Morning Links: Looking to Oxford

With the Ole Miss debate a mere four days away, it looks like people (read: national media) are starting to pay more attention to the events and the candidates' strategies for them. Most interesting: an agreement by both parties to rein in the vice-presidential debate for fear that one candidate may look unprepared and the other might say something regrettable (I think you can guess which is which).

Also:
The Wall Street Journal fires off the first of what will probably be many "the new Ole Miss" stories.
That move by the candidates to put foreign policy first? Might not look so great as the economy tanks.
Obama's staff has pulled out of North Dakota to focus on Minnesota and Wisconsin, which the campaign sees as battleground states (and probably because they each have three times as many electoral votes as N.D.).

-------------

In other political news, looks like the FBI is getting serious about the Palin e-mail "hacker" (although he's really just good at answering her e-mail password questions), visiting his apartment and questioning his roommates. Something tells me this one could go for a while.

And finally, what, my friends, would a Monday post be without an SNL clip?

Morning Links: Welcome to the Jungle

Welcome one and all, to the media circus that will soon become Belmont University. Everyone seems happy and smiling this morning, although that could just be delirium. I'm camped out in the Media Filing Center (aka gargantuan tent) this morning amidst a sea of empty chairs, wondering who's going to be sitting on either side of me later today. I'll let you know if I meet anyone from the Fiji press, or if CBS' Bob Schieffer strolls in with his guitar slung over his back.

Shameless plugs: Here's where you need to go for debate watch parties, what to watch for from the candidates, and where to go for everything else. I will link to these pages 435,000 times in the next two days.

In Political-land, which voters are important: young or old? Apparently both! Why? Because they're both broke, and Obama wants to blame McCain for it. (Although apparently Hillary Clinton is still finding money.)

One final note: After all these "new Ole Miss" stories, there seems to be quite a dearth of "new Belmont" stories. Maybe tomorrow?

(Photo credit: Alan Poizner/For The Tennessean)

Morning Links: Free Sarah Palin!

Looks like David Kernell dodged his first bullet when he wasn't indicted by a federal grand jury over accusations that he accessed Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail. But he's not in the clear yet.

And neither is Palin, if CNN's Campbell Brown has anything to do about it. Brown called McCain out last night for Palin's insulation from reporters. Brown tells McCain's campaign to free Palin from the "chauvinistic chains you're binding her with." I saw Brown's manifesto while at dinner, and even with the TV muted I could tell she was hacked off.

Also:

The daily poll roundup has Obama ahead nationally, but the battleground states are still predictably close.

Joe Biden maybe kinda sorta mixes up Depression-era presidents.

Hey look, another "new Ole Miss" story! I won't say I told you so ... but I told you so.

(Photo credit: Henny Ray Abrams/Associated Press)

Just when Ole Miss began to breathe ...

... the politicians became politicians again. What does the latest bailout impasse mean for tomorrow's scheduled debate? Apparently nothing new. We'll see if John McCain shows up in Oxford, or if Barack Obama gets some town-hall practice.

Programming note: Tomorrow's posts may be light as I work on a story for the dead-tree edition. Of course, if McCain appears on Rachel Ray, all bets are off.