memeorandum: Fed Orders Emergency Rate Cut of Half a Percent (Howard Schneider/Washington Post)

2:00 PM ET, October 8, 2008

Top Items:

Obama's 180 on genocide — JOHN MCCAIN'S opening words last night were: “Senator Obama, it's good to be with you at a town hall meeting!” Indeed it was. We now know why Barack Obama declined McCain's invitation earlier this year to appear together in a series of 10 town hall meetings around the country.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Wizbang, The Corner, Hot Air, Stop The ACLU and Cassy Fiano

CNN:

Transcript of second McCain, Obama debate — NASHVILLE, Tennessee (CNN) — Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama debated in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday night. NBC's Tom Brokaw moderated the debate. Here is a transcript of that debate. — Brokaw: Good evening from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:

Paging Rick Warren — Why did a town hall debate in Nashville revolve around what interests an East Coast newsman? — A presidential debate at its best gives voters a glimpse of a candidate's personality, quick-wittedness, likeability, sense of humor, judgment, basic honesty, knowledge, even character.

Discussion: Guardian, Commentary and YID With LID

Tom Shales / Washington Post:

A Showdown That Was More of a Letdown — Considering how adamantly John McCain advocated a “town hall” arrangement for this year's presidential debates, viewers might justifiably have expected him to thrive in the debate held last night in Nashville, since it followed that format.

Discussion: The Corner, New York Times, Midwest Voices and Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog

Andy McCarthy / The Corner:

You Guys Are Nuts — We have a disaster here — which is what you should expect when you delegate a non-conservative to make the conservative (nay, the American) case. We can parse it eight ways to Sunday, but I think the commentary is missing the big picture.

Discussion: The Opinionator, Balloon Juice, Eunomia, American Footprints, No More Mister Nice Blog, Balkinization, Campaign Silo, Comments from Left Field, Jules Crittenden, TBogg, Spin Cycle, folo and The Other McCain

Brian Montopoli / CBS News:

CBS Poll: Uncommitted Voters Say Obama Won Debate — UPDATED CBS News and Knowledge Networks have, once again, conducted a nationally representative poll of uncommitted voters to get their immediate reaction to tonight's presidential debate. — And this new poll has good news for the Democratic ticket …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, Weekly Standard, Power Line, therecord.barackobama.com, Daily Kos, Jules Crittenden, five feet of fury., CNN, Outside The Beltway and Israel Matzav

Ross Douthat:
The Unplayed Card — Andy McCarthy isn't pleased:

Discussion: The Corner and Kevin Drum

CNN:
CNN Poll: Obama won the night

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Salon and Political Radar

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

SCRAPPING THE AYERS ATTACK ALREADY?.... The political world was told to expect some ugly, guilt-by-association attacks last night. We'd hear about Bill Ayers. And Tony Rezko. And maybe even Jeremiah Wright. The phrase “unrepentant terrorist” would be bandied about. — And then, nothing.

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Top of the Ticket, TIME.com, Balloon Juice and folo

Hotline On Call:
Palin's First Avail — On the plane this afternoon from FL to NC.

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Political Machine

Nitya / Political Radar:
For First Time, Palin Takes Questions

Discussion: Think Progress, The Swamp and Wake up America

The Politico:
Campaign shifts back to economic crisis

Discussion: The New Republic, Marc Ambinder, The Swamp, The Raw Story, TPM Election Central, The Nation and MyDD

Knoxville News-Sentinel:

UTK student David Kernell indicted in Palin e-mail hacking case — David C. Kernell, 20, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Knoxville, Tennessee., for intentionally accessing without authorization the e-mail account of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. — More details as they develop online and in Thursday's News Sentinel.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, JammieWearingFool, The Jawa Report and Spin Cycle

Duncan Mansfield / Associated Press:
Son of Tenn. Democrat indicted in Palin hacking

Discussion: Little Green Footballs and PoliPundit.com

The Smoking Gun:
Palin Hacker Indicted

Discussion: Political Punch

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama's Lead Over McCain Expands to 11 — 52% share of the vote is Obama's highest to date — PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking report shows Barack Obama with a 52% to 41% lead over John McCain. — These results, based on Oct. 5-7 polling …

Discussion: Firedoglake and Oliver Willis

Time Edit / Swampland:

They Liked Him, They Really Liked Him — From TIME's Amy Sullivan: — As he did for the first presidential debate, Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg gathered a group of undecided voters in a swing state (this time Colorado) to watch the town hall, polling them before and after to gauge …

Discussion: The Swamp, Newshoggers.com, Firedoglake, The Daily Dish, The New Republic, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and folo

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

Palin's Kind of Patriotism — Criticizing Sarah Palin is truly shooting fish in a barrel. But given the huge attention she is getting, you can't just ignore what she has to say. And there was one thing she said in the debate with Joe Biden that really sticks in my craw.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, MoJoBlog, TalkLeft, Lean Left and The Next Right

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System:

For release at 7:00 a.m. EDT Joint Statement by Central Banks — Throughout the current financial crisis, central banks have engaged in continuous close consultation and have cooperated in unprecedented joint actions such as the provision of liquidity to reduce strains in financial markets.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Swamp and naked capitalism

New York Times:
Central Banks Coordinate Cut in Rates

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Outside The Beltway, Economix, New York Magazine, Conglomerate, Spin Cycle and Portfolio

Howard Schneider / Washington Post:
Fed Orders Emergency Rate Cut of Half a Percent

Discussion: Open Left

Marc Ambinder:

The McCain Resurgence Plan — On a conference call with reporters, McCain policy chief Douglas Holtz-Eakin spelled out how McCain would pay for his plan for the government to buy troubled mortgages and replace when with more favorable fixed-rate mortgages at minimal direct cost to the homeowners.

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, Kevin Drum and Hot Air

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Moral hazard — My colleague Victoria McGrane, late …

Discussion: Marc Ambinder and Grasping Reality …

Salon:

Nobody's dummy — What a powerful letter — which I am pleased to share with Salon readers. Yes, let us not forget the tragic series of dubious political judgments that led the U.S. to lurch into Southeast Asia after the French had prudently packed up and left.

Discussion: Classical Values and five feet of fury.

Camille Paglia / Salon:
Nobody's dummy — Liberals underestimate Sarah Palin's vitality …

Discussion: Commentary, The G Spot, pandagon.net and Don Surber

Lisa Rein / Washington Post:

Md. Police Put Activists' Names On Terror Lists — The Maryland State Police classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday.

Discussion: CANNONFIRE

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:

GOP likes ‘that one’ too — A Republican official emails, on background:

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Huffington Post, The Impolitic and Buck Naked Politics

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:

Edited SNL subprime video also happens to excise Barney Frank's involvement — Not every comedy sketch on “Saturday Night Live” has to do with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. — It just seems that way recently, as The Ticket has reported here and here and here. — But there's an unusual twist this week over another SNL skit.

Discussion: Show Tracker, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, JammieWearingFool, Betsy's Page and The Volokh Conspiracy

Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:

FIRST THOUGHTS: NOTHING CHANGED — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann — NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Part three of the four-part debate series is now over, and the one big conclusion is that nothing changed. And nothing changing isn't a good result for McCain.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs and The New Republic

Wall Street Journal:

Housing Pain Gauge: Nearly 1 in 6 Owners ‘Under Water’ — More Defaults and Foreclosures Are Likely as Borrowers With Greater Debt Than Value in Their Homes Are Put in a Tight Spot — The relentless slide in home prices has left nearly one in six U.S. homeowners owing more on a mortgage …

Discussion: The Swamp, Think Progress, The Big Picture and Fraters Libertas

Matthew Weaver / NO QUARTER:

Obama is Hiding a Radical Past! — Edited and updated at 8:50 p.m. ET. — Did you know that Barack Obama was affiliated with a leading national socialist party? Barack Obama didn't include in his 2008 resume that he entered politics in the mid-1990s endorsed by Chicago's leading socialists.

Discussion: The Corner, JammieWearingFool and The Jawa Report

The Huffington Post:

Biden: Palin Must Condemn Supporters' Hateful Obama Attacks — Joe Biden lashed out at Sarah Palin on Wednesday, calling her recent rhetoric “ugly” and “mildly dangerous,” and expressing shock that the Alaska Governor did not interrupt recent rallies when supporters shouted hateful attacks …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, RADAR and The Raw Story

Hotline On Call:

The Early Line: Diageo/Hotline Tracking Poll — Obama and McCain are now tied 44-44% among men. Today's Diageo/Hotline poll is the first in which Obama has not led men since he trailed them 46-45% in the survey completed 9/26. — The candidates remained tied on economic issues.

Discussion: TalkLeft, The Corner, Wake up America and Hot Air