London's Financial Times assesses the presidential race and concludes Barack Obama is the better choice:

Mr Obama ran his [campaign] superbly; Mr McCain’s has often looked a shambles. After eight years of George W. Bush, the steady competence of the Obama operation commands respect.

Nor should one disdain Mr Obama’s way with a crowd. Good presidents engage the country’s attention; great ones inspire. Mr McCain, on form, is an adequate speaker but no more. Mr Obama, on form, is as fine a political orator as the country has heard in decades. Put to the right purposes, this is no mere decoration but a priceless asset.

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larger version here.

Update: Police say more than 100,000 showed up to hear Obama. A pretty good slideshow of photos is here. Another is here.

Bump and Update: 9 News is live streaming the Obama rally in Civic Center Park. He should arrive at any moment. 7 News streaming has a larger screen. The music has been very good so far.

Update: He's speaking. "It's good to be back in Denver. It's good to be back in Colorado. Introduces Sen. Ken Salazar. Gov. Bill Ritter. Our soon to be Senator Mark Udall. Congresspersons Diana DeGette, Ed Perlmutter.Former Mayor Federico Pena.

He asks how many have already voted. Loud cheers. He tells them to use the mail-in ballot, don't stand in line. He thanks everyone for the good wishes, cards, etc. on his grandmother.

"Colorado, in just 9 days, you have the chance to elect your next President." He's beginning the prepared remarks, you can read them here.

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Newsweek reports RNC donors were furious about the $150,000 clothing expense shelled out for Gov. Sarah Palin's clothes.

Lobbyist Andrea McWilliams, a GOP fundraiser in Texas, said the flap undercut the party's message. Palin's "transformation from low couture to haute couture isn't the kind of change that voters had in mind," she said.

Marty Eisenstadt takes a closer look at the expenditure form and notes that the second make-up artist, Tracy Thorpe, was flown in and paid $900 to give Sarah Palin a spray tan to get rid of her "Eskimo tan."

Newsweek reports the McCain campaign "directed" the RNC to foot the clothing bill. [More...]

Josh Marshall asks:

Why is Sarah Palin referring to Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) as "Uncle Barney Frank"? Someone help me with this.

The John Birch Society used to call Joseph Stalin "Uncle Joe," in derisive reference to the US alliance with Russia during WWII. Get it? Barney Frank is a Communist according to the Republicans.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

David Brooks get his licks in early. Most of it is nonsense but it is fun to read this:

McCain and Republicans stayed within their lines . . . the old resentments and the narrow appeal of conventional Republicanism. As a result, Democrats now control the middle.

Markos previews the coming GOP civil war:

The only thing worth mentioning today in the polling is the laughs we get watching John Zogby's attempts to get mentioned on the Sunday Talk shows. As I have declared for years now, John Zogby is a clown, not a pollster. His guiding priniciple as a "pollster" is to come up with the result that is most likely to get him publicity. He does not fail us this morning as he has a big move for McCain. It will be interesting to see who besides Fox bites.

Among the real polls, Obama's lead remains siginificant and steady. DKos/R2000 has Obama by 11, 51-40. Ras has Obama by 8, 52-44. Gallup has Obama by 8, 51-43. ABC/WaPo has Obama up 9, 53-44. Hotline has Obama by 7, 50-43. IBD/TIPP has Obama by 4, 46-42 (Obama is trending up in this poll, which had McCain only down one a few days ago.)

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Fearing a loss of political influence if Barack Obama is elected, right wing religious leaders are spreading fear of Obama.

"Everyone uses fear in the last part of a campaign, but evangelicals are especially theologically prone to those sorts of arguments," said Clyde Wilcox, a Georgetown University political scientist. "There's a long tradition of predicting doom and gloom."

Some of the gloom and doom predicted by Charisma magazine publisher Steve Strang doesn't seem all that awful.

Strang said gay rights and abortion rights would be strengthened in an Obama administration, taxes would rise and "people who hate Christianity will be emboldened to attack our freedoms."

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Leave it to John McCain to turn an opponent's gaffe into one of his own.

Republican John McCain vowed that as president he would "test" America's enemies rather than having them test him. ... "I am going to test them. They are not going to test me."

That's great, Senator McCain. As long as you're announcing a policy of American belligerence, do you think you could be more specific? Which enemy do you have in mind? How exactly do you intend to "test" that enemy? And, since Republicans have not shown any ability to anticipate the consequences of their actions, what trouble do you predict your "testing" might stir up?

Ezra Klein reminds us that today is the 6th anniversary of Paul Wellstone's tragic passing. Ezra is right when he writes the way to honor Wellstone is to help Al Franken, who was very close to Wellstone, recapture the Senate seat Paul Wellstone held from the awful Norm Coleman:

Al Franken, is locked in a grindingly tight race with Norm Coleman, the principle-free conservative who now occupies Wellstone's office in the Senate. I can think of few better ways to mark the anniversary than to help recapture that seat for liberalism. And though I myself, for legal reasons, can't think of any ways one could do such a thing, I'm sure Al Franken's site could give interested souls a bit of guidance.

Franken's web site.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

DKos/R2000 unchanged at Obama +12, 52-40. Ras has Obama at his alltime high lead, +8, 52-44. Newsweek has Obama +12, 53-41. ABC/WaPo Tracker has Obama +9, 53-44. In short, if these polls are right, it is over.

McCain's sliver of hope polls are Battleground and IBD/TIPP - which have him down 3 and 4 respectively.

The real action now is in the Congressional races. Can Al Franken win in Minnesota? Can the detestable Saxby Chambliss be defeated by the new face Jim Martin? Can Jeff Merkley get rid of the two faced Gordon Smith? Can Darcy Burner defeat the Seattle Establishment candidate Dave Reichert? Can Eric Massa win in Rochester? Those are the stories of the election now.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

There are innumberable variables in how an election is decided and generally speaking, it is not easy to isolate what factor "cost a candidate the election." This election, however, it seems to me a fairly easy exercise. John McCain lost this election on September 15, 2008. On September 15, 2008, Barack Obama had a slight lead over McCain in the polls (if you prefer the RCP average, then you would say McCain was leading.)So what happened?

On September 15, 2008 Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy after the federal government refused to bail it out. That was the beginning of the meltdown on Wall Street that led to the bailout that was passed in late September. It signalled the terrible economic times we are now facing are going to get worse, much worse. And John McCain said:

[T]he fundamentals of our economy are strong . . .

Fox News this afternoon replayed Sean Hannity's interview last night with Sarah Palin. Driving home, I tuned in just at the part where he asked her about the clothes. I thought I must have heard it wrong. Did she really say that the clothes were going to be returned as well as donated? How do you return clothes after you've worn them?

I just checked the transcript on Lexis.com. She said exactly that: [More...]