Top Items:
Pew Research Center:
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.
Discussion:
The New Republic, Marc Ambinder, TalkLeft, Daily Kos, The Daily Dish, TIME.com, Donklephant, The Campaign Spot, My Left Wing and Salon
Tami Luhby / CNNMoney.com:
Election: Your health insurance at stake — McCain and Obama have vastly different views on the future of employer-sponsored health insurance. Either one could bring big change. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Both presidential candidates want to turn employer-sponsored health insurance on its head.
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Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
CAMPAIGNS SAY SILLY THINGS ABOUT HEALTH CARE. — First up, Doug Holtz-Eakin explaining why his candidate's health care plan won't lead to an exodus of young folks from the system: … Oops. This is what we call a Kinsleyan gaffe: He shouldn't have said it because it's oh-so-true.
The Politico:
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.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs, Ben Smith's Blogs, Townhall.com, NewsBusters.org, Marc Ambinder, www.redstate.com and Althouse
Mike Allen / The Politico:
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 …
The Trail / Washington Post:
Bush Stops by RNC to Give Thanks and Wish GOP Luck — President Bush snuck out of the White House under gloomy skies this morning to pay a surprise visit to the headquarters of the Republican National Committee, wishing luck to GOP staffers in a year that is shaping up as a potential disaster for the party.
Discussion:
TIME.com
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Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
THE GOP'S FACTIONAL WARFARE.... Time will tell the extent …
THE GOP'S FACTIONAL WARFARE.... Time will tell the extent …
Discussion:
Eschaton
George Stephanopoulos / ABCNEWS:
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 …
Discussion:
Electoral-vote.com, TalkLeft, ColoradoPols.com, Vodkapundit, The Other McCain and Oliver Willis
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish: The Palin-McCain Conflict — I think it's now fair to say it's a war.
Sam Youngman / The Hill:
McCain says Stevens should step down — GOP presidential candidate John McCain, already fighting a political environment hostile to Republicans, said Tuesday morning that Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) should resign from the Senate. — Stevens was convicted on seven felony counts of failing to disclose gifts …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Politico, Sunlight Foundation, MyDD, TPM Election Central and The Crypt's Blogs
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Michael Falcone / The Caucus:
McCain Calls for Stevens to Resign
McCain Calls for Stevens to Resign
Discussion:
Think Progress, Anchorage Daily News, TalkLeft, MSNBC, KTUU-TV, unbossed.com and Emptywheel
Steven G. Calabresi / Wall Street Journal:
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.
Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
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.
Discussion:
Hot Air, www.redstate.com, Fausta's Blog, Wake up America, Maggie's Notebook, PoliGazette, Commentary, NewsBusters.org, Political Punch, rubber hose and Ynetnews
Paul Bond / Hollywood Reporter:
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.
M. Duss / Wonk Room:
McCain Adviser Dismisses Evidence Of Bush's Iraq Dishonesty As ‘Conspiracy Theories’ — Robert Kagan, a leading member of John McCain's war cabinet, recently gave an interview to Der Spiegel in which he was asked about the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq: … This is ridiculous.
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
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Jack Shafer / Slate:
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.
Maeve Reston / Los Angeles Times:
McCain was frank, garrulous and accessible — and then he wasn't — John McCain talks to the media, including Los Angeles Times reporter Maeve Reston, right foreground with tape recorder, at a rally in Ohio in February. Early on, McCain artfully created a sense of intimacy with the reporters who traveled with him.
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Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Presidential Race Narrows Slightly — Obama leads by two to seven points among likely voters — PRINCETON, NJ — The gap between Barack Obama and John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Saturday through Monday has narrowed slightly, and Obama is now at 49% of the vote …
Discussion:
The Strata-Sphere
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
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 …
National Review:
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.
Byron York / The Corner:
Obama's Moving Tax Threshold: $250,000? $200,000? $150,000? What Next? — One of the things I've seen at Republican rallies is that people just don't believe Barack Obama when he says he'll raise taxes only on those who make more than $250,000 a year.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Sort of Soviet? — Et tu, MSNBC? — Willie Geist and Courtney Hazlett this morning discussed Obama's half hour of TV tomorrow night.
Eric March / Comedy Central:
Barack Obama to Appear on The Daily Show Wednesday — We just got word that the studio is in full lock down mode. After all, Jon barely escaped his previous interview with this tax-and-spend terrorist of the center-left alive. — One last chance to wring the truth out of this madman, folks.