Daily Digest
McCain Set to End Campaign as
Overwhelming Underdog (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg - Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) – Republican
presidential candidate John McCain goes into the cam-
paign’s final weekend a bigger underdog than any vic-
torious candidate in a modern election.
Will the next president have a mandate
to govern? (McClatchy Newspapers)
McClatchy Newspapers - VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.
On Election Day, voter turnout will decide not only
whether Barack Obama or John McCain becomes the
next president, but also how much of a mandate the
winner can claim.
McCain set for comedy show
appearance: campaign (AFP)
AFP - John McCain will show voters his funny side
with an appearance on hit US comedy show Saturday
Night Live just three days before the presidential elec-
tion, his campaign confirmed Friday.
McCain, Obama battle into last
weekend (Reuters)
Reuters - Republican presidential nominee John Mc-
Cain on Friday campaigned across Ohio, a state that is
critical to his hopes of clawing back Democrat Barack
Obama’s lead going into Tuesday’s election.
AP poll: 1 in 7 voters still persuadable
(AP)
AP - Elizabeth Johnson likes John McCain except
for a couple of not-so-little things she can’t ignore: She
wants the Iraq war to end and she’s not a fan of Sarah
1
Palin, his running mate. Chalk her up as leaning Mc-
Cain, but not solidly.
Dems sketch Obama staff, Cabinet
(Politico)
Politico - Republican insiders close to John McCain
are spending much more time in the campaignrsquo;s
final days trying to pull off an upset victory on Tuesday
than focusing on who might be in a McCain Cabinet.
But sources close to Barack Obama have quite specific
ideas about his most likely choices for a wide array of
top jobs.
Ailing auto industry a concern for both
candidates (AP)
AP - With thousands of auto workers in Rust Belt
states, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John
McCain offer plans to develop advanced vehicles key
to rebuilding U.S. automakers. Yet the next president
may face decisions that run to the industry’s very sur-
vival.
Air Obama39;s not-so-friendly skies
(Politico)
Politico - The skies havenrsquo;t been so friendly
on Air Obama after the campaign decided on Thurs-
day to pull the seats for reporters from The Washing-
ton Times, New York Post and Dallas Morning News
mdash; all papers that endorsed John McCain mdash;
after Saturday.
Palin: Obama for bigger government,
higher taxes (AP)
AP - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah
Palin, on a bus tour of small towns in Pennsylvania
as polls show the Democratic ticket leading there by
a strong margin, said Friday that Democrat Barack
Obama has an ideological commitment to higher taxes.
About 3,000 people crowded an open-air hangar for
a rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, about 40
miles east of Pittsburgh, where temperatures were just
above freezing.

McCain, Obama step up battleground

blitz (AFP)

AFP - Democrat Barack Obama cranked up his

campaigning Friday for a ferocious final weekend be-
fore the historic US elections, as Republican rival John
McCain vowed an all-out comeback effort.

Today on the presidential campaign

trail (AP)

AP - McCain says Obama’s economics are far left;

Obama places TV ad in McCain’s home state, Arizona
... Former top US diplomat says Palin not up to the
task of presidency but could become ’adequate’ ... AP
poll finds 1 in 7 likely voters still persuadable as Elec-
tion Day draws near ... Palin says Obama has ideolog-
ical commitment to higher taxes ... McCain to appear
on ’Saturday Night Live’ ... Biden urges students at
alma mater to help Obama in Pa.

Obama expands ads to AZ; McCain

claims momentum (AP)

AP - Democrat Barack Obama confidently broad-

ened his advertising Friday into two once reliably Re-
publican states and rival John McCain’s home state of
Arizona even as he chastized the Republican candidate
for what he called ”say-anything, do-anything politics.”