MORE “HATE” AND “RAGE” IN AMERICAN POLITICS: “The Republican headquarters in Murfreesboro was vandalized, and workers there said they have received threats.”

FUEL PRICES FALL, oil drops below $71.

D.J. DRUMMOND: “The polls are wrong this year, very wrong.”

I’m not polling expert, but lots of people have been emailing me his critiques so I’m linking to him. I don’t know if the polls are wrong enough to matter, but I agree that if they are, it could create an unfortunate backlash.

ANOTHER TENNESSEE HACKING CASE: This time it’s not Sarah Palin’s email, but Miley Cyrus’s. Michael Silence observes: “Geez, dudes, hack into something important, like Alabama’s playbook.”

ACORN UPDATE: The New York Times reports: “An internal report by a lawyer for the community organizing group Acorn raises questions about whether the web of relationships among its 174 affiliates may have led to violations of federal laws.” (Via Ace).

Which brings us back to Clarice Feldman’s RICO question. Is the answer to be found in campaign contributions?

If we were seeing similar behavior by the NRA on voter registration, I’ll bet it would be getting a lot more attention.

PENNSYLVANIA: Closer than it seems based on Obama and McCain internal polls? Public polls have been very volatile, and I wonder how reliable they are. Are the campaigns’ internal polls more accurate? Obviously the campaigns have an incentive to make those polls as accurate as possible. . . .

SO WHAT’S NOT FOR SALE? Obama campaign selling Chicago election night coverage packages to news outlets.

THIS SOUNDS LIKE GOOD NEWS: Blacklight Power bolsters its impossible claims of a new renewable energy source.

UPDATE: Some ongoing skepticism.

CLARICE FELDMAN: Why Aren’t the Feds Using RICO to Go After ACORN?

PAUL VOLCKER as Obama’s pick for Treasury Secretary? “Volcker is a vigorous 81 and I think he could handle the job. . . . I’m sure the Obama campaign is encouraging the Volcker speculation, since Mr. Volcker brings gravitas and experience to Obama.” Yeah, but he makes John McCain look like a youngster.

UPDATE: Reader Kevin Furr emails: “Hey the last time an inexperienced presidential candidate needed ‘gravitas’ we got Dick Cheney! Heck, I love Cheney but somehow seems a lot of other people don’t…”

A LOOK AT the Canadian assault on freedom of expression.

LIVING THE Car Lust lifestyle.

ORSON SCOTT CARD on journalism. “Your job, as journalists, is to tell the truth. That’s what you claim you do, when you accept people’s money to buy or subscribe to your paper. But right now, you are consenting to or actively promoting a big fat lie.”

TOO SMALL TO FAIL: “It is now clear that a lack of a relationship of mutual interest between lender and borrower was at the heart of the breakdown in global finance. All the players in the system, from mortgage brokers to investment banks peddling ‘asset-backed’ securities, had little interest in whether consumers could actually afford their debt.”

ANDREW MALCOLM ON WASHINGTON: “But all that’s gonna change for sure with the next administration. You can believe in that.”

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER will campaign for McCain in Ohio.

MICKEY KAUS: “Recommended: Tim Noah’s 2001 piece on William Ayers’ memoir Fugitive Days. A searing and timely review! Noah certainly seems like another pro-Obama Democrat who wouldn’t have served on a board with Ayers. He describes Ayers as “self indulgent and morally clueless” and generally treats the ex-Weatherman as a pathetic joke. … Is Noah really 100% comfortable with a Democratic candidate who didn’t?”

FABIUS MAXIMUS on global warming.

RATHERGATE REDUX? While Much of Media Ignores, MSNBC Misleads on Biden Audio . Or just business as usual for this election cycle?

REVIEWING THE REVIEWERS: A roundup of book reviews from all over.

GLIBNESS VS. INTELLIGENCE: Glibness wins. No surprise there . . . .

TOM SMITH: Biden pick shows bad judgment.

UPDATE: Rudy Giuliani weighs in. (Video) And more here.

“HATE” AND “RAGE” IN AMERICAN POLITICS: Anti-McCain vandalism hits Maryland. “At some point during the wee hours of the morning, supporters of opponent Barack Obama attacked a private home in Prince Georges County, Md., defacing the house, an RV, a truck cover, and a two foot by eight foot yard sign. Apparently, the home owner was a registered Democrat and the local Obama fans were none to pleased with his decision to back McCain.”

FOR MERCEDES, a “full-blown sales crisis.”

MARTIN KRAMER rounds up some posts on Obama pal Rashid Khalidi.