NATIONAL & WORLD DIGEST - October 27, 2008

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New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Russians React to Article on Moscow Mayor's Ventures
MOSCOW - Russians were sharply divided in response to an article in The New York Times that explored the role of Moscow's mayor, Yuri M. Luzhkov, in promoting the Kremlin's aggressive foreign policy under Vladimir V. Putin, the prime minister and a former president.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/world/europe/27reax.html?scp=6&sq=gay&st=cse

-Op-Ed Contributor: Where Does the Vice President Belong?
THE presidential campaign has taken a detour into a dispute over the constitutional status of the vice presidency. It all started when Sarah Palin asserted in her debate with Joe Biden that the vice president should play an important role in the legislative branch.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/opinion/27reynolds.html?ref=opinion

-20 Reported Dead in U.S. Drone Attack in Pakistan
An American drone aircraft hit a militant compound in South Waziristan Sunday night, killing 20 people, including two important local Taliban commanders known for their attacks against American soldiers in Afghanistan, a senior government official and a local resident said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/world/asia/28pstan.html

-Long by Obama's Side, an Adviser Fills a Role That Exceeds His Title
The senator calls before bedtime. The cellphone in David Axelrod's shirt pocket comes to life, sometimes before midnight, sometimes after. If the ring tone is "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours" by Stevie Wonder, he steps away from the dinner table or the barstool. It almost certainly means Senator Barack Obama is on the line, ready for another turn of a rolling conversation the two men have been having most every day for what has been a remarkable two years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/us/politics/27axelrod.html


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Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Poll Shows Obama With An 8-Point Lead in Va.
McCain's Image Still Linked to Bush
Democrat widens margin in new Washington Post poll that highlights challenges facing McCain and GOP during final stretch of election.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102602504.html?hpid=topnews

-Oil Falls Below $62 as Investors Eye Weak Demand
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/27/AR2008102700464.html?hpid=topnews

-The Endgame in Florida
Florida provides the appropriate closing metaphor for the 2008 campaign. If John McCain were on a clear path to victory, there would be no campaign here at all. Yet there was McCain's running mate, Sarah Palin, battling on yesterday across the state's crucial central corridor in Tampa and Kissimmee. Come Wednesday, Bill Clinton will campaign with Barack Obama -- the former president's first appearance with the Democratic nominee -- at an evening rally here.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102601762.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-In W.Va., Lingering Doubts on Obama
It's hard to find a place more Democratic than here in Mingo County, snug up against Kentucky in the southwestern corner of the state, where Mother Jones fought to unionize striking coal miners.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102601766.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

-Phony Realism on Burma
A campaign to give aid to a loathsome regime without conditions is simply naive.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102601763.html

-Wrong Way in Pakistan
In its eagerness to reverse the mounting insurgency in Afghanistan, the United States has embarked on a policy course that could shatter our vital strategic partnership with Pakistan. By allowing American combat forces to freely conduct raids into Pakistani territory, a move that President Bush authorized in July, the United States intends to pressure Pakistani leaders to step up the fight against militants ensconced in the borderlands. But this policy threatens cooperation between the two countries, possibly to the breaking point.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102601765.html

-Welfare for Detroit
Should lower-paid workers help subsidize those averaging $56,650 at GM?
AFTER YEARS of decline, U.S. auto companies face the double whammy of a credit crisis and a recession. Car and truck sales fell 26.6 percent in September, the first month since 1993 in which fewer than 1 million vehicles moved off the lots. General Motors, threatened with bankruptcy and burning through $1 billion in cash reserves per month, is groping for a merger with Chrysler. Ford's stock is down more than 70 percent in the past year, and investor Kirk Kerkorian is dumping his shares.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/26/AR2008102601774.html


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Fort Report
http://www.fortreport.com/
Go to the links for the following articles:

-Op-Ed Columnist: A Makeover With an Ugly Gloss
Maureen Dowd
McCain advisers have been scathing about the "sexism" of critics who dismiss Sarah Palin as Caribou Barbie. How odd then, to learn that McCain advisers have been treating their own vice presidential candidate like Valentino Barbie, dressing her up in fancy clothes and endlessly playing with her hair.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/26/opinion/26dowd.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin

-Republican fears of historic Obama landslide unleash civil war for the future of the party
Senior Republicans believe that John McCain is doomed to a landslide defeat which will hand Barack Obama more political power than any president in a generation. Aides to George W.Bush, former Reagan White House staff and friends of John McCain have all told The Sunday Telegraph that they not only expect to lose on November 4, but also believe that Mr Obama is poised to win a crushing mandate.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3260074/Republican-fears-of-historic-Obama-landslide-unleash-civil-war-for-the-future-of-the-party.html

-White support for Obama at historic high
Barack Obama, the first black major-party nominee, is positioned to win the largest share of white voters of any Democrat in more than three decades, according to an exclusive Politico analysis of recent Gallup and Pew Research Center polling.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14921.html

-Obama for president - Anchorage Daily News
Palin's rise captivates us but nation needs a steady hand
Alaska enters its 50th-anniversary year in the glow of an improbable and highly memorable event: the nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential candidate. For the first time ever, an Alaskan is making a
serious bid for national office, and in doing so she brings broad attention and recognition not only to herself, but also to the state she leads.
http://www.adn.com/opinion/story/567867.html

-Ongoing Tally Of Newspaper Endorsements--Obama Leads 170-69
After a busy weekend, the Obama-Biden ticket maintains its strong lead in the race for daily newspaper endorsements, by 170 to 69, an almost 3-1 margin and an even wider spread in the circulation of those papers --see full tally below, as of last Friday.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003875230

-CAMPAIGN 2008: 'Real America' debate flares
In previous years, change, uncertainty and fear have been catalysts of American us-versus-them politics; this year, the 'Who is the real American' sentiment has reappeared. DURANGO, Colo. -- There's no question about it, John McCain's supporters said. We are the real Americans, and folks who support Barack Obama aren't.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/742835.html

-Obama leads in 5 key states, McCain in 2
Barack Obama leads John McCain in five of eight crucial battleground states one week before the presidential election, with McCain ahead in two states and Florida dead even, according to a series of Reuters/Zogby polls released on Monday. Obama held steady with a 5-point lead over McCain among likely U.S. voters in a separate Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby national tracking poll, the same advantage he held on Sunday. The national telephone poll has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/10/27/obama_leads_in_5_key_states_mccain_in_2/


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