Polls: Gallup sees a slight narrowing to Obama 51%, McCain 44%, while an Arizona State University poll gives McCain just a two-point lead -- within the margin of error -- in his home state. Pew says Obama leads McCain 53% to 34% among those who have already cast their votes.
Unlicensed Toledo plumber Joe Wurzelbacher campaigned for John McCain yesterday, and found himself heartily agreeing with one supporter's concern that a vote for Barack Obama would mean "death to Israel". Even Fox News was having none of it, as the clip above demonstrates.
Get ready for the O Show: Obama has purchased half an hour of peak TV time on three major US networks tonight to show an infomercial that the New York Times describes as "heavy in strings, flags, presidential imagery and some Americana." McCain mocks it in a new ad, but a Fox executive puts paid to rumours, much promoted by Republicans, that the programme will delay the start of tonight's World Series game.
Team McCain, harnessing the power of positive thinking, releases an upbeat memo describing the race as "closing to essentially tied" and boasting that they're winning with "Walmart women". [Swampland]
In a haunting, anxiety-laced report from Jacksonville, Florida, black voters worry that some last-minute vote-counting trickery might alter the election outcome. "They're going to throw out votes," says one 53-year-old African-American Vietnam veteran. "I can't say exactly how, but they are going to accomplish that quite naturally. I'm so afraid for my friend Obama. I look at this through the eyes of the 60s, and I feel there ain't no way they're going to let him make it." [New York Times]
Sarah Palin offered to have Bristol Palin babysit Tina Fey's daughter on the set of Saturday Night Live. I merely pass this fact along for your edification. [Gawker]
Did the LA Times suppress a video of Obama at a banquet with the Palestinian activist Rashid Khalidi, as the Republicans are claiming? The paper says no: it drew attention to the event in the first place, and was keeping a promise to a source not to release the video. Oh, and it turns out that in the 1990s, McCain was involved in authorising several big grants to the institute Khalidi founded. [LA Times]
The Republican governor of Indiana, who looks like he's going to score a big against-the-tide victory next week, reveals the secret of his success: being mysteriously unavailable to campaign alongside Palin every time she visits his state. [Talking Points Memo]
The Obama campaign releases a sarcastic ad ridiculing McCain's choice of running-mate -- a notable departure, since they've so far tried to avoid the impression of attacking her directly. [BarackObama.com]
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