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.

Is McCain Coming Back?  (Revisited)  —  Nine days ago, we asked in this space whether John McCain was cutting into the lead — both nationally and in key battleground states — of Barack Obama.  —  At the time, the McCain campaign suggested that the final debate between the two candidates …

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 …

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.

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 …

Former ACORN staffer testifies  —  HARRISBURG — A former staffer for an affiliate of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now testified today that the organization was provided a “donor list” from the presidential campaign of Barack Obama in late 2007 for fundraising efforts.

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.

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.

THREE GROUPS: Forecasts of voting lag, so far  —  Record turnout was seen for new voters, young, Hispanics  —  Analysts have predicted that new voters, young voters and Hispanic voters will turn out in record numbers in this election.  But as Nevadans continue to flock to the polls …

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 …

Poll: Obama surges in Colorado, makes gains on Electoral Map  —  (CNN) — Does the road to the White House run through the Rocky Mountains?  A new state poll in Colorado suggests that Barack Obama has doubled his lead over John McCain there, as the Democratic nominee claims more territory on CNN's Electoral Map.

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 …

Palin Stumps with Joe the Plumber, Mocks the LA Times  —  BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Joe the plumber is in the house.  —  Joe Wurzelbacher — the plumber whose question prompted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to talk about the need to “spread the wealth” …

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.

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

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 …

Palin Target Of New Ethics Complaint  —  CBS News Investigative Unit Has Learned Of New Complaint Related To Travel By Alaska Governor's Children  —  (CBS) CBS News Investigative Producer Yvonne Miller-Halee and Kim Lengle wrote this story for CBSNews.com.

The Undecideds  —  Earlier tonight, I suggested that there were in fact proportionately more undecideds among white voters than black voters, as the McCain campaign claimed today.  This was based mostly on a recollection of numbers that I'd looked at several weeks ago when the fraction of undecideds was higher.

Crist says internal polls show McCain ahead in Fla.  —  Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on Wednesday cited internal polls showing Republican presidential nominee John McCain ahead in the Sunshine State.  —  According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls in the state …

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.

Obama effigy found on UK's campus  —  University of Kentucky police are investigating who hung an effigy of Democrat Sen. Barack Obama from a tree on the Lexington campus Wednesday morning.  —  UK President Lee Todd said that UK police have notified federal authorities of the incident.

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 …