RED ALERT Tip: Two quotes from the Obama-Khalidi videotape  —  You know the videotape that shows Barack Obama toasting PLO terrorist Rashid Khalidi?  The one that the Los Angeles Times refuses to release? … How frickin' stupid do they think we are?  Someone gave the Times a videotape so it wouldn't be released?

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE WEAK GET RIDICULOUS.... Recent polling shows Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R) trailing in her re-election fight in North Carolina against Democrat Kay Hagan, so it stands to reason that she's getting a little desperate.  —  I didn't think she'd get this desperate.

Obama Accepting Untraceable Donations  —  Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign is allowing donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that could potentially be used to evade limits on how much an individual is legally allowed to give or to mask a contributor's identity, campaign officials confirmed.

Yet  —  McCain's response ad to Obama's TV special:  —  Jason Zengerle notices an odd detail: … I'm sorry but I cannot even begin to watch the Obama infomercial tonight.  I can't take any more.

Hidin' Biden: Reining In a Voluble No. 2  —  Anyone who has watched Joe Biden over 35 years in the Senate might have a little bit of trouble recognizing the guy who is running to be Barack Obama's Vice President.  Oh, yes, he looks like the same fellow.  But traveling with Biden during …

FIRST THOUGHTS: IN WITH THE NEW...  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann  —  *** In with the new... : A brand-new NBC/WSJ/MySpace poll illustrates not only McCain's challenge come Election Day, but also the challenge the Republican Party could face in future elections.

Dems get ready to rule  —  A landslide victory next Tuesday would give Barack Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape government policy dramatically.  —  By controlling the White House and expanding their Senate majority …

Sen. Lieberman likely to lose his gavel in massive reshuffle being discussed  —  Democratic leaders are discussing a major reshuffling of Senate committee chairmanships, according to multiple sources, and the proposed changes include ousting Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) from his coveted chairmanship.

IS “TOO LATE” BETTER THAN “NEVER”?  —  In the post below, John wonders about the extent to which the money Obama is using to pay for tonight's five-network infomercial comes from the illegal donations that his campaign has “facilitated and encouraged.”  As John observes, we probably will never know the answer.

Obama's campaign manager offers 3 million dollars to API in connection with Michelle Obama tape to be aired by Fox News Network  —  Six hours after the release of information by API on the planned broadcast by Fox News Network of the Michelle Obama tape, in accordance with an agreement …

The Obama Campaign Plays The Palin Card...  After two long months of itchy trigger fingers.

So Long, Democrats  —  How Obama and Palin Redefined Political Sex Appeal by Tina Brown  —  A speechwriter for Obama, Edwards, and Clinton on why she's voting McCain.  —  Since I started writing speeches more than ten years ago, I have always believed in the Democratic Party.  Not anymore.

I had not realized Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman is this stupid  —  From exchanging emails with him, I've known for a decade that Paul Krugman was an egomaniacal jerk, but he was always described as being intelligent.  Yet, here are parts of a 1998 column he wrote in Slate that is just jaw-droppingly dumb.

Internal Polling  —  The Wall Street Journal today publishes an internal McCain campaign polling memo from yesterday.  Bill McInturff, the campaign's lead pollster, paints a rather different picture than the one we've seen in most media polling, and suggests those media polls will begin dramatically to tighten in the next day or two.

Gallup Daily: Obama Maintains Edge Over McCain  —  Advantage among likely voters three to seven points  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama begins the final week of the campaign with an advantage over John McCain in both Gallup likely voter models, up by 49% to 46% using the traditional model …

Obama donors get access to top advisers  —  Aides to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) scheduled pricey luncheons, roundtables, readings, V.I.P. receptions, dinners and policy dinners with campaign officials and advisers, offering donors a taste of his potential administration.

The Markets Are Weak Because the Candidates Are Lousy  —  The good news is that an Obama victory is already priced in.  —  A lot has been said about the causes of the drastic drops — and extreme volatility — in stock prices and the impending recession.  Blame has been heaped on low interest rates …

The Winner  —  The video that changed an election campaign.  It's a video that still affects me.  Mock it all you want.  Mock me all you want.  There is a reason this ad resonated.  It has to do with eight long years of shame and drift and failure.  It's a statement that Bush and Cheney are not who we are.

Sleepless in Tehran  —  I've always been dubious about Barack Obama's offer to negotiate with Iran — not because I didn't believe that it was the right strategy, but because I didn't believe we had enough leverage to succeed.  And negotiating in the Middle East without leverage is like playing baseball without a bat.

More Cork Popping  —  Noam Scheiber is trying to displace me as the office grinch, and in this case I'm going to let him.  Still, I want to clarify my little item about cork-popping.  I took note of the Pew poll, showing Barack Obama ahead by sixteen points, because it is a reputable poll …

Virginia Notebook: Democrats Ahead in '09 Race  —  One year before voters go to the polls to elect a new governor, Virginia Democrats appear well positioned to stay in power and continue their winning streak in major state races, according to a new Washington Post poll.