Colin Powell endorses Obama  —  (CNN) — Former Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Sunday that he will be voting for Sen. Barack Obama, citing the Democrat's “ability to inspire” and the “inclusive nature of his campaign.”  —  “He has both style and substance.

Obama Raised Record $150 Million in September  —  The Obama campaign announced this morning that it had raised a record $150 million last month, and had added 632,000 new donors to its total.  —  The amount raised shattered the campaign's record from August.

Barack Obama's review of William Ayers' book  —  On December 21, 1997, Barack Obama wrote a short review of William Ayers' book A Kind and Just Parent: The Children of Juvenile Court, which had recently been published by Beacon Press.  Here's a photo of how the review appeared in the Chicago Tribune:

On ‘SNL,’ Fey as Palin, and Palin as Palin  —  Anyone tuning in to “Saturday Night Live” hoping to see side-by-side versions of Gov. Sarah Palin — the real thing and the Tina Fey version — would have been disappointed.  —  But Ms. Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee …

Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby Poll: Obama 47.8%, McCain 45.1%  —  McCain slowly gains on Obama  —  UTICA, New York - Republican John McCain continued a slow advance on Democrat Barack Obama in the race for President, moving back within three percentage points as the race begins to head down the stretch run …

Why I Blog  —  THE WORD blog is a conflation of two words: Web and log.  It contains in its four letters a concise and accurate self-description: it is a log of thoughts and writing posted publicly on the World Wide Web.  In the monosyllabic vernacular of the Internet, Web log soon became the word blog.

The Chronicle endorses Barack Obama for president and Joe Biden for vice president of the United States  —  Rarely in our country's history has the electorate gone to the polls to choose a new president in such challenging times with more at stake for the nation.

The Palin Plunge: Voters Sour On McCain VP Pick  —  The more voters learn about Sarah Palin, the more wary they become.  Once the focus of post-convention Republican euphoria, the Alaska Governor is now viewed as a serious liability to the McCain campaign.  —  As it stands, Palin's polling numbers …

Obama Launches Own ‘Joe The Plumber’ Robocall  —  Barack Obama's campaign is trotting out its own “Joe the Plumber” to counteract efforts by John McCain to make inroads on the white working class vote.  —  A reader in Colorado sends over word that the state Democratic Party and the Obama camp …

Three Trends and a Train Wreck  —  HOW did the world's financial system get into such a mess?  It's tempting to blame specific politicians, decisions and laws (or the lack thereof), and leave it at that.  —  While it's certainly true that a great number of serious, identifiable mistakes have been made …