This morning, the Washington Post tells us that Obama is up ten points nationally over John McCain. The Republican nominee’s likability numbers are also dropping. But like so many of these polls, it was taken a week ago. And a lot has happened since then. Unfortunately for McCain, most of it is also good news for Obama. Below, we’ve rounded up the news bits you need to know about since you tuned out on Friday.
• Sarah Palin was found to have unlawfully abused her power in an effort to get her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Palin then alleged that she had actually been cleared by the probe. [AP]
• Conservative Times columnist William Kristol caught up with many other Republican pundits on Sunday and realized that McCain is in disaster territory. “Fire the campaign!” he urged. [NYT]
• As angry rhetoric continued at McCain-Palin rallies over the weekend (despite McCain’s efforts to curb it), it was reported that the head of the Virginia GOP compared Obama to Bin Laden. They “both have friends who bombed the Pentagon,” Jeffrey Frederick told volunteers. [WP]
• The Times dug into Andy Martin, the wackjob responsible for many of the “Obama Is an Arab” e-mails floating around. Martin had been on Fox News with Sean Hannity last week, but “the program allowed Mr. Martin to assert falsely and without challenge that Mr. Obama had once trained to overthrow the government,” the paper reports. This is an amazing story; you should really read it. [NYT]
• McCain revised his stump speech, vowing to kick Obama’s “you know what” in Wednesday’s debate, and taking on a more aggressive, fighting tone. [AP]
• Both Clintons appeared together for the first time at an Obama rally in Scranton, and they really want everyone to know about it. [Chicago Sun-Times]
• Despite what surrogates were saying last week, McCain won’t be announcing a new economic policy this week. The plan, which was hinted at by Senator Lindsay Graham over the weekend, was reported to involve a tax cut. But after a confusing meeting, this plan was dropped. [NYT]
• Obama, on the other hand, will announce a new plan to “rescue the middle class” today in Toledo, Ohio. [Time]
• Last week, Obama outspent McCain in all of the competitive states where the margins are narrow, and he’s on track to earn $100 million more before election day. [LAT]
• The Times noted that, historically, it’s not likely that a candidate will recover from the kind of number divide McCain is facing at the moment. [NYT]