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.

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

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 …

First town weighs in on election at midnight  —  (CNN) — The first wave of election returns won't flow in until 7 p.m. ET Tuesday night, but the results in one precinct will be known much sooner.  —  Dixville Notch, a village in New Hampshire's northeast corner, will begin voting at the stroke …

Networks May Call Race Before Voting Is Complete  —  At least one broadcast network and one Web site said Monday that they could foresee signaling to viewers early Tuesday evening which candidate appeared to have won the presidency, despite the unreliability of some early exit polls in the last presidential election.

California GOP Files FEC Complaint Over Obama Visit to Grandmother  —  Perhaps the most ill-timed press release of the 2008 campaign arrived shortly after 1:30 p.m. today, sent by the Republican National Committee.  —  The release forwarded word that the California Republican Party filed …

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 …

Columbia Univ. Director Replies to Request for Khalidi Tape: ‘Yeah, Right ... Loser’  —  An LGF reader contacted Columbia University (and a lot of other potential sources, including the LA Times) with a polite request that they help release the tape of Rashid Khalidi with Barack Obama …

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 …

Today's Polls, 11/3 (PM Edition)  —  With fewer than six hours until voting begins in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, the national polling picture has cleared up considerably.  Barack Obama is on the verge of a victory, perhaps a decisive victory, in the race for the White House.

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 …

Obama's Support Built on Change, McCain's on Experience  —  Reasons given for support echo findings from earlier this year  —  PRINCETON, NJ — As voters prepare to go to the polls on Nov. 4, a new Gallup Poll panel survey shows that Barack Obama voters say they are motivated to vote …

Aunt Zeituni's Protectors  —  ALL IN THE FAMILY  —  Senior aides to Sen. Barack Obama and Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick were aware that Obama's aunt, Zeituni Onyango, was living in the United States illegally and in a South Boston public-housing project, and were monitoring her at the request …

All Barack Obama Statements Come With an Expiration Date.  All Of Them.  —  By popular demand, the list of expired Obama statements...  Consumers should be aware that promises, pledged, and soul-healing rhetoric are only effective for a limited time; upon expiration they become “just words.”

The '08 Race: A Sea Change for Politics as We Know It  —  The 2008 race for the White House that comes to an end on Tuesday fundamentally upended the way presidential campaigns are fought in this country, a legacy that has almost been lost with all the attention being paid to the battle between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama.

“Yavelow Study Confirms Ayers Hand In Obama's ‘Dreams’”  —  For what it's worth: … The Yavelow analysis — and a lot more from Cashill — is available at the link.  —  I report, you decide.  But do read the whole thing.  —  Having not done an analysis myself, I can only point …

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.

PALIN'S RISING STAR?  —  I know there's a lot of talk in Republican circles that Sarah Palin is going to be the star, the new face of the GOP in the post-Bush, post-McCain era.  And this speculation has been goosed by Palin's own hints that it's full speed ahead with Palinism on the national stage …

Justices Agree to Consider DNA Case  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether people convicted of crimes have a constitutional right to test DNA evidence that could prove their innocence.  —  The case pits the value of finality in criminal cases against the possibility …