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.

Obama Talks Nonsense on Tax Cuts  —  Revenues will inevitably be diverted from Social Security.  —  Now we know: 95% of Americans will get a “tax cut” under Barack Obama after all.  Those on the receiving end of a check will include the estimated 44% of Americans who will owe no federal income taxes under his plan.

What Biden Implied  —  John McCain took note Monday of Joe Biden's remarks the day before at a Seattle fundraiser (where Biden apparently didn't realize at first there were media present).  But there's more McCain could say.  —  Here's McCain, in Belton, Missouri:

Obama Appeal Rises in Poll; No Gains for McCain Ticket  —  As voters have gotten to know Senator Barack Obama, they have warmed up to him, with more than half, 53 percent, now saying they have a favorable impression of him and 33 percent saying they have an unfavorable view.

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.

‘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.

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 …

Why can't Klein get a seat?  UPDATE  —  Time columnist Joe Klein, who's been a forceful critic of the McCain campaign (and already said he's unwilling to accept a post-election apology), has found himself without a seat on the McCain or Palin the past four months.

Majority of States Now in Recession  —  In March, 5 States Were in Recession; Now There are 27 With 14 More at Risk  —  ABC NEWS Business Unit  —  What started out as a housing problem in a few states has now exploded into a full-fledged recession with a majority of states now in or dangerously close to recession.

Appeals Court Halts Release of 17 Guantanamo Detainees  —  A federal appeals court Monday blocked the release of 17 Chinese Muslims into the United States from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, until it can hear further legal arguments in the case.

Video: Barney Frank wants more taxes  —  Suddenly, with Barack Obama pitching almost a trillion dollars in new spending, leading Democrats see nothing wrong with deficit spending.  Why?  Because the rich will pay for it, silly!  Barney Frank explains that spending tons of money …

A Catholic Shift to Obama?  —  It has become commonplace in American politics: Certain Roman Catholic bishops declare that the faithful should cast their ballots on the basis of a limited number of “nonnegotiable issues,” notably opposition to abortion.  Conservative Catholics cheer, more liberal Catholics howl.

Fresh Face on Cable, Sharp Rise in Ratings  —  Rachel Maddow, a woman who does not own a television set, has done something that is virtually unheard of: she has doubled the audience for a cable news channel's 9 p.m. hour in a matter of days.  —  More important for her bosses at MSNBC is that …

Senator Dodd's Notion of Courtesy  —  After reports emerged in June about him having received favorable treatment on two home mortgages from the Countrywide Financial Corporation, Senator Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, promised that he would release documents to support …

Iceland agrees $6bn deal with IMF  —  Helen Power and Hildur Helga Sigurdardottir in Reykjavik  —  The credit crunch claimed its first sovereign scalp last night as Iceland readied itself to accept an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout.  The North Atlantic nation is believed …

Obama had $133 million on hand October 1  —  The full report is, a reader notes, now online, with a summary showing Obama spent more than $65 million on his media buy in September.  —  To give a sense of the organization scale, more than $5 million of the total of $96.9 million were spent on travel and lodging.

Bill Clinton must be yelling “I told you so!”  —  Once again we see the Obama Rules in action: Obama as Zeus on Olympus decries the petty mean politics of mere mortals that the McCain campaign is using against him: “In the final days of campaigns, the say-anything, do-anything politics too often takes over.

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's False Medicare Claim  —  He accuses McCain of proposing to cut benefits.  Not true.  —  In a TV ad and in speeches, Obama is making bogus claims that McCain plans to cut $880 billion from Medicare spending and to reduce benefits.  — A TV spot says McCain's plan requires “cuts in benefits, eligibility or both.”