A new CNN/Time Magazine poll came out today.

• In Indiana and North Carolina, McCain/Palin leads Obama/Biden, 51% to 45%, and 48% to 47%, respectively.

• Obama leads McCain in the states of Ohio and Wisconsin, 49% to 47% and 50% to 47%, respectively.

• The new poll finds the candidates in a dead heat in Florida, each with 48%.

Bottom line: Factoring in the margins of error, Florida, North Carolina and Ohio remain in a virtual tie between John McCain and Barack Obama. As to the electoral map, CNN says: [More...]

Former federal prosecutor Edward O'Callaghan, now working for the John McCain campaign, is actively involved in fighting the subpoenas issued in TrooperGate, the investigation into whether Gov. Sarah Palin abused the power of her office.

O'Callaghan resigned as co-chief of the terrorism and national security unit of the U.S. attorney's office in New York in July to work for McCain. Newsweek reports:

He told NEWSWEEK that he and another McCain campaign lawyer (whom he declined to identify) are serving as legal "consultants" to Thomas Van Flein, the Anchorage lawyer who at state expense is representing Palin and her office in the inquiry. "We are advising Thomas Van Flein on this matter to the extent that it impacts on the national campaign," he said. "I'm helping out on legal strategy."

And, it appears a conflict of interest may have arisen. Palin's lawyer is no longer representing the Office of the Governor -- as of last week, he is only representing Palin and her husband. [More...]

The press will not ignore TrooperGate. The Alaska Attorney General informs us that Gov. Sarah Palin's employees won't honor the subpoenas to testify about TrooperGate.

In a letter to state Sen. Hollis French, the Democrat overseeing the investigation, Republican Attorney General Talis Colberg asked that the subpoenas be withdrawn. He also said the employees would refuse to appear unless either the full state Senate or the entire Legislature votes to compel their testimony.

Colberg, who was appointed by Palin, said the employees are caught between their respect for the Legislature and their loyalty to the governor, who initially agreed to cooperate with the inquiry but has increasingly opposed it since McCain chose her as his running mate.

More....

Both Sen. Barack Obama and John McCain are opposing the bailout of AIG. Joe Biden on Good Morning America placed the blame squarely on Bush's failed policies which John McCain wants to continue:

No, I don't think they should be bailed out by the federal government. I'll tell you what we should do. We should try to correct the problems that caused this. And what's caused this? The profligate tax cuts to the very, very wealthy that John wants to continue.

An anti-Iran rally in New York City will not feature Hillary Clinton:

Clinton backed out of a protest scheduled for Monday in New York against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's attendance at the opening of the UN General Assembly after learning that organizers also invited the Republican vice presidential nominee without informing her.

Organized by American Jewish groups, the "Rally to Stop Iran Now" sent out a media advisory billing the joint appearance in their headline: "SEN. HILLARY CLINTON AND GOV. SARAH PALIN AT “RALLY TO STOP IRAN NOW,” AT UNITED NATIONS, MONDAY, SEPT. 22nd, 11:45 A.M."

Good for Hillary.

PPP's latest Virginia poll (pdf) is out, showing Obama, for the 4th month in a row, continues to have a 2 point lead over John McCain.

One reason: Biden is far more popular there than Gov. Sarah Palin:

Virginia is the only battleground state PPP has polled in where Joe Biden gets better overall reviews than Sarah Palin. Biden has a net 11 point favorability rating with 38% of respondents saying
that his selection made them more likely to vote for Obama while just 27% say his choice made them less likely to choose the Democrat.

Palin has just a two point net favorability,
with 42% saying they are more likely to vote John McCain because of her and 40% saying they are less likely to do so.

40% of those polled say they are less likely to vote for McCain because of Palin. 42% say the opposite. Sarah Palin = Polarizer in Chief.

More...

So sez (besides me), Paul Begala, in a Daily Kos diary. I think he just came out with a book titled "The Third Term" about - you guessed it - McCain running for Bush's Third Term.

This is an Open Thread. Play nice. Should be easy cuz I'll be out for a while.

Ras has no change, 48-47 McCain. DKos/R2000 has no change, 48-44 (but overnight sampling had Obama by 5. Ras does not report his overnights.

Two bits of data make me think Ras is haviong some trouble with his polling. First he says that in his poll, McCain leads on the economy over Obama by 49-45 (Hotline has Obama up 20 on the economy). There is no other poll that has anything close to that result. The second bit of data is translating how McCain could lead on the economy and still only have a 1 point lead. This result seems implausible to me. Remember Ras uses a secret LV model, this is not an RV poll.

The R2000 poll has an interesting geographic point - Obama leads everywhere but the South, where McCain leads by 18 points. Obama leads by 23 in the Northeast (Pennsylvania?), by 8 in the West (the West Coast accounts for that no doubt - the Mountain West looks like a tie at best for Obama now) and by 9 in the Midwest (take your guess on that, Illinois will be big for Obama, but how is he doing in the other states.)

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

On the heels of the AIG bailout, Joseph Stiglitz's article yesterday is important reading:

The new low in the financial crisis, which has prompted comparisons with the 1929 Wall Street crash, is the fruit of a pattern of dishonesty on the part of financial institutions, and incompetence on the part of policymakers.

We had become accustomed to the hypocrisy. The banks reject any suggestion they should face regulation, rebuff any move towards anti-trust measures - yet when trouble strikes, all of a sudden they demand state intervention: they must be bailed out; they are too big, too important to be allowed to fail.

. . . The big question always centres on systemic risk: to what extent does the collapse of an institution imperil the financial system as a whole? Wall Street has always been quick to overstate systemic risk . . . but loth to allow examination of their own dealings. . . .

(Emphasis supplied.) More . . .

Link. I imagine they might. Here's my question - how is it funny? Maybe my stupidity is blocking my sense of humor here, but I do not get the funny.

This is an Open Thread. And I speak for me only. Maybe J or Chris think it is funny.

Here is video of "the speech"

Update (TL): Full text of speech here.

I got the chance to watch Obama's speech on the economy in Golden, Colorado (on TV of course.) Great speech. Great delivery. As close to being like Bill Clinton on the economy as I have seen him. The Barack Obama I saw today will win this election easily. I hope to get a video up for you to see it yourself. Some of the text on the flip.

This is an Open Thread.