One-Stop Shopping Friday

Today's campaign news roundup:

--Obama says in a speech today that McCain's attempts to blame him for the current Wall Street meltdown are are signs that McCain is "panicking". Funny, I thought his panicking started on the morning of August 29th, when he threw out his entire campaign's message by putting Pain on the ticket. Note that he's trying to revive his "country first" message, but at this point how could such a concept, when ascribed to his actions in the last two weeks, not do anything other than collapse under the weight of its own inanity?

--Obama gets buzzed.

--Sarah Palin frequently makes the claim on the stump that, while mayor of Wasilla, she took a pay cut. The numbers, though? They tell a different story.

--California's Proposition 8, the Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, is now trailing in the polls by a 55-38 margin. The Mormons are going all-in on this one, it appears. I know some of you out there are living in swing states but originally hail from California. It's a tough call on this one, but either choice of where you want to be registered seems like a wise one.

And two quotes to mull over.

John McCain, Wednesday, on Sarah Palin's experience with energy:

MCCAIN: Hahahaha, you know, that’s what happens when you throw two mavericks together. So, I’d, listen, I, she, you know, we talk about experience. What’s one of the major, if not the major challenge to America? Energy independence. Who knows more about energy than the governor of the state that provides 20% of America’s energy requirements?

Sarah Palin, Thursday, on energy:

"Of course, it's a fungible commodity and they don't flag, you know, the molecules, where it's going and where it's not. But in the sense of the Congress today, they know that there are very, very hungry domestic markets that need that oil first. So, I believe that what Congress is going to do also, is not to allow the export bans to such a degree that it's Americans who get stuck holding the bag without the energy source that is produced here, pumped here. It's got to flow into our domestic markets first."

Wizzle wazzle?

Click the link above to see the full CNN video, including Wolf Blitzer's attempts to interpret what he just heard. And hey, Palin got herself a YTMND page out of it!

(And by the way, that "Alaska provides 20% of our energy" claim? Not by a longshot.)

Poll

The Gallup daily tracking poll goes from McCain +5 to Obama +2 in six days.

As I said before, if Obama is doing any better than behind by 2% when the debates begin, he wins in a landslide.

Late-Night Link Dump

--Sarah Palin will not meet with investigators, as she had promised, as part of the 'Troopergate' investigation (she pressured the Public Safety Commissioner to fire a trooper who was in a custody battle with his ex-wife, Palin's sister, and when the Commish didn't fire the trooper, Palin fired the Commish). Note that this announcement comes from a McCain campaign spokesman, not someone of Palin's. This reminds me of that time a couple months ago when the US Army trotted out Iraqi PM Maliki's spokesperson and had him pretend that Maliki didn't express support for Obama's 16-month withdrawal plan. Hmm, doesn't seem that honest to me! As Olbermann put it earlier tonight, “It is like installing a giant neon sign over her head saying, ‘I’m hiding something.’”

--This whole McCain-is-a-liar thing is catching on! Even the insufferable longtime McCain suckup Richard Cohen of the Washington Post has turned on him. Ouch.

--Like I said, catching on: The DNC has put together a one-stop warehouse of McCain's lies debunked. (h/t ae)

--David Brooks writes a column causing me to simultaneously pat him on the back for valuing prudence over lipstick and want to gag myself for his almost epidemic need to classify people. (almost?)

--I'll leave it to others much more qualified than I to sift through the wreckage of this week's banking implosions, but the obvious silver lining here is that maybe -- just maybe! -- this will shift both the campaign, and more importantly the coverage of the campaign, back toward the issues, particularly the economy, certainly not where Mr. "I don't understand the economy as well as I should" wants it to be. Especially since top McCain economic adviser Phil Gramm played a central role in enacting the deregulations that allowed the mortgage crisis and banking implosions to occur in the first place. And they're the ones who are supposed to reform the economy? If you believe that, I've got a Bridge to... er, Somewhere to sell you.

--One last Palin link, then I'm off the Mooseburger beat for a couple days.

Sarah Palin: "All babies want to get borned! All babies want to get borned!"