Keith Olbermann was certainly correct that giving a liberal commentator a show behind his lead-in would be a sure success. Rachel Maddow demonstrates this. But let me state this - Maddow has been surprisingly effective the times I have watched her in presenting the liberal perspective while retaining a sense of fealty to the facts. Facts good for Democrats of course (and what facts are not these days?), but facts nonetheless.

It seems a good thing for Maddow imo that she did not get a show during the Democratic primaries. When she was a guest on Olbermann's show and as part of NBC's election coverage, she demonstrated every tendency of becoming as hackish as Olbermann. I think she has largely avoided that, at least when I have watched her show. Good show, Rachel

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

The McCain campaign continues to deny reports that it is ceding Colorado to Barack Obama.

"We see the race tightening both internally and in public polling. We are within striking distance in the key battleground states we need to win," said Jill Hazelbaker, the McCain campaign's national communications director.

Gov. Sarah Palin is on to her next stop, leaving Alaska "First Dude" Todd Palin to campaign alone today in Glenwood Springs and Denver.

The Obama campaign, on the other hand, is in full swing. Not only is Sen. Joe Biden here today and tomorrow, but check out the other political magnets holding rallies the next few days .[More...]

The LA Times reports on Gov. Sarah Palin's college years.

In the five years of her collegiate career, spanning four universities in three states, Palin left behind few traces. Not many professors or students even remember her.....interviews with a dozen professors yielded not a single snippet of a memory.

...."Looking at this dynamic personality now, it mystifies me that I wouldn't remember her," said Jim Fisher, Palin's journalism instructor at the University of Idaho, where she graduated with a bachelor of science degree in journalism in 1987.

Palin, he said, took his public affairs reporting class, an upper-division course limited to 15 students. "It's the funniest damn thing," Fisher said. "No one can recall her." "I don't remember her," said Roy Atwood, Palin's academic advisor at the university.

The Times says it's different for the other candidates: [More...]

By a 2 to 1 vote, a three judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has granted the Government's motion for a stay of the District Court's order directing the Bush Administration to release the 17 Uighur detainees held at Guantanamo into the U.S. (Background here and here.)

The government has been trying to find new homes for the Uighurs for years. It no longer considers them enemy combatants and provided no evidence in court that they posed a security risk. The men cannot be returned to their homeland because they face the prospect of being tortured and killed. China considers the men terrorists.

Judge Judith Rogers dissented. Her reasoning: [More...]

AARP has an innovative ad campaign for November 4. It puts you in the ad as being the person who can bring change to Washington by voting.

Here's the one they sent me. If you want to be featured or make one for your friends and e-mail it to them, use this widget:

AARP 08 Video

Enter your name to see who can bring real change to Washington. First Name: Last Name:

Here's one for Big Tent Democrat. Go ahead, it takes about 5 seconds.

CNN's John King reported earlier the McCain campaign had decided to give up on Colorado to focus on Pennsylvania and other big states.

Watching my 10pm local news, McCain is denying it. The regional spokesman for the campaign says McCain will continue to fight for our 9 electoral vote. The station has confirmed that McCain intends to be here Friday.

Checking McCain's campaign schedule at his website tonight, there are no events listed after Wednesday, when he'll be in Ohio with Sarah Palin. Palin will stay in Ohio on Thursday, but no details are given for McCain. [More...]

The outgoing British director of public prosecutions warned his country against using technologies that erode freedom to create a "security state" in the name of combating terrorism.

Proposals to extend the storage and use of communications data, such as e-mails and mobile phone records, for security purposes are proving highly contentious. The government also faces continued opposition to its proposals on identity cards.

Sir Ken Macdonald also assured his fellow citizens that "special courts, vetted judges and all the other paraphernalia of paranoia" are an unnecessary response to terrorism. Successful terrorism prosecutions prove that the existing legal system capably addresses crimes of terror without sacrificing civil liberties.

A new CNN/New York Times poll out tonight finds Obama 13 points ahead of McCain, 54% to 41%. Full poll results are here (pdf):

WHY HAS YOUR VIEW OF MCCAIN GOTTEN WORSE?
(Among those saying view has worsened)

His attacks on Obama 32%
Choice of Sarah Palin 14
Debate performance 12
He seems erratic/unsteady 11
Don’t like him 7

Opinions of Palin among these voters have drastically changed for the worse in the last three weeks, while favorable impressions of Joe Biden have improved among the same voters.

[More...]

Update: I watched the segment, and like Nightline's Cynthia McFadden, thought they seemed free of tension and genuinely enjoying each other's company. Obama was very effusive in his praise for Hillary. At the rally, when they walked out together, he didn't just hug her, but kissed her on the cheek. He acknowledged that Hillary has made a big difference in how he is doing in Florida. She minced no words to her former supporters: "As hard as you worked for me, we need you now to work just as hard for Barack."

Very classy on both their parts. And 50,000 turned out on a Monday in Orlando to hear them. Let's just hope they all go to the polls.

***

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama's first joint interview since the end of Hillary's campaign will air tonight on Nightline. The interview followed their joint campaign appearance in Florida today. [More...]

Michele Bachmann's suspicion that anti-American sentiment lurks in the halls of Congress resulted in an infusion of cash for her Democratic opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg. Today the fallout from Bachmann's McCarthy-like rant continues, as a Republican announced his intent to run a write-in campaign that, with luck, will draw enough votes from Bachmann to give Tinklenberg the victory.

Aubrey Immelman is a psychology professor who lost to Bachmann in the primary. Immelman is a South African immigrant who, like many immigrants, has a greater appreciation of American values than those who were born in the United States.

"I gave up everything to come here, which is why I feel so strongly about the direction my country has been taking," he said Monday. "I'm a proud, patriotic American. And I cannot tolerate this festering brand of neo-McCarthyism Michele Bachmann is pushing."

It's time for Michelle Bachmann to go home.

Judge Bush in Hennepin County, Minnesota is saddled with a problem this election year: his name.

Bush, who was appointed by DFL Gov. Rudy Perpich in 1989 and was a public defender for years before that, has stood for election before, but never in a year when his last name was so unpopular. Talk at the courthouse is that Bush's opponent chose him among all the judges up for reelection solely because of his unpopular last name.

After going an entire evening without a message on my home answering machine, I was starting to think that all the criticism of John McCain's nasty robocalls had convinced McCain to pull the plug on the autodialers, despite his defense of the practice. And then the phone rang.

The message was a robocall, but not from John McCain. This one was from John Cornyn's wife Sandy telling me how wonderful her husband is and reminding me that early voting starts today in Texas. That's great, RoboSandy. Except I live in Wisconsin. You might have noticed the area code.