Hidden Audio: Obama Tells SF Chronicle He Will Bankrupt Coal Industry  —  (Please read update about the San Francisco Chronicle neglecting to mention Obama's willingness to bankrupt the coal industry at bottom of this blog.)  —  Imagine if John McCain had whispered somewhere that he was willing to bankrupt a major industry?

Obama seven points ahead in CNN's final poll  —  (CNN) — Two and seven: With two days left until election day, a new national poll suggests that Barack Obama holds a seven-point lead over John McCain in the race for the White House.  —  In the CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey …

FIRST THOUGHTS: OUR FINAL MAP  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann  —  *** Our final map: With two days before Election Day, the final NBC News map shows Obama remaining above the 270 electoral-vote mark, with a 286-157 lead over McCain.  Last week, Obama held a 286-163 advantage.

OBAMA 2012: FOUR YEARS LATER  —  A LOOK BACK AT HIS PRESIDENCY  —  It's hard to believe that just four years ago, some were talking about Barack Obama as a national savior, a secular redeemer, a “light worker.”  Even more shocking, President Obama lost the nomination of his own party to none other than Hillary Clinton.

New Ads Focus on Obama's Ties to Jeremiah Wright  —  Nick Timiraos reports from Canton, Ohio, on the presidential race.  —  Rev. Jeremiah Wright re-entered the campaign conversation this weekend as two new ads — one by a Republican 527 group and the other by the Pennsylvania Republican Party …

Down to the wire, Va. still too close to call, poll shows  —  The earliest signs of who will be the next president might spring from Virginia and how undecided white voters such as John Morris and Sidney Blankenbeckler cast their ballots.  —  “I'm pretty disappointed in Republicans right now …

McCain on ‘Saturday Night Live’  —  Live from New York, it was Senator John McCain, saying that he was thinking of some radically different strategies for the last three days of the presidential race.  —  “I thought I might try a strategy called the Reverse Maverick,” Mr. McCain told his interviewer.

Obama will answer questions ... Wednesday  —  ABC's Jake Tapper managed to get Sen. Barack Obama's attention on the tarmac in Springfield, Mo., this morning.  —  “What would you tell your Treasury secretary to do differently with the $700 billion?” he asked, according to the pool report.

Israel spy chief fears Jewish extremist plot  —  JERUSALEM - The head of Israel's internal security service said Sunday he is “very concerned” that Jewish extremists could assassinate an Israeli leader in an attempt to foil peace moves with the Palestinians.

Reid Says Stevens Cannot Serve  —  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) was forced into the middle of Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-Alaska) re-election bid late Saturday night after a senior Senate Democrat endorsed Stevens and called on voters to disregard his seven-count felony conviction.

The single worst expression in American politics  —  Joe Biden, speaking yesterday at a rally in Ohio (h/t Jonathan Schwarz): … As I wrote a couple of weeks ago (see the last few paragraphs): if I could be granted one small political wish, it would be the permanent elimination of this widespread …

THE TOWN-HALL MYTH.... In an otherwise complimentary column, David Broder notes one of his biggest disappointments about Barack Obama's campaign. … This is, almost word for word, the argument that John McCain has made since August to explain why he felt it necessary to take his sleazy campaign into the gutter.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner  —  AND so: just how far have we come?  —  As a rough gauge last week, I watched a movie I hadn't seen since it came out when I was a teenager in 1967.  Back then “Guess Who's Coming to Dinner” was Hollywood's idea of a stirring call for racial justice.