Sarah Palin Endorses Hamas  —  How can it be that some people still pretend that Sarah Palin is suited for high office?  This country has never seen someone so comprehensively unprepared for the vice presidency; Dan Quayle was Metternich by comparison.  I've watched Sarah Palin's interview …

House Rejects Bailout Package, 228-205; Stocks Plunge  —  WASHINGTON — In a moment of historic import in the Capitol and on Wall Street, the House of Representatives voted on Monday to reject a $700 billion rescue of the financial industry.  The vote came in stunning defiance of President Bush …

McCain takes credit for bill before it loses  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his top aides took credit for building a winning bailout coalition - hours before the vote failed and stocks tanked.  —  The rush to claim he had engineered a victory now looks like a strategic blunder …

Nancy Pelosi's bailout attack speech on the House floor; Update: Pence statement added  —  I noted it during my liveblog of the House debate.  Here's a video sample of her crap sandwich.  As I mentioned while it was happening, she received multiple rounds of applause on the floor before and after her spittle-flecked statement.

Bailout follows the 10 normal principles for how our government functions  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  The word being used most frequently to describe the bailout package that is about to pass is “extraordinary.”  That adjective may apply to the amounts of money being transferred …

Bailout questions answered  —  I'm being asked two big questions about this thing: (1) Was it really necessary?  (2) Shouldn't Dems have tossed the whole Paulson approach out the window and done something completely different?  —  On (1), the answer is yes.

Obama sought rape victim for ad  —  Barack Obama's campaign earlier this month sought to find a rape victim to appear in a campaign commercial, according to an e-mail obtained by Politico.  —  Kiersten Steward, director of public policy at the Family Violence Prevention Fund …

Swing District Congressmen Doomed Bailout  —  This was predictable, I suppose, but it's remarkable to see how strong a relationship there is between today's failed vote on the bailout and the competitive nature of different House races.  —  Among 38 incumbent congressmen in races rated as …

Obama takes the lead in North Carolina  —  Barack Obama 47  —  John McCain 45  —  Bob Barr 3  —  With concern about the economy continuing to mount, Barack Obama has taken the lead for the first time in a PPP poll of North Carolina.  —  Over the last year there's been a strong relationship between …

Gallup Daily: Obama Maintains 8-Point Lead  —  Registered voters prefer Obama to McCain, 50% to 42%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update, based on Sept. 26-28 polling, shows Barack Obama with a 50% to 42% lead over John McCain, unchanged from the prior report.

McCain's Moment  —  No one wants to take ownership of the task of rescuing the economy right now.  The Bush-Paulson plan has failed.  The administration, House Democrats, and House Republicans (above all) have all proved unable to deliver.  But there is someone who might be able to save the economy …

O'S DANGEROUS PALS  —  BARACK'S ‘ORGANIZER’ BUDS PUSHED FOR BAD MORTGAGES  —  WHAT exactly does a “community organizer” do?  Barack Obama's rise has left many Americans asking themselves that question.  Here's a big part of the answer: Community organizers intimidate banks into making high-risk loans to customers with poor credit.

Chicago dive bar scores hit with nude Sarah Palin portrait  —  People are flocking to snap pictures of the latest tribute to Sarah Palin, a nude portrait depicting her in red stilettos and her trademark eyeglasses.  —  Brian Boyer  —  Artist Bruce Elliott says the hardest part was “getting the color right.”

A FAILURE OF POLITICS.  —  The final vote was 205 in favor, 228 against.  This is a huge failure.  A revolt of the incumbents.  More Republicans voted to kill the bill than did Democrats, but not by that much.  The leadership of both parties were whipping in the bills favor.