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Broadcasting & Cable
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Oct 3, 08 4:35 PM CDT
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Last night’s vice presidential debate drew 69.9 million viewers, shattering the record for such an event, Broadcasting & Cable reports. The 1984 encounter between VP candidates Geraldine Ferraro and George H.W. Bush drew 56.9 million; the record for a campaign debate is 80.6 million for the 1980 showdown between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
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Guardian (UK)
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Oct 3, 08 12:15 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The ugly tactic of “push polling” has resurfaced in key swing states, as fake pollsters seek to influence voters with scam questions that present an unfavorable view of Barack Obama, the Guardian reports. On one call, a Jewish voter in Pennsylvania says, she was asked if she would vote for Obama if she knew he was supported by the militant organization Hamas. "It is scare tactics," she said. "It is terribly underhand."
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CNN
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Oct 3, 08 8:38 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Joe Biden won last night’s debate, polls from CNN and CBS show, but Sarah Palin held her own, improving her image with many responders. Some 51% of viewers polled told CNN that Biden did “the best job,” compared to 36% who preferred Palin. In the CBS poll, uncommitted voters—who may have a preference but aren’t settled on a candidate—said Biden performed better by more than two-to-one.
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New York Times
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Oct 3, 08 6:37 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Sarah Palin acquitted herself at last night's debate with her charm and a show of basic coherency, writes Adam Nagourney in the New York Times . Her face-off with Joe Biden didn't prove to be a point of no return for the faltering McCain campaign, but neither was it the decisive blow against Barack Obama that McCain needed.
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Detroit News
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Oct 2, 08 5:27 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The McCain campaign is giving up on Michigan, the Detroit News reports. The Republican is pulling all ads, mail, and staff there to focus on more competitive states, a move that points to the difficulty the GOP faces in winning blue states. Michigan—which holds 17 electoral votes—was seen as a key battleground for McCain, but polls showed him slipping further and further behind.
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Los Angeles Times
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Oct 2, 08 4:57 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Few countries have vice presidents, and the US shouldn’t either, Bruce Ackerman writes in the LA Times . The founding fathers established the office as a consolation prize, the Yale law and political science professor explains, and it's morphed into a ticket-balancing slot. "This isn't a question on which the founders deserve any deference," he writes. "They designed their system for a very different political world."
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Politico
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Oct 2, 08 4:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Lamenting that "life isn't fair," John McCain said today he’s less than happy with the selection of Gwen Ifill to host tonight's VP debate. “I wish they had picked a moderator that isn’t writing a book favorable to Barack Obama,” McCain said on Fox & Friends. The sentiment marked a a change of course, Politico reports; he said yesterday that Ifill "will do a completely objective job.”
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Associated Press
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Oct 2, 08 2:10 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Financial reports show that, while they’re no John and Cindy McCain, the Palin family is much more well-off than the average American, the AP reports, worth about $1.2 million. The Alaska governor and her husband together appear to have made more than $250,000 last year, from her salary and Todd Palin’s jobs in the oil fields and as a commercial fisherman.
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New York Times
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Oct 2, 08 12:14 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Last night's bailout vote featured a moment of campaign drama on the Senate floor, the New York Times notes. Barack Obama, who arrived in the chamber at 5pm, crossed the aisle to greet John McCain when he arrived about three hours later. Their handshake lasted barely a second, as McCain offered a cold stare and a turn of his head.
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Slate
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Oct 2, 08 11:49 AM CDT
(Newser) -
With the VP hopefuls girding for tonight's debate, it's natural to wonder what would become of their respective tickets should either presidential candidate die or otherwise become incapacitated before Nov. 4. Each party has its own protocol, explains Nina Shen Rastogi, writing for Slate, but in neither case does the running mate automatically get the nomination.
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Oct 2, 08 10:03 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Straight talk not only got New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd banned from the McCain-Palin campaign planes, reports the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , it got her marooned in Pittsburgh. After writing a scathing satire of Sarah Palin's candidacy—harsh but hardly unprecedented for the gleefully snarky writer—a stunned Dowd was left behind in the middle of a campaign swing, forcing her to overnight in a local hotel while the rest of the press pack traveled on.
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Washington Post
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Oct 2, 08 8:13 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Voter confidence in Sarah Palin's ability to lead has taken a dive, according to the latest Washington Post /ABC News poll. Some 60% of voters now believe she lacks the experience to be president and a third are less inclined to vote for John McCain because she's on the GOP ticket. A month ago she ranked as high as McCain. Palin appears to be hurting the ticket among the key independent and Catholic voting blocs.
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