Eagleburger Blisters Palin: “Of Course” She's Not Ready  —  A former Republican Secretary of State and one of John McCain's most prominent supporters offered a stunningly frank and remarkably bleak assessment of Sarah Palin's capacity to handle the presidency should such a scenario arise.

An ‘Idiot Wind’  —  John McCain's latest attempt to link Barack Obama to extremism  —  WITH THE presidential campaign clock ticking down, Sen. John McCain has suddenly discovered a new boogeyman to link to Sen. Barack Obama: a sometimes controversial but widely respected Middle East scholar named Rashid Khalidi.

Cover this!  Inside the nastiest '08 rumors  —  Thank you for your e-mails!  —  When John McCain and Barack Obama started running for president in 2007, they were two of the most universally liked and respected politicians in America — men who even members of the opposite party saw as decent …

When Consumers Capitulate  —  The long-feared capitulation of American consumers has arrived.  According to Thursday's G.D.P. report, real consumer spending fell at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the third quarter; real spending on durable goods (stuff like cars and TVs) fell at an annual rate of 14 percent.

Obama and the Runaway Train  —  The race, the case, a hope for grace.  —  The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes:  —  He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years …

A Last Push To Deregulate  —  The White House is working to enact a wide array of federal regulations, many of which would weaken government rules aimed at protecting consumers and the environment, before President Bush leaves office in January.  —  The new rules would be among …

And Lower...  Here we have the McCain campaign's execrable Michael Goldfarb slinging around accusations of anti-semitism—a favorite pastime, as we've seen this year, among Jewish neoconservatives.  I've never met Rashid Khalidi, but he is (a) Palestinian and therefore (b) a semite, so the charge of anti-semitism is fatuous.

Poll: Dead heats in 2 key swing states  —  Barack Obama and John McCain are evenly matched in the swing states of North Carolina and Missouri, though Obama is strongly outpacing McCain in two of those states' crucial battleground counties, according to new Politico/InsiderAdvantage polls.

08 reasons Barack Obama will win next Tuesday  —  Today I offer 08 reasons why Barack Obama will nevertheless win handily:  —  1. Obama's supporters are more energized.  —  Obama draws enormous crowds wherever he goes and has energized young and first-time voters in a way that will surprise …

Mortgage Plan May Aid Many and Irk Others  —  As the Treasury Department prepares a $40 billion program to help delinquent homeowners avoid foreclosure, it confronts a difficult challenge: not making the plan too tempting to people like Todd Lawrence.  —  An airline pilot who lives outside Norwich …

In Final Stretch, McCain to Pour Money Into TV Ads  —  Sen. John McCain and the Republican National Committee will unleash a barrage of spending on television advertising that will allow him to keep pace with Sen. Barack Obama's ad blitz during the campaign's final days …

Hank Paulson's $125 Billion Mistake  —  It was only a few weeks ago that most right-thinking economists and left-leaning bloggers were jumping on Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson for his plan to jump-start the markets in asset-backed securities by having the government buy them up at auction.

Majority of Allegheny prostitutes are on the Democratic side  —  TRIBUNE-REVIEW  —  John McCain and Barack Obama, if you're wooing a population of registered voters who are young, female and drawn to men in suits, then Allegheny County has 675 ladies ready to pull your lever.

Court Docs: GOP Donor Secretly Funneled $75K To Coleman Family  —  The CEO of a major marine technology company is alleging that he was pressured by a friend and associate of Norm Coleman to secretly funnel tens of thousands of dollars to the Senator's family.

US election: If Iraqis could vote it would be for McCain … For five years Ali and Mohammed have lived alongside US soldiers in their Baghdad neighbourhood near Rasheed Street, a prominent commercial artery running through the heart of the Iraqi capital.  —  During that time American culture …

Japanese man petitions to marry comic book wife  —  Wedding bells ... a man wants to marry a comic book character, just like Superman and Lois Lane in 1996 / Reuters  —  A JAPANESE man has enlisted hundreds of people in a campaign to allow marriages between humans and cartoon characters …

Murtha pleas for $1 million after racism comments  —  Veteran Democratic Rep. John Murtha (Pa.) has sent out a last-minute plea for $1 million to save his hotly contested seat, endangered by his own remarks describing his district as racist.  —  In an e-mail sent to potential donors …

Inquiry Targeted 2,000 Foreign Muslims in 2004  —  WASHINGTON — An operation in 2004 meant to disrupt potential terrorist plots before and after that year's presidential election focused on more than 2,000 immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries, but most were found to have done nothing wrong …

AP poll: 1 in 7 voters still persuadable  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrick Campbell worries Barack Obama will raise his taxes but thinks John McCain will send people off to war.  He says that leaves him leaning toward Obama ... maybe.  —  “I'm split right down the middle,” …

Obama prepares for quick transition  —  The best-kept secret in Washington is that Barack Obama has the largest and most disciplined presidential transition team anyone can recall.  Headed by John Podesta, former chief of staff in Bill Clinton's White House, it started work …

Obama Plans a Four-Day Hunt for More Democratic Voters  —  VIRGINIA BEACH — Senator Barack Obama is spending the final four days of his campaign mining for votes in places where Democrats have not turned out at full strength in recent presidential races, hoping to offset other areas in swing states where his candidacy may need a lift.

In Ohio, McCain Is Everywhere Even if Joe the Plumber Isn't  —  MENTOR, Ohio — In case anyone was wondering if Ohio was a combat zone for Senator John McCain's presidential campaign, consider that five days before the election the candidate took a 220-mile, six-stop, 12-hour bus tour across the northern breadth of the state.