Top Items:
Drudge Report:
PURGE: SKEPTICAL REPORTERS TOSSED OFF OBAMA PLANE — NY POST, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, WASHINGTON TIMES TOLD TO GET OUT... ALL 3 ENDORSED MCCAIN — The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states …
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Washington Times:
Washington Times kicked off Obama plane for finale — The Washington Times, which has covered the Barack Obama campaign from the start, was kicked off the Democrat's campaign plane for the final 72 hours of the race. — The Obama campaign informed the newspaper Thursday evening of its decision …
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Off the plane — Obama spokesman Bill Burton confirms Drudge's report that two right-leaning papers, the Washington Times and the New York Post, have lost their seats on the Obama plane, along with the Dallas Morning News. — “We're trying to reach as many swing voters that we can and unfortunately …
Discussion:
Associated Press
The Huffington Post:
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.
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New York Times:
Growing Doubts on Palin Take a Toll, Poll Finds — A growing number of voters have concluded that Senator John McCain's running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, is not qualified to be vice president, weighing down the Republican ticket in the last days of the campaign, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.
Discussion:
The Swamp, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Washington Post, Democracy in America, The Daily Dish, Minnesota Independent, CBS News, Brilliant at Breakfast, Electoral-vote.com, Daily Kos, MSNBC, No More Mister Nice Blog, Political Radar, Tikun Olam, The Heretik, The Corner, Bark Bark Woof Woof, Below The Beltway, The Caucus, Say Anything, Truthdig, Buck Naked Politics, The Moderate Voice, TIME.com, American Street and TalkLeft
Washington Post:
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.
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New York Times:
Political Storm Finds a Columbia Professor — Rashid Khalidi had been bracing for the storm for months, friends said. — Since an April news report detailing his relationship with Senator Barack Obama, Mr. Khalidi, a Middle East scholar and passionate defender of Palestinian rights …
Discussion:
Townhall.com, Talking Points Memo, The Corner, Gothamist, Althouse, Washington Post and Sandbox
Wall Street Journal:
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 …
Sean Cockerham / Anchorage Daily News:
Senate race in final leg — THE PUSH: Stevens insists he's not guilty while Begich envisions a different future. — scockerham@adn.com — With just four days before the election and Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens insisting he's not a felon, the U.S. Senate race is white hot.
Discussion:
Emptywheel
RELATED:
CNN:
Obama targets McCain's home state — (CNN) - Barack Obama's campaign announced Friday that it was going on the air in John McCain's home state of Arizona for the first time this cycle, as a new CNN poll of polls released this morning finds the Republican nominee leading the Illinois senator …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly
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Paul Krugman / New York Times:
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.
Ed Whelan / The Corner:
Obama's 99% Lie — In an MSNBC interview yesterday, Barack Obama repeated his canard that differing judicial philosophies among Supreme Court justices don't matter in “ninety-nine percent of cases [because] the Constitution is actually going to be clear. Ninety-nine percent of the cases …
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
R. Jeffrey Smith / Washington Post:
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 …
Discussion:
The LA Times President …, Climate Progress, rubber hose, Kevin Drum, Prairie Weather and The Corner
Alexander Burns / The Politico:
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.
David Streitfeld / New York Times:
Mortgage Plan May Irk Those It Doesn't Help — 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 …
Adam Serwer / American Prospect:
Are the Republicans Right About Acorn? — Accusations of registration fraud against ACORN mask the very real voter disenfranchisement going on around the country. — During the third presidential debate John McCain said the community organizing group ACORN was “maybe perpetrating …
Discussion:
The RBC
Marisa Taylor / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Attorney general's private trips have cost taxpayers $155,800 — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael Mukasey has taken personal trips on government jets almost every weekend since he took office less than a year ago at a cost to taxpayers of more than $155,800, Justice Department …
Jonathan Karl / ABCNEWS:
Exclusive: Petraeus Wants to Go to Syria; Bush Administration Says No — Petraeus Proposed Visiting Syria But Was Rejected By Bush Administration — Apparently Gen. David Petraeus does not agree with the Bush administration that the road to Damascus is a dead end.
The Huffington Post:
Rick Sanchez V. Michael Goldfarb: McCain Spokesman Wusses Out On CNN — Oh, dear. Michael Goldfarb, who's clearly better off blogging about ABBA and criticizing people for playing Dungeons and Dragons, just pooped his pants on national television. The McCain campaign is making …
Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
McCain for President, Part II — Last week I made the open-and-shut case for John McCain: In a dangerous world entering an era of uncontrolled nuclear proliferation, the choice between the most prepared foreign policy candidate in memory vs. a novice with zero experience and the wobbliest one-world instincts is not a close call.
Guardian:
Barack Obama gives Daily Show biggest ever audience — Barack Obama's appearance on US cable channel Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart pulled in the series' highest ever rating on Wednesday night. — Obama's interview, which aired between 11pm and 11.30pm, EST …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post
Gerard Baker / Times of London:
America isn't about to become liberal heaven — Yes, Americans will be voting for Obama and change. But they don't want radicalism, just competence and decency — As America's government prepares to take a sudden and historic leftward turn, this might seem an odd moment to ponder what a conservative country it is.
Steven Pearlstein / Washington Post:
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.
Agence France Presse:
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 …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, PoliGazette, This ain't Hell …, www.redstate.com, Hot Air and Flopping Aces