McCain Communications Director Gave Reporters Incendiary Version Of “Carved B” Story Before Facts Were Known  —  John McCain's Pennsylvania communications director told reporters in the state an incendiary version of the hoax story about the attack on a McCain volunteer well before the facts …

New Poll Finds Stark Reversal on Perceptions of Palin  —  While top-of-the-ticket rivals John McCain and Barack Obama both remain broadly popular heading into their Election Day showdown, public perceptions of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin have fallen dramatically since …

Government computers used to find information on Joe the Plumber  —  Investigators trying to determine whether access was illegal  —  “State and local officials are investigating if state and law-enforcement computer systems were illegally accessed when they were tapped for personal information about “Joe the Plumber.

Memo To Palin: Fruit Fly Research Has Led To Advances In Understanding Autism  —  This morning, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) gave her first policy speech urging the federal government to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), “a law ensuring services to children with disabilities throughout the nation.”

Editing Their Way to Oblivion: Journalism Sacrificed For Power and Pensions  —  The traditional media is playing a very, very dangerous game.  With its readers, with the Constitution, and with its own fate.  —  The sheer bias in the print and television coverage of this election campaign is not just bewildering, but appalling.

Goalie injured after tripping on Palin carpet  —  ST. LOUIS (AP)—Blues goalie Manny Legace left after one period Friday night with a hip injury that occurred when he slipped on the carpet placed on the ice for Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

So When Will Banks Give Loans?  —  “Chase recently received $25 billion in federal funding.  What effect will that have on the business side and will it change our strategic lending policy?”  —  It was Oct. 17, just four days after JPMorgan Chase's chief executive, Jamie Dimon …

THE WOLF ON OBAMA'S MISTRESS  —  I speak with Blackfive's own Wolf, who earns his Pulp Fiction moniker with more on Vera Baker, the mistress Michelle Obama exiled to Martinique.  We will have pictures and more info on Monday, also it looks like one of the major news outlets is going to move on the story.

Lieberman: Working hard for McCain; prepared to bring people together if he fails  —  STAMFORD - U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman Friday continued to stand by Republican John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate.  —  But when asked by The Advocate if Palin is ready …

McCain Versus the Juggernaut  —  We stand with him.  —  It's always darkest before it goes totally black.  This is one of John McCain's favorite remarks, ascribed (apocryphally, it seems) to Chairman Mao.  Well, with 10 days to go before the election, it's getting pretty dark out there.

The Palin Trig-ger  —  Some of the very personal and often uncharitable criticism of vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her family may have a relationship to the collective grief, shame, and guilt from personal involvement in the abortion of an unborn child.

McCain's brother drops out of campaign, apologizes for 911 call.»  —  Joe McCain, the brother of John McCain, “said Friday he'll withdraw from campaign activities after calling 911 to complain about traffic.”  McCain called 911 in Alexandria, VA, and “used an expletive to the operator and hung up.”

Administration to Bypass Reporting Law  —  WASHINGTON — The Bush administration has informed Congress that it is bypassing a law intended to forbid political interference with reports to lawmakers by the Department of Homeland Security.  —  The August 2007 law requires the agency's chief privacy officer …

The Party Of Rove And The Collapse Of McCain  —  Ross is disturbed by McCain's dearth of policy proposals: … But this is, sadly, the core of what has happened to Republicanism under Rove.  We've been told over and over again that the Bush administration always put politics before policy - and then made Karl Rove its policy czar!

527 ads: “Part of the Problem”, “Middle Class”  —  My friend Duane “Generalissimo” Patterson directed me to the Let Freedom Ring website Never Find Out, which has a number of 527 ads hosted along with their transcripts.  I haven't seen these ads before now and I'm not sure whether they're seeing any ad time …

Some Hedge Funds Argue Against Proposals to Modify Mortgages  —  Washington is pushing measures to help hard-pressed homeowners, but some Wall Street investors are pushing back.  —  Hedge funds are fighting proposals to ease the terms of home mortgages, arguing that such a move would hurt their investments.

Kerry defends ‘Depends’ crack  —  + Recent Articles + Recent Blog Entries + Email + Bio  —  Sen. John F. Kerry defended his controversial joke suggesting the GOP's John McCain wears “Depends” adult diapers, saying today it's the type of ribald humor you hear at the South Boston St. Patrick's Day roast or on late-night TV.

While McCain Looked Away, Florida Shifted  —  MIAMI — For Senator John McCain, it was not supposed to be this way.  From a commanding lead last spring, in a state where Senator Barack Obama did not campaign in the primaries and only hired a state director in June, Mr. McCain is now locked …

Polls: White support for Obama at historic level  —  Barack Obama, the first black major party nominee, is positioned to win the largest share of white voters of any Democrat in more than three decades, according to an exclusive Politico analysis of recent Gallup and Pew Research Center polling.

The Obama Department of Peace & Non-Violence  —  Kathryn & Jay, At least we know what will become of that 25 percent of the Defense budget Barney Frank want to slash from the protection of Americans.  —  The DC Examiner reminds us that already proposed in the House (HR 808) is the creation of a new …

GOPWars: Who Survives —> What The Party Looks Like  —  To the extent that geography correlates with ideology among congressional Republicans, a major sweep by the Democrats could really be in a position to completely break the gluons that bind the broader party together.

A Note on the Polls  —  I've received several emails from people asking about the polls.  The national polls do seem pretty variable, so I thought I would toss in my two cents on them.  —  First, we need a short primer on basic statistics.  Real Clear Politics offers an unweighted average, or mean, of the polls.