RNC appears to shell out $150K for Palin fashion  —  The Republican National Committee appears to have spent more than $150,000 to clothe and accessorize vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her family since her surprise pick by John McCain in late August.

Growing Doubts About McCain's Judgment, Age and Campaign Conduct  —  Obama's Lead Widens: 52%-38%  —  Barack Obama's lead over John McCain has steadily increased since mid-September, when the race was essentially even.  Shortly after the first presidential debate on Sept. 26 …

Shame on McCain and Palin for using an old code word for black  —  The “socialist” label that Sen. John McCain and his GOP presidential running mate Sarah Palin are trying to attach to Sen. Barack Obama actually has long and very ugly historical roots.  —  J. Edgar Hoover …

SURPRISE, SURPRISE  —  So Gov. Palin is giving her first interview to CNN to CNN's investigative reporter Drew Griffin.  —  Remember this is the guy they sent to Alaska to investigate Trooper-gate and came back snarking, “But please tell me if you think [Trooper Mike Wooten's] tale …

Protestor tries to arrest Rove in SF  —  SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — There was major political theater involving President Bush's former chief of staff Karl Rove.  A protestor tried to arrest Rove for treason Tuesday morning while he was speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association Convention, continuing in San Francisco.

McCain's Camp Shaves Its Ad Targets  —  Democrats who monitor advertising spending now put at five the number of states where Senator John McCain is reducing his advertising - New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Colorado, Maine and Minnesota.  —  In essence, Mr. McCain's campaign has decided to spread …

AP INVESTIGATION: Alaska funded Palin kids' travel  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin charged the state for her children to travel with her, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

Police prepare for unrest  —  Police departments in cities across the country are beefing up their ranks for Election Day, preparing for possible civil unrest and riots after the historic presidential contest.  —  Public safety officials said in interviews with The Hill that the election …

McCain Accidentally Agrees: Western Pennsylvania Is Racist  —  Sen. John McCain offered, on Tuesday, what may go down as one of the more awkward moments of this campaign cycle, in which — speaking in Western Pennsylvania — he declared he 'couldn't agree more' with the sentiment …

Rendell ‘still a little nervous’ about Penn., asks Obama to return  —  (CNN) — Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell has sent two separate memos to the Obama campaign in the past five days requesting that the Democratic Presidential candidate—as well as Hillary and Bill Clinton—return to campaign in Pennsylvania …

A Closer Look At the State Polling  —  Alternate Title #1: Why the Democrats are still very nervous.  —  Alternate title #2: Why John McCain is touring PA today.  —  RCP is THE must-have resource for any election and this one is no different.  While I've been keeping a sharp eye on the state polling …

WHILE MUCH OF MEDIA IGNORES, MSNBC AND NBC MISLEAD ON BIDEN AUDIO  —  In reporting on Joe Biden's controversial statements about the world “testing” a President Obama, both NBC and MSNBC played similar but milder audio of statements made by Biden in San Francisco on Saturday rather …

Lorne Michaels: How ‘SNL’ Got Sarah Palin  —  ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How incredibly fortunate was it that the election's breakout star also happens to look exactly like Tina?  —  LORNE MICHAELS: There was all that, and it's the first election with a star in a long time.

And *this* is why we all did our happy dance when McCain picked Palin.  —  You're going to want to watch this one to the end.  —  Because this is what we wanted, and this is what we're going to be getting from here on in.  —  I guess that we know now why Biden took the day off …

The Emperor Has No Taste Buds  —  Here's humorist David Sedaris in that bastion of sophistication, The New Yorker, on undecided voters:  —  To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane.  The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat.

ROOM DISSERVICE  —  THE source who told us last week about Michelle Obama getting lobster and caviar delivered to her room at the Waldorf-Astoria must have been under the influence of a mind-altering drug.  She was not even staying at the Waldorf.  We regret the mistake, and our former source is going to regret it, too.