Obama says he didn't know aunt's illegal status  —  Featured Topics: - John McCain - Barack Obama  —  CHICAGO - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Saturday he didn't know his aunt was living in the United States illegally and believes that laws covering the situation should be followed.

A McCain Campaign Memo  —  The last thing the McCain campaign needs on election day is demoralized Republicans.  Hence this memo, which recapitulates what Davis and co. said on a conference call with reporters this morning.

State employee says she was ordered to check out Joe the Plumber  —  Vanessa Niekamp said that when she was asked to run a child-support check on Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher on Oct. 16, she thought it routine.  A supervisor told her the man had contacted the state agency about his case.

A Presidential Vanishing Act, by Design  —  WASHINGTON — It's the week before Election Day.  Do you know where your president is?  —  Probably not, and that is by design.  With Senator John McCain lagging behind in the polls and many other Republicans fighting for their political lives …

Ensign: Palin not ready for presidency  —  LAS VEGAS (AP) — Republican Sen. John Ensign says Sarah Palin is not experienced enough to be president and John McCain's presidential campaign “completely mishandled” her early days on the ticket.  —  The Nevada senator made the comments …

Obama Is Up, and Fans Fear That Jinxes It  —  In the den of his home in New Hope, Pa., a liberal Democrat sits tap-tapping at his computer.  —  Jon Downs works the electoral vote maps on Yahoo like a spiritualist shaking his Ouija board.  He calibrates and recalibrates: Give Senator John McCain Ohio, Missouri, even Florida.

WOW  —  Someone from the McCain camp must have had a pretty stern talk with former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger.  He just went on Fox with a bracingly abject apology for saying that Sarah Palin wasn't qualified to be vice president.  So abject in fact that I must say that it had something …

True Believers In McCain Flock to Pa.  —  STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — He hated the helplessness of watching John McCain's efforts from afar, so Joe White, 62, loaded up his trailer in South Carolina and drove here last weekend.  He set up camp in a Wal-Mart parking lot, bought a map of State College …

Al-Qaeda propaganda chief killed in Pakistan strike: officials … An Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative — described by the United States as the terror network's propaganda chief — was killed in a missile strike in Pakistan, security officials said on Saturday.  —  Abu Jihad al-Masri …

AP poll shows Obama backers gleeful, McCain's glum  —  Featured Topics: - John McCain - Barack Obama  —  WASHINGTON - That smiling guy walking down the street?  Odds are he's a Barack Obama backer.  The grouchy looking one?  Don't ask, and don't necessarily count on him to vote next week, either.