Top Items:
Matthew Mosk / Washington Post:
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.
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Scott / Power Line:
OBAMA SHRUGGED: THE WEBSITE — We continue to receive reports of dubious (i.e., illegal) donations to the Obama campaign. Yesterday Mark Steyn reported the contribution of “Adolfe Hitler” of 1 Reichstag Building. Herr “Hitler” received a grateful acknowledgement of his contribution:
a Times / Los Angeles Times:
McCain campaign accuses L.A. Times of ‘suppressing’ Obama video — The Times says its promise to a source prevents the paper from posting the video, which shows Barack Obama praising Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi at a 2003 banquet. The story first appeared in April.
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New York Times:
Win or Lose, Many See Palin as Future of Party — Whether the Republican presidential ticket wins or loses on Tuesday, a group of prominent conservatives are planning to meet the next day to discuss the way forward, and whatever the outcome, Gov. Sarah Palin will be high on the agenda.
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Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
Conservatives plan secret post-election strategy session — Two days after next week's election, top conservatives will gather at the Virginia weekend home of one of the movement's most prominent members to begin a conversation about their role in the GOP and how best to revive a party …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Think Progress, The Heretik, The Aristocrats, Right Wing Watch and TIME.com
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
Obama Infomercial, a Closing Argument to the Everyman — WASHINGTON — Senator Barack Obama will use his prime-time half-hour infomercial on Wednesday night to make what is effectively a closing argument to a national audience of millions. At times he will speak directly into the camera …
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Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:
Obama infomercial: Smart politics or risky overkill?
Obama infomercial: Smart politics or risky overkill?
Discussion:
TIME.com
Mike Allen / The Politico:
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.
Wendy Button / The Daily Beast:
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.
Discussion:
The New Republic, The Corner, Wonkette, NewsBusters.org, The Strata-Sphere and PoliGazette
Africanpress / African Press International:
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 …
Michael Abramowitz / Washington Post:
Accuracy Of Polls a Question In Itself — Could the polls be wrong? — Sen. John McCain and his allies say that they are. The country, they say, could be headed to a 2008 version of the famous 1948 upset election, with McCain in the role of Harry S. Truman and Sen. Barack Obama as Thomas E. Dewey …
Anne Ryman / Arizona Republic:
Obama neck and neck with McCain in Arizona — Sen. John McCain's once-comfortable lead in Arizona has all but evaporated, according to a new poll that has the underdog Republican presidential candidate struggling in his own backyard. — With less than a week until Election Day …
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Laying the Groundwork for the Backfire — Every time I read Ezra Klein pooh-pooing Barack Obama's domestic agenda, I feel a bit baffled. He's running on a platform that promises universal preschool, dramatic cuts in carbon emissions and investments in clean energy infrastructure …
Eric Dash / New York Times:
Consumers Feel the Next Crisis: It's Credit Cards — First came the mortgage crisis. Now comes the credit card crisis. — After years of flooding Americans with credit card offers and sky-high credit lines, lenders are sharply curtailing both, just as an eroding economy squeezes consumers.
Associated Press:
AP EXCLUSIVE: Obama ahead or tied in 8 key states — WASHINGTON (AP) — Barack Obama, gunning for a national landslide, now leads in four states won by President Bush in 2004 and is essentially tied with John McCain in two other Republican red states, according to new AP-GfK battleground polling.
Discussion:
Pajamas Media, Taegan Goddard's …, TPM Election Central, MSNBC, Rocky Mountain News and Associated Press
Marc Ambinder:
The Obama Campaign Plays The Palin Card... After two long months of itchy trigger fingers.
Discussion:
Weekly Standard
Washington Post:
The Real Problem With Obama's Tax Plan — We've heard a lot this month about how Sen. Barack Obama's tax plans would affect Joe the Plumber — the Ohio man who recently asked the Democratic nominee whether Obama planned to raise his taxes. Opponents of Obama seized on the incident to argue that his middle-class tax cuts are a scam.
The Huffington Post:
The Notoriously Cheap Democratic Senate — On the cusp of winning a filibuster-proof 60 vote majority, Democratic Senators are hoarding their personal campaign chests, demonstrating more self interest than a willingness to share their money in order to gain firm control of the Senate.
J. Taylor Rushing / The Hill:
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.
Campbell Brown / CNN:
Commentary: Obama breaks promise on campaign finance — Editor's note: Campbell Brown anchors CNN's “Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull” at 8 p.m. ET Mondays through Fridays. She delivered this commentary during the “Cutting through the Bull” segment of Tuesday night's broadcast.
Michael Calderone / The Politico:
The man behind ‘fair and balanced’ — Fox News anchor Brit Hume, reflecting on his 12 years at the cable news network, recalled that during its formative stages, a New York Times television writer said the news division of Rupert Murdch's network was like an “imaginary friend.”
Josh Kraushaar / The Politico:
Dole still keeping the faith — Sen. Elizabeth Dole's latest advertisement suggests her Democratic opponent, Kay Hagan, is a godless heathen. — “A leader of the Godless Americans PAC recently held a secret fundraiser for Kay Hagan,” the 30-second spot says, showing footage …
FIRE:
Quinnipiac University Threatens Student Group for Associating with Off-Campus Newspaper — Quinnipiac University (QU) has threatened a student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists with expulsion from campus if the group associates with The Quad News, an independent student newspaper formed …
Discussion:
The Corner
Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:
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.
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
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.