From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger
DALLAS – Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday that she had been "clobbered" in previous interviews and suggested Obama was unqualified to be commander in chief.

"Some of his comments that he has made about the war that I think may in my world disqualify someone from consideration as the next commander in chief," she told Fox News Channel. "Some of his comments about Afghanistan and what we are doing there supposedly, just air raiding villages and killing civilians. That's reckless."

She also suggested she disagreed with the McCain's campaign to minimize campaign operations in Michigan. She said she emailed campaign officials Friday morning, suggesting she and Todd would be happy to travel to Michigan to campaign.

Palin sat down with Fox's Carl Cameron in St. Louis the morning after her vice presidential debate. She said the debate "was a lot of fun" and said she appreciated that the exchange was unfiltered, compared to previous media interviews where she suggested she was unfairly treated by interviewers.

"If you choose to try and pivot and go on to another subject that you believe that Americans want to hear about you get clobbered for that too," she said. "But in those Katie Couric interviews I did feel that there were a lot of things that she was missing in terms of an opportunity to ask what a V.P. candidate stands for."

Cameron asked again a question that had tripped Palin up before – what types of newspapers and magazines she reads. Palin replied that she reads "the same things that other people across the country read," and mentioned the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Economist.

"I was sort of taken aback, like, the suggestion was, you're way up there in a far away place in Alaska," she said of Couric's questions about newspapers. "And I was taken aback by that because I don't know, the suggestion just was a little bit of perhaps we're not in tune with the rest of the world."

She also told Cameron she should not have been so flippant about what Supreme Court decisions she opposed and rattled off several that she disagreed with, including ones on the death penalty and eminent domain.

Palin spent her day mostly fundraising, including at a 200-person luncheon in Dallas. Palin was greeted by protesters with some clever signs including "Don't Wink at Me EVER" and "I can see Mexico from here…can I be vice president?"

She also met with privately with oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens.

From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy
PUEBLO, Colo. --  Maybe last night's debate inspired McCain to get right to his own preparation for the next matchup with Obama next week. The Arizona senator was uncharacterisically brief this afternoon at a town hall at Colorado State University, taking only four questions and wrapping up almost 45 minutes early.

During his introductory remarks, McCain praised his running mate's performance and asked the audience what they thought.

Video: McCain tells a Colorado audience that he's proud of Palin's performance in the vice presidential debate.

"Could I begin by asking you very briefly, how about Sarah Palin last night, heh? How 'bout her, eh? How 'bout the job she did, eh?," McCain said to resounding applause. He then added, chuckling, "You know, I almost felt a little sorry last night for my old friend Joe Biden. She did a magnificent job."

McCain spoke as the House was voting to approve the Wall Street bailout legislation. He said he was "hopeful" that the legislation would pass and "restore people's lives to a large degree."

"We know them and we've got to fix this problem, and it's our obligation," McCain said. "I am a proud conservative. I am a proud opponent of waste and pork barrel spending. I am proud but I also have to tell you the government has to step in at this time and save Main Street from the challenges and the disaster that's looming."

Previewing his town hall-style debate with Obama next Tuesday, McCain said that voters would "learn a lot about who's the liberal and who's the conservative," and he also hit Obama for having nice "rhetoric" on tax relief but no record to back it up.

"So, do we believe Senator Obama when he says he's going to do the opposite of what his record shows?," McCain said, to a loud "No" from the crowd of nearly 5,000. "Or are we going to elect a team of proven mavericks who go to Washington and really shake things up? That's the question."

From NBC's Carrie Dann and Mark Murray
On the same day that debate truth squads are publishing fact checks re-debunking the McCain-Palin talking point that Barack Obama voted for tax hikes "94 times," the McCain campaign is going on the air with the same message.

The ad features a video clip of Obama declaring "I'm a tax cutter!" before a narrator poses the question "Really?" Senator Obama voted ninety-four times for higher taxes."

Although Obama has made no secret of the fact that he plans to raise taxes on some high-income Americans, the 94 number often used by the McCain-Palin campaign is an exaggeration. Per Factcheck.org, "The majority of the 94 votes – 53 of them ... were on budget measures, not tax bills, and would not have resulted in any tax change. Four other votes were non-binding motions related to conference report negotiations."  Additionally, some of the votes were on measures that would have cut taxes for many Americans while raising them only on companies and the wealthy.

Under the candidates' tax plans, both Obama and McCain would actually be "tax cutters" to Americans making under $250,000 per year.  According to the Tax Policy Center, Obama's proposal allows for deeper cuts to low-income earners and tax hikes for those in the top income brackets; McCain would cut taxes for all income groups, with the largest decreases going to those who make over $500,000 annually.

*** UPDATE **** Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor writes in response to the McCain ad: "While the McCain campaign continues to feel no shame in repeating one of the most discredited lies of the election, their own candidate is offering a health care plan that will actually tax people's benefits for the very first time.  Barack Obama will cut taxes for 95% of workers and their families and make health care affordable and available for every single American."

From NBC/NJ's Athena Jones
ABINGTON, Pa. -- Barack Obama applauded his running mate's performance in last night's debate, saying that the "Scranton boy done good" and contrasting his rival's positions in the debate with the latest job numbers.

In a speech before some 6,000 people gathered at a windy high school football stadium in a Philadelphia suburb, Obama mentioned a "noteworthy" moment from the St. Louis match up between Biden and Sarah Palin: when the governor said the Democrats' economic policy would kill jobs.

"I wonder if she turned on the news this morning, because it was just reported that America has experienced its ninth straight month of job loss," he said.

America has lost more than three quarters of a million jobs since January, and Obama is hoping to convince concerned voters that a vote for his ticket is a vote for more jobs. He said his economic policies would create millions of new jobs, including five million in clean energy technology and two million in infrastructure. He repeated a common attack line that he and Biden use to cast McCain as out of touch, saying that only two weeks ago the Arizona senator was still saying the fundamentals of the economy were strong.

"When Sen. McCain and his running mate talk about job killing, that's something they know a thing or two about, because the policies they've supported and are supporting are killing jobs in America every single day," he said.

"I am here to tell you that we cannot afford four more years of this," he added. "We need to do what we did in the 1990s and create millions of new jobs and not lose them. We need to do what we did in the 1990s and make sure people's incomes are going up and not down. We need to do what a guy named Bill Clinton did in the 1990s and put people first again."

The Republican National Committee responded in a statement calling Obama's economic plan "dangerous."

"Unlike John McCain, Barack Obama thinks the answer to our nation's struggling economy is to kill job creation with higher taxes and oppose competitive tax rates that would keep jobs here in America," said RNC spokeswoman Amber Wilkerson. "As our nation faces an economic crisis, America's middle class deserves a President who will implement real reform in Washington and lead our economy back on track – not Barack Obama's dangerous proposals that will obstruct job creation and grow the size of Washington's bureaucracy

Today, Obama continued to paint McCain as a deregulator who was trying to change his stripes, even comparing him to Civil Rights leader and former Democratic presidential candidate Jesse Jackson. For 26 years, McCain has been for deregulation and tax cuts for the rich, Obama said.

"He hasn't been getting tough on CEOs. He hasn't been getting tough on Wall Street, so suddenly a crisis comes and the polls change and suddenly he's out there talking like Jesse Jackson," he said. "Come on. It shows how out of touch he really is."

After the event, Obama was headed home to Chicago to celebrate his 16th wedding anniversary before hitting the trail again Saturday in Virginia. He plans to spend several days, starting tomorrow evening, in Asheville, NC, preparing for the next presidential debate. 

 

After nearly two weeks of high drama on Capitol Hill, the U.S. House has approved a $700 billion financial rescue bill to bail out the nation's financial industry. The vote was 263-171, with a flood of members switching to support the bill after voting 'nay' on Monday.  Republicans picked up an additional 23 votes, and Democrats produced 32 more 'yea' votes than they did when the measure failed earlier in the week.

The bill will now be "enrolled"  - or prepared for signature - by the Clerk of the House and sent to the White House this afternoon.

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli
DOVER, Del. -- One day after his most high-profile appearance as the vice presidential candidate, a solemn Biden delivered brief remarks at the deployment ceremony of the 261st Tactical Signal BridBgade, a Delaware Army National Guard unit that includes his son, Beau.

"Like all of the family members that are here today gathered on this green, my heart is full of love and pride," he said. "We take comfort in the knowledge that you are the best trained, best prepared group of citizen soldiers our country and this state has ever sent into harm's way."

All told, Biden's remarks lasted just over three minutes, far shorter than his speeches typically are at such events, according to Lt. Col. Len Grattieri, spokesman for the Delaware Guard.

"I've come here many times before as a Delawarean, as a United States Senator, but today I come as you prepare to deploy as a father," Biden said. "A father who got some sage advice from his son this morning: 'Dad keep it short we're in formation.'"

Grattieri said Biden has spoken at the deployment ceremony of almost every Delaware unit during his service. His remarks typically include a discussion of the specific theater where troops are being deployed, but this morning Biden made no mention of this unit's destination, Iraq.

"You are the best demonstration of both our nation's greatness and, equally as importantly, our people's goodness," Biden said. "Thank you for answering the call of your country. Thank you for doing what brave women and men have always done in uniform and always do. So stand strong. Stand together. Serve honorably. Come home to your families who love you."

Last month, Palin also spoke at the deployment ceremony of her son, also bound for Iraq. In both cases, the events were considered non-partisan affairs.

This unit will have responsibility for communications systems throughout Iraq. Beau Biden, 39, is a member of the judge advocate corps and will handle judicial cases involving American servicemen. Biden is also the state attorney general of Delaware, but no special mention was made of his service.

The elder Biden was praised by the head of the Delaware National Guard as an "unshakable supporter" of the Guard.

"We,, in Delaware call him Senator Joe, but he has many other titles. Like sixth-ranking member of the United States Senate, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and, oh, vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket," said Gen. Francis Vavala.

Tom Carper, junior senator of Delaware, was the only dignitary who made mention of last night's debate, briefly saying that he was proud of his colleague as he's proud of the servicemen today.

Biden will spend the rest of the day with family, including Beau, who will leave with his unit to Texas Sunday morning before heading to Iraq.

From NBC's John Yang and Carrie Dann
If the House passes the financial rescue package this afternoon, the President is eager to sign it as soon as he can, even if it means that the bill will get a first-class airline ticket from Washington DC to Crawford, TX.

Deputy White House Press Secretary Tony Fratto told reporters during today's daily briefing that the White House and Congress will coordinate to ensure a quick signing. "We'd like to sign it as quickly as possible--as soon as they get it to us," he said. The bill could even be flown to Bush's Texas ranch for signature this weekend if necessary.  (It could make it to the White House as early as this afternoon, but timing depends partly on how long the bill's "enrollment" takes -- the process by which Congress prints it on parchment and prepares it for signature.)
 
Asked about the "sweeteners" that the Senate added to the measure to grease its passage, Fratto said, "The entire package of [tax cut] extenders is something we're very, very comfortable supporting." While he said some of them make for "good headlines" for foes of bloated government spending, "when you look deeper at them, they make a lot of sense."
 
What would today's bill do for the larger economy, which has taken another body slam today with the news that September job cuts were the worst in five years? "No one should be overpromising what this bill will do," Fratto said. "It's not been sold as giving a boost to the economy--it's to avoid a crisis."

*** UPDATE **** NBC's Mike Viqueira reports that the bill, should it pass, will be enrolled and sent the White House this afternoon. (No frequent flier miles after all.)

From NBC's Carrie Dann
Team Obama is out with their post-debate ad, which uses Biden's "plan to nowhere" line about McCain's health care tax credit, which Biden says would be cancelled out by taxes on Americans' health care benefits. 

The McCain camp, via spokesman Tucker Bounds, had this response to the Obama-Biden claim: "Oddly, instead of shying away from an outright lie told by Joe Biden last night, the Obama campaign appears willing to double-down on his reckless dishonestly.  It's a lie for the Obama campaign to say John McCain's health care plan taxes health care, when the McCain plan clearly provides the equivalent tax break for every American."

It's correct that McCain's plan does provide the same tax credit for all purchasers regardless of income, and the Washington Post's Fact Checker says that Biden did "mischaracterize" the consequences of McCain's plan. 

But the nonpartisan Urban Institute notes that "the credit is not adequate to make coverage affordable for many," especially low-income Americans or those with pricey health care needs.

During the same exchange used in the Obama ad,  Palin called McCain's plan "budget neutral."  Per the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, McCain's health care plan would actually increase the federal deficit by $1.3 trillion over ten years, just shy of the $1.6 trillion price tag on Obama's.

From NBC's Carrie Dann

Here's what the presidential candidates had to say this morning about the Labor Department's new numbers on job cuts, which show the largest monthly loss in five years. Both statements slam the rival campaigns' tax plans.

From McCain: "Today's report of another 159,000 lost jobs confirms what America's working men and women have understood for months: our nation's economy is on the wrong track. It is imperative that Congress act to address the financial crisis while protecting taxpayers and being good stewards of their dollars. But we must do more.

"America's middle class needs help from a government that is truly standing on their side and not in their way. I am committed to getting to the roots of this crisis -- reforming Washington and cleaning up the mess created by the greed and crony capitalism of government-backed mortgage giants -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I will reverse out-of-control spending, end the wasteful and corrupting practice of earmarks, and get the government budget back to balance. I will reform health care to control costs and better serve American families, open markets around the globe for our products, cut taxes, and expand domestic production of energy to eliminate the ability of international oil markets to hold our economy hostage. I will create jobs and get the economy on the right track.

"Unlike Senator Obama, I do not believe we will create one single American job by increasing taxes, going on a massive spending binge, and closing off markets. Our nation cannot afford Senator Obama's higher taxes."

And from Obama: "Today, Americans woke up to the sad news that 159,000 jobs were lost last month alone, making September the ninth straight month of job loss. With three-quarters of a million jobs lost this year, and millions of families struggling to pay the bills and stay in their homes, this country can't afford Senator McCain's plan to give America four more years of the same policies that have devastated our middle-class and our economy for the last eight."

"Instead of Senator McCain's plan to give tax breaks to CEOs and companies that ship jobs overseas, I will rebuild the middle-class and create millions of new jobs by investing in infrastructure and renewable energy that will reduce our dependence on oil from the Middle East. I also call on Congress to pass an immediate rescue plan for our middle-class that will provide tax relief, save one million jobs, and save our local communities from harmful budget cuts and painful tax increases."

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carrie Dann
ST. LOUIS -- As many had said, last night's debate was about one person, Sarah Palin. And for those tuning in wondering if we'd see a train wreck between Palin's inexperience and Joe Biden's verbosity, well, we didn't get it. Palin started strong and proved to be a folksy cliché machine, which probably came across as extremely charming to some, particularly to Republicans who sound relieved this morning. She lit up the screen at times with her smile and occasional winks. She proved extremely adept at avoiding questions or topics she didn't want to answer, which is the big difference between her fairly smooth performance last night and her near-disastrous performances in those one-on-one interviews. Perhaps more than anything else, Palin rehabilitated her image and probably stopped her image nosedive. And she came across as a better advocate for her candidate, John McCain, than Joe Biden was for his guy, Barack Obama. Biden, too often, defended his own record first before touting Obama's. By the way, if you got the sense during the debate that McCain was the center of the conversation and not Obama, that's because he was. By our count, McCain was referenced by name nearly twice as much as Obama. (Which may or may not be a good thing; after all, doesn't the McCain camp want Obama to be the referendum?)

Video: NBC Political Director Chuck Todd offers his first read on how Sarah Palin and Joe Biden performed in Thursday night's vice presidential debate.

*** As for Biden: He had a senator's grasp of the facts, and we mean that mostly as a compliment. But longtime Biden watchers could tell he was struggling with how to deal with her. He spent the first half of the debate on the defensive. It wasn't until the last half hour that Biden found his inner-Goldilocks and found the "just right" tone in dealing with Palin. In fact, Biden ratcheting up his seriousness and emotion may have made Palin's folksiness seem tonally off for a little bit toward the end. If Palin started strong, Biden proved to be the better closer. As we said yesterday, if Biden turned out to be the subject of post-debate chatter, then he had a bad night. As it turns out, he's not the story and the Obama campaign is satisfied with that even if the media elite is scoring this better for Palin than the insta-polls.

Video: Watch the entire vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. 

*** The bottom line: This debate was about Palin surviving and survive she did. Neither candidate committed a major gaffe, and there were probably no moments that will get replayed over and over. Indeed, the debate may have a shelf life of about 24 to 48 hours, and that's about it. We imagine this event quickly fades as attention today turns to the House vote on the bailout or next Tuesday's presidential debate. Palin did well enough to prevent the negative storyline that developed all day Thursday regarding McCain's chances in November. Had Palin stumbled badly, that news -- combined with the decision by the campaign to scale back its campaign in Michigan -- would have created a terrible storyline. Palin's solid performance on the style front prevented the worst outcome. But did it move the needle in a positive direction for McCain? Unlikely. At this point, the number of mega-game changing events for McCain are dwindling. And since he's the candidate trailing, that's not a good sign. The pressure is now on McCain next Tuesday to get his campaign back on track. Given the limited window McCain's facing, this likely means we should expect a very aggressive McCain in the remaining debates.

*** One lingering question: If Palin seems to be doing well with press reviews, then why didn't she win the snap polls or the focus groups? One explanation may be that the last two weeks so damaged her political reputation that as long as Biden didn't step in it, a majority of the public was just going to assume Biden was the better candidate. There's also the possibility that Palin's folksy charm (and folksy clichés) played well for a while, but didn't wear well. Voters looking for a friend found one in Palin; voters worried about a vice president who seemed to have a senator's like grasp of the issues, gave the benefit of the doubt to Biden. Of an even simpler explanation: Voters watching are giving Obama-Biden the benefit of the doubt right now because they're predisposed to being against the Republicans -- meaning McCain and Palin simply have higher hurdles to clear with rank-and-file voters to prove they are going to be positive change agents from Bush.

*** Wolverines!!!! But the most significant campaign development yesterday was not here in St. Louis, but in Michigan, where the McCain camp decided to pull back its resources and focus on other states. The campaign did its best to spin the move in a conference call with reporters, saying it was Obama who is on the defensive and that Obama too had given up on states (Alaska, Georgia, North Dakota). But with fewer and fewer opportunities to turn blue states red -- Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire and (perhaps) Maine are the remaining options, and he trails in all of them -- McCain might be forced to draw an inside straight to win the election. If he's unable to win a single Kerry state, he would have to hold onto the battlegrounds of Colorado, Florida, Indiana North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia, where he's either trailing or essentially tied. McCain's path to 270, if this trajectory in the race continues, is narrowing.

*** It's the economy (and money), stupid: Of all the states to become the first one the McCain campaign decided to pull out of, Michigan comes as a bit of a surprise. After all, the numbers have looked worse in Iowa and New Mexico than Michigan. So what happened? Two simple reasons: the economic collapse and money. As one Republican put it to us, when the country gets an economic cold, Michigan gets the flu. McCain's numbers were dropping faster for McCain than in any other battleground these last two weeks. But had McCain had Obama's financial resources, the campaign would not be pulling out of Michigan. We're now at that point in the campaign when Obama's resource advantage is starting to take a toll. McCain has to make hard choices now. He couldn't target Michigan, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania -- and also defend Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, and Virginia. The downturn in the economy has put more states in play for Obama (see Indiana) and taken away opportunities for McCain (see Michigan). How narrow is McCain's path to 270 right now? He's added Maine to the battleground since he can potentially snag one electoral vote in the state's more rural 2nd Congressional District.

*** Campaign talking point of the day: Speaking of the economy, the Labor Department is reporting this morning that employers cut 159,000 jobs in September -- the biggest monthly job loss in five years. The unemployment rate remains unchanged at 6.1%.

*** All systems go: Per NBC's Mike Viqueira, it's all systems go this morning in the House for the big vote on the $700 billion, er $800 billion, rescue/bailout package. The fact that they are going ahead is evidence that they have the votes. They wouldn't be doing so if the outcome were in question. One result of the debate in Congress is that Congressional races, more so than the presidential, are being defined by the economy and anger at Washington.

*** On the trail: McCain campaigns in Pueblo, CO. Obama holds a campaign event in Abington, PA. Palin raises money in Dallas, TX and then meets with T. Boone Pickens there. And Biden, in Delaware, speaks at son Beau's deployment ceremony.
 
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The New York Times writes, "In the only vice-presidential debate of the campaign, at Washington University in St. Louis, Ms. Palin exceeded expectations in this highly anticipated face-off, though those expectations were low after she had stumbled in recent television interviews. She succeeded by not failing in any obvious way. She mostly reverted to and repeated talking points, like referring to Mr. McCain as a 'maverick' and the Republican ticket as a 'team of mavericks,' while not necessarily quelling doubts among voters about her depth of knowledge." 

Video: Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M. and former Gov. Jane Swift, R-Mass., talk about how Joe Biden and Sarah Palin handled themselves during the vice presidential debate.

The AP: "…Palin's performance exceeded their generally low expectations. Whether she did well enough against Sen. Joe Biden is another matter."

Per the Washington Post's Dan Balz, "One debate will not erase doubts that have been building about Palin's capacity to serve as vice president, but the effect of the encounter may shift the focus away from the sideshow that Palin has become and put it back on the two presidential nominees and what they would do for the country. Thursday's debate adds to the importance of the two remaining presidential debates, the first of which will be held Tuesday." 

Video: CNBC's John Harwood tells Chris Matthews that Sarah Palin was able to prove her critics wrong with her performance but asks him, did she help John McCain?

The Los Angeles Times: "During the 90-minute debate from the campus of Washington University, both candidates appeared at least initially to have met the goals set by the campaigns at the outset. For Palin, the newcomer to the national stage, that meant demonstrating an understanding of federal issues and an ability to think on her feet. For Biden, the six-term Delaware senator, that meant tamping down his loquaciousness and steering clear of anything remotely condescending."

The Boston Globe: "Neither candidate committed the kind of serious error that some pundits had predicted. Biden, the veteran Delaware senator, avoided the run-on speeches and gaffes that have gotten him into trouble in the past. Palin, the Alaska governor whose inexperience and uneven performance in recent interviews led to questions about her credentials for the job, for the most part delivered clear and folksy responses on topics familiar to her."

The New York Times' Nagourney adds, "It was not a tipping point for the embattled Republican presidential ticket, the bad night that many Republicans had feared. But neither did it constitute the turning point the McCain campaign was looking for after a stretch of several weeks in which Senator Barack Obama seemed to be gaining the upper hand in the race. Even if he no longer has to be on the defensive about Ms. Palin, Mr. McCain still faces a tough environment with barely a month until the election, as he acknowledged hours before the debate by effectively pulling his campaign out of Michigan, a Democratic state where Mr. McCain's advisers had once been optimistic of victory."

The Daily News' DeFrank's lead: "Sarah Palin proved she's a quick study in the black art of attack-dog politics. But her solid debate performance wasn't enough to put to rest doubts about her competence - or reverse John McCain's sagging numbers."

David Brooks, who had earlier suggested that Palin wasn't ready for the vice presidency, was impressed. "By the end of the debate, most Republicans were not crouching behind the couch, but standing on it. The race has not been transformed, but few could have expected as vibrant and tactically clever a performance as the one Sarah Palin turned in Thursday night."

The New York Times' Stanley observes that both Sarah Palins -- the Saturday Night Live parody, as well as the gun-toting hockey mom -- were on display last night. 

The Washington Post's Shales says, "People who came to the debate loving Sarah Palin probably went away from it loving her as much as ever. People who came to the debate hoping to see a fiasco, to see Palin make colossal gaffes, had to have been disappointed. She may have swayed a few 'undecideds' her way with her mom-next-door demeanor and seemingly indomitable smile. There were mistakes here and there, but they were mostly minor -- but then, Palin's answers in the debate were more about herself than about the policies of McCain or George W. Bush or even the country's current economic crisis." 

The Boston Globe's Canellos: The debate probably didn't help or hurt either ticket. As in the first presidential debate, a draw goes to the less experienced candidate - in this case Palin, for whom expectations were lower." More: "Those disposed to find Palin cheerful and down-to-earth probably liked what they saw, while those who find Biden to be an appealing mix of traditional Democratic values and policy expertise probably came away impressed. Likewise, those who find Biden a bit windy weren't likely to have been dissuaded. And those who think Palin sounds like the small-market TV broadcaster she once was probably still don't feel she's ready for prime time."

Per the Wall Street Journal, "President George W. Bush's plan to rescue financial markets appeared to gather momentum in the House of Representatives as leaders of both parties stepped up efforts to corral support after the initiative's strong bipartisan showing in the Senate. Few in House leadership were willing to predict passage when the bill comes to the floor, likely Friday. Its defeat earlier this week revealed deep skepticism among rank-and-file lawmakers toward the $700 billion package, which Mr. Bush insisted Thursday is needed to begin 'restoring confidence' in the shaky U.S. economy." 

"The move came after Republican leaders struggled on Thursday to persuade some of their members to reverse course and support the package and after top Democrats said earlier that that they would not bring the bill to the floor unless they were certain of victory," the New York Times adds. 

NBC's Mike Viqueira reports the House will come in at 9:00 am, take care of some preliminaries, and then begin procedural debate on the "rule." That's one hour, then a vote. Let's say we're now at 10:45 am ET. Then it's on to debate on the recovery/bailout, and they are going to give that 90 minutes. Let's say it's now 12:45 pm. Then a vote begins on final passage.

Rep. Jim Clyburn (D) told reporters last night that Democrats have grown their vote from Monday's total of 140, noting that they had 60% of the caucus supporting the measure the day it failed. "I believe that we are north of that," Clyburn said.

The Politico broke yesterday's big news that McCain campaign's was retreating from Michigan.

The Associated Press calls the McCain pullback "a major concession," and notes that local Republicans were blindsided by the call.

The Free Press offers this nugget. "McCain campaign manager Rick Davis called former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to tell him of the decision to pull out of Michigan just before Romney -- who grew up in Oakland County -- got on a conference call with reporters Thursday. Romney was holding the call with McCain strategist Doug Holtz-Eakin to raise claims that Obama's policies are no good for Michigan's struggling economy."

One of McCain's co-chairs in the state is disappointed with the decision to withdraw. "Chuck Yob, a co-chairman of McCain's Michigan effort, said the campaign's own polling showed other states as better chances than Michigan. 'I don't think it's a very good decision,' he said of Thursday's pullout. 'I think it's wrong. But they've got to pool their resources in the states where they think they can win.'"

FLORIDA: From the St. Pete Times blog: "The talk of McCain's grassroots problem in Florida is belied by the huge numbers of folks trying to get tickets to see Sarah Palin. In Pinellas, we hear more than 4,000 tickets have already been given and that's likely to double by tomorrow. In Fort Myers, all the drivers trying to get Palin tickets supposedly caused a traffic jam."   

McCain political director Mike DuHaime on Florida on yesterday's state-of-the-race conference call: "It was not a state that anyone would have considered safe throughout the election. It was one that an aggressive campaign must be waged in," DuHaime said in response to a question about new polls showing Barack Obama up by as much as 8 points. Sen. Obama has spent an incredible amount of money in Florida over time, and throughout the summer we were not on the air. We've just been aggressively on the air for three to four weeks at this point." More: By mid-September, Obama had invested about $8-million in the state. By the same time in 2004, the Bush-Cheney campaign had spent $13-million on Florida TV." 

MAINE: "The Democratic strategists may have to work especially hard to keep the Second Congressional District blue. Yesterday, Republican John McCain's campaign announced that it had begun withdrawing from Michigan, but would start committing resources to Maine, where strategists say he has been buoyed by the addition of Sarah Palin to his ticket. This is one of only two states that award electoral votes in a manner other than winner-take-all: A losing candidate statewide can still claim one of the state's four electoral college votes by winning one of the two congressional districts."

NEVADA: Is Nevada the new Michigan? "Unemployment in Nevada will jump to an average monthly rate of 8.6 percent next year and remain at that rate in 2010, state economists told the Employment Security Council on Thursday."  

NEW HAMPSHIRE: A new poll by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College has Obama up 12 points over McCain, 49%-37%.

NEW YORK: A Siena poll had showed Obama only up five points in New York a month ago. It now has him up 58%-36%.

OHIO: The Columbus Dispatch looks at central Ohio's college vote, where political passions are married with a tendency for the unpredictable.

"The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the secretary of state to accept tens of thousands of absentee ballot applications she has rejected because of a missing check mark."  Score it as a victory for Team McCain, which sent out the applications last month.

VIRGINIA: A new Mason-Dixon survey shows McCain leading in the Old Dominion, 48%-45%.

An update on Virginia registration numbers as the deadline nears. "Nancy Rodrigues, secretary of the State Board of Elections, said 306,215 Virginians have registered, representing a 7 percent increase since the beginning of the year. A total of 4,892,034 are now registered, she said. About 273,000 new voters were registered four years ago, when President Bush carried Virginia over Democrat John Kerry by 262,000 votes. The largest percentage increase was in heavily Democratic Richmond."

WISCONSIN: A Strategic Vision (R) poll shows Obama up 49-40 in the Badger State.

"Asked why Obama has been rising as the Wall Street crisis has dominated attention, McCain said with a chuckle on Fox News Channel: 'Because life isn't fair.'"

The AP notes McCain struggling to defend the bailout and that he "surprised some by not speaking about it on the floor of the Senate as the vote went down Wednesday; just a week earlier he announced he was suspending his campaign to rush to Washington to deal with the financial crisis."

"Britain's ambassador to the United States described Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as intelligent but untested in a letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, a newspaper reported Thursday. The Daily Telegraph said Ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald sent a letter to Brown describing the Illinois senator as someone who was still 'finding his feet' when he 'got diverted by his presidential ambitions.'"

The debate may be over, but Troopergate goes on. A judge "threw out the lawsuit filed by five Republican state legislators who claimed the investigation had been manipulated by Palin enemies who wanted to produce a damaging report just weeks before Election Day."

From NBC/NJ's Mike Memoli

ST. LOUIS -- David Plouffe called Palin an effective speaker tonight, but argued that she was selling "a failed product" and again ignored middle-class concerns.

"I was given some grief for saying earlier that she was a strong debater -- she is a strong debater," he said. "There were some platitudes, but I don't think there was much there there, in terms of what specifically are you going to do."

Talking to reporters in the spin room, the Obama campaign manager said that debate watchers saw clear differences between the candidates, especially on foreign policy. He called her answer to the question about nuclear weapons "somewhat incomprehensible," while Biden gave "a very direct answer on those and all the foreign policy questions." And on the important domestic policy questions, he said Palin did not offer "any compelling case for change."

"At the end of the day the middle class are going to decide this election," he said. "We've said all along she's a very talented politician. She proved that again tonight. But she's selling a failed product."

From NBC's Chuck Todd
As many said going in, this debate was about one person, Sarah Palin. And for those tuning in wondering if we'd see a train wreck between Palin's inexperience and Joe Biden's verbosity. Well, a train wreck it wasn't.

Video: Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin clash over issues from the economy, to Iraq, to the role of the Vice President.

Palin started strong and proved to be a folksy cliché machine, which probably came across as extremely charming. She lit up the screen at times with her smile and occasional winks.

She proved extremely adept at avoiding questions or topics she didn't want to answer, which is the big difference in her fairly smooth performance tonight and her near-disastrous performances in those one-on-one interviews.

As for Biden, he had a senator's grasp of the facts, and I mean that as a compliment. But longtime Biden watchers could tell he was struggling with how to deal with her. He spent the first half of the debate on the defensive. It wasn't until the last half hour that Biden found his inner-Goldilocks and found the "just right" tone in dealing with Palin.

In fact, Biden ratcheting up his seriousness and emotion may have made Palin's folksiness seem tonally off for a little bit.

Bottom line: This debate was about Palin surviving and survive she did. Neither committed a major gaffe, and there were no moments that I think will get replayed over and over.

This debate may have a shelf life of about 24 hours, perhaps 48 hours and that's about it. Palin did well enough to prevent the negative storyline that developed all day regarding McCain's chances in November. Had Palin stumbled badly tonight, that news combined with the decision by the campaign to scale back its campaign in Michigan would have created a terrible storyline. Palin's solid performance on the style front prevented the worst outcome but did it move the needle in a positive direction for McCain? I don't think so.

At this point, the number of mega-game changing events for McCain are dwindling and since he's the candidate trailing, that's not a good sign.

The pressure is now on McCain next Tuesday to get his campaign back on track.

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Here's how both sides are framing this thing…

Linda Douglass, Obama camp
-- emphasized Palin couldn't name "a single" moment where McCain and Bush disagreed.

David Axelrod, Obama chief strategist
-- He called it "almost bizarre" that Palin would talk about Obama-Biden "killing" jobs when "no one would be worse than them …  We're trying to save jobs." McCain-Palin "would get the same results" as Bush. "The middle class can't afford it. America can't afford it."
-- He also stressed that she "couldn't name one thing" where McCain differed from Bush.

Frank Donatelli, RNC
-- She went against a 36 year Senate veteran. "She held her own." He described her performance as "excellent" and "great."
-- As to Palin speaking in generalities, he said, "She had to give a general idea of where the country would be headed. It may be true that Biden was better in talking Washington speak, she was better in talking to Main St."
-- He said she would be doing more interviews.
-- He called this an "opportunity to speak unfiltered" and "unedited" to "talk directly to the American people."
-- "She answered most of the questions. You can quibble that she didn't answer some."

Alex Conant, RNC
-- Said Palin's performance would have a definite affect on fundraising.
-- Added that people saw the Palin they like, that the were able to "reconnect on a personal level."

* Also spotted, McCain policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin being interviewed by The Daily Show's Darren Oliver. Oliver asked if Eakin thinks McCain-Palin owes the country "an apology" since the gaffes "they promised" were not fulfilled.

From NBC's Chuck Todd and Carrie Dann
Looking to the top of the ticket, a full transcript and a quick count shows that the focus of this debate was much more on McCain than on Obama. The VP candidates mentioned John McCain a combined 106 times. Obama? Only 66.  

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The McCain and Obama camp's spin is in... and guess what? They both claim victory.

Jill Hazelbaker, McCain-Palin 2008 Communications Director:
"Tonight, Governor Palin proved beyond any doubt that she is ready to lead as Vice President of the United States. She won this debate, putting Joe Biden on defense on energy, foreign policy, taxes and the definition of change. Governor Palin laid bare Barack Obama's record of voting to raise taxes, opposing the surge in Iraq, and proposing to meet unconditionally with the leaders of state sponsors of terror. The differences between the Obama-Biden ticket and the McCain-Palin ticket could not have been clearer. The American people saw stark contrasts in style and worldview. They saw Joe Biden, a Washington insider and a 36-year Senator, and Governor Palin, a Washington outsider and a maverick reformer. Governor Palin was direct, forceful and a breath of fresh air."

Obama-Biden campaign manager David Plouffe:
"Joe Biden won a clear victory tonight because he made a passionate case for change from the disastrous economic and foreign policies of the last eight years, and Sarah Palin defended them. While Governor Palin blindly supports John McCain's plan for more of the same policies that have devastated Main Street and let Wall Street run wild, Joe Biden spoke clearly and strongly about Barack Obama's plan for a tax cut for the middle class, health care that is affordable, and an end to the war in Iraq. Tonight, the American people saw why Barack Obama chose Joe Biden, a statesman from Scranton who clearly has the experience and knowledge to be a great Vice President."

From NBC's Domenico Montanaro
The pictures here while watching NBC's post-debate coverage (as I know you all are), are good for Palin. Watching her holding her infant son, she certainly looked like the do-everything mom. That will have lots of moms, regardless of ideology, likely identifying.

From NBC/NJ's Matthew Berger and NBC's Domenico Montanaro
Palin's criticism of the "filter of the mainstream media" may work at rallies and speaking on conservative talk radio. But it could backfire with a mainstream audience that is by and large watching tonight's debate on mainstream television.

Is it proof she's a base pick?

From NBC's Savannah Guthrie
The debate's not over yet, but a senior Palin adviser has already told me they're "pleased by the win."

From NBC's Courtney Kube
Each of the candidates just stretched the truth on Iraq/Afghanistan.

Palin said that U.S. forces are at pre-surge levels. 

The truth: The U.S. has more than 140,000 troops in Iraq (it fluctuates between 140,000 and 144,000 with deployments and overlaps).  Pre-surge baseline is generally accepted as 132,000 to 134,000. 

Palin is right that the U.S. now has the same number of brigade combat teams Iraq as before the surge (15 brigades), but there are more support forces there now than before the surge, counting engineers, logistics, intelligence and reconnaissance, transport, etc.

Biden said that the commanding general in Afghanistan said this week that a surge would not work in Afghanistan.

The truth: General David McKiernan said he needs more troops in Afghanistan "as quickly as possible."  He has asked for 4 additional combat brigades and a small contingent of support forces (one brigade will deploy in January). 

McKiernan said that the programs associated with the surge in Iraq would not work in Afghanistan, specifically something like the Sunni Awakening in Anbar would not apply to Afghanistan (because of a different and more complex tribal system in Afghanistan) and a program like the Sons of Iraq would not apply to Afghanistan.

McKiernan declined to use the word "surge," but ultimately he is asking for almost the same number of troops for Afghanistan and many of the same capabilities.