A new ad for former Rep. Jim Slattery, who is taking on Sen. Pat Roberts(R) in Kansas, is sure to get attention but maybe for all the wrong reasons. It speaks for itself so let's take a look: Betcha didn't...

By Michael D. Shear Sen. John McCain's campaign manager said he sees no reason why McCain or his staff should comment regularly on the declining stock market, saying that he doesn't know what they would say. "It doesn't mean we don't care and aren't trying to do something about it, it's just I'm not exactly sure what you'd say everyday," said Rick Davis. The comment came as McCain did not comment directly on the stock market decline for the second day in a row. At a morning rally, the Republican nominee called for suspending rules that require seniors to begin selling their stock in retirement accounts at 70-and-a-half years old. Asked by reporters why McCain has not issued a statement on the stock market decline, as Sen. Barack Obama has, Davis said he saw no reason to. "There's very little a candidate for president and, after watching today, very little

By Peter Slevin CHICAGO -- Falling behind in a sheaf of polls amid one of the nastiest campaigns in the country, Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) announced today that he will unilaterally disarm: He will pull his negative advertising and urge his supporters to do the same. At a St. Paul press conference, the onetime Democrat-turned-Republican sounded as though he was channeling Sen. Barack Obama, who has taken a strong lead in Minnesota polls. Coleman said he would change his tactics and his tone, traveling the state "to connect with people and let them know there's hope." "At times like this, politics should not add to negativity -- it should lift people up with hope and a confident vision for the future," Coleman said in prepared remarks. "And second, I decided that I was not all that interested in returning to Washington for six years based on the judgment of voters

By Lisa deMoraes Barack Obama's presidential campaign is getting a bargain for the half-hour of Oct. 29 primetime it's bought on CBS and NBC. The Democratic presidential candidate's camp is paying under $1 million to each network to run the programming it will produce for the first half-hour of primetime that Wednesday night, less than a week before the election. This is considerably less than the networks would otherwise get for the 10-11 ad "units" they run during that half hour, between 8 and 8:30 p.m. Obama is not getting a price break; the campaign will be charged what's called the "lowest unit cost," in compliance with federal law. What will Obama get for his not quite $2-million? Wednesday night at 8 has not been a ratings bonanza; this week, CBS averaged 7.2 million voting age (18 years and up) viewers for the Julia Louis-Dreyfus sitcom "The New Adventures of

A John McCain supporter yells at Obama supporters before Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Republican vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin arrive at a rally, Oct. 8, 2008, in Strongsville, Ohio. (Tony Dejak/Associated Press) By Dan Balz There is a scene early in "Dead Certain," Robert Draper's book about President Bush, when the Bush campaign, reeling from its loss to John McCain in New Hampshire in the 2000 primary, is plotting its moves for a do-or-die struggle in South Carolina. As Bush's South Carolina team sketched out one tough step after another, Mark McKinnon, Bush's media adviser, listened with amazement. Draper writes that McKinnon was thinking: "They're letting the dogs off the chain." John McCain was the victim in that campaign eight years ago. Now, struggling to overcome Barack Obama's lead in the polls, he is unleashing attacks and empowering forces that lead him in the same direction.

Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain smiles as he speaks during a rally in La Crosse, Wis., Oct. 10, 2008. (Carlos Barria/Reuters) Updated 1:13 p.m. By Michael D. Shear LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Seeking new ways to respond to the frightening economic collapse, Sen. John McCain proposed today that retirees should not be required to cash in the stocks from their retirement accounts when they reach 70-and-a-half years old. Current rules require that liquidation of 401(k) plans begin when seniors reach that age. But with stocks collapsing, those accounts are worth far less than many of their owners expected them to be. Under the current rules, they would have to sell at a huge loss. "To spare investors from being forced to sell their stocks at just the time when the market is hurting the most, those rules should be suspended," McCain said at a rally here. It is unclear