Claire McCaskill

At the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Rudy Giuliani set the tone for Governor Sarah Palin and the sharp, well-delivered attack speech that brought her to national prominence. Then, last night, after a poor stretch for Palin highlighted by embarrassing interview performances, Giuliani was back to confidently herald Palin’s return to form.

“I mean, this was a fabulous performance,” said Giuliani, walking at a two-step-per-minute rate with his wife, Judith, in a frenzied scrum of reporters in the media center at Washington University in St. Louis on Oct. 2. “She displayed tremendous intelligence, she displayed total grasp of the issues, and she did a very effective job of attacking Joe Biden and Barack Obama with a lot of style and a lot of grace.  read more »

Earlier today the Bush administration made clear they don't intend to intervene in the negotiations between the Iraqi government and several large oil companies.

 

Chuck Schumer, along with Claire McCaskill and John Kerry, responded quickly with a letter to Condoleezza Rice asking her to prevent the deals from going forward until there is an oil-revenue sharing law.

Both Schumer and Kerry are on the Senate Finance Committee; Kerry and McCaskill are both surrogates for Barack Obama, whose campaign has been going after John McCain for McCain's new, oil company-friendly position on offshore drilling.

Here's the release along with the letter (which, weirdly, doesn't include McCaskill's name at the end of it).  read more »

It's all but over, according to the Obama campaign.

"We can see the finish line," said Obama campaign manager David Plouffe on a conference call just now. Plouffe said the net of last night's primaries was 13 delegates in the candidate's favor, making Obama's advantage "the biggest it has been in the entire race." Plouffe said that the campaign had also been "making great progress in the superdelegate world."

He then introduced the campaign's top supporters, each carrying a nail to hammer into Clinton's coffin.

John Kerry said, "In my judgment, last night, Barack Obama took a giant and decisive step towards the nomination." He added, "He clearly did more than he had to and she did not achieve what she had to."

He argued that Obama scored impressive results "despite the toughest weeks of his campaign and the most thorough testing that could be imagined," and said, "If it hadn't been for Republicans taking Democratic ballots," at the bidding of Rush Limbaugh he would have won Indiana too. "There is no masquerade now."  read more »

Though the Democratic nomination has yet to be decided, Barack Obama and John McCain have begun acting very much as if the general election has already started, exchanging direct criticisms and sizing each other up. And, while neither has talked publicly about it at this early stage, both men are doubtless pondering the running-mate question.

In a matchup with Obama, McCain would face two potentially conflicting imperatives with his choice of a vice presidential candidate.  read more »

His name wasn't on the ballot, but it's worth noting what a great day Mike Bloomberg had. Six out-of-state candidates he (or his aides) supported won:

Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-IL) Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) Mayor Adrian Fenty (D-DC)

-- Azi Paybarah

Because of high expectations, Nagourney says, anything short of a Democratic takeover in Washington will feel like a loss.

Democrats are expected to sweep all four statewide offices.

But even if Alan Hevesi wins, he may not serve a full-term as comptroller.

Despite the outcome, all the campaigning has been good for the economy.

Several Bloomberg administration aides have gone to Missouri to to help Democratic senate candidate Claire McCaskill against Republican incumbent Jim Talent.

Say good-bye to mechanical voting machines.

When asked about allegations of beating his wife, upstate Republican Rep. John Sweeney told reporters, "I don't want to answer. I'm really done with this."

A new contract could have some teachers in the city earning $100,000.

A principal who endorsed a state Senate candidate in a letter sent home with students was fined $10,000.

The World Trade Center Museum won't open until 2010, missing its original 2009 target date.

The Post notes, but doesn't explain, the connection between the fact that the FBI raided a man's home who also had donated $10,000 to Eliot Spitzer.

Here is a recap of endorsements from The Times, The Sun and Daily News. -- Azi Paybarah