Maybe John McCain's Republican friends in the House had good reason to vote against the bailout package yesterday, helping send the Dow down 777 points. After all, just about everyone hates this bill.

OXFORD, Miss. -- David Axelrod was surrounded by a pack of camera-toting, mike-wielding, pushing-and-shoving media types, one of whom asked whether his man Barack Obama had been "too nice" in the just-completed debate with John McCain.

OXFORD, Miss. -- David Axelrod was surrounded by a pack of camera-toting, mike-wielding, pushing-and-shoving media types, one of whom asked whether his man Barack Obama had been "too nice" in the just-completed debate with John McCain.

I knew McCain's let's-skip-the-debate maneuver wasn't drawing applause in some precincts on the right when I heard Laura Ingraham tell her radio audience that this was a "huge mistake," "gimmicky," and "the worst thing he could have done."

It was either a burst of bipartisanship or a self-serving political tactic.

It was either a burst of bipartisanship or a self-serving political tactic.

Joe Lockhart was watching the instant feedback from focus groups during the final presidential debate four years ago, and the reaction showed that his candidate, John Kerry, was beating President Bush.

Is it fair, at this stage of the game, to raise questions about Sarah Palin's baby?

Old CW: Hank Paulson is a brilliant dealmaker whose decisive action is rescuing the financial system from the brink of collapse.

David Brooks is used to hanging around with liberals -- his wife and three children, among others, support Barack Obama -- but has grown angry at the condescending talk about Sarah Palin.