican who has represented central New Jersey since 1980, probably didn't realize he was walking into a political minefield when his family requested a break on his daughter's huge college bill.

Obama Blitzes Florida As Early Voting Starts  —  Barack Obama barnstormed the battleground of Florida on Monday with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and others, as voters began going to the polls in a state that has vexed Democrats in the past two presidential elections.

Murtha, Murtha, Murtha  —  A week ago, John Murtha, one of Congress' most beligerent and spendthrift members, was cruising to another reelection.  Then last Wednesday he said — on camera — that Obama may not do well in Western Pennsylvania because his constituents are racists.

Still Smearing Hillary  —  Share This: Digg!  —  Josh Marshall does it still, by use of an emailer: … It should be noted that everyone of those charges is pure nonsense and Marshall should be ashamed for repeating them yet again.  Hillary Clinton's campaign NEVER used Rev. Wright ever.

Palin on SNL: What Did You Expect?  —  In 1998, I attended the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington.  A friend who is a lobbyist there escorted me to a weekend's worth of events.  As we moved around a brunch reception one late morning, I turned and suddenly faced Henry Kissinger.

Bush Decides to Keep Guantánamo Open  —  WASHINGTON — Despite his stated desire to close the American prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, President Bush has decided not to do so, and never considered proposals drafted in the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options …

Mark Salter on the Press and John McCain  —  There was an astonishing quotation in a recent New York Times story about John McCain from Robert Timberg, a biographer and admirer of McCain's.  Timberg told the Times reporter David Kirkpatrick that, “Political campaigns have a way of distorting reality …

Bear found dumped at WCU with Obama signs  —  Comments on Topix forums (click to comment):  —  CULLOWHEE - A dead bear was found dumped this morning on the Western Carolina University campus, draped with a pair of Obama campaign signs, university police said.