Shame, Cubed  —  The Drudge Report this morning led off with a link to audio of Barack Obama on WBEZ, a Chicago public radio station.  And this time, Barack Obama was not eight years old when the bomb went off.  —  Speaking on a call-in radio show in 2001, you can hear Senator Obama say things …

Halloween Palin Prop Sparks Controversy In WeHo  —  WEST HOLLYWOOD (CBS News) ― Sarah Palin is not considered to be a friend of the gay community, but the Republican vice presidential candidate seems to be looming over the West Hollywood Halloween Carnival.

Amazon.com listing had Barack Obama Halloween mask under ‘terrorist’  —  You know that argument the John McCain-Sarah Palin campaign has been relentlessly making that Barack Obama “pals” around with terrorists such as '60s ex-radical William Ayers?  —  And they say this reflects …

White people shouldn't be allowed to vote  —  It's for the good of the country and for those who're bitter for a reason and armed because they're scared.  —  is editor in chief of the blog Phawker.com  —  As a lifelong Caucasian, I am beginning to think the time has finally come …

Reuters/Zogby Battleground Surveys: Obama Leads in 6 of 8 States, Most By Very Small Margins  —  Obama Ahead in FL, MO, NV, NC, OH & VA  —  UTICA, New York - Reuters/Zogby telephone surveys of eight battleground states show Democrat Barack Obama ahead in six.

Remember the Marne  —  “My center is giving way.  My right is in retreat.  Situation excellent.  I attack!”  —  That's the message supposedly sent by General Ferdinand Foch of France to his commanding general, Joseph Joffre, during the crucial First Battle of the Marne in September 1914.

Palin and Hasselbeck blast ‘ridiculous’ wardrobe story  —  TAMPA, Florida (CNN) - Ensuring that news of the Republican National Committee's sartorial spending spree will remain in the headlines for at least one more news cycle, Sarah Palin on Sunday sounded off on the $150,000 wardrobe …

The Age of Prosperity Is Over  —  This administration and Congress will be remembered like Herbert Hoover.  —  About a year ago Stephen Moore, Peter Tanous and I set about writing a book about our vision for the future entitled “The End of Prosperity.”  Little did we know then how appropriate its release would be earlier this month.

Best of the '08 Campaign III: Best National Columnist  —  In a sense, a presidential campaign provides the ultimate test of the mettle of the political punditry.  Does the pundit simply disintegrate into political hackery by reciting the talking points of the campaign to which he is beholden?

The Widening Gyre  —  Economic data rarely inspire poetic thoughts.  But as I was contemplating the latest set of numbers, I realized that I had William Butler Yeats running through my head: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The falcon cannot hear the falconer; / Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.”

Stunning results in early voting in California.  Smile redstaters  —  California has begun early voting already as well as mail-in balloting.  The number of people who have gone in to vote in person has been extensive.  The results so far prove what we had always suspected.

Where Does the Vice President Belong?  —  THE presidential campaign has taken a detour into a dispute over the constitutional status of the vice presidency.  It all started when Sarah Palin asserted in her debate with Joe Biden that the vice president should play an important role in the legislative branch.

Poll Gives Obama 8-Point Va. Lead  —  Barack Obama has opened up an eight-point lead over Republican John McCain in Virginia, and the Democrat is entering the final week of the campaign with several core advantages when it comes to turning out his supporters, according to a new Washington Post poll.

U.S. Takes to Air to Hit Militants Inside Pakistan  —  WASHINGTON — The White House has backed away from using American commandos for further ground raids into Pakistan after furious complaints from its government, relying instead on an intensifying campaign of airstrikes by the Central Intelligence Agency …

Europe on the brink of currency crisis meltdown  —  The crisis in Hungary recalls the heady days of the UK's expulsion from the ERM.  —  The financial crisis spreading like wildfire across the former Soviet bloc threatens to set off a second and more dangerous banking crisis in Western Europe …

Gun Sales Thriving In Uncertain Times  —  Americans have cut back on buying cars, furniture and clothes in a tough economy, but there's one consumer item that's still enjoying healthy sales: guns.  Purchases of firearms and ammunition have risen 8 to 10 percent this year, according to state and federal data.

Palin deserves our respect  —  is the director of Women's Watch Inc., a nonprofit women's advocacy group based in Cape May  —  I cannot predict who will win the presidential campaign, but I already know who will lose big: all women.  —  I realized this when I saw a 20-something male student …

Obama Shuns Press Conferences, Sits With 'EXTRA!'s' Mario Lopez  —  On Oct. 24, 2007, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said that as president he would hold regular press conferences and “not just call on my four favorite reporters.”  —  But the Democratic presidential nominee hasn't held …

NUCLEAR SAFETY IS FOR WUSSES.... For months, John McCain has blasted Barack Obama for his reluctance to support expanded nuclear power plants.  Obama has pushed back, noting that he supports nuclear as part of a comprehensive energy strategy, but before an expansion, he wants to resolve lingering questions …

We Should Talk to Our Enemies  —  A U.S. army lieutenant in the Kunar Province of eastern Afghanistan  —  One of the sharpest and most telling differences on foreign policy between Barack Obama and John McCain is whether the United States should talk to difficult and disreputable leaders …

The pendulum swings towards regulation  —  Events as well as ideas shape policy choices in democracies.  Who would have predicted a year ago that a Republican ad­ministration would demand that Congress make the largest set of investments in public companies in US peacetime history?

A Line in the Sand for Same-Sex Marriage Foes  —  While the battle over same-sex marriage has been all but invisible in the presidential race this year, it is raging like a wind-whipped wildfire in California.  —  Conservative religious leaders from across the country are pouring time …