Afghan War Deterioriating, McCain and Obama Advisers Briefed ·
Senior Bush administration officials briefed campaign advisers to John McCain and Barack Obama two weeks ago, on the grim news that the situation in Afghanistan is getting worse and a plan must be in place before January's Inaugural. (NYT)
October 31, 2008
John McCain
Obama Infomercial Drew Record 33M Viewers ·
The impact on TV ratings of Sen. Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial is manifest: 33.5 million viewers watched the ad, far more than the 19.8 million who stayed up to watch the last World Series game. The Obamathon pushed up ratings on all the stations that aired it (network and cable). The only loser? ABC, who did not. (NYT)
Most-Watched YouTube Supports McCain [VIDEO] ·
The most-viewed election-related video on YouTube was done by an Iraq war vet who critisizes Sen. Barack Obama, saying: "When you call the Iraqi war a mistake you disrespect the service and sacrifice of everyone who has died promoting freedom." (BBC) The video has been watched 11 million times.
McCain Slams LA Times On Obama-Khalidi Tape, Despite His Own Ties ·
Sen. John McCain says the Los Angeles Times would show a tape that purported to show him at a neo-Nazi event, therefore he can't understand why it won't release a video of Barack Obama in the company of Prof. Rashid Khalidi, chair of the Middle Eastern Studies Department at Columbia University. (FOX)
Obama: Bipartisan Cabinet If Democrats Win [INTERVIEW] ·
ABC's Charles Gibson interviewed Sen. Barack Obama in North Carolina, about the next steps if he wins or loses. (ABC News) Obama told Gibson that he would "absolutely" want Republicans in his cabinet if he was elected, not ruling out current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and stressed the importance of protecting national security interests.
Among his replies: "It's going to be even more important for Democrats to come in with some modesty and humility if we win."
Senate Dems Eye Committee Chairs, Lieberman Likely Loser ·
Banking on victories this election and other changes, top Senate Democrats are already sizing up which plum committees they want to chair. (The Hill) Joe Lieberman is likely to be stripped of his Homeland Security assignment, though not expunged from the party for supporting John McCain.
Cold Rain, But Obama Rallies Pa. Crowd ·
A driving rain, mud and temperatures in the 30s did not stop Sen. Barack Obama from rallying a crowd of 9,000 people in Chester, Pa., wearing jeans and sneakers and with no protection from the elements. (Washington Post) His Republican rival, Sen. John McCain, canceled a rally in Quakertown, an hour away, despite his decision to target Pennsylvanian voters.
Obama Accepting Untraceable Donations ·
Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign confirmed that it allows donors to use largely untraceable prepaid credit cards that can be used to evade limits on whether and how much an individual is legally allowed to give, or to mask a contributor's identity. (Washington Post)
London Times: Republican Party Fractured [ANALYSIS] ·
The Republican Party is at war with itself, with the ideological cement that once bound it together eroded by President Bush's legacy of "unfinished wars, a tainted reputation for competence, record high spending, a global economic crisis and the effective nationalisation of the financial system," catalyzed by Sen. John McCain's "dysfunctional campaign," writes the London Times.
Questions Raised On McCain-Supported Land-Swap In 1990s ·
Sen. John McCain's behind-the-scenes maneuvering on a land deal in the 1990s contrasts with his image as a congressional ethics champion and his post-Keating scandal pledge never to intervene with regulators again, according to an in-depth article from McClatchy's Washington Bureau.
Pew, Politico Analyze ‘Anti-McCain Media Bias’ [ANALYSIS] ·
Politico evaluates a Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism report, and accusations of "liberal media bias" in the current presidential election. It concludes: "As it happens, McCain’s campaign is going quite poorly and Obama’s is going well. Imposing artificial balance on this reality would be a bias of its own." (Politico)
McCain Campaign Targets Socialism ·
Desperately scraping the bottom of the barrel, writes the New Yorker, the McCain campaign has turned the 2008 presidential election into a referendum on socialism. (New Yorker)
Obama Campaign Lambastes ‘Fox News, Drudge Report, McCain Alliance’ ·
The Obama campaign blamed the "all too common alliance of Fox News, the Drudge Report and John McCain," in repudiating charges that Obama is a socialist. (NewsBusters) Fox News' Megyn Kelly fought back angrily while interviewing Obama spokesman, Bill Burton.
McCain Calls For Bailout Of U.S. Homeowners ·
Republican running mates John McCain and Sarah Palin said Tuesday in their first live interview that the U.S. government's top priority in the financial crisis should be to buy bad mortgages from troubled homeowners as it did via the 1930's Home Owners' Loan Corporation. (CNBC Video)
Malone: Media’s Presidential Bias and Decline [OPINION] ·
Technology writer Michael Malone attacks the U.S. media for a lack of hardball coverage of the Obama-Biden ticket. (ABC)