Odds and Ends

Here's another news roundup as we nervously count down the final days...

Barack Obama's post-infomercial media blitz continued with an interview on The Daily Show. And then a big rally down in Florida with Bill Clinton. Al Gore's scheduled to appear there for Obama too.

John McCain, meanwhile, gets stood up by his celebrity BFF, Joe Sam the Plumber. At the end of the clip, McCain asks the audience to give a round of applause to the absent plumber for "what he's done for America". Which is... what exactly?

TPM's Josh Marshall has a video roundup on key House races in this election.

Exciting news: "The government reported Thursday the economy shrank in the summer, the strongest signal yet that a recession may have already begun, a day after the Federal Reserve slashed a key interest rate to battle an economic downturn."

Recession? Exxon-Mobil hasn't gotten the memo.

And it appears a second stimulus package-- what specifically it would entail is still unclear (infrastructure investment? extending unemployment benefits?)-- is definitely in the works, possibly being introduced soon after the election. In related news, are the Treasury Dept and the FDIC near a deal on mortgage aid?

In foreign policy news, the rumors of Kim Jong Il's poor health appear to be well-founded.

Meanwhile, in Iraq... "Iraq wants to eliminate any chance U.S. forces will stay here after 2011 under a proposed security pact and to expand Iraqi legal jurisdiction over U.S. troops until then, a close ally of the prime minister said Thursday. Those demands, which were presented to U.S. officials this week, could derail the deal — delivering a diplomatic blow to Washington in the final weeks of the Bush administration."

Finally, Dems may strip Lieberman of his Homeland Security committee chairmanship.