Morning Roundup from Fake America

All the mavericks in the house, put your hands up! Palin exposed for charging family travel expenses to Alaska. One more distraction the McC campaign doesn't need. Plus Palin is now the campaign's top liability according to a new NBC poll (Bush must be relieved). Oh, and one more thing (it's been a while since I dished on Palin) the RNC has spent $150,000 to clothe Palin and her family. If I was Joe Six-Pack, I would not be pleased. But I guess I couldn't be Joe Six Pack since I don't live in the Real America.

Nate explains McCain's recent inching up in the polls as a dead cat bounce (have I told Nate I love him today?). Obama is now ahead by double digits in many polls (14 points in the Pew poll!); pulling ahead in the final stretch. For all you polling geeks (and I mean you, Dave) Nate posted a primer on the 8 daily polls.

Charlie Cook, Bridget's man in Washington (and who doesn't love a guy with a bowl cut hair piece?), and a very well respected pollster says it's no longer a question of whether Barack will win but by how much. He makes a persuasive argument here including that with early voting so widespread, and leaning heavily towards Barack, it makes a comeback that much harder for McCain since his pool of voters gets smaller every day. And how does all this good news make Democrats feel? Doomed.

Barack may appear on SNL on November 1st which will surely piss. McCain. off. since it's right before the election. Barack was supposed to appear on the first new episode in September but couldn't b/c of Hurricane Ike, probably can't appear this weekend because he's going home to visit his grandma (who Sassy is praying she gets to see the day her grandson becomes president. As John said, COME ON, can't the universe just make this happen?). Speaking of "suspending his campaign" for his sick grandma, word on the street is the McC is fuming that Obama gets to do this and everyone is sympathetic to him (instead of disgusted, like when McC did it last month). 236.com imagines other opportunities for Obama to take McCain's wrongs and show him how to do it right:

Obama will be captured and held prisoner in Iraq, except he will escape, free all of his fellow prisoners, and suffer no injuries that make him walk around funny

Someone at his rally will say something incendiary. Obama will stop and say, "That's not right," instantly putting an end to hatred and intolerance in politics

Obama will hear his running mate tell a blatant lie and he will say to his running mate, "That's inaccurate," instantly putting an end to dishonesty in politics

When given the opportunity to have someone with the likability of Rudy Giuliani or Cindy McCain campaign for him, Obama will laugh hysterically

Obama will age gracefully