7 days — One week out — Republicans expect to be crushed in historic landslide: buy emergency time in Montana and West Virginia  —  GM seeks Treasury $$$ ... GOP blame game now reaches down to state parties - Al Hunt is in Obama's gym pool at this moment — Michelle Obama shops J. Crew online …

Rift Cracks ‘Demoralized’ McCain Campaign  —  McCain Staffers Blame Palin's Lack of Readiness; Palin Loyalists Blame Over-Managing By McCain Handlers  —  The McCain campaign is definitely demoralized right now.  The blame game has begun.  —  There is no question that there is a rift …

Obama's ‘Redistribution’ Constitution  —  The courts are poised for a takeover by the judicial left.  —  One of the great unappreciated stories of the past eight years is how thoroughly Senate Democrats thwarted efforts by President Bush to appoint judges to the lower federal courts.

McCain Support Continues Downward Spiral  —  Obama Leads by 19 Among Those Who Have Already Voted  —  Barack Obama leads John McCain by a 52% to 36% margin in Pew's latest nationwide survey of 1,325 registered voters.  This is the fourth consecutive survey that has found support for the Republican candidate edging down.

Palin's Love Boats  —  Until two cruise ships steamed up to Alaska two summers ago, the record for the silliest statement by a journalist had been held by Lincoln Steffens, in his time a famous American radical.  Sent in 1919 to see how Russia was doing under the communists …

Rush's Blueprint  —  Last week, Tony Blankley published and Rush Limbaugh publicized what may prove one of the most important articles of 2008.  I don't mean that the article was good - very much the contrary.  But bad work can be even more important than good, if enough people can be got to believe it.

Election 2008: Objective journalism the loser  —  Did you see that amazing video obtained by the Los Angeles Times of Sen. Barack Obama toasting a prominent former PLO member at an Arab American Action Network meeting in 2003?  The video in which Obama gives Yasser Arafat's frontman a warm embrace, as Bill Ayers look on?

Sources: Sarkozy views Obama stance on Iran as ‘utterly immature’  —  French President Nicolas Sarkozy is very critical of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's positions on Iran, according to reports that have reached Israel's government.  —  Sarkozy has made his criticisms only in closed forums in France.

Watch as the press corps battles its performance anxiety!  —  With the election just a week away and Barack Obama pulling away from John McCain, tiny tendrils of trepidation are starting to drift over the liberal members of the commentariat and the political press corps.

Why McCain Lost Me  —  Yesterday, while reading the latest polling data on John McCain, Sarah Palin and their appeal — or growing lack of it — to “ independent women voters” it suddenly dawned on me: I am one of these elusive independent female voters, and I have the credentials to prove it.

Why McCain is getting hosed in the press  —  Politico political editor Charles Mahtesian was e-mailing the other day with a Republican lobbyist who signed off with a plea that sounded more like a taunt: “Keep it balanced.”  —  A reader e-mailed us with the same sentiment in different language.

New to Campaigning, but No Longer a Novice  —  AKRON, Ohio — On a visit to her husband's campaign office here the other day, Michelle Obama was handed a phone and a script of talking points and made calls to a few undecided voters.  Mrs. Obama mixed policy on taxes and health care with chitchat about Ohio …

Breaking: Here's what we know about Pennsylvania right now  —  Tonight we spoke with a friend from Hillary Clinton's campaign who is now working for McCain/Palin — and is specifically working with Democrats for McCain in Pennsylvania.  We worked with her in Texas, Indiana, Ohio …

Tipping the Scales — Up to 10,000 Registrations Deemed Incomplete in Colorado  —  The crucial swing state of Colorado is the latest state in which some voters might not be able to cast a ballot because of a technical mistake they made when registering to vote.

Both sides of aisle rip MSNBC  —  Keith Olbermann also criticized at media luncheon  —  In a room full of television industry executives, no one seemed inclined to defend MSNBC on Monday for what some were calling its lopsidedly liberal coverage of the presidential election.

TIRE SWINGING: A LOVE STORY  —  The award for hardest tire swinging ever goes to the LA Times' Maeve Reston, who today dreamily relives her time on the Straight Talk Express as if she were Streisand to McCain's Redford.  —  I hate to excerpt any of it because you really should read the whole thing, but it's just too perfect.

N. Carolina ballot design may cut votes cast for president  —  North Carolina voters are more likely than those in other states to cast ballots in national elections without making a choice for president.  —  Unlike many states, a straight-party vote in North Carolina does not cast a vote for president.

The Three Ashleys  —  In 2004, Ashley Faulkner looked into the camera and said of George W. Bush, “He's the most powerful man in the world, and all he wants to do is make sure I'm safe, that I'm OK.”  —  It was powerful.  It was an emotional, affirmative argument to vote for George W. Bush.

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: Obama Under 50%, as McCain Holds Steady  —  Obama 49.0%, McCain 44.7%  —  UTICA, New York - The race for President of the United States continued to tighten, as both Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain lost ground in a contest that is now a four-point game …

A Voting Rights Disaster?  —  Suppose in your neighborhood there are 600 registered voters per machine, while across town there are only 120 per machine.  (That's a 5 to 1 disparity, which is what exists in some places in Virginia today.)  On Election Day, your line wraps around the block …

Reid eyes Byrd ouster  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is quietly preparing to ease 90-year-old Sen. Robert C. Byrd from his perch as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Democratic insiders tell Politico.  —  Reid has not yet discussed his plans with Byrd.

Hitting Syria, Five Years Late  —  Soliciting Assad was one of Bush's biggest war mistakes.  —  After five years and six months during which Syria has been an active accomplice to the insurgency in Iraq, the U.S. has finally struck back.  Historians will be left to ponder how the course …