21.7% Of Households In Top Local TV Markets Watched Obama Infomercial  —  The combined overall household rating for Senator Barack Obama's Wednesday night infomercial, in the top 56 local television markets where Nielsen maintains electronic TV meters, was 21.7.

JOE?  WHERE DID YOU GO?  —  From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy  —  DEFIANCE, Ohio — “Where is Joe?  Is Joe here with us today?”  —  That's the question John McCain asked roughly 6,000 people at Defiance Junior High School here this morning, But the correct answer was no — Joe the Plumber was nowhere to be found.

Checks on ‘Joe’ more extensive than first acknowledged  —  Tax, welfare info also sought on McCain ally  —  A state agency has revealed that its checks of computer systems for potential information on “Joe the Plumber” were more extensive than it first acknowledged.

It's time  —  America should take a chance and make Barack Obama the next leader of the free world  —  IT IS impossible to forecast how important any presidency will be.  Back in 2000 America stood tall as the undisputed superpower, at peace with a generally admiring world.

Pre-emptive ejection: Audience members removed at McCain rally in Cedar Falls  —  Audience members escorted out of Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz., campaign event in Cedar Falls questioned why they were asked to leave Sunday's rally even though they were not protesting.

Huffington Post Writer Stabs Lover 222 Times  —  It was inevitable that the Huffington Post would somehow end up sullied by recruiting such a massive army of unpaid contributors.  But few would have imagined something this awful: Valued HuffPo political blogger Carol Anne Burger shot herself Friday …

John McCain: Not More of the Same  —  Barack Obama and his allies have spent the last year arguing that John McCain is just like George W. Bush.  They're wrong.  In reality, McCain's brand of great power neoconservatism, recession economics, and conflicted environmentalism makes him McDifferent

McCain: 'When I'm President, we're not gonna let' Exxon reap record profits.»  —  Today, ExxonMobil shattered records by reporting a $14.83 billion profit, just in the third quarter.  Campaigning in Ohio, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) declared that when he's President, “we're not gonna let that happen.”

Sen. Bond Warns Palin Crowd That Obama Wants Judges Who Empathize With “The Gay”  —  From CBS News' Scott Conroy:  —  (CAPE GIRARDEAU, MO.) - Taking the stage as one of the pre-program speakers at a Sarah Palin rally here in Rush Limbaugh's hometown, Sen. Kit Bond, R-Missouri …

McCain camp trying to scapegoat Palin  —  John McCain's campaign is looking for a scapegoat.  It is looking for someone to blame if McCain loses on Tuesday.  —  And it has decided on Sarah Palin.  —  In recent days, a McCain “adviser” told Dana Bash of CNN: “She is a diva.  She takes no advice from anyone.”

Obama and the Politics of Crowds  —  The masses greeting the candidate on the trail are a sign of great unease.  —  There is something odd — and dare I say novel — in American politics about the crowds that have been greeting Barack Obama on his campaign trail.

Protest at the L.A. Times: Free the tape!  Updated  —  Photo credit: Omri Ceren at Mere Rhetoric  —  Scroll for updates...link to more photos and video below...  Several southern California readers send word that there will be a protest at the L.A. Times building today at 10am Pacific/1pm Eastern …

Gallup Daily: Obama Lead Among Likely Voters 5 to 7 Points  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama holds a statistically significant lead over John McCain in both Gallup likely voter models, according to Oct. 27-29 Gallup Poll Daily tracking.  In the traditional model, which defines likely voters based …

Poll finds 23% of Texans think Obama is Muslim  —  WASHINGTON — A University of Texas poll to be released today shows Republican presidential candidate John McCain and GOP Sen. John Cornyn leading by comfortable margins in Texas, as expected.  But the statewide survey of 550 registered voters …

Why White Supremacists Support Barack Obama  —  How do racists, anti-Semites and all-purpose hate-mongers view the possibility of America's first black president?  Not necessarily the way you think they would.  —  If recent polls are to be believed, white voters favor John McCain over Barack …

FOX News Poll: Obama's Edge Over McCain Narrows  —  The race for the White House has tightened significantly — with Barack Obama now ahead of John McCain by three percentage points — according to a FOX News poll released Thursday.  —  FOXNews.com  —  As the candidates make their closing arguments …

Erica Jong Tells Italians Obama Loss ‘Will Spark the Second American Civil War.  Blood Will Run in the Streets’  —  It seems that the final days of the presidential campaign have made Erica Jong and her friends more than a little anxious.  —  A few days ago, Jong, the author and self-described feminist …

Obama Recruiting Volunteers For Arizona; “Real Chance”  —  An Arizonan forwarded this e-mail to Barack Obama's supporters in Arizona:

Pennsylvania Hope for McCain  —  Republican must-win state poll from NBC/Mason Dixon:  —  Obama 47, McCain 43, Undecided 9

How Obama can walk the post-partisan talk  —  Joe Biden was right.  If elected, Barack Obama's mettle will be tested.  Not by Al Qaeda or other enemies of the United States - that possibility is actually much less likely with a President Obama - but by the Democratic Congress.  —  This election is not over.

Counterevidence Watch: Obama + 3 In The Fox Poll  —  http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/ 103008_poll.pdf  —  A Democratic reader writes: … Small variations in weighting can have proportionately large effects on the perception of a poll, t'is true.  —  But I'm no expert on this question …

Reality Check: The Cost Of Obama's Pledges  —  Web Exclusive: If Victorious, Barack Obama May Find Fewer Resources Than He Needs For His Campaign Promises  —  (CBS) This story was written by CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews.  —  Without question, the Barack Obama infomercial served …

Reliable Red States No Longer  —  POLL RESULTS FROM COLORADO, FLORIDA, NORTH CAROLINA, OHIO, AND VIRGINIA CONTAIN LITTLE TO CHEER MCCAIN.  —  As John McCain battles to remain competitive with Barack Obama in the closing days of the campaign, he is facing an uphill task just to hold …

Breaking: Rubashkin arrested, will appear in federal court today  —  First on the Iowa Independent: Federal prosecutors have arrested Sholom Rubashkin, former chief executive officer and vice president at Agriprocessors and son of company founder Aaron Rubashkin, on a criminal complaint …

Qaeda wants Republicans, Bush “humiliated”: Web video  —  DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda leader has called for President George W. Bush and the Republicans to be “humiliated,” without endorsing any party in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, according to a video posted on the Internet.

A Joke And What It Reveals  —  Speaking in front of a huge audience at downtown Raleigh rally yesterday, Barack Obama threw off a humorous line about John McCain's accusation that the Obama tax plan is redistributionist: … Ha ha.  —  Only, in this passage Obama revealed precisely …

You're Still A Racist, Obama Advisor Says  —  Even if you vote for Obama, you're still probably a racist, according to Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree, in his remarks at a recent panel discussion at my alma mater.  Ogletree, Obama's top advisor on race issues, explains that since Obama is …