Barack Obama captures the endorsement of Sarah Palin's state newspaper.

Why is Sarah Palin spending so much time in Iowa? Might it be the 2012 Iowa caucuses?

The RNC's newest McCain attack ad ("Storm") makes the case that John McCain would be a steadier presence in the Oval Office than Barack Obama. It's a silly ad, and not just because the financial crisis revealed McCain to be as herky-jerky as Obama is confident and composed.

When you're 72 and you've selected Sarah Palin as your running mate, the last argument you should be making is the experience argument. I've put together a response to the new RNC attack, turning the ad around on itself, and applying its line of attack to Palin. Here it is:

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Unebelievable:

(CNN) -- With 10 days until Election Day, long-brewing tensions between GOP vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin and key aides to Sen. John McCain have become so intense, they are spilling out in public, sources say.

Several McCain advisers have suggested to CNN that they have become increasingly frustrated with what one aide described as Palin "going rogue."

A Palin associate, however, said the candidate is simply trying to "bust free" of what she believes was a damaging and mismanaged roll-out.

McCain sources say Palin has gone off-message several times, and they privately wonder whether the incidents were deliberate. They cited an instance in which she labeled robocalls -- recorded messages often used to attack a candidate's opponent -- "irritating" even as the campaign defended their use. Also, they pointed to her telling reporters she disagreed with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan.

A second McCain source says she appears to be looking out for herself more than the McCain campaign.

"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.

"Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom."

Andrew Sullivan asks the key question:

"If McCain doesn't trust her, why should anyone else?"

An Orlando area reporter (and former Miss Vermont) asks questions of Joe Biden that would make FOX blush...and he laughs them off with ease. One of the funniest interviews you ever will see.

You ever notice how John McCain's YouTube attack videos sometimes got tons of play, but very low ratings? Well, this Pew poll may explain why:

The study revealed a notable gap between liberals and conservatives when it comes to using the Internet for political information. Pew found 43 percent of liberals say they read blogs, compared with 22 percent of conservatives. In addition, about six in 10 liberal respondents said they have viewed "some form of campaign video" (such as a debate or commercial) online, compared to about a third of conservatives.

I wonder if McCain did himself more harm then good by posting his attack ads online, given that he was mostly just pissing off supporters of Barack Obama. Perhaps if he'd kept a more positive online presence, he wouldn't have built up such a snarling reputation.

Just another example of stupidity from one of the most poorly run campaigns in presidential campaign history.

Transcript below the fold:

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You have to give FOX some credit. They'll report anything -- anything -- to help John McCain win an election:

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Newsweek surveyed Republicans:

If John McCain is not elected president, which one of the following three possible candidates would you be most likely to support for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012?

Mitt Romney 35%
Mike Huckabee 26%
Sarah Palin 20%

Let the 2012 jockeying begin!

So we already know the McCain campaign played some sort of a role in helping get the 'B' hoax off the ground in the first place.

Now, thanks to Brian Williams, we know that once it was off the ground, McCain-land continued spreading the hoax to reporters, fueling the attention it got by publicizing phone calls from both McCain and Palin to the so-called victim.

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Now he's stealing Obama's lines. But that just ain't gonna fly:

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Greg Sargent of TPM with a blockbuster of a scoop:

John Verrilli, the news director for KDKA in Pittsburgh, told TPM Election Central that McCain's Pennsylvania campaign communications director gave one of his reporters a detailed version of the attack that included a claim that the alleged attacker said, "You're with the McCain campaign? I'm going to teach you a lesson."

Verrilli also told TPM that the McCain spokesperson had claimed that the "B" stood for Barack. According to Verrilli, the spokesperson also told KDKA that Sarah Palin had called the victim of the alleged attack, who has since admitted the story was a hoax.

Update (3:25PM):

Barack Obama claims another GOP editorial page.

Hahahaha:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, who has been rarely seen on the campaign trail, cast his ballot for GOP presidential nominee John McCain. In past elections, the president and first lady Laura Bush have traveled to Texas to vote, but the White House said Friday they cast their ballots in the early voting process.

Ambinder:

In response to this morning's post about an anti-Palin faction developing with the McCain campaign and among Republicans, Randy Scheunemann, McCain's chief foreign policy adviser, e-mails:

Just read your post.  This is on the record.  This is cleared by HQ.  It is a fact that Barack Obama was palling around with terrorists.  It was a fact before Governor Palin  said it in a fully vetted speech and it is fact today.   It is bullshit to claim or write anything else.

Before all the facts were known:

In an official statement the McCain campaign says: "We're shaken up by this. It's sick and disgusting."

Governor Sarah Palin reportedly spoke with the victim by phone.

Over the first two weeks of October...it was Sarah Palin's makeup artist.

KDKA:

Police sources tell KDKA that a campaign worker has now confessed to making up a story that a mugger attacked her and cut the letter "B" in her face after seeing her McCain bumper sticker.

Three points:

1. No reporter should ever listen to anything Matt Drudge ever says again, period. He's done. Over. Toast. Proceed at your own risk.
2. The young woman who made up this story is deeply disturbed and needs help. She sought to enflame racial tensions at a point in our country's history when we could finally be overcoming some of them. That is a hideous sin, but rather than wanting to see her punished, I want to see her recover, because this is a cancer that we can no longer afford in our nation.
3. Conservative bloggers like Michelle Malkin who held their fire (edit: actually, expressed their skepticism) deserve credit for not trying to enflame the divisions in this country. I won't say this often, but thanks. My only hope is that they could be this honest more often.

Higher Pie has a great diary at Daily Kos on the subject. Key takeaway: Democrats are dominating the early vote. In Clark County (Las Vegas and Henderson), 57% of early voters are Democrats, compared to just 27% Republican. In Washoe County (Reno), 52% are Democrats, compared to just 32% Republican.

In Clark, turnout is up 58% over the same stretch in 2004; in Washoe, turnout is up an outrageous 144%.

Republican Representative Paul Ryan:

GOP congressman says McCain campaign is struggling

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A prominent Wisconsin congressman supporting Sen. John McCain expressed displeasure with the campaign's operation on Friday.

"I would have done things differently the last few weeks," Rep. Paul Ryan, a Janesville Republican, said during an interview.

I've got a longer post on this video down below, but I think that it is so important that I wanted to bump it up to make sure everybody who visits TJR has a chance to see it. I'm going to go to bed early (if you can call 3:30 early), but I'll have more to say about this tomorrow.

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One Mr. Barack Obama is coming to Las Vegas on Saturday. Ah, the joys of living in a "schwing state."

If you didn't like the Jedrudge Report thingy, here's some good news: I'm shelving the idea, though perhaps only temporarily.

Instead of launching a whole new page, for now I'm going to explore a more modest redesign of the current TJR home page, keeping the same basic look and feel, but going from a 3 column layout to a 2 column layout. I'll then use one of the columns as a place to put content that I want to feature (for example, a video that I think is important).

That way, I'll be able to keep on blogging without worrying about pushing stuff down below the fold. (I'll also use the area to link to cool stuff.)

But in any and all scenarios, you're still going to have to put up with me rambling away in blog posts!

Dave Weigel on the new poll showing Obama leading by 4 in Montana:

The gap between Obama and McCain is exactly the same as Paul's support in the state. In the interals, Paul is drawing independents, "other parties," and Republicans, but no Democrats whatsoever.

My favorite line from Nate's report:

To find good news for McCain, you have to go South -- to the deep South -- where new polling in Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana suggests that those states have yet to become competitive.

Update (8:28PM): Normally, I'd have posted something else by now, or at least be planning on putting something else up. But I haven't been able to get this off my mind, so I'm keeping this post up for a while longer.

Original post: This is perhaps the single most incredible thing I've heard any candidate say this entire general election campaign.

Asked by Brian Williams whether she felt abortion clinic bombers were terrorists, Sarah Palin said she didn't know.

Others who would want to engage in harming in innocent Americans or facilities, that uh, it would be unacceptable to...I don't know if you're going to use the word 'terrorist' there.

It's not just the words she used -- it's the sigh she gave after Brian Williams asked his question, as if she were upset at facing a gotcha' moment. It was also the shake of her head as she spoke, suggesting she actually felt they weren't terrorists.

Watch the video and see for yourself (extended version here and in the vodpod):

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According to John Harwood just now on Countdown, the AP report that McCain wasn't planning on attending his election night party isn't correct. It did seem too good to be true...

Bristol's boyfriend got free clothes too.

Update: And reporters are having trouble actually accounting for the money that was supposedly spent. Did it go to a slush fund?

Nate bursts Drudge's bubble, again.

Oy. Not the best spin, Johnny Boy.

Also, a thought comes to mind: couldn't McCain have just bought the clothes for her, rather than asking GOP donors to foot the bill?

Eh, I'd say this lacks credibility.

"Spending, the conduct of the war in Iraq for years, growth in the size of government, larger than any time since the Great Society, laying a $10 trillion debt on future generations of America, owing $500 billion to China, obviously, failure to both enforce and modernize the [financial] regulatory agencies that were designed for the 1930s and certainly not for the 21st century, failure to address the issue of climate change seriously," Mr. McCain said in an interview with The Washington Times aboard his campaign plane en route from New Hampshire to Ohio.

So now, days before the election, he blasts the Bush legacy. But at the beginning of the year, he was blowing wet kisses to it, saying we were better off than we were eight years ago.

Only thing that's changed in McCain's thinking? The polls.

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Just a couple of things worth pointing out about the story Drudge is pimping about a McCain supporter who had a backwards B scratched on her face:

• The story is a sad one that nobody should be forced to go through and the victim deserves speedy justice
• Unfortunately, justice may be hard to achieve because according to news reports, the attack "happened outside the view of the bank's surveillance cameras."
• Fortunately, the attack was not as severe as originally feared. Pittsburgh police report that "the woman refused medical treatment after the assault."

icebergslim has some fantastic photos in her diary, and here's a video of Barack talking about the economy at the rally:

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I'm sure Jonah Goldberg will claim he was just being "funny" by pushing this idea to smear Obama:

Someone Put On His Thinking Cap [Jonah Goldberg]

From a reader:

If the donations list is published we could always do a bunch of donations as William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright etc. and then publicize that Obama's taking donations from these indidividuals. The only way to avoid the connection is to admit that they allow anonymous donation which, if I understand correctly, is a violation of federal law. I'd think an amusing ad could be put together from the already published donor list. The tag line is that if Obama would let his contributors lie to give him money who else is lying to him? That plays off the trust, experience and judgement angles all at the same time.

I just wanted to (a) thank everybody for providing the comments that they provided and (b) reassure folks that the TJR blog, as you see it right now, isn't going anywhere. What I'm talking about is a new page for TJR in addition to (not in replace of) this one.

I just noticed that FOX News is now broadcast in HD on DirecTV. I have to say, it's the lamest HD channel ever. All they do is move the old SD picture over to the left and throw up a few headlines on the right side of the screen. Totally useless.

In Clark County, Nevada, there's five days of early voting down and nine to go. Here's the numbers:

• 113,165 votes cast, up 60% from the 70,669 cast during the same period in 2004.
• 57% of early voters are Democratic
• 27% are Republican
• 16% are unaffiliated

The interesting thing is that in the past couple of days, the Democratic advantage has accelerated. In the last two days alone:

• 62% (!) are Democratic
• 20% are Republican
• 18% are unaffiliated
  

It's hard to see how McCain will be able to make up for this Democratic enthusiasm on election day; if anything, Republicans are growing increasingly disillusioned, which could accelerate the Democratic rout.

A bit over a week ago, I posted a beta version of a new feature for TJR: a new home page merging a set of headlines (like Drudge, but with my perspective on things) with the blog. Based on your feedback, I decided that wasn't a good approach, so I've decided to try out a 2-page approach.

On FOX "News" Channel, it's okay if you're a Republican, especially if your name happens to be Sarah Palin (h/t: to Media Matters for its archives, from which I gathered the haircut clips):

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Today FNC mentioned either ACORN or Ayers 95 times. They mentioned "middle class" 12 times. Meanwhile, CNN mentioned "middle class" 22 times and MSNBC mentioned it 33 times.

So if the thing that matters most to you is ACORN or Ayers, by all means, watch FNC. But if you care about the economy and the middle class, stay far away.

References to either ACORN or Ayers today:

• On CNN & MSNBC combined: 20
• On FOX alone: 95

Mike Murphy:

You can feed a pit-bull for 483 years with 150 grand.

Okay, the fact that there is any debate at all within Republican circles about whether or not Palin's $150K shopping spree was a good idea is tells you everything that you need to know about the state of the GOP. From Politico:

Other donors, in other e-mails and interviews, said the costs were worth the investment.

Palin has proven to be a major draw at campaign rallies, and her strong performances and appearance provides a polished and professional image on television, one donor noted.

In addition, he suggested, the bad press only means the GOP base will unite even further behind the McCain-Palin ticket.

An excerpt of Barack Obama's speech earlier today in Richmond, Virginia:

With the challenges and crises we face right now, we cannot afford to divide this country by race or class or region; by who we are or what policies we support. There are no real or fake parts of this country. We are not separated by the pro-America and anti-America parts of this nation - we all love this country, no matter where we live or where we come from.

That is some inspiring stuff.

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An agonizing 8-minute stretch of Hardball (if you're Nancy Pfotenhauer):

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On Wolf Blitzer today, John McCain said that while he opposes tax increases on Social Security, he is willing to negotiate on them. Whatever you think of McCain's current position, it's sure to infuriate conservatives, such as the anti-tax organization Club for Growth. Recall that in July, Club for Growth blasted McCain for a similar statement. This will be sure to accelerate conservative disaffection with McCain as his campaign enters its final days.

Updated at 2:21PM with extended video (below):

Down in the polls, John McCain's Divide & Flail™ strategy is to call Barack Obama's tax cut for 95% of Americans "socialism." Well, John McCain must have once been a socialist, because it turns out that for years he supported higher taxes on the wealthy to pay for lower taxes on the middle-class. The YouTube don't lie:

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Sarah Palin photographed wearing a scarf urging folks to vote...decorated with pictures of donkeys.

One of my closest friends alerts me to a campaign being waged by a friend of his, Josh Zeitz, in New Jersey.

Josh is the the Democratic challenger to Republican Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey's fifth district, which has Cook Partisan Voting Index of R+1. Smith, a thirteen term Congressman, is an absolute loony wingnut, especially on the issues of reproductive freedom. He wants to investigate Planned Parenthood for child abuse and believes the birth control pill should be outlawed.

There's only thirteen days left in the campaign, but of late, Smith has been doing everything possible to give Josh a chance at an upset victory. The big issue: it turns out that Chris Smith doesn't really live in New Jersey at all -- at least not according to documents his family filed in order to secure a tuition break for his daughter's education in Virginia.

Today, Zeitz sent a letter to New Jersey election officials seeking the immediate removal of Smith from the ballot.

Zeitz's task is a tough one, but in a year like 2008, if Zeitz, whose campaign focus has been on economic issues, is able to get the message out about Smith's abandonment of his home district, this race may be winnable yet.

On Morning Joe, Mika initially defends Sarah Palin's huge shopping budget, but when the angry e-mails begin to flow in, she quickly concedes just how absurd Palin's spending was -- and the rest of the panel heartily agrees.

Meanwhile on FOX, they are truly hilarious, initially spinning that the shopping budget is the reason why she looks so good, and then quickly sputtering themselves into a strange rant on sexism and how TV personalities always get free clothes anyway.

McCain-land might get lucky and skate by on this if they play their cards right and other news drowns out this story, but nine times out of ten, this will be the moment when not just the media, but also other Republicans, start talking about the McCain-Palin campaign in the past tense.

Jonathan Martin chronicles McCain's bleak prospects:

"Republican donors at the end of day aren't stupid," said another Republican familiar with third-party activities this cycle. "They're not going to throw good money after bad."

I know that some of you are going to think I'm being complacent when I say it's over, but it is over. It's totally over. There is a zero percent chance that John McCain will win this election. None. Nada.

All this talk about Pennsylvania is has last best hope...well, sure, maybe that's right. But c'mon. Seriously. It won't work. We all know it. He's done for. John McCain is not going to be the next president.

Still, we don't know how big Obama's win will be. In the worst case scenario, it might be a 2 point win, and in the best case it might be as many as 7 or 8 points. And the size of the victory matters, not just Obama's victory, but also the size of the Democratic majority we elect to Congress.

At this point we're not playing to win -- we're playing to crush the Republicans, and to put Obama in a position where he can actually get the things done that this country so desperately needs.

It's no longer just about winning the campaign. Now its about governing the country.

Guest post by barath

Even Republicans are upset at the recent revelation that the RNC has spent over $150,000 on clothing in just one month for Sarah Palin.  Marc Ambinder explains:

Republicans, RNC donors and at least one RNC staff member have e-mailed me tonight to share their utter  (and not-for-attribution) disgust at the expenditures.

This sort of spending is without precedent -- the closest approximation for any campaign I've ever covered is make-up expenses for television interviews and commercial shoots -- , and Schmitt's weakly defensive response tonight indicates that the campaign is deeply embarrassed by it and has nothing to say in their defense. Spokespeople have clammed up, a sure sign that they're trying to figure out who authorized the expenses and who knew about them.  Did Palin wear all of the clothing? Where is it kept?

Just for the record: Wurzelbacher is a GOP donor.

NYT:

Democrats who monitor advertising spending now put at five the number of states where Senator John McCain is reducing his advertising - New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Colorado, Maine and Minnesota.

...

By our very rough reckoning, based on what he spent in those states last week according to advertising monitoring firm CMAG, the move should free up an additional $2 million that Mr. McCain can now spend in Pennsylvania, or wherever else.

Politico reports on the world's most expensive VP candidate.

On Monday, a Missouri-based television reporter asked McCain whether he was proud of a smear-laden mailer sent out by the RNC on his campaign's behalf. McCain's reply: "Absolutely."

It all comes down to the economy. Despite his attempted "reboot", John McCain is still as determined as ever to smear Barack Obama with the most scurrilous garbage imaginable -- all because he has no clue what to do about creating new jobs.

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McCain has a Bush-like encounter with the English language:

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McCain spent $8,672.55 on makeup last month.

These are just amazing early voting numbers for Clark County, Nevada, (basically Las Vegas and Henderson, plus a few surrounding communities):

• In the first three days, 68,946 votes have been cast
• That's nearly two-thirds more than the 41,922 votes cast in the first three days of early voting in 2004
• 59% of the early voters have been Democrats
• Just 25% have been Republicans
• 16% have been from unaffiliated voters

Good for Barbara Lorman, who not only bailed on John McCain over his nasty campaign tactics, but also announced her support for Barack Obama.

Maybe the McFailing campaign ought to consider cancelling Governor Palin's interview on NBC with Brian Williams. Maybe she'll skate through without another 'VP runs the senate' type gaffe, but if she does make another big mistake, it'll be a big problem.

Sarah Palin says the Vice President is "in charge of the United States Senate." Um, not exactly. Update: Kagro X has more on why Palin's answer was just so thoroughly stupid.

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Welcome to Sarah Palin's America:

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This now takes the place of the previous record-holder: it's the best Daily Show episode ever.

First, John Stewart eviscerates the GOP's "real" America attacks, along with audio of Sarah Palin's infamous "pro-America" parts of the country comment.

Then, the Daily Show visits Wasilla, Alaska, meeting not just with the Mayor of Wasilla, but also Mark Chryson, the former head of the Alaskan Independence Party -- who talks about Todd Palin's membership in the secessionist group.

Via TPM's Zachary Roth,  here's a story about how Adam Serwer, a writer for The American Prospect and his own blog, Too Sense, won a dispute with National Review's Jim Geraghty without ever lifting a finger.

In 2004, in the first two days of early voting, 27,296 voters turned out.

In 2008, in the first two days of early voting, 45,658 voters turned out.

That's a 67% increase -- and Las Vegas isn't exactly known for being terribly politically active. Has to be a good sign.

DemFromCT looks at the polls, including a CBS survey in which the very same people were polled before the debates and after the debates. The net result? A shift from an Obama lead of 5 points to 13.

But the really incredible thing:

Mr. Obama's favorability is the highest for a presidential candidate running for a first term in the last 28 years of Times/CBS polls. Mrs. Palin's negative rating is the highest for a vice-presidential candidate as measured by The Times and CBS News. Even Dan Quayle, with whom Mrs. Palin is often compared because of her age and inexperience on the national scene, was not viewed as negatively in the 1988 campaign.

I don't think I hear Sarah Palin complaining about the Alaska Permanent Fund, a government program that distributes oil revenues to non-felon Alaska residents. Here's the income she received frm the fund as reported on her 2006 and 2007 tax returns:

Update: John Cole has more.

Politico:

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Barack Obama will leave the campaign trail Thursday to travel to Hawaii to see his 86-year-old grandmother, who has fallen ill, spokesman Robert Gibbs said Monday.

"In the last few weeks her health has deteriorated to the point where her situation is very serious," Gibbs told reporters aboard Obama's campaign plane.

The change of plans means Obama will scrap scheduled rallies Thursday in Des Moines, Iowa, and Madison, Wisc. He will instead head to Indianapolis, Ind., for a morning event, leave for Hawaii and return to the campaign trail Saturday.

Hahaha. Sarah Palin, still a hypocrite.

Ken Adelman endorses Barack Obama. He isn't particularly thrilled with Obama, which actually makes me happy. Adelman, after all, was an early proponent of the Iraq War. But he finds McCain to be an intolerable alternative, based on "temperament" and "judgment":

When the economic crisis broke, I found John McCain bouncing all over the place. In those first few crisis days, he was impetuous, inconsistent, and imprudent; ending up just plain weird. Having worked with Ronald Reagan for seven years, and been with him in his critical three summits with Gorbachev, I've concluded that that's no way a president can act under pressure.

Second is judgment. The most important decision John McCain made in his long campaign was deciding on a running mate.

That decision showed appalling lack of judgment. Not only is Sarah Palin not close to being acceptable in high office--I would not have hired her for even a mid-level post in the arms-control agency.

This is what flailing looks like:

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Erik Schmidt endorses Barack Obama.

The polls show McCain's Joe-baloney didn't work. So naturally, McCain-land is doubling down and looking for another Joe.

Jonathan Martin notes:

Actually, it's more of a canyon.

Obama had an estimated 100,000 people come out to see him at the St. Louis Arch on Saturday.

In suburban St. Louis today, McCain had a crowd of about 2,000.

Extend the post to get a look at CNN pimping the McCain's latest crazy line of attack:

Now: Sarah Palin says she doesn't like the robo-call terrorist attack and thinks Michele Bachmann was wrong to suggest some members of Congress were anti-America.

Then: Sarah Palin said Obama palled around with terrorists, that he did so because of his view of America, and that she enjoys campaigning in the "pro-America" parts of America.

Barack Obama will be in Florida today, first in Tampa (good timing after the Rays' victory) and second in Orlando, appearing with Hillary.

And the WSJ has a beautiful headline for its article on the Powell endorsement:

Powell Endorses Obama, Reflecting Fractures in GOP

Republican former Secretary of State Colin Powell's endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama is the latest sign that the Republican Party's coalition is fracturing amid the stresses of the campaign.

Appearing on NBC's "Meet The Press" Sunday, Gen. Powell lamented his party's tilt to the right and a campaign by Sen. John McCain that he said had dwelled too much on inconsequential issues and attacks.

Gen. Powell, a secretary of state under George W. Bush, echoed many conservative intellectuals in his criticism of Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, saying: "I don't believe she's ready to be president of the United States....That raised some questions as to the judgment that Sen. McCain made."

I've spent most of the afternoon (and early evening) putting together a new montage of Colin Powell's endorsement, along with video clips from the campaign trail supporting his key points.

As you can see, Powell didn't just endorse Barack Obama -- he also systematically dismantled the entire rationale for John McCain's presidential campaign:

Whatever you think of Colin Powell, in the context of our national discourse, the endorsement of a Republican military figure like Powell is a severe blow to McCain's smear campaign. Among the key points Powell made against McCain's campaign:

• On the Ayers smears: He thoroughly repudiated McCain's "Obama associates with terrorists" smear job.
• On the religion smears: He not only affirmed the fact that Barack Obama is Christian, but he also rejected the idea that it would be a problem if he weren't, defending religious freedom in passionate terms.
• On the "anti-American" smears: He even targeted Michele Bachmann's divisive rant claiming that there are "anti-American" Members of Congress
• On McCain's judgment and readiness: He destroyed the notion that McCain has either the judgment or policy acumen to serve as president, citing McCain's selection of Sarah Palin and his unsteady response to the economic crisis
• On Republican extremism: He slammed the GOP's rightward tilt, specifically noting that it would be unacceptable to nominate two more hard-right justices to the Supreme Court

Powell didn't just decimate the McCain campaign rationale, however. Powell also offered up an endorsement of Barack Obama in the strongest possible terms, saying that Obama would be an "exceptional president" and that he had the capacity to be "transformational."

The amazing part of all this is that Powell still considers himself a Republican. While there will never be an excuse for his role in supporting the Iraq war, one thing does seem clear: Powell's endorsement today will be a boost for Barack Obama's campaign, and therefore a good thing for this country.

Today, John McCain defended his selection of Sarah Palin as "a cold political calculation" that has "energized our base." He says she is a "a direct counterpoint to the liberal feminist agenda for America."

So what's the "liberal feminist agenda" McCain is fighting against? The one that cares about "health of the mother?"

The man is just a total pyscho. No air quotes needed.

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Just over fifty years ago, Joseph McCarthy attacked Edward R. Murrow with some of the exact same language that John McCain and Sarah Palin are using today to attack Barack Obama.

In these chilling excerpts originally broadcast on Murrow's own show, McCarthy accused the CBS newsman of defending "traitors" and associating with a "terrorist organization":

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I missed this one: the Houston Chronicle endorses a Democrat for the first time since LBJ in 1964. Like many of the Republican papers jumping ship, McCain's selection of Sarah Palin made their decision fairly straight-forward:

Perhaps the worst mistake McCain made in his campaign for the White House was the choice of the inexperienced and inflammatory Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. Had he selected a moderate, experienced Republican lawmaker such as Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison with a strong appeal to independents, the Chronicle's choice for an endorsement would have been far more difficult.

According to a campaign e-mail, Obama raised $150 million in September, including donations from 632,000 new donors. The average donation was less than $100.

A hip-hop artist named MC Yogi offers up one of the latest examples of pro-Obama music on the web:

John McCain is now basically resting his campaign on the argument that Barack Obama is a terrorist and a socialist. The first is absurdly false, and the second is just name calling without any real meaning.

So instead of throwing about rhetoric, let's take a look at the actual numbers behind the competing tax plans offered by Obama and McCain.

The chart below was created using data published last Tuesday by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Institute on both the McCain and Obama tax plans.