10/27 Roundup: Closing Arguments, Obama's Challenges, Nailing Marmalade

Leader: Closing Arguments

- Barack Obama has shifted the battle almost entirely to states that went for Bush in '04.  Today, in Canton, Ohio, Obama will make his closing argument. Expect him to ask Americans to "help him change the country."

- With eight days left in this election, John McCain is looking uphill, and the road is steep. Simon hammers the point home in the Arizona Republic: "The American people are disappointed with John McCain and the campaign that he's run. They were open to electing him president, but he just didn't perform in the general election, and that's why he's going to lose."

- But McCain is still confident that he can make a comeback. His final strategies have been unveiled, and he has gone so far as to guarantee victory next Tuesday.

Economy

- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg lays out the challenges that will face the U.S. economy under the next president.

- The economy is in the can, and nobody's buying anything anymore.  Except guns.  Everyone is buying a lot of guns.

Election '08

- John Heilemann has a great piece on the great opportunities and difficulties facing an Obama administration. The challenges will begin with the transition, which has already seen controversy and confusion.

- Jesse Jackson Jr. may be the frontrunner to take over Obama's senate seat. But don't count out Rep. Jan Schakowsky or Iraq War vet Tammy Duckworth. And how about Rahm Emmanuel?

- Race is a complicated subject in Western Pennsylvania, but many are willing to see beyond color, reports the New York Times.

- As he does so well, Joe Biden takes us back to reality when the name of Karl Marx begins to enter the picture.

- The Anchorage Daily News says: "We love ya, Sarah, but we're voting for the other guy."

International

- Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, lays out the challenges that will face U.S. foreign policy under the next president.

- Israeli PM Tzipi Livni has called for snap elections, and after gaining ground over the past month, her Kadima party may maintain its advantage over Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party.

One More Thing

- Are you the type of person who likes to do what everyone else is doing?  Then dress up as Sarah Palin for Halloween. But you'd better have $150,000 to spare if you want to do it right.

- Biographer Edmund Morris gets an exclusive interview with Teddy Roosevelt on the current election.  On Joe Biden: "You can’t nail marmalade against a wall!"

- Last, John McCain would like to remind you that he's not actually that far behind: