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 …

Rush Limbaugh Explains It all  —  This Rush Limbaugh monologue is a fascinating document, and should be required reading for anyone seeking to understand one of the most powerful conservative narratives emerging around the looming GOP debacle.  For Rush, there are only two kinds of people …

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?

Police: More than 100,000 watch Obama  —  Standing in front of more than 100,000 supporters in Civic Center park, Barack Obama said today he is ready for the final nine days of the presidential campaign and vowed to stay focused on improving the country's faltering economy.

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.”

Choosing Corsi  —  Stanley Kurtz takes my short item last night on the New Party as symbolic of everything that's wrong with the coverage of Obama: “a bias against conservative concerns, combined with an utterly incurious and credulous acceptance of even the most questionable assertions by Obama supporters.”

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 …

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 …