Palin's Makeup Stylist Fetches Highest Salary in 2-Week Period  —  (Photo: Michael Appleton for The New York Times)  —  Updated |  12:20 p.m. Who was the highest paid individual in Senator John McCain's presidential campaign during the first half of October as it headed down the homestretch?

Exclusive: Obama Explains Why His Campaign Will Wait for ‘Toot’  —  Obama Tells 'GMA's' Robin Roberts Why He's Halting His Campaign Swing to Visit Grandmother  —  Barack Obama is home today in Hawaii with his ailing grandmother rather than on the campaign trail because he fears she won't make it to Election Day.

Former Mass. Gov. William Weld to endorse Obama  —  SALEM, N.H.—Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican, is endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president, citing the senator's steady leadership, good judgment and ability to unify Democrats, Republicans and independents.

McCain for President  —  WASHINGTON — Contrarian that I am, I'm voting for John McCain.  I'm not talking about bucking the polls or the media consensus that it's over before it's over.  I'm talking about bucking the rush of wet-fingered conservatives leaping to Barack Obama before they're left …

Final bill on the Barackopolis: $5.3 million  —  Keep this figure in mind when people claim that the $150,000 the RNC spent on Sarah Palin's wardrobe represents some kind of frivolity.  At least she's going to wear the clothes more than once, and it may raise some decent funds for charity at the end of the campaign.

Sarah Palin Refuses To Answer Whether Or Not Abortion Clinic Bombers Are Terrorists  —  I just watched some highlights of Brian William's interview with Sarah Palin and John McCain.  —  This exchange was shocking: (I transcribed this section myself — sorry about any errors.)

Something About Sarah  —  My husband called it first.  Then, a brilliant 75-year-old scholar and raconteur confessed to me over wine: “I'm sexually attracted to her.  I don't care that she knows nothing.”  —  Finally, writer Robert Draper closed the file on the Sarah Palin mystery …

Breaking Down the Battleground States  —  McCain Faces an Uphill Battle in Eight Key States Up for Grabs  —  Election Day often comes down to the results of a few crucial battleground states where key electoral votes can hold the key to the White House.  —  In 2000, that battleground was certainly Florida.

NPR's Final Survey: Obama moves into commanding lead in battleground states and on all key elements of campaign  —  Greenberg Quinlan Rosner National Public Radio  —  US Politics … Executive Summary  —  With just over a week left before the election, Barack Obama's strategy of campaigning …

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.

11 Days Out, And The Whispering Begins  —  Call it a circular firing squad, or internal dissension, or simply the natural evolution of a campaign that is disappointed with how the endgame is playing out.  —  There's a faction within the McCain campaign has begun to whisper about Gov. Sarah Palin to reporters.

Palin appointed friends and donors to key posts in Alaska, records show  —  100-plus jobs went to campaign donors or their relatives, sometimes without apparent regard to qualifications.  Several donors got state-subsidized loans for business ventures of dubious public value.

Was McCain volunteer attacked over bumper sticker?  —  Ashley Todd, a 20-year-old volunteer for the McCain-Palin campaign, has told Pittsburgh police she was mugged and then targeted for further attack on account of her political beliefs.  —  The alleged attack happened Wednesday night, at a local ATM.

McCain's Private Visit With Chilean Dictator Pinochet Revealed For First Time  —  John McCain, who has harshly criticized the idea of sitting down with dictators without pre-conditions, appears to have done just that.  In 1985, McCain traveled to Chile for a friendly meeting with Chile's military ruler …

1&1 Internet Has Allowed My Domain to Be Hijacked  —  The company “1&1″ has allowed my domain, patterico.com, to be hijacked.  —  Look up at the address bar.  This is still the Patterico site — but I no longer have the patterico.com domain — even though I renewed it before the expiration date.

Blame game: GOP forms circular firing squad  —  With despair rising even among many of John McCain's own advisors, influential Republicans inside and outside his campaign are engaged in an intense round of blame-casting and rear-covering—much of it virtually conceding that an Election Day rout is likely.

United Panic  —  I'll be blogging through much of today, as the world fears the worst.  The first posts will be at the bottom.  —  12:45 p.m. |  Slipping Back: European markets closed well above their lows, but now the American market is slipping back, with both the Dow and the S.&P, down 4 percent for the day.

How's Obama Going to Raise $4.3 Trillion?  —  The Democrat's tax and spending plans deserve closer examination.  —  The most troublesome tax increases in Barack Obama's plan are not those we can already see but those sure to be announced later, after the election is over and budget realities rear their ugly head.

A Happiness Gap: Doomacrats And Republigrins  —  Now the good news for Republicans: You are happier than Democrats.  You always have been, and you probably always will be.  —  Never mind that your presidential candidate is sinking in the polls while your president plumbs historic depths …

New Allegations in Mahoney Sex Scandal  —  Current and former members of the staff of Congressman Tim Mahoney (D-Fla) say he has yet to come completely clean about his multiple affairs, abusive behavior and alleged ethical lapses.  —  Last week, following a series of reports on The Blotter …

WHAT DID DELLA WARE?  —  Yesterday we noted the Obama's campaign's acceptance of credit card contributions made via the Internet under false names and addresses in “Who is John Galt?”  Many readers wrote to confirm the experiment conducted by our reader under the names John Galt, Osama bin Laden …

Regular Needs Children  —  It's nice, I suppose, that Sarah Palin's experience raising a special needs child has awakened her to the importance of generous public support for such children.  And it'd also be nice to think that John McCain's embrace of this issue reflects a genuine Palin-inspired awakening …