Update: Houston Chronicle:

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.

...Back in the spring, Obama's sentiments seemed more a hope than reality. Since then, we have watched him grow in the roles of candidate and leader, maintaining grace under fire without resorting to political expediency. He is by far the best choice to deliver the changes that Americans demand.

The Detroit Free Press: [More...]

See TChris yesterday. Anti-American? Socialist? Yes, the Red Scare is upon us again. Saturday, John McCain said:

You see, Obama believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that help us all make more of it. Joe [the sort of Plumber], in his plainspoken way, said this sounded a lot like socialism. And a lot of Americans are thinking along those same lines. In the best case, "spreading the wealth around" is a familiar idea from the American left. . . . At least in Europe, the Socialist leaders who so admire my opponent are upfront about their objectives.

The Democratic Party as a secret Socialist cabal? I guess McCain is jettisoning the bipartisan schtick too, running as an anti-FDR Republican now (McCain like Joe the Plumber and Joe McCarthy, thinks Social Security is Socialism too.)

The last refuge of a Party of Scoundrels:

Two weeks to go and the tracking polls are converging - Obama with a significant advantage but not a double digit lead. Today, DKos/R2000 stays steady with Obama +7, 50-43. Ras has Obama up 6, 51-45. Hotline has Obama up 7, 48-41. IBD/TIPP has Obama up 7, 48-41. Gallup has Obama up 7, 51-44 (up 10 in the RV).

Obama has more money than any candidate in history now (justifying his opt-out of public finance), having raised $150 million in September and likely to top that in October. He will be swamping McCain in every battleground state with money. I do not see what John McCain can do to win this race. I think it is over.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Reacting to news that Barack Obama set a record by raising $150 million in donations in September, John McCain said:

I mean, Senator Obama raised $150 million in — I understand, during the month of September, completely breaking whatever idea we had after Watergate to keep the costs and spending on campaigns under control — first time, first time since the Watergate scandal.

And I can tell you this, that has unleashed now in presidential campaigns a new flood of spending that will then cause a scandal, and then we will fix it again.

Chris Wallace helpfully asked McCain whether Obama was "buying the election," a suggestion that McCain happily embraced. [more ...]

Will Colin Powell endorse Obama? Find out Sunday morning when he appears on Meet the Press.

Update: Powell endorsed Obama.

Shorter version: McCain doesn't have a grasp on the economic problems we face and Palin isn't ready to be President, which is the job of the Vice-President. Biden is ready. [More...]

We wrote up the LA Times, Washington Post, Denver Post, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, Atlanta Journal Constitution on Friday and the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday.

Today we have:

The New York Daily News: Overly wordy and infused with the editorial board's own position on issues and more a plea for bipartisanship. You get the picture the minute they call McCain's position "dead-on" about Iraq. So why not McCain? He's hampered by Bush and the last 8 years. [More...]

Add the Philadelphia Inquirer to the list of papers endorsing Barack Obama.

While John McCain also promises "change," it's hard to believe that's possible from someone who, by his own admission, has voted with Bush 90 percent of the time. On key issues such as campaign finance, pork-barrel spending, and humane interrogation of terrorism suspects, McCain has indeed been a "maverick." But mostly, he and Bush have been on the same page.

More troubling was McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. This blatant overture to women voters and evangelical Christians who share her views on abortion backfired when Palin in interviews proved she is not prepared to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Over the past four months, this Editorial Board has compared the candidates' positions. In almost every case, Obama has a superior proposal for this nation. (emphasis supplied)

Calling Barack Obama a liberal did not advance John McCain's cause, so he's trying out a more sinister word: socialist. Never mind that McCain voted for a bailout plan that creates a degree of government ownership of private financial institutions. That's socialism we can believe in. It's Obama's offhand remark to Joe the Plumber that a tax increase on upper incomes will "spread the wealth" that marks the socialistic tendency McCain has seized upon as the distraction of the day.

As always, Obama responded quickly, calmly, and forcefully.

"John McCain is so out of touch with the struggles you are facing that he must be the first politician in history to call a tax cut for working people ‘welfare,’” Obama told a massive crowd under the infamous St. Louis arch. “The only ‘welfare’ in this campaign is John McCain’s plan to give another $200 billion in tax cuts to the wealthiest corporations in America.”

[more ...]

Crowd counts are often exaggerated (particularly by the McCain-Palin campaign), but the picture accompanying this story tends to confirm the support Barack Obama has generated in Missouri.

Barack Obama attracted 100,000 people at a Saturday rally here, his biggest crowd ever at a U.S. event. The crowd assembled under the Gateway Arch on a sunny Saturday afternoon to hear Obama speak about taxes and slam the Republicans on economic issues. ...

To be sure, big crowds don’t always signal a big turnout on Election Day. But Obama’s ability to draw his largest audience yet in a typically red state that just weeks ago looked out of reach, could signal a changing electoral map. ... A Rasmussen poll released on Friday shows Obama leading in Missouri 52% to 46% for McCain.

Does this mean that in Sarah Palin's world, Missouri is no longer a pro-America state?

Tightening from double digit leads, Barack Obama still holds significant leads in most tracking polls. This could be a function of the volatility of these polls or a genuine (and predictable) tightening of the race.

DKos/R2000 has Obama by 7, 50-43. This is down significantly from Obama's consistent double digit leads in this poll. Rasmussen has Obama steady - with a 5 point 50-45 lead for the fourth consecutive day. Hotline actually trends towards Obama, up 2 for a 10 point 50-40 lead, UPDATE - Hotline today - narrows to 7. IBD/TIPP has Obama by 5, 46-41. Battleground has Obama by 4.

The question is the spread now. Obama will win. The last debate did nothing significant for McCain. Downticket should be our focus now.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Sen. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will campaign together in Orlando, Florida on Monday as early voting opens in the state. Earlier in the day Obama will be in Tampa while Hillary will be campaigning for him in Broward (Fort Lauderdale, north of Miami.)

Where's McCain/Palin? Palin will be in Colorado shoring up the Republican base in Colorado Springs, Grand Junction and Loveland (Larimer County) -- all of which are locks for their ticket.

McCain was in Miami today with Joe Lieberman, courting the Cuban vote, but has nothing scheduled in the state through next week. Obama on the other hand is putting serious energy into Florida, and Miami in particular, for the duration of the campaign.

Hillary campaigned in Youngstown, Ohio today.

Add the Chicago Sun Times to the list of papers endorsing Sen. Barack Obama. Why won't it support McCain?

[S]omewhere along the line, McCain stopped being McCain. The maverick who always thought for himself turned his thinking over to others. He became too driven to win.

He reversed his position on major social issues to curry favor with the Republican base. He pulled silly surprises from a hat, such as “suspending” his campaign. Most egregiously for a man of advanced age who knew how important this decision could be, he chose the unqualified Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice president. (emphasis supplied.)

On Obama: [More...]