The latest New York Times/CBS poll finds Obama with a 13-point lead over McCain among likely voters, 52%-39%. "Underscoring his increasing strength in the final phase of the campaign, Mr. Obama led Mr. McCain among groups that voted for President Bush four years ago: those with incomes greater than $50,000 a year; married women; suburbanites and white Catholics. He is also competitive among white men, a group that has not voted for a Democrat over a Republican since 1972, when pollsters began surveying people after they voted." More: "Of potential concern for Mr. Obama's strategists, however, a third of voters surveyed say they know someone who does not support Mr. Obama because he is black."

A GW Battleground poll shows the race close. Obama is up just 44%-42%.

A new round of Allstate/Battleground polls shows Obama leading in Minnesota (50%-40%), Pennsylvania (51%-41%), and Wisconsin (53%-40%).

Charlie Cook writes in his most recent National Journal column, "For a political analyst, the normal posture this time of year is much like a baseball umpire's: hunched over, peering carefully as the ball approaches the plate, watching for whether it breaks left or right, whether it's coming in high or low. But, these days, we analysts are more like outfielders, watching in awe as a ball seems on a trajectory to not only clear the fence but very likely land in the upper deck. By every metric, Barack Obama's presidential campaign appears headed for the upper deck."

"Polls (both national and state-by-state), organization, money, and momentum are all running strongly in Obama's favor. At this point, one wonders whether Obama's winning margin could be greater than Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton's 5.6-point win over President George H.W. Bush in 1992, more than Bush's 7.7-point win over Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in 1988, or more than Clinton's 8.5-point win over Sen. Bob Dole in 1996. Even higher on the landslide roster is California Gov. Ronald Reagan's 9.7-point victory over President Carter in 1980 and Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's 10.9-point win over Adlai Stevenson in 1952."

"Certainly, the 2008 presidential contest could reverse direction and result in victory for John McCain. But at this point, he would have to be the beneficiary of something quite dramatic for that to happen."

COLORADO: "McCain and his aides are convinced their "Joe the Plumber" tax criticisms are narrowing the gap against Democratic rival Barack Obama, explaining why the Republican nominee is making three campaign stops in Colorado despite cutting back his ads in the state and polls showing his opponent with a sizable lead. ... With early voting under way, McCain's campaign bought a total $305,550 worth of ads this week at KUSA-TV, KCNC-TV and KMGH-TV. That was down 46 percent from last week and down 56 percent from two weeks ago."

FLORIDA: Two new polls in Florida show Obama ahead but by different margins. A Sun-Sentinel poll puts the race within the margin of error, with Obama leading by just 49%-46%. "Over the past several weeks, independent and undecided voters have shifted toward Obama. But this week's poll also found that 13 percent of his supporters are likely to change their minds, a sign that he has not locked up Florida's electoral votes." 
 
On the other hand, a new Miami Herald poll shows Obama up by seven, 49%-42%. Good nugget: "Obama has tied McCain among voters over 65 years old. They backed McCain by seven more percentage points than Obama in last month's poll, which was taken just as news of the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy precipitated the economic crisis." 
 
Don't miss this great story about Spanish-language television in the Miami Herald. "Univisión Communications, the media giant with two broadcast networks, a Web portal and multiple radio stations, expects to sell as much as $20 million in political ads during the second half of 2008 and around $37 million for the entire year, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Hobson told investors in a second-quarter conference call." And there's this: "Jorge Ramos, Univisión's news anchor, claims he has conducted more one-on-one interviews with the 2008 presidential candidates than any other anchor in the mainstream media. So far, he has interviewed Barack Obama twice and John McCain three times. Four years ago, he only got a couple minutes -- once -- with Democratic hopeful John Kerry."

INDIANA: A hot-off-the-presses Mason-Dixon poll shows McCain maintaining a lead in Indiana, 48%-43%.

Here's a big number of the day, per the Indy Star. "Obama's rally here Thursday was his 47th campaign event in Indiana this year. McCain has had two, and the last was on July 1." 

MICHIGAN: Obama is up 51%-37% in an EPIC/MRA poll among likely voters.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: Hillary Clinton will stump next week in parts of New Hampshire. 
 
OHIO: Jay-Z and LeBron James headline a free Obama event in Cleveland Wednesday. (Could the down-in-the-polls McCain draw inspiration from the notoriously cocky rapper's lyric: "Difficult takes a day, impossible takes a week"?) 

PENNSYLVANIA: The Baltimore Sun on the Keystone State: "The McCain campaign is not limiting its reach to the western part of the state. Republicans hope that Clinton's 9-point primary win means that Obama is vulnerable across the state, from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg to Scranton. Democrat John Kerry won Pennsylvania by 140,000 votes four years ago, so campaign operatives say that McCain needs to find on average only 2,000 more votes in each of 67 counties." 
 
Keep an eye on Scranton, advises the Philly Inquirer: "Democrats typically rely on big margins in Scranton, a former coal-mining town of 75,000, to help win statewide. Recent polls, and detailed interviews with voters here this week, suggest that anxiety over the economy has helped Obama convert skeptics. Many blame President Bush for their economic struggles and are reluctant to turn to another Republican. Still, there is a deep vein of support for McCain among voters who cite his experience, his record of military heroism, and his opposition to abortion rights. McCain strategists are counting on a silent majority of such backers to come from behind in Pennsylvania." Kerry won Lackawanna County, where Scranton is, 56%-42%.

A young McCain volunteer in Pittsburgh was mugged an assaulted -- apparently for her political views. "Police spokeswoman Diane Richard said the robber took $60 from [the woman], then became angry when he saw a McCain bumper sticker on the victim's car. The attacker then punched and kicked the victim, before using a dull knife to scratch the letter 'B' into her face, Richard said."

Per NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy, both McCain and Palin called the victim's family to express their concerns, and McCain called the victim directly. The campaign won't be addressing the issue much more as they say this is not their area because it is a crime and not a political event.

The Obama camp released this statement, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the young woman for her to make a speedy recovery, and we hope that the person who perpetrated this crime is swiftly apprehended and brought to justice."

"While Republicans seized on Biden's remark to raise doubts about Obama, they ignored Biden's own conclusion about Obama's response to such a foreign test: 'They're going to find out this guy's got steel in his spine,'" the AP points out. "History shows presidents of both political parties have had to cope with unexpected overseas crises within a year of taking office. Few of those events could be considered the intentional work of foreign meddlers, as Biden seemed to predict Sunday, but foreign leaders, rebel groups and others have taken advantage of crisis or misfortune to gauge the resolve of new American administrations."

The New York Times looks at yesterday's back-and-forth over taxes. "As Mr. Obama headed to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother, it was unclear if Mr. McCain would temporarily let up in his criticism of his opponent, but he exercised no restraint on Thursday. All day long, his campaign plucked other "Joes" from the crucial swing counties of the Interstate 4 corridor and put them in front of microphones to echo Mr. McCain's position that small-business owners would be unfairly taxed should Mr. Obama win the White House."

More: "Mr. Obama spoke on Thursday to a crowd in downtown Indianapolis that the local authorities estimated at 35,000 people, and he hit Mr. McCain as supporting corporate tax cuts. 'If Senator McCain wants to defend tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, that's his choice,' Mr. Obama said at the rally at the American Legion Mall. 'But I say, let's end tax cuts for companies that ship American jobs overseas, and give them to companies that create good jobs right here in Indiana, in the United States of America.'"

A Politico piece noting the circular firing squad going on within the GOP contains this nugget. "Offered a chance to respond to the suggestion that the McCain campaign is awash in defeatism, a McCain official delivered a decidedly measured appraisal: 'We have a real chance in Pennsylvania. We are in trouble in Colorado, Nevada and Virginia. We have lost Iowa and New Mexico. We are OK in Missouri, Ohio and Florida. Our voter intensity is good and we can match their buy dollar for dollar starting today till the election. It's a long shot but it's worth fighting for.'"

"Earlier this week, campaign manager Rick Davis complained to reporters in a conference call that reporters refuse to call out Obama for alleged shady fund-raising tactics, but in the process revealed no small amount of envy about the Democratic financial advantage. 'Now, I'd love to have that $4 million right now to put into Pennsylvania,' he said. 'It'd be a good thing for our campaign. I think it's a game-changer if I can slap all of that right on Philadelphia media market. It's an expensive place. And, yet, Barack Obama gets away with raising illegitimate money and spending it.'"

Yet the New York Times' Adam Nagourney notes that this race still isn't over. "Even the most hearty of the McCain supporters acknowledge that it will not be easy, and there are a considerable number of Republicans who say, off the record, that the 2008 cake is baked. At this point in the campaign, Mr. McCain's hopes of victory may rest on events over which he simply does not have control. Still, there do seem to be enough question marks hovering over this race that it is not quite time for Mr. McCain to ride his bus back to Arizona."

"'It's an uphill battle,' said Karl Rove, who was the chief strategist for President Bush going back to Mr. Bush's first run for governor in 1994. 'But I remember seven days out from the Texas gubernatorial race, and everybody was like, 'It's all over, we're cooked!' And we won by seven points.'"

The Washington Post's Balz: "McCain's advisers acknowledge that his way back is difficult, but they maintain that there is a way. It requires a combination of smart campaigning, traction for his arguments and what the McCain team hopes will be fears among the electorate at the prospect of a Democrat in the White House with expanded Democratic majorities in Congress. McCain plans in the closing days to focus on taxes and spending, national security, and what one adviser called 'the perils of an Obama presidency with no checks and balances.'"

"McCain's team dismisses the most dire polls -- those showing the race nationally with a double-digit lead for Obama. Advisers believe the contest's margin is in the five-to-seven-point range, about the same deficit, they say, that then-Vice President Al Gore faced at this time eight years ago against then-Gov. George W. Bush. (A Washington Post poll at the same point in the 2000 race showed a tie.)"

Campaigning in Florida yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel notes of McCain: "At his two rallies, McCain displayed a sense of urgency he has sometimes lacked on the stump. In Ormond Beach, he pounded the lectern as he lashed into Obama. In Sarasota, his energy seemed to transfer to the crowd."

McCain will hold his election night rally in Phoenix. "What is hopefully billed 'Victory Election Night 2008' is set for the swanky Arizona Biltmore hotel. The Associated Press is reporting that McCain is not going to make his election night remarks in the traditional style -- at a podium standing in front of a sea of campaign workers jammed into a hotel ballroom -- but instead plans to address another group of supporters and a small group of reporters on the hotel lawn.

We guess meeting with right-wing dictators is okay… Huffington Post reports that McCain traveled to Chile in 1985 to meet with that country's dictator, General Augusto Pinochet.  According to a declassified U.S. Embassy cable about the meeting …, McCain described the meeting with Pinochet "as friendly and at times warm, but noted that Pinochet does seem obsessed with the threat of communism." McCain, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee at the time, made no public or private statements critical of the dictatorship."

Check out this campaign spending, per the AP: "McCain's Oct. 1-15 filing showed that the campaign paid $22,800 to Palin's traveling stylist, Amy Strozzi, an acclaimed celebrity makeup artist. In contrast, McCain's foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was paid $12,500, the report showed. McCain's major expense was advertising — he spent more than $19 million from Oct. 1-15 on ads. The RNC contributed an extra $10 million to help with those media buys. It also spent $8.5 million on ads on behalf of McCain that were placed independently of his campaign."

"McCain still has $21 million left over from the primary elections that he cannot use in the general but can distribute to Republican Party committees. In October, he doled out $8.5 million from that account to party committees in the battleground states of Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin, Nevada, Ohio, North Carolina and Florida. Obama contributed $14 million to Democratic committees in those states and more."

Perhaps no article underscores Obama's strength right now than this: Downballot Democrats are looking to grab on to a piece of Obama's perceived coattails. The Wall Street Journal: "'Barack Obama is 100% focused on winning the White House, because he knows the middle class can't afford to let John McCain carry out [President George W.] Bush's failed policies,' said campaign spokesman Nick Shapiro. But Obama aides acknowledged that in the final days of the campaign, the candidate would be putting more emphasis on Democrats down-ballot, if for no other reason than those candidates have closer ties to their communities and can bring out voters for him."

Obama spends this second to last weekend of the campaign out west -- which probably means he's making his last stops out there and spending the final week in the Rust Belt and the South.

Obama's fundraising pace has slowed, the AP writes. "Obama, the Democratic nominee, spent more than $105 million during the first two weeks of October, according to new campaign finance reports. He reported raising only $36 million for his campaign during that period, about half the fundraising pace he enjoyed in September."

"Former Massachusetts Gov. William Weld, a Republican, is endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president, citing the senator's steady leadership, good judgment and ability to unify Democrats, Republicans and independents. 'Senator Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime candidate who will transform our politics and restore America's standing in the world,' Weld said in a statement released Friday. 'We need a president who will lead based on our common values and Senator Obama demonstrates an ability to unite and inspire. Throughout this campaign I've watched his steady leadership through trying times and I'm confident he is the best candidate to move our country forward.'" Weld planned to hold a news conference at Obama's campaign office in Salem at 11 a.m.
 
And former Bush White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan also endorsed the Democratic nominee

The AP: "Sarah Palin is blaming gender bias for the controversy over $150,000 worth of designer clothes, hairstyling and accessories the Republican Party provided for her, a newspaper reported Thursday. 'I think Hillary Clinton was held to a different standard in her primary race,' Palin said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune posted on the newspaper's Web site Thursday night. 'Do you remember the conversations that took place about her, say superficial things that they don't talk about with men, her wardrobe and her hairstyles, all of that? That's a bit of that double standard.'"

(So what about the attention that John Edwards' $400 haircut got?)

USA Today looks at Palin's state spending increases in Alaska and notes it contrasts with her fiscal conservative record. 

The AP looks at the open Republican House seats that are now Democratic targets. (List here).

GEORGIA: The Boston Globe goes down the Georgia. "In Georgia, a state that President Bush won by 17 percentage points in 2004, Chambliss held such a comfortable lead at first that he did not even bother airing television commercials until a few weeks ago. But polls now show Democrat Jim Martin within the margin of error. And a strong Democratic get-out-the-vote effort, driven by an Obama organization that boasts 53 paid staff and some 5,000 volunteers, is pushing up turnout as never before. Voter registration rose 12 percent between December 2007 and September, and in heavily Democratic Atlanta this week, people waited in lines for an hour and a half to cast their votes early."
 
NEW YORK: The New York Post's cover: "MIIIKE! Historic vote paves the way for third term."

NORTH CAROLINA: How much does the DSCC heart Kay Hagan? "The group has poured in more than $6.6 million, according to the Federal Election Commission. Most of the money has gone into anti-Dole ads aired in homes across the state. Dole spokesman Dan McLagan said the group has reserved enough air time to push the figure past $11 million."

From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
BEAVER, Pa. -- Palin took one from Joe Namath's playbook Thursday night, guaranteeing a win in Pennsylvania.

Augmenting her normal ode to "Joe the Plumber," Palin used the rally on the Beaver High School football field to acknowledge Namath, one of the area's most famous football players, who she dubbed "Joe the Quarterback."

"Now Joe Namath is probably a little bit before your time," Palin said. "But do you remember though in the biggest game of his life, all the experts had Joe Namath and the Jets written off to defeat?"

Making an analogy between the New York Jets' appearance in Super Bowl III to her view of the Obama campaign, Palin noted Namath was "up against the elite team that had all the money and they were held in awe by the media."        

"And Broadway Joe replied, 'We're gonna win the game, I guarantee it,'" she said. "And they won. And I hope Joe won't mind if I paraphrase him some in this state, his home state. Pennsylvania, with your help, we're going to win this state. I guarantee it."

Namath grew up in nearby Beaver Falls, part of the same county as Beaver High School.

In what was dubbed a "pep rally," Palin and her family walked out behind the Beaver Bobcats football team, and alongside coach Jeff Beltz, who gave the GOP ticket his personal endorsement.

"While allowing the Beaver football team to be a part of the national campaign this evening, the Republican Party is placing the understanding and value of local traditions," Beltz said. "To me, the Republican committee has demonstrated that they understand the importance of the individual, the importance of tradition and the importance of consistency."

Like the other candidates, Palin often campaigns at public schools, and with local pep bands and cheerleaders providing entertainment. But Beltz's comments suggested the school district's support.

"The Beaver Area School District is honored to celebrate our own gridiron accomplishments alongside this historical political race," Beltz said. "As our Bobcats prepare for a playoff run, the … Republican Party gains momentum too."

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- If the Democrats carry North Carolina this fall, it will be proof of Obama's ability to bring the nation together, Biden argued this afternoon.

"It will send a very important message to the nation that we are no longer just divided blue and red. We are no longer North and South," Biden said on the campus of Wake Forest University. "We [will] once again have a president who's been able to reach out in a general election and unite the country going into his administration."

Bringing the nation together is critical, the Delaware senator said, because the nation needs to move beyond the "product of this politics of division and diversion," as evidenced by the McCain campaign's robo-calls.

"It's done again to appeal to the strategy of Karl Rove and company that has worked so well over the last eight years for apolitical party, but worked so badly for America," he said.

Whoever becomes president will be faced with "a heavy load economically and internationally."

"The decisions are going to be too tough," he said. "But ladies and gentlemen, what have great presidents always done, great presidents have always, always turned difficult circumstances into genuine opportunities for change. … And they've done it by appealing to our better angels."

Biden today has updated his economic appeals to include criticism of McCain's defense of "President Bush's position on outsourcing jobs."

"We refuse to accept John's assertion that this is, as he recently said, simple, fundamental economics," Biden said. "It is not simple fundamental economics. It is Bush-McCain economics that has got us into this very deep hole."

From NBC's Savannah Guthrie
Palin will be deposed tomorrow by the independent investigator working for the Alaska personnel board. The interview will be under oath. Todd Palin will be deposed separately tomorrow.

Among the campaign staff and reporters traveling with Palin today was her personal attorney, Thomas Van Flein, who flew from Alaska to meet Palin, and traveled on the campaign plane this afternoon from Dayton to Pittsburgh. As evidenced by the gaps in Palin's schedule today (for "private meetings"), and the hefty white binder Van Flein carried under his arm, the lawyer is here to prep the Palins for their meeting with the personnel board investigator.

Coming 11 days before the election, the depositions are not well-timed for the campaign, which had to deal with a spate of Troopergate headlines two weeks ago, when the legislative committee issued its report on the matter. (It found Palin abused her power.)

NBC has learned that the investigator for the personnel board insisted the depositions take place now and the Palins, who, after all, initiated this investigation, were in no position to protest about the timing.

From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger

TROY, Ohio -- Palin told voters Thursday not to dismiss her opponent's critique of foreign policy as just a "rhetorical flourish," Obama did a day earlier.

"I question dismissing Joe Biden's moment of truth telling as nothing more than a social embarrassment," Palin said at a rally at Hobart Arena. "Sen. Obama's own running mate, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has informed us that a serious international crisis is certain if Obama is elected and that he is not ready to deal with it and America doesn't need smooth talk that glosses over that question, we need straight talk that answers it."

Palin continued to use Biden's remarks to suggest Obama was not ready to serve as commander in chief, but did not annunciate the scenarios she believed made him unqualified, as she had during the last two days.  Instead, she utilized his expertise on foreign affairs as a way to suggest he was speaking from experience.

"Biden has warned us that Sen. Obama is not ready for the presidency, and in fact, Biden said that he would be honored to run on the ticket with McCain because that way, the country would be better off if McCain were elected," she said. "Now at least Joe and I have found some common ground, finally."

In a new exchange, Palin asked the audience whether they would hire McCain and her as commanders in chief.

"We will be there to work for you, the people of America," she said. "So Ohio, will you hire us? Will you send us to Washington to shake things up and clean things up?

"Alright. It's a deal then, we'll take the job," she said to applause and laughter.

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones

INDIANAPOLIS -- At his last campaign event before heading to Hawaii to visit his ailing grandmother, Barack Obama hit his rival for proposing more tax breaks for companies that outsource U.S. jobs.

The rally here on the American Legion Mall marked Obama's seventh trip to this red state during the general election. Obama urged the crowd of 35,000 people to vote early and noted that today is the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, an attack that killed 241 people, before going on to criticize John McCain's tax policy.

Video: Barack Obama outlines reforms he would undertake in healthcare and education if elected president.

The senator, who noted that Indiana had lost 4,500 manufacturing jobs in September alone and that new numbers showed more and more Americans were filing for unemployment, has consistently tried to portray himself as a champion of the middle class and to argue that his opponent would continue economic policies that favor the rich.

"Just yesterday, John McCain strongly defended the Bush policy of lavishing tax cuts on corporations including those that ship American jobs overseas," he said, referring to comments McCain made in a television interview. "He made kind of a strange argument that the best way to stop companies from shipping jobs overseas is to give more tax cuts to companies that are shipping jobs overseas."

Obama went on, speaking in an incredulous tone: "More tax cuts for jobs outsourcers. That's what Sen. McCain proposed as his answer to outsourcing. He said that's – quote – "simple fundamental economics."  Well, Indiana, my opponent may call that "fundamental economics," but we know that's just another name for the Wall Street first, Main Street last. That's the kind of economic philosophy we've had for the past eight years – and that's fundamentally wrong."

Obama recognized the sheet metal workers, steelworkers, Teamsters and carpenters in the crowd and gave a shout out to future farmers, noting that the city was hosting the Future Farmers of America convention.

"I want you to know that if I'm elected president, I will fight for you," he said. "Because America's farmers are America's future. It's time we had a president who understood that."

Democrats have rarely made Indiana a stop this late in the election season, as Sen. Evan Bayh noted, in his brief remarks.

"For the last 50 years at this time of the election season, Indiana has been more or less an afterthought," Bayh said. "The Republicans have taken us for granted and too often the Democrats have written us off. But not Barack Obama."

Bayh said Obama had dozens of offices, hundreds of paid staff and volunteers and would fight for the Hoosier State.

From NBC's Carrie Dann

Downballot Republicans may have grumbled a little to hear about the RNC's $150,000 subsidy of Sarah Palin's wardrobe, but one who may have been particularly unhappy to hear the news is embattled Minnesota Republican Norm Coleman. Coleman, who's in one of the country's tightest Senate races, has already been fighting against accusations that he's too cozy with GOP consultant and mega-insider Jeff Larson. Now, the Atlantic's Josh Green has tied Larson's name to the cash shelled out for Palin's wardrobe.  And Minnesota Democrats wasted little time drawing attention to the notion that Coleman also gets his suits from Neiman Marcus on the dime of "his special interest friends."

This new web video doesn't mention Palin or Larson specifically, but the story creates a sticky situation for a candidate trying to shake the label of a DC insider.

From NBC's Mike Memoli

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- This is one comparison John McCain won't mind.

As Biden tried to tie McCain to President Bush this morning, he slipped and referred the Republican nominee as "John McLane." He immediately recognized the mistake, and tried to roll with it.

"I don't recognize him anymore. I used to know him well," he said, before acknowledging it was "a bad joke." The crowd laughed politely, anyway.

All kidding aside, as Biden would say, he continued on, saying that in the course of this campaign the American people have seen that there is "not one fundamental economic issue" where McCain and the president disagree.

"I know we're not running against George Bush," he said. "But we are running against the very economic policies John McCain is promising to continue to push forward." And borrowing what he said was one of his mother's expressions, he joked: "If it walks like a duck, if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's a duck! … John McCain and Sarah Palin are quacking like George Bush!"

At the first of three events in the Tar Heel State, Biden also attempted to incorporate some NASCAR lingo into his stump, though the lines mostly fell flat to the crowd at UNC-Charlotte's Halton Arena.

"Right now, our campaigns are trading a little paint. But what worries me most is the McCain campaign seems to have gotten a little loose," he said, to only scattered laughs. "Not a lot of NASCAR fans in here," he conceded. "John's getting a little loose. He doesn't have much of a steady hand these days. And now, and now's the time, now's the time we most need a steady hand."

Republicans tried to do one better. "To offer a more accurate NASCAR analogy than Biden did: If Obama wins, he will raise taxes and our economy will go from a yellow to red flag," RNC spokesperson Alex Conant said in a statement.

Biden has two more opportunities to test his NASCAR lines on Tar Heel crowds, with stops later today in Winston-Salem and Raleigh.

From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy

ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – After giving a hard-hitting interview to the Washington Times yesterday in which he was stingingly critical of the Bush Administration, McCain continued his offensive today, forcefully calling on the Treasury Department to adopt his plan to purchase distressed mortgages.

"Let's go out and buy up the bad mortgages and give them a new mortgage at a level they can afford so you can stay in your home so if your neighbor defaults he doesn't bring down the value of your homes with him," McCain declared, banging on his podium. "And let's realize the American dream. I call on the administration to act now and buy up these home loan mortgages and keep people in their homes. And why isn't the secretary of the Treasury ordering them to do that?"

In the past, McCain has expressed the opinion that this administration isn't doing enough to address the housing crisis, but never as forcefully as today. He has never before so adamantly 'called' on the administration to act more aggressively to address the problem, but on a day when McCain is focusing on small businesses, his criticism became a bit more direct.

This morning's rally was the second of five stops for McCain today in this crucial I-4 corridor region of Florida on what his campaign is calling the "Joe the Plumber Bus Tour." Continuing his criticism of Biden's prediction that Obama will be tested early if he's elected president, McCain also responded this morning to Obama's recent explanation of his running mate's prediction.

"Yesterday, Senator Obama tried to explain away this warning – by saying that his running mate sometimes engages in rhetorical flourishes," McCain said, laughing to himself. "Really? That's another way of saying that he accidentally delivered some straight talk to America."

And McCain ended his critique by asking the crowd of several thousand gathered in the loading dock of a local building materials factory a very pointed question about his opponent's preparedness: "Are you ready to trust America's national security to an untested leader in these times of war?"

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann
*** Swing states swinging to Obama: Most of the national polls -- including our NBC/WSJ survey -- are now showing Obama with a double-digit national lead. And here come a slew of brand-new state polls that also suggest Obama is in command of this presidential contest. The University of Wisconsin's Big Ten Battleground polls have Obama up 10 points in Indiana (51%-41%), 13 points in Iowa (52%-39%), 22 in Michigan (58%-36%), 19 in Minnesota (57%-38%), 12 in Ohio (53%-41%), 11 in Pennsylvania (52%-41%), 13 in Wisconsin (53%-40%), and nearly 30 in Obama's home state of Illinois (61%-32%). Meanwhile, there are new Quinnipiac surveys that show Obama up five points in Florida (49%-44%), 14 in Ohio (52%-38%), and 13 in Pennsylvania (53%-40%). And finally, new CNN/Time surveys find Obama ahead by five points among likely voters in Nevada (51%-46%), four points in North Carolina (51%-47%), four in Ohio (50%-46%), and 10 points in Virginia (54%-44%). The lone state survey that shows McCain ahead: CNN/Time's West Virginia poll, where McCain's nine (53%-44%).

Video: NBC Deputy Political Director Mark Murray offers his first read on the Midwest battleground polls showing huge leads for Democrat Barack Obama.

*** McCain vs. Bush: Be sure not to miss McCain's exclusive interview with the Washington Times, in which the Arizona senator lashes out at President Bush. "Sen. John McCain on Wednesday blasted President Bush for building a mountain of debt for future generations, failing to pay for expanding Medicare and abusing executive powers, leveling his strongest criticism to date of an administration whose unpopularity may be dragging the Republican Party to the brink of a massive electoral defeat. 'We just let things get completely out of hand,' he said of his own party's rule in the past eight years." A very senior GOP strategist emails Politico's Mike Allen in response: "Lashing out at past Republican congresses instead of Pelosi and Reid, and echoing your opponent's attacks on you instead of attacking your opponent, and spending 150,000 hard dollars on designer clothes when congressional Republicans are struggling for money, and when your senior campaign staff are blaming each other for the loss in The New York Times [Magazine] 10 days before the election, you're not doing much to energize your supporters." Oh snap.

*** So when will we see those medical records? In Brian Williams' interview with the GOP ticket yesterday, Palin announced that she would agree to release her medical records. "If that will allow some curiosity seekers, perhaps, to have one more thing that they either check the box off that they can find something to criticize or to rest them assured over. I'm healthy, happy, I've had five kids. That's going to be in the medical records -- never seriously ill or hurt. You'll see that in the medical records."

*** The dangers of parachuting in: Spending part of the day with the McCain-Palin campaign for yesterday's interview was both an enviable and unenviable task. It's always tricky to over-read exhaustion. The campaign pushed back hard on an initial impression one of us said on MSNBC -- that there was a lack of chemistry between McCain and Palin during the interview -- and cautioned us not to read too much into the campaign soup that's exhaustion, mixed with a couple of tough news days for the ticket, some bad poll numbers, a healthy skepticism of the press, a pretty tough New York Times Magazine piece, and the fact that the two candidates don't spend every day together. It was the same dynamic as you might see with Obama and Biden, except they have the luxury of having the motivation of positive news on their side, which can loosen folks up. Bottom line: The McCain campaign appears a bit tight (which is understandable given where we are in the campaign). But there is a bunker mentality that folks like us, when we parachute in, can miss. It's a good lesson for all of us: Always be cautious from over-analyzing a situation; it can be dangerous punditry.

*** One other point: This is not an easy time for the trailing campaign, as more and more outsiders begin pointing fingers and assigning blame. It's human nature to look over your shoulder and wonder what's coming next. The McCain campaign team seems to be a more cohesive bunch than Kerry's, Gore's or Dole's, so the backbiting might be held to a minimum. But it doesn't make it any easier to read these pre-bituaries.

*** When politics and baseball collide: GOP strategist Craig Shirley emails First Read this thought: "If you are looking to complete the circle between 1980 and 2008, consider this: The last time the Phillies were in the World Series was … 1980, when they beat the Royals in five. Reagan himself defied history because the guideline for the 20th century was when an American League team won the series, the GOP won the presidency, and when the National League team won the Series, a Democrat won the White House." *** UPDATE *** Shirley meant to say the last time the Phillies were in the World Series AND won.

*** Fun fact of the day: The end of Yale's reign, courtesy of NBC's Robert Windrem and Garrett Haake: This will be the first time in 40 years that Yale will not have one of its former students on the ballot as president or vice president. Not since Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew battled Hubert H. Humphrey and Edmund Muskie in 1968 has Yale been shut out. Though Yale has had the last three presidents (and five overall), Harvard (where Obama went to law school) boasts the most presidents -- seven. And the only president to boast of degrees from both... George W. Bush. As for John McCain, per NBC's Abby Livingston, he would be only the second Naval Academy graduate to rise to commander in chief. The other was Jimmy Carter.

*** On the trail: McCain embarks on a "Joe the Plumber" bus tour across Florida. Obama holds a rally in Indianapolis before heading to Hawaii to visit his seriously ill grandmother. Biden is in North Carolina, hitting rallies in Charlotte, Winston-Salem, and Raleigh. And Palin holds rallies in Troy, OH and Beaver, OH.
 
Countdown to Election Day 2008: 12 days
Countdown to Electoral Vote Count: 77 days
Countdown to Inauguration Day 2009: 89 days
 
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A new round of Quinnipiac polls shows Obama widening his lead in Ohio (52%-38%) and maintaining an advantage in Pennsylvania (53%-40%). Obama also bests McCain in Florida (49%-44%), but has lost some ground; the same poll had the race at 51%-43% on October 1.

CNN/Time shows McCain playing defense in four of five Bush states.  Among likely voters, Obama leads in Nevada (51%-46%), North Carolina (51%-47%), Ohio (50%-46%), and Virginia (54%-44%). McCain leads in West Virginia (53%-44%).

COLORADO: "McCain, who trails Barack Obama by an average of 5 percentage points in Colorado polls, this week bought a total of $305,550 worth of ads at KUSA-Channel 9, KCNC-Channel 4 and KMGH-Channel 7, according to records. That is a 46 percent decrease from the week before and a 56 percent slide from two weeks ago." 
 
Biden's latest trip to the state was hardly to a liberal stronghold, underscoring the team's strategy of tamping down GOP margins in conservative counties. "For Biden, it was a foray into statistically unfriendly territory: in El Paso County, there are twice as many registered Republicans as Democrats. For the people in the crowd, pleased to find themselves surrounded by like-minded individuals, it was an important gesture."

FLORIDA: "Seeking a knockout punch against Republican John McCain, Democrat Barack Obama's campaign has poured people and money into Florida in building the largest field organization ever assembled in the Sunshine State," the Boston Globe reports. "Obama's campaign says it has deployed 500 paid staff members and boasts 160,000 volunteers in Florida, an unprecedented network that is hunting for votes via telephone, e-mail, and old-fashioned, door-to-door personal contact. Combined with a barrage of advertising, the Florida blitz will cost much more than the $39 million the campaign initially budgeted. McCain has fought back in Florida with his own formidable ground operation, and he held a solid lead in the state until last month, when Obama surged ahead in most polls. Surveys this week show the race for Florida, whose economy is being ravaged by the home foreclosure crisis, to be a dead heat."

Foreclosures in the Sunshine State continue to be on the rise.

NEW HAMPSHIRE: McCain was in New Hampshire yesterday. "McCain's strategists have long hoped that the candidate's personal ties to New Hampshire -- including support among independents and Democrats who have played key roles in his winning primary coalitions - would offer some insulation from a cold environment for Republicans due to the dominance of the economy and the Bush administration's unpopularity," the Boston Globe writes. "Advisers said yesterday they had not determined whether McCain would visit New Hampshire again before Nov. 4. He badly needs the state's four electoral votes. But the partisan environment - Democratic candidates are leading in races at all levels in this once conservative state - has punished McCain, who has lagged Obama in every poll taken here in the last month."

OHIO: The Plain Dealer breaks down those CNN/Time numbers to show that McCain's negative tack isn't getting much traction in the Buckeye state. "In that poll, 55 percent of those Ohioans said they were familiar with former Weather Underground radical William Ayers but it would not affect their vote, while another 18 percent said they were unfamiliar with Ayers. Fifty percent said they were familiar with ACORN but it would not affect their vote, while another 18 percent said they were not familiar with ACORN."

Texas for Obama? The Obama campaign is recruiting volunteers from the Lone Star State to journey to Ohio to help their candidate seal the deal.

VIRGINIA: A Richmond Times-Dispatch/Mason-Dixon poll (which we reported on yesterday) puts the race at a dead heat, 47%-45% with the slight advantage in Obama's favor (Margin of error: +/-4) 
 
Where's the attention shifting? The Obama-Biden team has shifted some of its ground troops out of Michigan to other Midwest battlegrounds. But we learned yesterday that the state's former communications director -- Brent Colburn -- popped up in Virginia this week for the final push.

While most national surveys show Obama with a double-digit lead (or close to it), a new AP poll has Obama up just one point among likely voters, 44%-43%. Meanwhile, a Fox News poll had Obama up 49-40. 

On that Rudy Giuliani robo-call that claims Obama opposes mandatory prison sentences, "'This is one of the most dishonest attacks yet from an increasingly dishonest, dishonorable campaign,' said Tom Nee, president of the National Association of Police Organizations, which supports Obama."

The AP runs through some Election Night-mare scenarios -- like a tie and the most likely problem: a clogging of the system and long lines due to record turnout.

The New York Times looks at where both McCain and Obama stand on foreign affairs.

The Washington Times reports, "Sen. John McCain on Wednesday blasted President Bush for building a mountain of debt for future generations, failing to pay for expanding Medicare and abusing executive powers, leveling his strongest criticism to date of an administration whose unpopularity may be dragging the Republican Party to the brink of a massive electoral defeat. 'We just let things get completely out of hand,' he said of his own party's rule in the past eight years. In an interview with The Washington Times, Mr. McCain lashed out at a litany of Bush policies and issues that he said he would have handled differently as president, days after a poll showed that he began making up ground on Sen. Barack Obama since he emphatically sought to distance himself from Mr. Bush in the final debate."

Politico's Mike Allen reports, "One of the most senior Republican strategists in the land warns the McCain campaign after reading the WashTimes interview: "Lashing out at past Republican congresses instead of Pelosi and Reid, and echoing your opponent's attacks on you instead of attacking your opponent, and spending 150,000 hard dollars on designer clothes when congressional Republicans are struggling for money, and when your senior campaign staff are blaming each other for the loss in The New York Times [Magazine] 10 days before the election, you're not doing much to energize your supporters. The fact is, when you're the party standard-bearer, you have an obligation to fight to the finish. I think they can still win. But if they don't think that, they need to look at how Bob Dole finished out his campaign 1996, and not try to take down as many Republicans with them as they can. Instead of campaigning in electoral-college states, Dole was campaigning in places he knew he didn't have a chance to beat Clinton, but where he could energize key House and Senate races. I think you'll find these sentiments shared by MANY of my fellow Republican strategists." Ouch.

The New York Times writes about McCain's struggles with Latino voters. "In the early days of the presidential campaign, Senator John McCain seemed to be in a good position to win support among Hispanic voters. He had sponsored legislation for comprehensive immigration overhaul in Congress, made a point of speaking warmly about the contributions of immigrants and was popular among Latinos in Arizona, his home state, which borders three battleground states here in the Southwest: New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada."

"But less than two weeks before Election Day, those advantages appear to have evaporated. Recent Gallup polls show Mr. McCain running far behind Senator Barack Obama among Hispanic voters nationwide, only 26 percent of whom favor the Republican. The possibility that Mr. McCain can duplicate George W. Bush's performance among Latinos in 2004, when Republicans won 44 percent of the vote, now seems remote."

The Washington Post looks back at the Keating Five scandal and how McCain responded to it. "The means and manner of McCain's political resuscitation during the weeks that followed provided a window to his emerging style amid controversy -- his zest for the big gamble, the aggressive push-back while his similarly beleaguered Keating Five colleagues took refuge behind closed doors, his deftness in recasting himself as a chastened reformer and his skill in turning a potentially disastrous setback to his advantage."

"Oddly, the crisis some thought would destroy him proved to be fortuitous. While the Keating episode was the most searing moment of his career, his response to it launched him into the national spotlight. Ever since, he has been on the long, if bumpy, ascension that led him to the Republican presidential nomination. Later those same instincts helped make his recovery possible in the wake of his crushing loss to George W. Bush for the 2000 presidential nomination. In both crises, he proved himself to be a resilient and resourceful fighter, a dangerous politician to underestimate."

Palin isn't the only running mate who has been creating heading headaches for the principal candidate. Check out this New York Times headline: "Obama Chides Biden Over Remark About a World Crisis Testing His Presidency."

From the story: "Senators Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. seldom see each other as they campaign for the Democratic ticket. And they talk only occasionally. But on Wednesday, Mr. Obama delivered a long-distance message to his running mate. "I think Joe sometimes engages in rhetorical flourishes," Mr. Obama said, gently chiding the vice-presidential nominee as he sought to sweep aside a dustup Mr. Biden touched off when he predicted that a world crisis would test Mr. Obama during his first six months in office."

"Obama yesterday sought to reinsert international affairs into a presidential campaign that for weeks has been dominated by the economic crisis, staging a high-profile meeting with foreign policy advisers and defending his running mate's comments that Obama would probably be tested by a crisis early in his presidency," the Boston Globe writes, adding, "McCain's campaign has seized on Biden's remarks to warn voters that now is not the time to elect a young president with little foreign policy experience."

The New York Times front-pages the $150,000 shopping spree for Palin -- and what it might have done to her political image. Sarah Palin's wardrobe joined the ranks of symbolic political excess on Wednesday, alongside John McCain's multiple houses and John Edwards's $400 haircut, as Republicans expressed fear that weeks of tailoring Ms. Palin as an average "hockey mom" would fray amid revelations that the Republican Party outfitted her with expensive clothing from high-end stores." More: "Republicans expressed consternation publicly and privately that the shopping sprees on her behalf, which were first reported by Politico, would compromise Ms. Palin's standing as Senator McCain's chief emissary to working-class voters whose salvos at the so-called cultural elite often delight audiences at Republican rallies."

The Washington Post: "When she was first introduced to the country as his running mate in late August, Palin provided a jolt of energy to the campaign, helping McCain consolidate restive conservatives and pull even with Obama in the weeks after the GOP convention. Obama has since opened a lead in most surveys, including a lead of 11 points in the most recent Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll, released Wednesday. But there is little sign that Palin has expanded her appeal beyond the GOP base, and she has been dogged by a steady of stream of politically damaging news, including the continuing investigation into her role in the firing of a state trooper in Alaska, her struggles in a series of network interviews and comments about 'real America' that she later apologized for. The latest controversy involves a report that the Republican National Committee spent $150,000 on makeup consultations and clothes at high-end department stores such as Neiman Marcus and Saks in New York and St. Louis."

"As her qualifications, her understanding of the vice presidency, and even her wardrobe came under renewed scrutiny yesterday, Sarah Palin told a high- profile conservative Christian leader that she isn't discouraged by the Republican ticket's sagging poll numbers because she and running mate John McCain have always been underdogs. 'I know at the end of the day, putting this in God's hands, the right thing for America will be done at the end of the day on Nov. 4,' the GOP vice presidential nominee told James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family."

To People magazine, Palin defended how she's been portrayed. She insisted she is a "voracious reader" and that she is currently reading, "The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11." "Asked about Tina Fey's impersonation of her as somewhat ditzy and 'bubble-headed' (on 'Saturday Night Live' last weekend, Fey as Palin did her fancy beauty pageant walk during a press conference), Palin replied, 'That's funny, I play her bubble-headed too when I imitate her.'"

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann "is one of four at-risk Republican incumbents left to fend for themselves by a cash-strapped House campaign arm in the crucial final days of the campaign amid a tough political environment for the GOP," the AP writes. "The National Republican Campaign Committee has also canceled planned TV ads to help GOP Reps. Marilyn Musgrave in Colorado, Tom Feeney in Florida and Joe Knollenberg in Michigan, spokeswoman Karen Hanretty confirmed."

MISSISSIPPI: Mississippi "hasn't elected a Democratic senator since John Stennis' re-election in 1982, nor has it voted for a Democratic White House candidate in seven presidential elections," the AP says. "But this year, things began to change when a Democrat won a vacant House seat in a special election and the party tagged the Senate contest as one to watch. With less than two weeks to go before the Nov. 4 election, the race between Republican incumbent Sen. Roger Wicker and his Democratic rival, former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, is a nail-biter. That's largely because of two factors: a historic economic meltdown that many blame on President Bush and record turnout expected among Mississippi's black population, 37 percent of the state, on behalf of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama."

NEW YORK: The New York Daily News: "After three furious weeks of casting about for support, Mayor Bloomberg and other officials find out Thursday if the City Council will let them seek a third term," the NY Daily News reports.

From NBC/NJ's Matthew E. Berger
GREEN, Ohio -- Palin may be overstating her running mate's positions on several key social policy issues, in an effort to shore up support from Christian conservatives. She told a prominent religious conservative Monday that McCain was committed to the positions in the Republican National Committee's platform that are more conservative than his previously stated views.

Palin told Dr. James Dobson in a radio interview, which aired today, that she believes McCain -- if elected -- will implement the Republican Party platform, which includes positions stem cells, abortion and gay marriage that are more conservative than previous positions McCain has taken.

"I do, from the bottom of my heart," she told Dobson. "I am such a strong believer that McCain believes in those strong planks and we do have good conversations about some of the details too, about the different planks and what they represent."

Dobson began the conversation by calling the platform the "strongest pro-life, pro-family document to come out of a political party." More conservative than in previous elections, the Republican platform this year advocates for a constitutional amendments to ban abortion and define marriage as between a man and a woman, as well as ban on embryonic stem cell research.

But McCain doesn't share his platform's views on these controversial issues. While he opposes abortion rights, McCain does not favor a constitutional amendment to ban it. He also opposes the gay marriage ban. On stem cells, McCain actually supports relaxing federal restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, implemented by President Bush.

Palin -- viewed as more conservative than McCain -- has advocated for all of the social policy positions in the platform, and received praise from Dobson. And while the campaign acknowledges disagreements between the candidates -- they say that "mavericks" don't always agree -- Palin may have unwittingly put McCain on her side of those divisive issues.

Asked whether Palin misspoke or whether McCain was changing his position on these social issues, Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt replied, "John McCain and Gov. Palin both strongly support the fundamental principles of the GOP platform."

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
RICHMOND, Va. -- In his first full press conference in nearly a month, Obama said he was pleased with President Bush's decision to convene an international meeting to address the global financial crisis.

He also responded to questions about his running mate Joe Biden's recent statement that if elected, the Democrat would be "tested" by an international crisis within the first six months of his presidency.

The financial meeting -- the kind of meeting Obama said he had called for in September -- is set for mid-November, but Obama said he did not want to get ahead of himself by discussing his possible participation.

"Even though the election will have taken place and we will have a new president elect, we are still going to have one president at a time until January 20th when the new president is sworn in, so there is always a transition period – I don't want to get too much ahead of ourselves," he said, adding that his economic team was in regular contact with Treasury Sec. Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and would continue to closely monitor the situation. "But I don't want to make commitments at this point in terms of our participation, my participation in something before I've even won the election."

Obama made the comments flanked by 15 advisors who are part of his Senior Working Group on National Security. He convened the group to discuss the challenges the country faces abroad -- including the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan and the financial crisis.

The senator delivered brief remarks in which he mentioned Gen. Colin Powell's endorsement -- a point that has become a part of his stump speech and one his campaign is stressing to show he has the faith of an experienced military figure uniquely familiar with global challenges facing the country. He argued it was time for a president who understands the intersection between economic strength at home and strength abroad.

He said the meeting -- planned "two to three weeks ago" -- was not a response to Biden's "tested" remarks, which he suggested were "rhetorial flourishes." He said Biden's point was in line with similar comments made by Homeland Security Sec. Michael Chertoff.

"I think the point that Joe made is actually very similar to the one that Sec. Chertoff made today or yesterday which is that whoever is the next president, is gonna have to deal with a whole host of challenges internationally and that a period of transition in a new administration is always one in which we have to be vigilant," he said. "We have to be careful, we have to be mindful that as we pass the baton in this democracy that others don't take advantage of it. That is true whether it's myself or  Sen McCain and its been throughout our history."

The Obama campaign has argued that he would do a better job of repairing US relations with allies around the world and that he has shown better judgment than McCain on issues from the war in Iraq to diplomacy to dealing with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The meeting participants included Lt. Gen. John G. Castellaw (USMC, Ret.), Mr. Greg Craig, Sec. Richard Danzig, MG Paul Eaton (USA, Ret.), Rep. Lee Hamilton, Amb. Richard Holbrooke, MG Geoff Lambert (USA, Ret.), MG Al Lenhardt (USA, Ret.), ADM John Nathman (USN, Ret.), Sen. Sam Nunn, Rep. Tim Roemer, Amb. Dennis Ross, Ms. Mara Rudman, Amb. Wendy Sherman, Brig. Gen. Jim Smith (USAF, Ret.), and Mr. Jim Steinberg.  Senator Biden participated by phone, as did Secretary Madeleine Albright, Sen. Gary Hart, and Dr. Susan Rice.

Obama last spoke with a small pool of reporters in Ohio on Oct. 14 while he was preparing for the final debate. His last full press conference was on Sept. 25 in Washington during the midst of the negotiations over the rescue plan for the financial system. He took five questions from four reporters in today's avail.

NBC's Brian Williams interviewed Palin and McCain today. Look for more on NBC's Nightly News tonight.

In this question, Palin went on the offensive when talking about "pre-conditions," saying Obama is ill prepared for the presidency.

BRIAN WILLIAMS: Gov. Palin, yesterday, you tied this notion of an early test to the president with this notion of preconditions, that you both have been hammering the Obama campaign on. First of all what in your mind is a pre-condition?

PALIN: You have to have some diplomatic strategy going into a meeting with someone like Ahmadinejad or Kim Jong Il, or one of these dictators that would seek to destroy America or our allies. It is so naive and so dangerous for a presidential candidate to just proclaim that they would be willing to sit down with a leader like Ahmadinejad, and just talk about the problems, the issues that are facing them, that's some ill-preparedness right there.

On another note, as noted on MSNBC's Hardball, when Palin was asked whether she would release her medical records, she said she would -- something that seemed to be a surprise to her campaign.

Previously the campaign had said they would not release her medical records.

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- While Palin continues to hammer away at Biden, the Delaware senator is for the most part focusing on McCain, hitting him again today for a "wait-and-see" attitude on a second stimulus package.

Biden said a second package, with the endorsement of Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, is "no longer a partisan issue," except to McCain. He referred to the Arizona senator's statement recently that America could not spend four more years "waiting for our luck to change," and compared it to the statement yesterday of a McCain adviser, saying "we have to wait and see" about a second stimulus package.

"John's still betting on luck. I'm betting on Barack Obama," Biden said. "How much more do we have to see? People need help now. John McCain … remains the odd man out once again, vacillating from one position to another."

Palin has pounced on Biden's comments this weekend about Obama likely being tested early in his administration. But Biden has not revisited the comments since then, and the campaign has declined to comment beyond an initial statement this weekend. "Not gonna chase that rabbit when we've got the bear in our sights," spokesman David Wade said today.

Still, Biden has been referring regularly to Palin's comments at her own fundraiser, about happily visiting "pro-America" parts of the country as he has ramped up a focus on the need to unite the country.

"Governor Palin may have stepped back from her more divisive rhetoric. But ladies and gentlemen, the Republican campaign has stepped up their attacks in ways that are just as divisive," he said. "One of the reasons we're running is we know how damaging the politics of division has been in America, not only for us at home, but abroad. How do you unite the world when the world looks at us as a divided country?"

Biden also implored the crowd to take advantage of early voting.

"I want you to turn off the TV about red states and blue states," he said. "I want you focusing on one thing. Get out now and vote now. Because you know, you know something's going to come our way. You know these guys are going to not only throw the kitchen sink, which they've been throwing. They're going to find the bathroom sink. There's going to be a lot coming our way."