Obama's Grandmother Dies  —  CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A tragic turn of events for Sen. Barack Obama: his ailing grandmother died today.  —  Here's a statement from Obama and his sister Maya Soetoro-Ng:  —  “It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer.

New Troopergate report clears Palin  —  A new report just released — hours before the polls open on Election Day — exonerates Gov. Sarah Palin in the Troopergate controversy.  —  The state Personnel Board-sanctioned investigation is the second into whether Palin violated state ethics law …

Rove's Final Map: Obama 338, McCain 200  —  Karl Rove's final Electoral College map...

Tampa McCain rally: Where is everybody?  —  About 30 minutes before John McCain is scheduled to lead a rally outside Raymond James Stadium, looks like there's maybe 1,000 people here.  What's up with that?  On the day before the election?  Bush drew at least 15,000 people to a rally …

RNC Hits Obama For Visit To Sick Grandmother  —  Leaving no potential avenue of attack unexplored, the Republican National Committee has decided to bash Barack Obama over his October visit to see his ailing grandmother in Hawaii.  —  Of course the visit itself is not being criticized …

The Cell-Phone-Only Difference: A Final Look  —  A little over a week ago, I posted two different national trend estimates: one for pollsters who were reaching cell-phone-only (CPO) respondents by calling cell phones in addition to landlines and one for those who were only calling landlines.

THE NEW POLL TAX.  —  This is why Rachel Maddow matters:  —  The poll tax was a sly system of disenfranchisement used in the Jim Crow era to disenfranchise Southern blacks.  Aware that the Constitution now assured everyone the “right” to vote, Southern states imposed a voting fee heavy enough …

McCAIN CAMPAIGN MEMO: READING THE EXIT POLLS  —  As we have seen in previous election cycles, the exit poll results do leak early and that ends up influencing the coverage of the race before even the first state polls close at 6:00 PM Eastern.  —  However, we want to remind the campaign …

Biden Offers His Take on Girls  —  In what has become noted and typical fashion, the Delaware senator isn't shy to express his view of the origin of women's strength.  —  FOXNews.com  —  LEE'S SUMMIT, Mo. — “Hey folks, 37 more hours!”  —  Joe Biden greeted a crowd primed for the home stretch …

McCain Rally: Salter Is Smiling  —  Elizabeth Holmes reports from Blountville, Tenn., on the presidential race.  —  You know it's a big day on the McCain campaign when Mark Salter is smiling.  —  The senior aide to John McCain, known for his gruff demeanor, was practically giddy this morning on the campaign plane.

Penn: Democrats Must Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory  —  One happy result of the way the primaries came out is that Mark Penn is writing op-eds in The Financial Times rather than advising the next President of the United States: … To just repeat what I said in response …

Romney Can't Bring Himself To Say That McCain Has Conducted A ‘Dignified And Honest’ Campaign  —  This morning on NBC's Today Show, host Meredith Vieira asked McCain campaign surrogate Mitt Romney about a new University of Wisconsin analysis, which found that more of McCain's ads have been negative than Obama's in the past week.

Obama's Attack Ad On Himself  —  I should have gotten this out earlier, but just didn't get all the video clips together quick enough.  In putting this together, it's been surprising, even to someone who's followed the entire presidential race in great detail, the extent to which Obama has gotten away …

The Republicans' appalling attack on Rashid Khalidi.  —  On the clouded synapses of Sen. John McCain, it became clear as his campaign limped and lurched to its close, the termites had been dining long and dining well.  However much one might have admired the low comedy of his closing routine …

Bush Praised By Both Parties for Transition Planning  —  Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush is leaving office with some of the lowest job-approval ratings in history.  He's being assailed by both of his would-be successors, one of whom will inherit two wars and the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Fox News' Major Garrett Defends Obama Against “Fox & Friends” In Leaked E-Mail  —  Fox News correspondent Major Garrett shot back in defense of Barack Obama against the network's morning show's effort to suggest that he has ignored Fox News throughout the campaign.

Palin On Democrats: “Do They Think The Terrorists ... Are The Good Guys?”  —  In a speech just now in Missouri, Sarah Palin unleashed some of the most ostentatious POW-POW-POWing of the campaign, and strongly implied that Dems think the “terrorists” are the “good guys.”

Hard Data Watch: New Early Voting Numbers  —  (note: significant cross-out below... Bottom line is that Obama, not McCain, has an advantage.)  —  Historically, Republicans have had an advantage over Democrats in terms of absentee balloting; Democrats tend to outperform Republicans in terms of in-person early voting.

Palin campaign stonewalls on medical records  —  LAKEWOOD, Ohio (CNN) - With less than 24 hours to go before the presidential election, Sarah Palin still has not released her medical records and there is no indication the campaign is planning to do so.  —  Two weeks ago, Palin's campaign …

Keith Olbermann on McCain Campaign Giddiness: They Have “Even Less of a Clue Than I Thought.”  —  I reached Olbermann by email this morning to ask him about how it felt to be the McCain campaign's ray of sunshine.  He responded: … The McCain campaign denies Palin called an audible on complimenting Tina.