From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
HANOVER, NH -- Once again, Gravel will find himself on the far end of the stage during tonight's debate. But to his immediate right will be none other than Hillary Clinton, and Gravel plans to use his position to his advantage. "I'm going to turn to Hillary [and say], 'Hillary why did you vote for this fig leaf for George Bush to invade Iran." Gravel was referring to the Kyl-Lieberman amendment that passed the Senate today, which brand's the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. "It's a Gulf of Tonkin kind of resolution that would give George Bush the fig leaf, the fig leaf, to invade [Iran]," Gravel said. "This could be the beginning of the end."

Asked about his standing in New Hampshire, Gravel said: "I don't know... I have been working hard in New Hampshire. I don't have the celebrity nature. And then you get the national media who doesn't even want to cover you."

From NBC/NJ's Tricia Miller
HANOVER, NH -- A group of 10 African-American Dartmouth students protested outside Spaulding Auditorium, where tonight's debate will be held. Holding signs that read "I'll vote for you if you vote for freedom," "Forget about Hanover, what about Jena?" and "What about the Jena 6?" the students said they had been asked to stand on the sidewalk instead of the green. It rained briefly while they stood outside; across the street hundreds of people watched Chris Matthews interviewing guests on Hardball, including Sen. Joe Biden and Elizabeth Edwards.
 
Lou-Lou Igkowbe, a sophomore from New Jersey, said that she doesn't think civil rights is an issue limited to Jena. "If it's happening in Louisiana, it's happening to me," she said. Igkowbe said she wanted the media to focus on what happened specifically in Jena.
 
Daria Waite, a sophomore from Philadelphia, agreed. She said she hoped candidates would speak honestly at the debate about poverty, health care and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as well as the Jena 6.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Romney slipped, Giuliani is now within the margin of error for the top spot and McCain has gained ground in the new Granite State poll out tonight, which was conducted by the University of New Hampshire and sponsored by CNN/WMUR.

Romney and Giuliani are in a statistical dead heat in the Granite State. Romney got 25% to Giuliani's 24%. McCain got a 5-point bump to 18% and Fred Thompson is at 13%. The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus 5%. Notably only 13% of voters say they have definitely made up their minds.

Romney's support dropped 10 percentage points since last month when he held a 14-point lead. Fred Thompson apparently was not helped by missing this month's New Hampsire GOP debate, as 29% of likely voters said they are less likely to vote for him because of that decision.

From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
A Republican official told First Read the change is probably a sign of a personality conflict or a difference in expectations between Dunsmore and the campaign.

"These things happen all the time," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "All the guys around Rudy are smart, but they've never done this before."

But given the announcement came days before the end of the quarter, the official also said it could be a preemptive strike against third quarter numbers that are not as strong as people would think.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Nine finalists were announced for the Romney "Create Your Own Ad" contest. The winner will have their ad selected as a Romney commercial tomorrow morning. The voting closes at midnight. There are some pretty good ones, including the first, which is patriotic but not too sappy and highlights Romney's leadership. The pictures and music match the words pretty well. There's also an interesting testament from a man who says he was a volunteer at the Salt Lake Games, though it seems more suitable as a Web video because of the picture quality.  

From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
Anne Dunsmore is out as finance director for the Giuliani presidential campaign.

The campaign confirmed the change first reported by the Politico, and said Jim Lee will take over as "Finance Co-chair and CEO." Campaign spokeswoman Katie Levinson said it was an amicable departure. But a Giuliani aide said that with Dunsmore "it wasn't the right fit."

Campaign officials said the shakeup was not an indication of disappointment over the third quarter fundraising dollars. Giuliani has been criss-crossing the country in the final weeks of the quarter, and is planning several West Coast events this weekend. He has even gone to London to raise funds among ex-patriots.

The campaign official said that Dunsmore's departure was more of an indication of differing strategic visions moving forward.

From NBC's Ken Strickland
In a strong rebuff to the Bush Administration on Iraq, the Senate overwhelming approved a plan by Biden that essentially calls for breaking Iraq into three sections: Kurd, Sunni, and Shia.  While the amendment is nonbinding, it's the first measure to pass, (vote was 75-23,) that goes against the administration's war strategy.

Biden's chief co-sponsor was Brownback. Fellow candidates Clinton and Dodd also supported the plan. Obama and McCain did not vote.

In a news conference after the vote, Biden said his plan is consistent with the Iraqi constitution which calls Iraq to be made up of "a decentralized capital, regions, and governorates, and local administrations." Biden says this plan illustrates how to "end this war in a way that we are able to ultimately to bring our troops home and leave a stable Iraq behind... [that] is consistent with the Iraqi constitution." He described it as "pushing on an open door."

The bipartisan measure also calls on the five permanent members of the United Nations and members of the international community to convene a conference to help the Iraqis set up the federal regions. "We all agree... it's time to make Iraq the world's problem, not just ours."

Republican Senator John Warner, instrumental and influential in almost all things related to Iraq, called the vote an "extraordinary moment because it marks the high-water mark of all the many debates and resolutions we've had in terms of bipartisanship."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
James Denton, who plays "Mike Delfino" on "Desperate Housewives," will be campaigning for Edwards in Iowa this weekend with Edwards' daughter Cate. They will stop in at least seven Iowa towns, including "Hawkeye fans in Iowa City for a Homecoming tailgate," according to an Edwards campaign press release with the headline, "Edwards' Eldest Daughter and America's Favorite Primetime Plumber Will Both Make First Iowa Campaign Appearances This Election Cycle."

Cate is a student at Harvard Law School and is involved in politics with the group Generation Engage, which is focused on increasing civic involvement of youth.

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
HANOVER, NH -- Earlier today, we mentioned that Obama campaign workers were planting signs here on the Dartmouth campus as early as 6:15 am ET. Here's an update from later this morning... Richardson's campaign was owning the road to the campus. His signs lined Route 10 from I-89, right up to the Dartmouth campus. Stationed a long the way were a few larger "NH Welcomes Governor Bill Richardson" banners.

Hillary Clinton's camp had a team of sign wavers at the ramp exiting I-89. And Obama's camp had some volunteers stationed at various intersections, including a large "Honk If You believe" Sign on Route 10.

From NBC's Mike Viqueira
The House is at this moment voting to condemn MoveOn.org for the Petraeus ad. House Republicans have managed to get the measure considered in a procedural motion attached to a bill to fund the government for the next 8 weeks.
 
The motion "condemns in the strongest possible terms the personal attacks made by the advocacy group MoveOn.org impugning the integrity and professionalism of General David H. Petraeus."

The measure appears to be passing by a very wide margin, with the vast majority of Democrats voting in favor. Recall that the Senate passed a similar measure last week with the help of 22 of 51 Democrats and quasi Democrats.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Have you seen this Google ad?

"Obama for President? Why Not Learn More About John McCain for President."

NBC/National Journal's Aswini Anburajan, who is embedded with the Obama campaign, takes a look at this political advertising trend over at National Journal:

"Obama isn't the only presidential moniker that the McCain team latched on to searches for Hillary Rodham Clinton, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney -- as well as the word 'president' -- also bring up AdWords for McCain, with similar language to those appearing next to the Obama results."

The McCain campaign says, "We buy hundreds or thousands of different AdWords -- that's monitored all the time. It's based on what's going in the news cycle [that is] relevant to the 2008 cycle." And "McCain's camp may not be alone in using another candidate's name to push its own Web site."

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Julia Steers
HANOVER, NH -- Tonight, the eight Democratic presidential candidates -- Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, Gravel, Kucinich, Obama, and Richardson -- participate in a debate here at Dartmouth College at 9:00 pm ET. The Duel at Dartmouth, which airs on MSNBC and is moderated by NBC's Tim Russert, marks the sixth full-fledged Democratic debate of this campaign season (or seventh, if you count the boisterous AFL-CIO forum at Soldier Field), and the third one sanctioned by the Democratic National Committee. It also happens to be the first Democratic debate of the fall, and it comes as Clinton has widened her lead nationally and also in this state. A brand-new CNN/WMUR poll finds her with a 23-point lead over Obama in New Hampshire (43%-20%). Back in July, her lead was nine points (36%-27%). With that kind of advantage, and with about three months until the early nominating contests begin, doesn't each debate become more and more important for the candidates chasing her?

VIDEO: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd offers his first read on what Barack Obama can do, going into tonight's Democratic debate, to stop Hillary Clinton from walking away with the Democratic nomination.

*** A Lot Has Happened In The Past Month: The last Democratic debate took place in mid-August, and much has happened since then. The Petraeus report. The MoveOn ad that overshadowed it. The 9/11 anniversary. The strange Norman Hsu story. Clinton's health-care rollout. And the candidates' pledge not to campaign in Florida and Michigan. Will those be the big storylines tonight? Or will they be other issues? Speaking of, don't miss today's front-page Wall Street Journal report of a Bill Clinton-connected business dealing gone bad, or Adam Nagourney's piece on how the front-runner doesn't always become the nominee.

*** Three Things To Watch For: 1) How many times will Clinton laugh? We've noticed an interesting pattern: Whenever Clinton gets a tough question or is attacked by an opponent directly, she deflects the criticism with laughter. So, if Clinton's doubled-over in laughter most of the night, we'll know she's the target. 2) How many times have we believed THIS would be the debate that Obama goes after Clinton? With just a handful of debates left for him (since he's skipping any of them not sanctioned by the DNC), he doesn't have too many more opportunities to go after her. 3) There's an expectation that Edwards will take direct aim at Clinton, but what if he decides to attempt to show distinction more with Obama? One can argue that he needs to send a message to the MSM that he -- and not Obama -- is the chief Clinton alternative.

*** Other Questions: As for the others in the field, will Richardson make it through one debate without having a head-scratching moment? Will Biden continue stick up for Clinton (as he's done in the past) or will he take aim at her (as he did at the AARP forum)? And then there's Dodd. He seems comfortable going after everyone ahead of him. Will he go more after Clinton or, say, an Edwards, who arguably is running the type of populist campaign that Dodd would like to run?

*** Trouble For The Dems? For the final installment of First Read's look at the Democratic Party and its potential problems heading into 2008 -- despite everything going right for it at the moment -- we examine national security. Thanks largely to the Iraq war, Democrats today are in a stronger position on this issue than they've ever been. In the July NBC/WSJ poll, Democrats held a 15-point advantage over Republicans on the Iraq, and were even with the GOP on terrorism. (For a bit of perspective, Republicans had a whopping 36-point lead on terrorism back in October 2002.) But there is no doubt that the Republican Party pouncing on MoveOn's anti-Petraeus ad -- and then the Democrats backing away from it -- exposed a hole in the Dems' armor: They are still wary of any GOP effort to portray them as not supporting the troops.

*** MoveOn-ed? Indeed, with the Democratic candidates vowing not to vote for any war-funding bill unless it comes with a timetable for withdrawal, are they setting themselves up to be MoveOn-ed? Also, don't forget this comment from Hillary Clinton back in late August: "If certain things happen between now and the election, particularly with respect to terrorism, that will automatically give the Republicans an advantage again, no matter how badly they have mishandled it, no matter how much more dangerous they have made the world." Is she right?

*** On The Trail: Elsewhere today, there are (or were) a couple of interesting events. Edwards was supposed to be in Buffalo rallying with striking United Auto Workers members, but now has cancelled the event due to a settlement between the UAW and GM. And Giuliani, in another high-profile meeting with world leaders, meets with Iraqi President Talabani at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

Countdown to LA GOV election: 24 days
Countdown to Election Day 2007: 41 days
Countdown to LA GOV run-off (if necessary): 52 days
Countdown to Iowa: 110 days
Countdown to SC GOP primary: 115 days
Countdown to Tsunami Tuesday: 132 days
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 405 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 482 days

The Dartmouth campus newspaper has the details on the format. "The debate will be broken into four segments, with three commercial breaks of approximately three minutes each dividing the segments… Candidates will have 90 seconds to respond to questions, and the moderators may award them 30 seconds of rebuttal time." More:  "Campus life will likely be disrupted for the first day of classes, as the Green is taken over by the Campaign Visibility Area, also known as the 'free speech zone' -- the only area where ralliers are allowed to demonstrate or display signs."

The Union Leader looks at a new CNN/WMUR poll showing Clinton expanding her lead over Obama and Edwards.

Meanwhile, the RNC says it purchased online ads on 39 New Hampshire-related Web sites (including news sites and blogs). They feature an interactive game that allows users to guess which Democrat said what on important topics. The RNC also issued a press release early this morning noting how much money the Dem front-runners' health-care and tax plans will costs US taxpayers.

NBC/National Journal's Athena Jones spoke with several Dartmouth students, and most of them were either undecided or leaning towards Clinton or Obama. Those who supported Clinton often cited her husband as one of the reasons. "I think she has a lot of experience, and I really like her stance on a lot of the issues. And I also think if we get her, we also get Bill Clinton," said Delfina Gonzalez, an 18-year-old from Corpus Christi, TX, who said she planned to register to vote in New Hampshire.

Those who said they were leaning towards Obama talked generally about his idealism and optimism, Jones adds. Jean Luo, an undecided sophomore who is leaning towards Clinton, said she wanted the candidates to step out of their managed personas in the debate tonight and get into more specifics about their plans for America. "I want them to stop sticking to their agendas that they've had so far, like Barack Obama having the really like inspirational speeches all the time and Hillary Clinton appealing to the same people she's been appealing to," Luo said.

As it turns out, hundreds of Dartmouth students will be participating in an online poll to pick their winner of tonight's debate.

At 6:15 am ET this morning, as one of us was walking to work, Obama campaign workers were already outside planting signs along the main road on the Dartmouth campus.

GIULIANI: The $9.11 fundraiser idea by some supporters participating in a Giuliani House Party seemed to cause the campaign a minor headache yesterday. We're guessing this won't be the last time the campaign has to distance itself from an over-eager supporter trying to invoke 9/11. Giuliani has a fine line to walk on this. As for this story, was the Giuliani campaign's "unfortunate" statement strong enough?

Giuliani hasn't been to Iraq but Iraq's coming to him. Giuliani added a meeting with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to his Wednesday schedule. The noon meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria allows Giuliani to continue showcasing his foreign policy understanding and provide an aura of presidentiality, one week after meeting with British officials in London.

Giuliani will head west Thursday for the rest of the week. The trip will focus on fundraising, but the mayor will also pick up an important endorsement in California. Former Gov. Pete Wilson is expected to announce his support Thursday in Santa Monica, according to the AP.

The cell phone call that Giuliani took during the NRA speech continues to get "what was that!?!!?" type of coverage. Even the Wall Street Journal editorializes on the call: "Giuliani has run an impressive campaign so far, especially on the issues. He has a record of accomplishment in New York, and he projects the kind of executive competence that many Americans want in a President. The rap on his candidacy, however, is that his personal history and behavior are simply too strange for someone who wants to sit in the Oval Office. Voters will decide whether that's true, but if nothing else Mr. Giuliani ought to be aware of this vulnerability and do nothing to compound it."

"'That was just weird,' one NRA audience member told the New York Post about the phone interruption. Mr. Giuliani doesn't need more weird." 

MCCAIN: The New Hampshire Union Leader reports that a University of New Hampshire poll will also show "that John McCain has gained on front-runners Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. The GOP poll is expected to show that Romney's support has slightly eroded since the last UNH poll in July, while Giuliani and McCain have gained support. McCain is expected to be within, or close to, the poll's margin of error behind the two." 

PAUL: Giuliani isn't the only one with supporters causing him a headache. Apparently, Ron Paul's supporters went over the line in Michigan over the weekend. "According to one eyewitness, Giuliani was beset by dozens of Paul enthusiasts, some of whom shouted taunts about 9/11, including: '9/11 was an inside job' and 'Rudy, Rudy, what did you do with the gold?'  an apparent reference to rumors about $200 million in gold alleged to have disappeared in the collapse of the World Trade Center towers.

"Ed Wyszynski, a longtime GOP activist from Eagle, said the Paul supporters threatened to throw Giuliani overboard and harassed him as he took shelter in the ferry's pilothouse for the 15-minute journey. 'It was awful,' said Wyszynski. 'Never, ever have I seen such a disgraceful performance.'"  

ROMNEY: He had to cut short weekend campaigning in South Carolina after picking up a cold during his latest fund-raising dash.

THOMPSON: GOP analyst Jennifer Rubin speculates on the hard time she's having getting her hands on Thompson's schedule. "You may recall a couple weeks back there was some question as to the extent of Thompson's schedule. Thompson caught some flak once the schedule was finally released showing a light calendar. Well, Thompson's team took steps to stop that from happening again. Now, they don't release a calendar for the week and aren't responding to repeated inquiries as to his schedule. It appears other than a radio show here or there all he is doing this week is some medium level fundraising in Tennessee. Pick your favorite explanation -- insufficient advance team to set events, wasn't drawing overwhelming numbers at events, doesn't like press scrutiny or that whole work ethic thing. The other camps, of course, are taking notice and one chimed in: 'Probably a smart move. This way nobody can ask Thompson about Dobson, Libya, Schiavo, the Everglades, or fundraising.'"

BIDEN: The candidate takes his criticism of Giuliani's $9.11 fundraiser a step further, and is capitalizing on the event. The Chicago Tribune reports that Biden's campaign is asking people to register their objection with a contribution of $20.08, $200.80 or even $2,008.00. Biden campaign manger Luis Navarro writes that they have "had enough of Republican candidates exploiting 9/11 for political purposes."

At last week's AARP forum, Biden was critical of Richardson being governor of small state New Mexico, but the Los Angeles Times' Don Frederick points out Biden's own state, in which he is a senator not governor, has a population of 853,476 versus New Mexico's 1,954,599.

CLINTON: Has Clinton oddly benefited from low expectations throughout this campaign? One could argue that. In fact, check out this Bloomberg News report suggesting that Clinton might overtake Obama on the money front this quarter. Frankly, it's been shocking that Obama has outraised Clinton in the first half of this year. But if Clinton tops Obama this quarter (even if just by a little bit), it will be an exclamation point on what's been a great three-month run for Clinton.  

Speaking of Clinton's front-runner status, the New York Times looks at the potential downside of being in that position. "Clinton's advisers have clearly decided that being known as the front-runner is a good thing. It is a way to corral supporters and contributors; it helps to erase the idea that she is unelectable. But the evidence suggests that it is not necessarily helpful in predicting who the Democratic nominee is going to be."

More: "The truth is, there is no evidence that the Democratic primary voters have fallen head-over-heels for Mrs. Clinton. And any event that reminds Democratic voters of the lingering concerns about her could topple her from her perch."

The Boston Globe has an analysis of Norman Hsu's fundraising activities that shows how Norman Hsu was used to raise money for Democrats on behalf  of Clinton. "In at least some cases, Clinton or her aides directly channeled contributions from Hsu and his network to other politicians supportive of her presidential campaign, according to interviews and campaign finance records. There is nothing illegal about one politician steering wealthy contributors to another, but the New York senator's close ties to Hsu have become an embarrassment for her and her campaign."

Could it be that all the Hsu money that found its way to other Democrats did so at the direction of Clinton folks? That's the implication of this Globe story.

Speaking of money, the Wall Street Journal looks at Bill Clinton business dealing gone bad, which was orchestrated apparently by a former personal aide, Douglas Band. "Since leaving the White House, Mr. Clinton has earned more than $40 million giving speeches, has raised billions of dollars for his own charitable foundation and other causes, and has entered into business relationships with Mr. Burkle and others. Today, heads of state, business leaders and other notables will gather in New York for the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, an organization that obtains charitable pledges from various sources. Mrs. Clinton's presidential run is likely to draw scrutiny of her husband's recent activities."   

EDWARDS: The SEIU has decided to hold off endorsing any candidate. This is more of a blow to Edwards than anyone else because he needs the endorsement to catch up on the resources front. "One board member said that a majority of board members favored Mr. Edwards, who has been outspoken on behalf of universal health coverage, one of the S.E.I.U.'s main goals. But those members, taken together, do not come from locals representing 60 percent of the union's membership, the threshold required for the board to make an endorsement."

OBAMA: He might not be the front-runner, but he's still drawing huge crowds.

Under the front-page headline, "Obama strives to put race aside," the Columbia State's Roddie Burris takes a look at Obama's struggle to balance race in South Carolina. He "must walk a racial tightrope, especially in South Carolina, as he fights to attract both black and white Democrats without alienating either."

The Washington Post's Ruth Marcus writes, "Last week, I saw Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama give two speeches. The first was enthralling, the second disappointing. Together, they offered a pointed reminder of Obama's undeniable promise as a politician and the fundamental, unanswered question of his candidacy: Is Obama truly the different, transformative kind of politician that he holds himself out to be?" She was impressed with the SEIU speech (had all the 2004-like convo inspiration). But she wasn't impressed with his tax policy speech, because it sounded just like every other run-in-the-mill Democratic policy speech.

Marcus concludes: "The question about Obama is not 'where's the beef,' Mondale's famous putdown of Gary Hart's 'new ideas.' It's: Where's the audacity?"

USA Today writes that presidential candidates and the political parties "will spend at least twice as much as they did in 2003-04 on TV ads before nominees are chosen, campaign advertising experts say. A record $100 million or more will likely be paid to put campaign ads on the air by the time the Republican and Democratic races are effectively over, likely some time in February."

"'We had $45 million spent on campaign ads in what was the primary race in 2003 and 2004,' says Evan Tracey, chief operating officer at the Campaign Media Analysis Group of TNS Media Intelligence, which measures political advertising. 'It's easy to say there will be two times that. It certainly goes to $100 million.'"

New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner may announce the dates for the filing period soon. It's supposed to be in the first week of November, so an earlier filing will be the first clue to when the actual primary will be. "At this point, the most I can say is it doesn't appear it will be any later than the 8th of January," said Gardner.

The Los Angeles Times looks at the Clinton-Obama competition for the black vote in South Carolina. "Obama has so far outspent Clinton in the state -- $350,000 to $120,000 in the first half of the year. He has run two radio spots clearly targeting the black vote that have run on 36 hip hop, rap and gospel stations. (Clinton began airing a spot in South Carolina this week on radio stations with what the campaign called 'predominant African American listenership.')

"'Hillary is doing well, but there's a story there about Obama's ground campaign,' said Joe Werner, executive director of the South Carolina Democratic Party. 'They have their sneakers on and they are really working from the ground up. I think he knows he has to do well here.'"

The Washington Post carries this quote from a military person on background on the Blackwater situation. "'This is a nightmare,' said a senior U.S. military official. 'We had guys who saw the aftermath, and it was very bad. This is going to hurt us badly. It may be worse than Abu Ghraib, and it comes at a time when we're trying to have an impact for the long term.' The official was referring to the prison scandal that emerged in 2004 in which U.S. soldiers tortured and abused Iraqis." 

Meanwhile, the New York Times writes, "MoveOn.org said yesterday that it paid The New York Times $77,508 after the newspaper revealed that its advertising department had undercharged the organization for an advertisement that ran two weeks ago and proved controversial."

"A major expansion of government health insurance to nearly 4 million children passed the House of Representatives Tuesday, but without enough Republican support to overcome President Bush's promised veto. The vote was 265-159, with 45 Republicans supporting the bill. It would take 289 votes to override the president's veto." 

The New York Times: "Explaining his objections [to the legislation], Mr. Bush said, 'The bill goes too far toward federalizing health care and turns a program meant to help low-income children into one that covers children in some households with incomes of up to $83,000 a year.' Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican and a co-author of the bill, said the president's charge was 'factually incorrect.' The goal, Mr. Grassley said, is to sign up low-income youngsters who are already eligible but not enrolled in the State Children's Health Insurance Program."

The legislation is expected to reach the Senate floor later this week.

MSNBC.com's Tom Curry notes that among the House Republicans voting to expand the program will be involved in competitive House races next year, per the nonpartisan Cook Political Report: Reps. Jim Gerlach of Pennsylvania, Jim Walsh of New York, and Mark Kirk of Illinois. Also voting against the bill were eight Democrats -- including tobacco state Democrats such as Reps. Mike McIntyre and Bob Etheridge, both from North Carolina. The bill would pay for expanding insurance coverage by imposing a 61-cent increase in the 39-cent per pack federal cigarette tax, which amounts to a 156 percent tax increase.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
We reported earlier that Daily Kos held a Democratic presidential straw poll Sept. 24. Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas said he voted for someone and had the site's viewers vote on who they thought he voted for. Turns out he voted for Dodd.

Kos: "I voted for Chris Dodd. Only 22% of you got that right? I thought it'd be more obvious than that. Not that this means he's likely to get my vote in February. I don't throw away my votes, so unless he's become surprisingly competitive in January, I'll be looking elsewhere. It just means he really outshone the other candidates these past few weeks and made me think, for the first time in a while, 'THIS is how I want my nominee to sound.'

"Oh, and I won't do an 'endorsement' in this race. I assume you have your own brains to guide you in that process."

From NBC's Lauren Appelbaum, NBC/NJ's Athena Jones, Aswini Anburajan and NBC's Domenico Montanaro
At Little Rock Central High School's 50th Anniversary Commemoration Ceremony, Bill Clinton took center stage. He was the commemorative speaker at today's ceremony and the chairman of the Little Rock Nine Gala last night. He asked all in attendance to reflect on, 50 years later, what Americans do for their children. Clinton emphasized showing gratitude, replicating excellence in schools, and being personally responsible in creating change. Clinton, who was 11 in 1957, said the event impacted his life to work for true equality.
 
"They made me decide, not just have an opinion, but to have a conviction," Clinton said. "We all should be grateful to people in life who make us move from opinion to conviction."
 
Like Clinton, Huckabee, another former governor of Arkansas, was in attendance, but he was certainly stuck in Clinton's shadow today. Bill and Hillary Clinton had seats on the stage while Huckabee and his simply attended the ceremony with seats in the audience. 
 
And Bill used the stage to make reference to his wife. "This is a truly historic event for two reasons," Clinton said. "The one we have come to acknowledge and another. You may be watching with your very own eyes the last time where I will be speaking and Hillary will be listening.  And I know all my old friends who made the rounds with me won't believe it but it suits me just fine."
 
Hillary Clinton certainly capitalized from the coverage, as two different cameras covering the ceremony often cut away to the Clintons, including a time showing Hillary whispering in Bill's ear and holding hands. Before the ceremony finished, the famous duo exited the stage and began shaking hands with the Little Rock Class of 2008. They then entered the school with the Little Rock Nine and Class of 2008.

Another wrinkle in the politics of today, Clinton and Obama are battling to shore up support among black voters, and they both put out statements -- along with other candidates -- in remembrance of the event. Clinton also announced the endorsement of the Rev. William H. Gray III, a former Pennsylvania congressman and former head of the United Negro College Fund. Gray was the first African American to chair both the powerful House Budget Committee and the Democratic Caucus, and the first to serve as House Majority Whip.

On the Little Rock Nine, Clinton said in a statement: "What we saw here in Little Rock in the Fall of 1957 shocked us and changed us. Mothers and fathers across America saw in those nine children the vulnerability and promise of their own children. They saw in that hateful mob the ugliness of their own prejudices and fears. And they were forced to ask themselves: "Is that who I am? Is that who we are?"

In his statement, Obama widened the scope. He included the struggled of the Jena 6, which he compared with the civil rights movement, sounding similar to Jesse Jackson comparing Jena 6 with Selma, Ala.

"Because fifty years ago, nine young men and women showed the world that in the face of impossible odds, ordinary people could do extraordinary things," Obama said. "And that's what we saw last week, when 10,000 Americans rallied to the side of justice in Jena. So if we're serious about living up to our founding ideals, we need to reconnect our politics with the core decency of the American people."

Dodd and Edwards' statements:
DODD: "Today we are reminded of these heroic nine students who courageously fought for equality despite the odds against them.  While our nation has made many strides toward equality and opportunities for all in the years since this historic day, recent events, like the Jena 6 in Louisiana, remind us that we have more to do to promote greater understanding and compassion."

EDWARDS: "Half a century ago, the Little Rock Nine walked passed angry mobs and inspired the nation with their grace and strength. This anniversary reminds us both of their heroism and of the staggering amount of work we still have to do in this country. We still have two school systems – no longer legally but economically and racially.  While our nation has made great progress, the quality of our children's education still depends far too much on the parents to which they are born. We cannot go on this way if we hope to build One America where everyone has an equal chance to succeed. It is our obligation to put an end to this inequality."

...BUT DO THEY WANT HIM?
From NBC's Andy Merten
In preparation for tomorrow night's debate, Richardson is continuing to tout himself as the only candidate supporting a complete withdrawal from Iraq, as well as the seemingly favorite of the lefty NetRoots. The campaign released a four-and-a-half-minute web video yesterday, in which liberal bloggers laud the New Mexico governor for his plan, while questioning the motivations of the top-tier candidates.  An abbreviated version of the video will begin playing on New Hampshire television today.
 
"Clinton, Obama, and Edwards all say they want to end the war in Iraq, but they support leaving thousands, even tens of thousands of troops behind – that doesn't make any sense," says Matt Stoller from OpenLeft.com in the 30-second the TV version.   He is echoed by Christina Siun O'Connell of Firedoglake.com, who adds, "If you leave troops behind, you're not ending the war."
 
The longer, online version of the ad not only takes aim at the Democratic frontrunners, but also Chris Dodd and Joe Biden (Kucinich and Gravel are left unmentioned).  It is posted on GetOurTroopsOut.com, a site launched yesterday and paid for by the Richardson campaign.  The site also includes a side-by-side comparison of all six candidates' Iraq policies.
 
While Richardson may have gotten several representatives from liberal blogs to appear in a paid television ad, he has not received an explicit endorsement from any of them.  "While none of us are endorsing a presidential candidate - and Firedoglake has a policy of non-endorsement -- Chris [Bowers, of OpenLeft.com], Matt and I all agreed that this question must be answered," wrote O'Connell yesterday.
 
But the Richardson spokesman Tom Reynolds told First Read today that it is not seeking an explicit endorsement from any of the groups. Rather it is focused on "communicating the issues. We're trying to use that platform, because they share many of the same ideals as the governor," Reynolds said of the NetRoots, adding that the blogs have been effective in courting Democratic activists.
 
Still, the presidential hopeful's hard-line stance on troop withdrawal has not yet resonated with the NetRoots across the board, as evidenced in a straw poll conducted by The DailyKos -- one of the largest and most influential of the liberal blogs -- yesterday, in which Richardson only garnered one percent of approximately 6,300 respondents.  Reynolds says he hopes that those numbers improve as the governor continues to differentiate himself on the Iraq issue, saying, "The DailyKos is a very influential platform for a great exhange of ideas; we engage with their members and will continue."

Potentially complicating matters further, Richardson was critical of MoveOn.org's "General Betray Us" ad. "Even good friends can disagree," Reynolds said, adding Richardson recognizes that MoveOn has been "extremely influential."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
In a fund-raising and promotional stunt, the Clinton campaign offers up a spot on the couch next to the former president to watch a debate. Three people will be picked through an online contest. The deadline is Sunday night.

"There are two things in this world that I love more than anything else -- my family and politics," Clinton writes in an e-mail peppered with "Contribute" links. "So you can imagine just how fired up I get when Hillary is on the stage debating the issues that matter to our country. So here's an idea: why don't you and I share that excitement together during an upcoming debate. ...

"We'll sit down in front of a big TV with a big bowl of chips, watch the debate, and talk about the race."

From NBC/National Journal's Adam Aigner-Treworgy
Yesterday Thompson appeared on Bill Bennett's conservative radio show Morning in America to discuss his hard-line views on Iran. Amongst the clamor of Republican voices criticizing Columbia University for its decision to host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this past week, Thompson released a statement saying not only should Ahmadinejad not be invited to speak at an American university, he should not even be allowed on American soil.

Yesterday Bennett raised the argument that preventing a foreign head of state from landing in the United States when the purpose of his visit is to speak at the United Nations could be viewed as illegal under the United Nations charter, to which Thompson implied that the charter should include more "exceptions."

"There are exceptions to every rule, and there ought to be exceptions," Thompson said. "This is our home soil, and there ought to be an exception in our own minds whether it's written into the charter or not with regard to people who've declared war on us…I wouldn't mind a little controversy at the United Nations."

Thompson went on to characterize the act of denying Ahmadinejad access to US airports as a "symbolic thing."

"There are not many ways sometimes that you can lay down a strong marker and make a statement to the world and make a statement to subjugated people inside his own country without risk of conflict," Thompson said. "This is one of those cases. This is a freebee. There would be some political repercussions, but when you're thinking about potential nuclear devastation of one part of the world or another, and the balance that Iraq is in right now, it's a relatively small consideration."

With regards to Iran's involvement in Iraq, Thompson said, "they are the main threat in the Middle East," and they are the main voice in that part of the world calling for our withdrawal. He even likened the Iranian's call for US withdrawal to the actions of Congressional Democrats who are attempting to force a drawdown in US troops fighting in Iraq.

"[The Iranian government] are the ones standing by hoping we will fail, giving the same talking points I hear on Capitol Hill as to how we ought to get out of [Iraq] and they'll be the ones that will fill that vacuum," Thompson said. "They're doing everything in the world to defeat us and to be the king of the hill in that part of the world."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
This goes in the TMI category, which has has too many additions this campaign:

From an Esquire profile of Edwards:
"I hope this isn't too personal," I said to Edwards, "but I was reading about how Elizabeth discovered her cancer this second go-around. It was a broken rib, correct?"

"Yes," Edwards said.

"The papers said you were hugging her -- which is always nice to hear, a married guy hugging his wife. It must have been bizarre. What happened, you just hugged her and heard a snap?"

"Maybe it is a little personal," Edwards said, laughing self-consciously.

"Maybe I don't want to know?"

"It was a perfectly reasonable question," he said, bailing me out.

"So hugging was perhaps a euphemism?"

"That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it," he said, raking his forelock with his fingers.

At the next overpass, the caravan pulled over. My time in the minivan had run out.

From NBC's Mark Murray
Earlier today, we discussed how the public's dissatisfaction with Congress is perhaps rubbing off on the Democratic Party, given the party's first net-negative rating in about a year in the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

Still, we noted that the Democrats are viewed in a more positive light than their GOP counterparts. And a new USA Today/Gallup poll backs that up -- in fact, they even have a net-positive rating in the survey.

According to the poll, 51% view the Democratic Party favorably, compared with 38% who view it unfavorably. The numbers for the GOP are essentially reversed: 38% positive, 59% negative.