Hillary made her 65th campaign appearance for Sen. Barack Obama in Aurora, Colorado today. Also on hand: Gov. Bill Ritter, Sen. Ken Salazar and Reps. Diana DeGette and Ed Perlmutter.

More here at the Denver Post.

McCain campaigned in Denver today as well, along with former Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway.

Sen. Barack Obama will be in Denver on Sunday for a rally in Civic Center Park downtown. My prediction: The Obama crowd will dwarf the 4,000 that showed up for McCain today.

Susan Smith redux. John McCain supporter Ashley Todd admits she made up the attack story.'

A McCain campaign volunteer made up a story of being robbed, pinned to the ground and having the letter "B" scratched on her face in what she had said was a politically inspired attack, police said Friday.

....Todd initially told investigators she was attempting to use a bank branch ATM on Wednesday night when a 6-foot-4 black man approached her from behind, put a knife blade to her throat and demanded money. She told police she handed the assailant $60 and walked away.

Todd has mental issues and will be housed in the mental health unit of the jail on the misdemeanor charge.

Obama's lead is holding steady according to the latest Newsweek poll. Poll data is here.

Obama's lead in the NEWSWEEK Poll is consistent with other recent national polls, including soundings taken by CBS News and The New York Times, The Washington Post and ABC News, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal and by Pew Research, all of which measured Obama's lead over McCain as somewhere between 10 and 14 points. In the NEWSWEEK Poll, Obama's lead stayed virtually unchanged from two weeks ago, when he led McCain 52 to 41 among registered voters.

Obama leads in almost every demographic. [More...]

A new Washington Post/ABC News Poll finds Sarah Palin's disapproval ratings have grown and 58% say she is insufficiently experienced to be President.

A majority of likely voters in a new Washington Post-ABC News national poll now have unfavorable views of the Alaska governor, most still doubt her presidential qualifications and there is an even split on whether she "gets it," a perception that had been a key component of her initial appeal.

...The percentage of white women viewing her favorably dropped 21 points since early September, among independent women it fell 24 points.

More....

ABC News has an analysis of the battleground states today.

Eight states that could go either way -- Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, Missouri, Indiana and North Carolina -- hold 111 of the 270 electoral votes needed for either candidate to win the presidency.

Whether those red states will turn blue is yet to be determined, but according to the latest polls, Obama has a 52-45 percent advantage in those battlegrounds. States like Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina, previously leaning in McCain's favor, are now considered toss-ups.

John McCain needs every state Bush carried in 2004 plus a big one Kerry carried -- like Pennsylvania. [More...]

Big Tent Democrat believes that:

The country is rejecting Republicanism and extreme conservatism, not Sarah Palin's "qualifications." The mandate is for a change away from extreme Republicanism and conservatism, not a rejection of Sarah Palin the person.

I agree that Sarah Palin "the person" is not being rejected. But her qualifications are being rejected, and as CNN reports today, her lack of qualifications are the number one reason voters are rejecting John McCain:

In polls released in the past 24 hours, DKos/R2000 has Obama leading by 12, 52-40. WaPo tracker has Obama by 11, 54-43. CBS/NYTimes poll has Obama by 13, 52-39.

The best polls for McCain in the past 24 hours were IBD/TIPP, which has Obama by 1, 45-44; Battleground, which has Obama by 4, 49-45; Hotline which has Obama by 5, 48-43; Gallup Expanded, which has Obama by 6, 51-45. There has not been a poll in the past month that I can remember that has had McCain ahead.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

If and when Barack Obama and the Democrats win a smashing victory in November, E.J. Dionne has provided the narrative to counter the inevitable Meacham nonsense:

Conservatism has finally crashed on problems for which its doctrines offered no solutions (the economic crisis foremost among them, thus Bush's apostasy) and on its refusal to acknowledge that the "real America" is more diverse, pragmatic and culturally moderate than the place described in Palin's speeches or imagined by the right-wing talk show hosts.

Conservatives came to believe that if they repeated phrases such as "Joe the Plumber" often enough, they could persuade working-class voters that policies tilted heavily in favor of the very privileged were actually designed with Joe in mind.It isn't working anymore. No wonder conservatives are turning on each other so ferociously.

It's time for a change. The country is rejecting Republicanism and extreme conservatism, not Sarah Palin's "qualifications." The mandate is for a change away from extreme Republicanism and conservatism, not a rejection of Sarah Palin the person.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Jeffrey Rosen examines the impact John McCain's election would have on the Supreme Court.

Although McCain claims to favor justices who will defer to the political branches, the most likely Republican nominees are hardly consistent advocates of judicial deference. Voters who are hoping McCain will nominate relatively moderate judicial mavericks should think again. ...

Activist conservatives, who yearn for the resurrection of what they call the Constitution in Exile, would be far more likely to challenge Congress and to strike down a range of federal regulations, from health care and the environment to the economic bailout. ... Many prominent conservatives are confident that McCain, who has never cared much about the judiciary, would placate his conservative base by appointing activist movement conservatives.

Meghan McCain was in Denver yesterday to pitch her new book about her father and her. Dad John arrives today where he will campaign with former Denver Quarterback John Elway. From her interview with local 7 News,

John McCain's daughter calls campaigning with him "like being on tour with a band except we're trying to save the world."

Katie Couric asked John McCain when was the last time he cried.

John McCain: I cry regularly.
Couric: You do?
McCain: Aw, yeah. You know, I'm very sentimental.

When Brian Williams asked Palin whether she would classify an abortion clinic bomber as a terrorist, her typically convoluted answer came down to "no."

There’s no question that Bill Ayers by his own admittance was one who thought to destroy our U.S. Capitol and our Pentagon. That is a domestic terrorist. There is no question there. Now others who would want to engage in harming innocent Americans or facilities that it would be unacceptable to, I don’t know if you’re gonna use the word "terrorist" there.

At the end of the linked video, Palin reaffirms her understanding of the "terrorist" label: [more ...]

Gov. Sarah Palin was interviewed by Univision and said she supports a path to citizenship for the undocumented 12 million residents of the U.S.

Do you think they all should be deported?
There is no way that in the US we would roundup every illegal immigrant there are about 12 million of the illegal immigrants not only economically is that just an impossibility but that's not a humane way anyway to deal with the issue that we face with illegal immigration.

....To clarify, so you support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants?
I do because I understand why people would want to be in America. To seek the safety and prosperity, the opportunities, the health that is here. It is so important that yes, people follow the rules so that people can be treated equally and fairly in this country.

Sarah Palin, Panderer in Chief. As Crooks and Liars notes, this isn't likely to rally the conservative base.