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.

AP: Obama aunt from Kenya living in US illegally  —  WASHINGTON (AP) - Barack Obama's aunt, a Kenyan woman who has been quietly living in public housing in Boston, is in the United States illegally after an immigration judge rejected her request for asylum four years ago, The Associated Press has learned.

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.

Olbermann crashes SNL set  —  Ben Affleck, who's hosting “Saturday Night Live” this week, was rehearsing a skit this afternoon mocking Keith Olbermann when Olbermann himself got past security to watch, according to a source with knowledge of the incident.  —  A source described the skit as …

Studs Terkel dies  —  The author-radio host-actor-activist and Chicago symbol has died.  “My epitaph?  My epitaph will be ‘Curiosity did not kill this cat,’” he once said.  —  Terkel is honored on his 95th birthday at the Chicago History Museum during a broadcast on WFMT.

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.

Does Palin's maverick label still stick?  —  Featured Topics: - John McCain - Barack Obama  —  ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A loyal Democrat, Kenny Powers never shared Sarah Palin's conservative politics.  But the United Way organizer confesses a fondness for the governor who paired a folksy charm with scorn for Alaska's Republican old guard.

El Rushbo's Gut Starts to Speak!  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: My gut is starting to talk to me, ladies and gentlemen.  As you know and as I discussed over the course of the previous week, my gut was not giving me any indication whatsoever, and my gut started talking to me last night.

Trick or Treat  —  Do you spook easily?  —  Judging by the response in my inbox, some of you do.  —  Matt Drudge is touting the results of a one-day sample in a Zogby poll, which apparently showed John McCain ahead by 1 point.  —  There are a couple of significant problems with this.

Chuck Todd's state-by-state election guide  —  NBC's political director tells you what to expect in each state on Tuesday  —  WASHINGTON - There are a number of smart election previews out there.  —  Ready for one more?  —  Here are the things I'm watching for in every state, on every level.

Judge orders Coffman to stop continued voter purge  —  A federal judge today angrily ordered Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman to stop purging names on the state's voter registration rolls.  —  The judge's order came in a telephone hearing this afternoon that was the latest clash between Coffman …

Letter to President Bush on Midnight Regulations  —  Dear Mr. President:  —  We are a diverse coalition.  All of our members share a deep concern about America's regulatory state.  We want to deliver a simple message: your administration should stick to its word and not issue any midnight regulations.

McCain-Palin Focus on Ohio and Pennsylvania  —  As the campaign enters its final days, we can develop a good sense of where the campaigns think they stand.  That's because campaigns have two scarce resources.  The first is money.  We can't track money directly, but we can track what it is buying - namely, television advertisements.

What you were never intended to know in this election  —  A Hillary staffer comes clean  —  After a long and careful consideration of all the implications and possible consequences of my actions today, I have decided to go through with this in the hope that our country can indeed be guided into the right direction.

Doonesbury declares a winner  —  The Doonesbury strip for Wednesday is set in Iraq with his military characters sitting around a television as Obama is declared the next President of the United States.  —  Risky?  Reckless?  —  Not for a cartoonist, but there's some discussion …

Democrats gaining ground in crucial Senate race  —  (CNN) — If the Democrats reach their goal of capturing 60 seats in the Senate, North Carolina may be a major reason why.  —  Freshman Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole is trailing her Democratic opponent, Kay Hagan, by nine points …

re: “She's gone, oh I, oh I — I'd better learn how to face it ...”  —  Man I love a good bad Eighties song.  But on Peggy, I think I understand and even admire what she's doing.  I think she's looking beyond the election and saying, if President Obama happens, take a deep breath.