PIT BULL TURNS ON MCMAVERICK  —  NOW PALIN'S BUCKING HER OWN TICKET  —  By CARL CAMPANILE in Mesilla, NM, and GINGER ADAMS OTIS in NY  —  Sarah Palin is the rogue elephant in the GOP war room.  —  The maverick mom is distancing herself from John McCain and blowing off the advice …

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Chuck Todd, Charlie Cook, Kelly O'Donnell  —  MR. TOM BROKAW: Our issues this Sunday: With just nine days to go, polls show Obama widening his lead over McCain while the Republican vice presidential nominee comes under increased criticism.  What will be McCain's final message to undecided voters?

Ceding the Center  —  There are two major political parties in America, but there are at least three major political tendencies.  The first is orthodox liberalism, a belief in using government to maximize equality.  The second is free-market conservatism, the belief in limiting government to maximize freedom.

Kyl, in interview, voices doubt about McCain's chances  —  Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl expressed some doubt in a recent interview that his seatmate, John McCain, will be elected president next month.  —  During a visit to the Arizona Daily Star last week for an editorial board meeting …

Obama for president  —  Palin's rise captivates us but nation needs a steady hand  —  Alaska enters its 50th-anniversary year in the glow of an improbable and highly memorable event: the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate.

Jesse Jackson Jr. hopes to replace Obama in Senate  —  Illinois political insiders say Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who defended Barack Obama after his father famously threatened to castrate him, is the favorite to replace the Democratic nominee in the Senate.  —  Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) …

Goodbye To All That  —  Steve Chapman expresses the core reason for Obama's success: … It is what Reagan did as well.  And the great crushing blow of this campaign is to have watched John McCain run a campaign that is, at its worst, “the systematic organization of hatreds.”

Palin talks clothes at length  —  Recognizing that the clothes kerfuffle still has legs and is damaging her politically ,Sarah Palin used the start of a rally today to offer her most extended defense of the clothes bought for her last month.  —  Palin, speaking in Tampa …

Obama says McCain ‘finally giving us a little straight talk’  —  (CNN) — Sen. Barack Obama said Sunday that Sen. John McCain was now “owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a whole lot in common.”  —  “Just this morning, Sen. McCain said that, actually, he and President Bush …

The High Rise of the First Metropolitan Candidate  —  Republicans, looking to frame Sen. Barack Obama as a candidate outside the mainstream, recently settled on a new tack: deriding him as an out of touch and corrupt urbanite.  —  At the GOP convention last month, Rudy Giuliani …