Andrew Romano

(AP Photo / Henny Ray Abrams) Wall Street Journal, Sept. 29. 2008, re: the media's unfair coverage of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin: From her campaign's perspective, Gov.

Breaking news! John McCain and Barack Obama agree--at least in theory.In response to the surprising collapse yesterday afternoon on Capitol Hill of the Bush Administration's $700 billion plan to bailout the imploding financial industry, both McCain and Obama called for--wait for it--"bipartisanship." Speaking this morning at an economic roundtable in Des Moines, Iowa, McCain bemoaned "the lack of resolve and bipartisan good will among members of both parties to fix this problem," reminding...

The current Real Clear Politics electoral map reflects the latest polls; it is not a prediction of the outcome Forget the impending financial apocalypse for a second.

A round-up of this morning's must-read stories.IN BAILOUT VOTE, A LEADERSHIP BREAKDOWN(Jackie Calmes, New York Times)The collapse of the proposed rescue plan for the teetering financial system was the product of a larger failure — of political leadership in Washington — at a moment when the world was looking to the United States to contain the cascading economic crisis.

Over at his new "Race to the Finish" blog, my NEWSWEEK colleague Howard Fineman explains why the bailout bill collapsed--and sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

[youtube:aDWSFKnBIHg] Be careful what you wish for, Senator. You just might get it. Speaking at a rally in Columbus, Ohio this afternoon, Republican presidential nominee John McCain defended his controversial decision to "suspend" his campaign as an example of his action-packed leadership style. "Inaction was not an option," McCain said. "I put my campaign on hold for a couple of days last week to fight for a rescue plan that puts you and your economic security and working families first.

[youtube:ncE84Da4wNw] It's all about expectations. On Friday night, I wrote that "John McCain was the more effective combatant" in this year's inaugural presidential debate.

[youtube:r36Xc0GG4iQ] In an item last Thursday about Sarah Palin's increasingly incoherent interview performances, I suggested that John McCain had mishandled his vice-presidential nominee.

In the latest dead-tree NEWSWEEK, my colleague Jonathan Darman pens a letter to his generation. The message: "despite all the enthusiasm for Obama, you, his young supporters, have done little to ensure he'll be the kind of transformative leader you long for.

A round-up of this morning's must-read stories. FOR MCCAIN, DAYS OF CHAOS, IMPROVISATION AND DRAMA(Michael D. Shear, Washington Post)Wednesday morning was the last straw.

According to the nonpartisan researchers at Factcheck.org (a NEWSWEEK partner), "McCain and Obama contradicted each other repeatedly during their first debate, and each volunteered some factual misstatements as well." Here's how the cookie crumbled: Obama said McCain adviser Henry Kissinger backs talks with Iran "without preconditions," but McCain disputed that.

(Chip Somodevilla / AP) If tonight's presidential face-off between Barack Obama and John McCain were held before, say, the Princeton University Debating Society, it might have been scored a tie.

(Chip Somodevilla / AP) Hi everyone,It's Friday night and I feel alright... because Barack Obama and John McCain are about to debate. (Yes, I just quoted from Montell Jordan.) I'll be handling the post-debate duties for NEWSWEEK tonight, so check back around 11:30 for my instanalysis.

Starring in the latest round of pre-debate Expectations Gaming--read Vol. 1 here and Vol. 2 here--is top Barack Obama spokesman Bill Burton. In a memo titled "Home-field advantage: John McCain," Burton goes to deliciously ludicrous lengths to create the impression that the Republican nominee's "debating skills are unparalleled...

(Gerald Herbert / AP) In a statement emailed to reporters at 11:24 this morning, John McCain spokesman Brian Rogers announced that the "McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon." I'm thinking of suing for whiplash.

Here's the full text of the extraordinarily bizarre statement just put out by McCain spokesman Brian Rogers. To me, it almost seems as if McCain is saying that he's decided to debate BECAUSE Washington wasn't reaching a bipartisan consensus--a stark reversal from his earlier insistence on not debating unless such a consensus was reached.

In the first installment of our pre-debate Expectations Game series, we focused on the transparently fulsome praise flying back and forth between the Obama and McCain camps in advance of tonight's clash at Ole Miss--the point of which, of course, was to convince the press and the public than anything short of a Cicero-level performance from their rival would represent the most abject of disappointments.

My NEWSWEEK colleague Richard Wolffe reports on Barack Obama's preparations for tonight's (possible) presidential debate. Obama in Florida. (Chris Carlson / AP) Ensconced this week in his hotel near Tampa, Florida, Barack Obama has spent his evenings doing something he never attempted through more than 20 debates during primary season: running full dress-rehearsals.

A round-up of this morning's must-read stories.MCCAIN LEAPS INTO A THICKET(Adam Nagourney and Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times)As a matter of political appearances, the day's events succeeded most of all in raising questions about precisely why Mr.

[youtube:nokTjEdaUGg] When I first weighed in on John McCain's decision to "suspend" his campaign and swoop into Washington, I said that "for the moment, this is almost all upside for McCain, at least politically." One reason was that the maneuver shifted the media spotlight off of campaign manager Rick Davis's ties to Freddie Mac--then the MSM's scandale du jour--and onto potentially favorable terrain.

[youtube:mvOrNqkSXyA] Hot on the heels of John McCain's request to postpone Friday's inaugural presidential debate comes this press release from Bob Barr, who says he's " more than willing to step in to participate" in McCain's absence.

What if John McCain's "amazing gambit"--suspending his campaign, calling off Friday's debate and inviting Barack Obama to return to Washington with him to work on the economic crisis--ends not with a bang but a whimper?

A round-up of this morning's must-read stories.CHANGE ELECTION TURNS OUT CONVENTIONAL (John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei, Politico) This was supposed to be the year when everything about presidential politics would change.

[youtube:zHGs4535W_o] The McCain campaign wants you to see today's "suspension" as McCain sacrificing politics in the service of a higher cause--namely, getting the nation's economy back on track.

(AP Photo / Gerald Herbert) In a statement delivered this afternoon in New York City, John McCain announced that he will temporarily suspend his presidential campaign Thursday morning and return to Washington to address the financial crisis.

In his new article on Team McCain's willingness to say something misleading and then, when challenged, suggest that the truth or falsity of their statements doesn't actually matter--Obama commits the first sin, but not the second--the New Republic's Jonathan Chait highlights a fascinating poly-sci study that I, for one, had never heard of: Last February, political scientists Brendan Nyhan of Duke and Jason Reifler of Georgia State published the results of an experiment designed to test the...

For months, the presidential contenders savage each other on the stump and in the press. They attack their opponent's policies. They question their rival's character.

CNN's Campbell Brown thinks so: [youtube:NkemPwvi_qY] (Hat tip: Jonathan Martin) This part in particular strikes me as a pretty savvy turning of the tables: "Tonight, I call on the McCain campaign to stop treating Sarah Palin like a delicate flower that will wilt at any moment.

On Monday, I wrote about the "Boomerang Effect" currently bedeviling John McCain's presidential bid: "First, McCain chastises Obama for committing a sin that he himself has committed.

A round-up of this morning's must-read stories.ECONOMIC FEARS GIVE OBAMA CLEAR LEAD OVER MCCAIN IN POLL(Dan Balz and Jon Coen, Washington Post)More voters trust Obama to deal with the economy, and he currently has a big edge as the candidate who is more in tune with the economic problems Americans now face.