McCain Denounces Pitchfork-Wavers  —  Here in Lakeville, the traveling press was pretty sure we'd see more of the kind of vicious anti-Obama attitude that's becoming a hallmark of McCain rallies of late.  —  As the town hall started, McCain was off with more pep than usual.

Troopergate report: Palin abused power  —  A legislative investigation has concluded that Gov. Sarah Palin abused her power in pushing for the firing of an Alaska state trooper who was once married to her sister.  —  The report by investigator Steve Branchflower was made public late …

Palin schedules bus tour of West Virginia  —  CLEVELAND, Ohio (CNN) — In what may be another signal that the troubled economy is forcing John McCain's campaign to play electoral map defense, Sarah Palin has scheduled a bus tour for Sunday through West Virginia, a state that's been leaning red throughout this presidential race.

Davis: McCain blew up bailout  —  On that Acorn call, McCain campaign manager Rick Davis also credited McCain with “blowing ... up” the first bailout package when he suspended his campaign to come to Washington, something McCain's campaign had heatedly denied at the time.

McCain's Risky Turn  —  There is a scene early in “Dead Certain,” Robert Draper's book about President Bush, when the Bush campaign, reeling from its loss to John McCain in New Hampshire in the 2000 primary, is plotting its moves for a do-or-die struggle in South Carolina.

Barack ‘Osama’ on Rensselaer County ballots  —  TROY — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's last name is spelled “Osama” on hundreds of absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer County.  —  The misspelling, which elections officials on both sides of the aisle insist …

High Court Grants Gay Marriage Rights  —  Beth Kerrigan and Jody Mock sat hunkered down in front of their computer in their West Hartford home Friday morning, sifting through the voluminous Supreme Court decision in their case seeking the right to marry as a same-sex couple.

Obama opens a double-digit lead in new NEWSWEEK poll  —  Obama on the campaign trail in Columbus, Ohio.  —  The global financial meltdown has caused a dramatic shift in the 2008 presidential race, according to the latest NEWSWEEK poll.  With four weeks left in the presidential campaign …

THE GIST OF THE ACORN STORY  —  The Republican party is grasping on to the ACORN story as a way to delegitimize what now looks like the probable outcome of the November election.  It is also a way to stoke the paranoia of their base, lay the groundwork for legal challenges of close outcomes …

Reading Incomprehension  —  Per the Times Caucus blog Sarah Paulson picked up the Washington Times story that Obama interfered with and attempted to influence Iraqi Foreign Minister Zebari while the Bush Administration was trying to negotiate the status of US forces in Iraq.

Memeorandum Colors: Visualizing Political Bias with Greasemonkey  —  Like the rest of the world, I've been completely obsessed with the presidential election and nonstop news coverage.  My drug of choice?  Gabe Rivera's Memeorandum, the political sister site of Techmeme …

Not about the financial crisis  —  The crisis isn't the only scary thing going on.  Something very ugly is taking shape on the political scene: as McCain's chances fade, the crowds at his rallies are, by all accounts, increasingly gripped by insane rage.  It's not just a mob phenomenon …