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 …

Who's Got The Momentum?  —  In the last 96 hours of any election, both parties seek to cast themselves and their candidate as the ones closing strong with a wind at their back.  —  This presidential election is no different, as already today the campaigns of Barack Obama and John McCain have each held a …

Palin Fears Media Threaten Her First Amendment Rights  —  ABC News' Steven Portnoy reports: In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by …

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.

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.

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 …

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.

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 …

The 99 Percent Solution  —  Barack Obama says that frequently differences in judicial philosophy aren't going to matter because in “ninety-nine percent of cases [because] the Constitution is actually going to be clear.  Ninety-nine percent of the cases, a statute or congressional intent is going to be clear.

AZ-Pres: Neck and neck, and check out 2010  —  Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 10/28-30.  Likely voters.  MoE 4% (No trend lines) … I can't believe we may actually win Arizona.  And I have a bonus treat for you guys: … Janet Napolitano is Arizona's governor, currently serving her second term.

Gallup Daily: Obama's Lead Widens Some on All Bases  —  Advances to 8-point lead among “traditional likely voters”  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The political landscape could be improving for Barack Obama in the waning days of the campaign.  Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Oct. 28-30 shows …

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,” …

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.

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 …

Record Retrospective: Obama on affirmative action  —  In five days, Senator Barack Obama '91 could become the the first African-American and the second Harvard Law School graduate (after Rutherford B. Hayes, Class of 1845) to be elected President of the United States.

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.

As Mark Steyn says: McCain — faute de mieux  —  Yes, sports fans, I do know all about how the International Republican Institute, while McCain was chairing it (which he apparently still does), gave goo-gobs of money to a Rashid Khalidi founded Center for Palestine Research and Studies …