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.

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 …

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.

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.

Obama Praised ‘Searing and Timely’ Book by Ayers  —  Barack Obama once gave a glowing endorsement of a book by former domestic terrorist William Ayers and was mentioned by name in the book itself.  —  FOXNews.com  —  Barack Obama, who has consistently downplayed his relationship …

McCain lands at Columbia Regional Airport  —  Sen. John McCain stopped in Columbia on Monday afternoon.  —  The Republican presidential nominee from Arizona landed at the Columbia Regional Airport around 12:30 p.m. As McCain disembarked from the plane, a man yelled, “Go get 'em, John.”

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 …

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.

‘Anti-American’ comments hurt Minn. rep's campaign  —  ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann spent months building her profile through appearances on “Larry King Live” and other TV talk shows.  It took only a few minutes of airtime, and one disparaging remark about Barack Obama, to undo it.

In Ohio, Charges Fly in Fight Over Absentee Ballots  —  Ohio Democrats and Republicans traded accusations yesterday as they continue to battle over absentee ballots and other voting issues.  —  The charges came after a county prosecutor in Cincinnati subpoenaed the Hamilton County Elections Board …