Sen. Barack Obama is campaigning in Colorado today. He has released this statement on today's Bail Out vote and John McCain's specious response.

“This is a moment of national crisis, and today’s inaction in Congress as well as the angry and hyper-partisan statement released by the McCain campaign are exactly why the American people are disgusted with Washington. Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans to join together and act in a way that prevents an economic catastrophe. Every American should be outraged that an era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and Washington has led us to this point, but now that we are here, the stability of our entire economy depends on us taking immediate action to ease this crisis,” said Obama-Biden campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

Here's the McCain/Palin Campaign's statement on the failure of the bailout bill to pass the House.

McCain falsely implies he brought about the bipartisan agreement for the bill and blames Obama and the Dems for its failure. If you needed a greater reason to see how McCain distorts the truth, this statement is it.

As for Nancy Pelosi's speech today affecting the vote, keep in mind the Dems got 140 of their members to vote for it and only 95 Dems voted against it. If McCain was so influential and wanted the bill to pass, why couldn't he persuade more than 63 of them to go along? Why couldn't he persuade the other 133 to listen to his advice? [More...]

Apparently, word reached the McCain campaign that Gov. Sarah Palin isn't making a good impression on the national stage. With only three days to go to her debate with Sen. Joe Biden, some major changes have been made.

More broadly, the McCain campaign aims to halt what it sees as a perceived decline in the crispness and precision of Gov. Palin's latest remarks as well as a fall in recent polls, according to several advisers and party officials.

First, she'll be leaving today for McCain's AZ ranch to prep. Second, at her husband's urging, since he believes part of her problem may be that she misses her family and her Alaska staffers, the family and a top aide will be flown to the ranch as well. Third, she will now be prepped by McCain campaign manager Rick Davis and senior adviser Steve Schmidt, as well as McCain's debate coach, Brett O'Donnell. [More...]

After today's bailout plan, Democrats must explicitly promise to help out distressed homeowners with a modern day HOLC. What was HOLC? I'll use the neutral part of the Wikipedia description:

The Home Owners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) or Home Owner's Refinancing Act, was a New Deal agency established in 1933 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its purpose was to refinance homes to prevent foreclosure. It was used to extend loans from shorter loans to fully amortized, longer term loans (typically 20-25 years). Through its work it granted long term mortgages to over a million people facing the loss of their homes. The HOLC stopped lending circa 1935, once all the available capital had been spent. HOLC was only applicable to nonfarm homes, worth less than $20,000. HOLC also assisted mortgage lenders by refinancing problematic loans and increasing the institutions liquidity. When the HOLC ended its operations and liquidated assets in 1951, HOLC turned a small profit.

Listen to Hillary Clinton on HOLC and the current crisis:

I have to give Mike Pence, the Republican representative from Indiana, credit. He is a man of principle. Of course, his principles are reckless and have been proven conclusively wrong. But he sticks to them. They are the principles of Republicanism. In his speech this morning on the TARP (Troubled Assets Recovery Plan) bailout plan, he argued for a no vote and in favor of the House Republican plan, the one John McCain championed - the one that argued for solving the mortgage/credit Wall Street crisis by lowering corporate taxes, loosening regulations and for the government doing less for Main Street. That is Republicanism in a nutshell. [More...]

To me, the key feature of the debate was that Barack Obama looked like a President and John McCain did not (I am not unaware of the irony of my assertion, given the fact Obama would be our first African American President. Nonetheless, I truly believe it.) A Bloomberg/LATimes poll (caveat, I am not a big fan of the LATimes poll) confirms my view:

One potentially important finding among these debate watchers is that while McCain retained his advantage on experience, voters said Obama seemed more presidential by a 46 percent to 33 percent margin. Among those uncertain about their vote -- those who are either undecided or declaring they may change preference -- Obama was more than 2-to-1 ahead of McCain on this question."The thing that helped Obama slightly is that he seemed more presidential," said Susan Pinkus, who conducts the poll. "He passed the presidential test."

(Emphasis supplied.) Here Pinkus demonstrates one of the reasons I do not care for her as a pollster/pundit. To say that it helps Obama "slightly" that he was viewed as more Presidential and "passed the Presidential test" is the understatement of this election. If Obama passes that test, he wins the election easily. McCain knows this. Obama knows this. Apparently Pinkus is the one person who does not.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

The first poll of the day, the DKos/R2000 poll (9/26-28) shows Obama breaking this race open - Obama now leads by 9, 51-42. The two days of R2000 polling in since the debate have Obama +9 on Saturday and +11 on Sunday. Ras (9/26-28) has Obama up 5, 50-45. Gallup (9/25-27) has Obama up 8, 50-42, with a big Saturday post debate result. The last Hotline tracker (9/25-27) has Obama up 5, 47-42. For McCain supporters, there is one ray of hope in the polling, the strangely unmoving (in any direction) Battleground poll (9/22-25, 28) which has had McCain up 2 unvaryingly for a week, 48-46 (and up consistently for 2 weeks.) That seems impossible. No other poll has McCain even within 5 points of Obama. Either everyone else is wrong and Battleground is right and we are headed to a Dewey Defeats Truman situation, or Battleground is utterly wrong.

More...

Sarah Palin on science:

Soon after Sarah Palin was elected mayor of the foothill town of Wasilla, Alaska, she startled a local music teacher by insisting in casual conversation that men and dinosaurs coexisted on an Earth created 6,000 years ago -- about 65 million years after scientists say most dinosaurs became extinct -- the teacher said.

On how to teach science:

During an October 2006 debate in the Alaska governor's race, Palin urged that evolution and creationist ideas be taught together in state schools. "Don't be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides," she said.

On war: [more...]

On Face the Nation this morning, Sen. Barack Obama said John McCain deserves no credit for the bailout proposal. He also said he's likely to support it.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama said Sunday his Republican rival deserves no credit for helping to forge a tentative agreement on the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street.

On why Obama deserves credit: [More...]

Two tracking polls have been released that include Saturday polling (the day after the debate. In the DKos/R2000 poll (9/25-27), Obama ticked up a point overall (he had a +9 on Saturday), and leads 50-43. In the Ras poll, Obama maintains his 6 point lead, 50-44. At the least he did not lose ground in Saturday polling. Update - Gallup has a big Saturday move for Obama - he now leads by 8, 50-42. Hotline has Obama by 5, 47-42.

We'll add other polls as available, but so far it seems the debate did Obama no harm and probaly helped.

By Big Tent Democrat

Via TPM, the Times of London reports:

In an election campaign notable for its surprises, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice- presidential candidate, may be about to spring a new one -- the wedding of her pregnant teenage daughter to her ice-hockey-playing fiancé before the November 4 election.

Inside John McCain's campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. "It would be fantastic," said a McCain insider. "You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."

The strange thing is it very well may be McCain's best bet.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

This ad came on my tv during Saturday Night Live. Check it out. There's one person accused of wrong doing in the ad -- with a caption under him referring to CEO rip-offs. He's also, besides Obama, the only African -American in the ad.

The "victim" in the ad is a white woman with white hair. Her caption reads "Protect your savings and pensions."

Is he playing to perceived prejudices of elderly white women? Seemed like it to me. When I think of CEO's who rip off the public or their own companies, I think of Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, Bernie Ebbers and a few others. Why did McCain pick this guy? (And no, I have no idea who he is, which leads me to believe the average voter doesn't either.)