the good friday edition

Now that the US government (meaning you and me and our progeny) have agreed to cover the risky behavior of the mortgage lenders and their insurers, and the markets have rebounded, we can pause to take a look at the state of the campaign.

And, after doing so, we smile.

For your pleasure:

• A great graphic of Palin's plunging approval rating.
• Focus group undecideds in Florida are moving toward Obama: Palin scares them to death.
• Obama's regained lead in national tracking polls; Obama is in a better position in the state-by-state race than he was prior to the RNC. A summary of this week's polls here.
  
• Dems continue to strongly lead in voter registrations in key states. See esp. Pennsylvania: "Pennsylvania added 107,000 registered Democrats from April to early September, while Republicans added 2,700. Democrats already led registration there."
• Palin "slips" and mentions the "Palin-McCain Administration"--good for laughs from lots of pundits
• Better laughs here: watch Keith Olbermann condense Palin's interview with Sean Hannity into 62 seconds. I'll give you a hint: she uses the word "reform" A LOT.
• Remember the Keating 5? Neither do I. Here's a little primer (2.5 mins) to get you up to speed, and it connects McCain's role as a deregulator from that scandal to the present-day crisis. I think it's safe to say that McCain's role in the Savings and Loan debacle will become fodder for the campaign presently.
  

Head-scratching Pain about Spain: in an interview with a south Florida hispanic radio station, McCain appeared not to know who Zapatero, prime minister of Spain, was...repeatedly referencing Latin America and "the hemisphere" even after the interviewer said..."but what about Europe, I'm talking about Spain." Rather than admit to mishearing, McCain's campaign has doubled down, stating that McCain did, in fact, indeed, intend to take a hard tack with Spain, by refusing to commit to meet with the Prime Minister. This is not being believed by most reporters and pundits, and causing a good deal of consternation. It's the last thing we need, more dig-your-feet-in bellicosity.

Good news on anti-voter suppression efforts! John Conyers is calling out McCain on his party's efforts to disenfranchise homeowners in Michigan who are undergoing foreclosures. Obama's suing to prevent the "caging" of voters, or challenging their right to vote through various processes, and launching a huge voter protection effort to have lawyers at the polls.