McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of “Carved B” Story Before Facts Were Known  —  John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts …

Lieberman: Working hard for McCain; prepared to bring people together if he fails  —  STAMFORD - U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman Friday continued to stand by Republican John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate.  —  But when asked by The Advocate if Palin is ready …

Bachmann tapes apology ad  —  Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) has taped an advertisement apologizing for her televised comments calling Barack Obama anti-American, according to a Republican source familiar with her campaign's decision.  —  Bachmann campaign spokeswoman Michelle Marston …

Reagan Appointee and (Recent) McCain Adviser Charles Fried Supports Obama  —  Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School, has long been one of the most important conservative thinkers in the United States.  Under President Reagan, he served, with great distinction, as Solicitor General of the United States.

New Poll Finds Stark Reversal on Perceptions of Palin  —  While top-of-the-ticket rivals John McCain and Barack Obama both remain broadly popular heading into their Election Day showdown, public perceptions of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin have fallen dramatically since …

While McCain Looked Away, Florida Shifted  —  MIAMI — For Senator John McCain, it was not supposed to be this way.  From a commanding lead last spring, in a state where Senator Barack Obama did not campaign in the primaries and only hired a state director in June, Mr. McCain is now locked …

On Clearance, Terrorists, Palling Around And Such  —  In response to this morning's post about an anti-Palin faction developing with the McCain campaign and among Republicans, Randy Scheunemann, McCain's chief foreign policy adviser, e-mails:

Government computers used to find information on Joe the Plumber  —  Investigators trying to determine whether access was illegal  —  “State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about “Joe the Plumber.

Editing Their Way to Oblivion: Journalism Sacrificed For Power and Pensions  —  The traditional media is playing a very, very dangerous game.  With its readers, with the Constitution, and with its own fate.  —  The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling.

Polls: White support for Obama at historic level  —  Barack Obama, the first black major party nominee, is positioned to win the largest share of white voters of any Democrat in more than three decades, according to an exclusive Politico analysis of recent Gallup and Pew Research Center polling.

The Party Of Rove And The Collapse Of McCain  —  Ross is disturbed by McCain's dearth of policy proposals: … But this is, sadly, the core of what has happened to Republicanism under Rove.  We've been told over and over again that the Bush administration always put politics before policy - and then made Karl Rove its policy czar!

I AM BILL  —  Editorial note: my previous “I AM JOE” post seems to have struck a chord, and possibly a nerve or two.  As one new fan writes: … You make an excellent point, T.S.!  Why should us flag-humping reactionaries get all the good flesh-and-blood lumpenproles to rally behind?

Memo To Palin: Fruit Fly Research Has Led To Advances In Understanding Autism  —  This morning, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) gave her first policy speech urging the federal government to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), “a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation.”

Administration to Bypass Reporting Law  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has informed Congress that it is bypassing a law intended to forbid political interference with reports to lawmakers by the Department of Homeland Security.  —  The August 2007 law requires the agency's chief privacy officer …

Updated and Bumped: Bull!  —  Update: Well, due to the extreme criticism from the “Laura killed her high school sweetheart, Cheney shot his friend, Bushitler” Left - I felt I should update and bump this post.  I'm sorry if my sarcasm regarding the pillow reference came across as too unkind.

Race would be different if Ridge were VP pick, ex-gov says  —  HARRISBURG — Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge said today that John McCain can't become president without carrying Pennsylvania and that the race would be different if McCain had chosen him as his running mate.

And Larry David Thinks He's Frightened?  —  As usual, Larry's brilliance and humor shines and at its core always the truth.  But his essay made me even more frightened and hence I am forced to share my own terror.  —  Of course I'm like a little child next to the political brain power by almost everyone who writes on this site.

Holding Steady  —  Obama stays well ahead in the new NEWSWEEK Poll. … With less than two weeks left in the presidential contest, Barack Obama continues to hold a commanding double-digit lead over John McCain according to the latest NEWSWEEK Poll.  Among registered voters nationwide …

You lose, Soros wins  —  Have you ever wondered why billionaires like George Soros financially support politicians who say they will “increase taxes on the rich”?  —  The answer quite simply is that the tax increases are most often put on people trying to become rich, not those already rich.

GOPWars: Who Survives —> What The Party Looks Like  —  To the extent that geography correlates with ideology among congressional Republicans, a major sweep by the Democrats could really be in a position to completely break the gluons that bind the broader party together.