Missouri has finally been declared, for McCain. McCain won by just 3,632...

McCAIN’S call to Sarah Palin was just a joke: Now that the election is over, bits and pieces of campaign secrets are starting to see the light of day. The most shocking of these so far: Governor Sarah Palin was not supposed to be Senator John McCain’s choice for running mate. “The Palin phenomenon is actually the result of a practical joke gone haywire,” admitted Rick Davis, former McCain campaign manager. “John was a guest on the Morning Madness radio show on Phoenix’s KZZP, hosted by Fireball Frantic and Gene the Bean. When Frantic asked McCain which political figure was the least qualified to be his running mate, McCain mentioned an obscure governor from who was an ex-beauty queen. Frantic insisted McCain prove he was still young enough to be ‘with it’ and insisted...

Newsweek in the States has some great stuff from journalists on the campain trail of all the candidates who promised not to print until after the elections. From a section about John McCain:...McCain lost Michigan to Romney on Jan. 15, largely because Romney pandered to his boyhood home state by promising to bring back jobs long gone. In South Carolina on Jan. 19, McCain was on edge and his wife, Cindy, even more so. This was the place where the dirty tricksters had slimed the McCains in 2000, and Cindy could not shake off a sense of dread. The weather in Charleston was awful—sleeting rain—and McCain seemed caged, cooped up with his friend Lindsey Graham, who was annoying him by trying to "visualize" victory. By 7 p.m., Cindy and Graham were ready to "jump out the window," Graham...

Well, the knives are out. After pressing McCain to pick Sarah Palin as a running mate, campaign officials are now blaming Palin for losing the election. And there is a case to be made. As Shepard Smith points out, the McCain spin that the Campaign was going just fine until a series of bankruptcies and stock market plunges is absolutely false. McCain did need to energize social...

...And here's part two of the election liveblog. Read part one here. 9.00pm: Polls close in Minnesota, New York, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Louisiana and Arizona.Calls: Michigan, Wisconsin, Rhode Island for Obama, and North Dakota, Kansas and Wyoming, all to McCain. 9.10pm: Obama 175, McCain 61 And now Georgia for McCain. Arizona's still too close (or too early) to call. In Phoenix, Dan Glaister tells me, the big screen broadcasting the results to the McCainites suddenly cut out when the Pennsylvania calls started coming in; instead, they were treated to a Hall & Oates song, and now they're listening to Kool and the Gang. Two different realities... Obama 175, McCain 769.14pm: Obama leads 52% to 48% in Florida with half of the precincts reporting, CNN...

DON’T bet against John McCain winning, not if Adolf Hitler’s got anything to do with it. A US President needs two things: a death cult and a fan to mock him up as Adolf Hitler McCain has a death cult. Sarah Palin has a death cult. Even her children have a death cult. And Obama, well, he has not so much death cult as a base. Joe Biden has no death cult, and given his absence from the debate, he shows few signs of life let alone death. So the McCain-Palin ticket is ahead. And now we learn that McCain is Hitler. Obama came close to being Hitler. He went to Germany and wowed the locals into a state of euphoria. Locals climbed lamp posts designed by Albert Speer to catch a glimpse of the man. Obama was by the Victory Column. Hands up for Obama. Higher. Higher. Make the sign. Anorak invited...

This photo doesn't really relate to the post, but I couldn't resist (source) Here's what McCain had to say about his chances in tomorrow's election: The candidate did all he could to stir the crowd's passions. McCain, who until recently opposed offshore drilling, vowed: "We'll drill offshore!" ("Drill, baby, drill," the crowd answered). McCain, who voted in support of the $750...

I've just watched a speech by John McCain in Scranton, PA. He is in terrific form and as I have said here before, he needs to pull a rabbit out of the bag and this is what he doing in his closing arguments of this campaign.  I have watched him give three speeches over the past three days and he is getting better and stronger. There is something inside me saying McCain is not finished yet. I think the American people are now realising just how much of a socialist Obama is. Wealth distribution versus wealth creation. I think there is a chance they will choose the latter and vote...

I have said here before, where is John McCain? Why isn't he fighting more? Why isn't he taking on Obama in a very combative way? Why isn't he showing leadership?Today, may be a turning point in this election, which has had so many twists and turns so far, we are all feeling dizzy. I have just watched John McCain give a great speech in Ohio. He is fighting as if his life depends on it, which he has to, as a Republican has never won the race to the White House, without winning the electoral college votes from Ohio. It was a speech full of energy. His body language was positive. He stated his vision. He gave the reasons why Obama's policies would not work and why his policies would work. This was the John McCain I have long admired.I have predicted a possible Obama landslide victory, unless...

Defiance, a picture postcard town in north-west Ohio, takes its name from a fort built here in 1794 by a General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The general was so proud of his deep moat and the fort's 2.5-metre-thick walls that he declared, according to local lore: "I defy the English, the Indians and all the devils in hell to take it."So it was easy to see why John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, found Defiance an irresistible place to launch his final battle for the White House yesterday with a two-day bus tour of Ohio.Outgunned in the polls and on TV by his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, and deserted by some of his fellow Republicans, McCain had little reassurance to offer his supporters yesterday except his defiance - and a little lesson in his own history.McCain cannot hope...

Have a look at this (below). Notice anything? All the audience behind McCain are kids. That's because 4,000 of them were bussed in to make up the numbers! And the other hoot is that McCain announces his hero Joe the Plumber and asks him to come up on stage and er..........er.........................er......................there's no Joe the Plumber...

JOHN MaCain Was Born In Milwaukee. Fact. It’s as much of a fact as the other fact that John McCain says he would hate to live in Milwaukee. Here’s the Washington Post article in which McCain turned his back on his home town. He’s at a Diamondbacks-Padres game with the journalist Mark Leibovich: McCain spent 51/2 years as a POW and is now sitting at a ballgame, spooning Heath bar ice cream into his mouth and belly-laughing at his joke. If any demons linger, they are perfectly hidden. The Diamondbacks score four runs in the third inning. Outfielder Luis Gonzalez waves to McCain from the on-deck circle. “You see that, Luis-Luis waved to me,” McCain says. Between pitches, the following tidbits of McCainiana are gleaned: • He would hate to live in...

KEVIN Maguire is claiming in the Mirror that – get this – a vote for Barack Obama is really a vote for Gordon Brown. The Tory spin machine will claim white is black if, fingers crossed, Obama is elected US President next Tuesday. What’s black and white and red all over? Gordon’s Brown economy… Labour’s ties are with Obama’s Democrats while Cameron’s been all over his Republican chum McCain like a nasty rash. McCain was lauded a hero by Cameron at the Tory conference two years ago. And who recently declared: “I’m a huge fan of John McCain and think he’d make a great president.” Yee-haaa! Yes you, Cameron. So eat your heart out, loser. Yeah, loser. A loser like, er , Joe Biden, Obama’s choice for VeePee, who said McCain would make a good...

Barack Obama demonstrated his pulling power by attracting thousands to an outdoor rally in torrential rain yesterday in Pennsylvania, a state on which John McCain has staked almost all his hopes of a surprise win in next Tuesday's election.Confirming the state's pivotal position on the electoral map, McCain was also in Pennsylvania, campaigning alongside his running mate, Sarah Palin, who told a crowd of about 10,000: "It is going to come down to the wire here."Although it was one of McCain's best performances in weeks, he is facing polls that put Obama consistently ahead - the latest has Obama on 51% to McCain on 41%. He is also beset by continuing distractions over Palin. Amid persistent rumours of strains between his campaign team and her advisers, the Politico website quoted one of...

This is an interesting story of how McCain nearly had his chips, twice in one day, but wrote his life savers out of his life story in both autobiography and speeches. Above is Mr Mai Von On who saved McCain from drowning and from being beaten and stabbed by an angry mob. Years later McCain gave him a trinket, which Mr On treasured, but apparently had little to do with him otherwise.LoL site...

Trailing by large margins in US national polls, Republicans are hoping for the miraculous return of a presidential candidate known to them as "John Frum" McCain. Activists say Frum-McCain, who bears striking similarities to saviour figures in 20th century Pacific Island cargo cults, will return one day bringing winning vote margins and financial aid. "John Frum 'im go come wi' lotsa cargo," says North Carolina Republican party chairman Linda Daves. Frum-McCain supporters are known for fanaticism, often scarring their faces, or spending huge amounts of money on ceremonial vestments to prove their devotion. Critics say there have been very few sightings of John Frum-McCain in states the Republicans need to win, and that party officials are being unrealistic about their election hopes. But...

John McCain shrugged aside daunting poll figures yesterday to claim he was placed to win next week's presidential election even as an inquest was beginning inside the Republican party.Interviewed on NBC's Meet the Press, McCain dismissed the polls that showed huge leads for Barack Obama and said he sensed the race tightening.The Republican presidential nominee predicted a "late night" next Tuesday, suggesting the voting would be close enough to have to wait for the final counts in some states. "This has been a very close race, and I believe I will win it," he said.But in a sign of how much of a mismatch the campaign has become, Obama, speaking on Saturday in Albuquerque, New Mexico - won in 2004 by George Bush - attracted a crowd of 45,000. McCain, speaking in the same city the same day...

Is John McCain about to give up on Colorado? The Republican is due to visit Denver, Durango, and Colorado Springs, the Evangelical Mecca, on Friday. His running mate, Sarah Palin, was in the state on Monday. But his campaign is busy trying to dampen speculation that it is about to turn out the lights in Colorado.While McCain is within five or six points of Obama in some polls, the Democrat's spending advantage and his superior ground game have led Republicans to conclude they are unlikely to catch up.But if not Colorado, then where? It's not like McCain has many other options to reach the White House. Three new national polls by NBC, ABC and the Pew Research Centre show Obama maintaining or expanding his lead over McCain.In Colorado, Democrats say a high turnout among new voters could...

I mean that in the card playing sense. (McCain is a keen craps playing after all.) He is "betting the farm" on winning Pennsylvania. Just look at the state polling graph (from Electoral-Vote.com) - you can drive a bus through Obama's lead there. John Kerry won it by two points. Votemaster explains: McCain Concedes Colorado, Iowa, and New Mexico CNN is reporting that McCain is making those...

McCain attacked Obama for sayingt this.Is McCain the stupidiest mother fucker that has ever lived?Seriously?A lot of people heard that phrase and said, "That sounds good. I like wealth, give me some."McCain by attacking that said, "I love rich people and not you."Is McCain fucking stupid?Are the Republicans so disconnected from the populace they don't even know what phrases give them boners and what don't?God McCain is dumb.Politic compaigning is a game of phrases, understanding what your populace will respond to, and McCain doesn't understand what Americans want at...

From the Alfred E.Smith Memorial Dinner, a fundraiser for Catholic charities. The dinner was named in honour of former New York Governor Alfred E.Smith, the first Catholic presidential candidate.Obama roasts McCain:McCain roasts...

THE 63rd annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner to benefit Catholic charities, and Barack Obama and John MCCMaina re showing signs of humanity: “I can’t shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me,” McCain said, turning to the far side of the stage. “I’m delighted to see you here tonight, Hillary.” Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and all others in the crowd, guffawed. These people might be likeable yet: McCain added that Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton “has been hammering away with me with epithets like, ‘hero.’” McCain said that his rival was not fazed by being called, “That one,” during the second presidential debate. “He doesn’t mind at all,” McCain said, “in fact, he...

Sunny pretty much sums up Obama’s performance over at LC. I felt that Obama wasn’t prickly enough in the exchanges. But Sunny is right, Obama needs to appear calm and collected in the face of such attacks - there is no political value in being “an angry black man”. The public are responding to Obama’s ice-cool disposition. They don’t like John McCain’s volcanic seething and erratic policy swings. But there was something I noted while watching/listening to last night’s debate. I watched the first hour on the TV. McCain was overly pale (is he okay?), awkward, and appeared peevish (no it’s not a liberal meme, he genuinely did). Then in bed (it was 3am here), I listened to the last 30-mins on the radio. I was amazed how much better McCain...

For whatever it's limited worth, I thought McCain had a few opportunities to do some real damage tonight, and basically blew it. For example, on the Ayers issue, if McCain...

There have been some pretty poor presidential campaigns. But I wonder if any have collapsed quite as spectacularly as John McCain’s has over the past few weeks? It’s not that long ago, September 3rd in fact, that Sarah Palin’s barnstorming turn at the Republican Convention threatened to carry the ticket into the White House. Yet now, McCain’s strategy seems to be changing daily, with his team thrashing around in a desperate attempt to find an approach that offers some traction with voters. The campaign isn’t working and many Republicans are bracing themselves for a crushing defeat. If Obama does swamp McCain, it wouldn’t be the first landslide in recent memory. In 1984 Walter Mondale lost every State bar DC and his native Minnesota (which he only won...

Guardian - Desperate McCain gives beat to the dark heart of conservatism: It built up over the course of the week, as supporters at the rallies of John McCain and Sarah Palin started randomly screaming "terrorist!" and "off with his head!" and "treason!" and even "kill him!" at the mention of Barack Obama's name... AP - Angry anti-Obama taunts grip McCain, Palin events: Some of the anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is mostly letting it flare... When a visibly angry McCain supporter in Waukesha, Wis., on Thursday told the candidate "I'm really mad" because of "socialists taking over the country," McCain stoked the sentiment. McCain And Palin Incite Mob Mentality "What could very well be the sleaziest 4 days in modern political history" - Keith Olbermann And...

Victor Davis Hanson makes some reasonable points in his op ed urging conservatives not to "jump ship" on John McCain. On balance, I think McCain isn't nearly as good...

Republican John McCain vowed Sunday to "whip" Democratic rival Barack Obama's "you-know-what" when the two presidential candidates meet Wednesday in their final televised debate. "We're a couple points down, OK, nationally, but we're right in this game," McCain said to...

After a turbulent week that included disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin and signs that Senator John McCain was struggling to strike the right tone for his campaign, Republican leaders said Saturday that they were worried Mr. McCain was heading for defeat unless he brought stability to his presidential...

John Lewis Warns McCain: You're "Sowing The Seeds Of Hatred And Division" Georgia congressman and Civil Rights leader John Lewis, reacting to the increasingly incendiary atmosphere at McCain-Palin campaign rallies, condemned the...