Ben Smith has some more numbers…
The full report is, a reader notes, now online, with a summary showing Obama spent more than $65 million on his media buy in September.
To give a sense of the organization scale, more than $5 million of the total of $96.9 million were spent on travel and lodging.
He refunded [...]

Looks like Sarah Palin was really good for fundraising.
But more than that…these are insane numbers. As I’ve said before, Obama has completely and forever changed the political game.
More from the WSJ:
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama announced early Sunday that his campaign had raised more than $150 million in September, shattering the previous record he had [...]

That’s the buzz from the NY Times:
The huge gap has been made possible by Mr. Obama’s decision to opt out of the federal campaign finance system, which gives presidential nominees $84 million in public money and prohibits them from spending any amount above that from their party convention to Election Day. Mr. McCain is participating [...]

From Huff Post:
One official close to the campaign said that September’s fundraising haul set a new record, surpassing the $66 million Obama raised in August. Another aide, asked about the campaign’s take, would only describe it: “big.”
So let’s look at his fundraising for the past several months.
In June he took in $52M.
July’s total was $51M.
August [...]

While not unprecedented, we haven’t seen this type of move in a while. In fact, I think the last person running for office to do this was Ross Perot.
From Hollywood Reporter:
Barack Obama has purchased a half-hour of primetime television on CBS and NBC, sources confirm.
The Obama campaign is producing a nationwide pitch to voters that [...]

Looks like breaking his pledge to take public financing is working out better than expected.
From First Read:
Interviewed on MSNBC, Obama strategist David Axelrod revealed that 4 million individuals have now donated to the Obama camp.
That’s up from 2.5 million last month, meaning — if our math is correct — that 1.5 million new [...]

I don’t even want to look at my 401(k) anymore. Too painful.
Seriously, take a look at this graph too see a 1 month view of this downward spiral…

Truly astonishing…
NEW YORK (AP) - The misery worsened on Wall Street Tuesday, with stocks piling on the losses late in the session and bringing the two-day decline in [...]

It makes a lot of sense, not the least of which is when folks think their bank is in trouble and they decide to start pulling their money because they don’t think the FDIC will cover them, it creates a “run on the bank” situation that makes a collapse for that particular institution almost inevitable.
Obama [...]

Yesterday I shared a story about Davis’ lobbying ties to the troubled mortgage giants. And yesterday McCain claimed that his campaign manager hadn’t been involved with his lobbying firm for a few years.
Well, today the Times follows up and finds that Davis’s involvement was more extensive than previously thought…
WASHINGTON — One of the giant mortgage [...]

Finally, somebody who doesn’t take the easy way out.
From Reuters:
(Reuters) - American International Group Inc’s (NYSE:AIG - News) former Chief Executive Robert Willumstad has rejected a $22 million severance payment, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the decision.
Willumstad e-mailed his successor, Edward Liddy, of his decision to forego the severance since [...]

And not only that, Rick Davis did it for 5 years and his firm made approximately $1.8M in that time.
From NY Times:
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend [...]

Lots of bi-partisanship popping up in the wake of this economic hurricane, and this move could be one of the more significant moves given how intricate the details of this bailout will be.
From Politico:
Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said Sunday that if he’s elected, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would be “involved” in the new administration’s transition [...]

An intriguing idea floated by the Arizona senator, but would it actually hurt the recovery?
From Politico:
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Sunday that bank executives who take the mortgage bailout should have an annual salary limit of $400,000, a substantial pay cut that could dramatically reduce participation in the program. [...]
“I notice at Lehman … some [...]

Jonathan Martin calls it…
Time to take a step back: A Republican President just sent out his Treasury Secretary to announce the federal government will spend “hundreds of billions of dollars” to takeover a not-insignificant chunk of the economy.
However, is this socialism or simply realism?
And, by the way, I give Bush A LOT of credit for [...]

McCain unveiled a new attack today slamming Obama for taking campaign contributions from folks who worked for Fannie and Freddie.
What he doesn’t mention is his own time at the trough.
From CNN:
The total listed for Obama is $126,349 — a tiny fraction of the approximately $390 million his campaign has raised, according to the Center for [...]

The news today is amazing, and just goes to show you that when the government wants to do something drastic, they can do it no problem. So don’t tell me we can’t provide healthcare for all or pay our teachers more or fix our infrastructure. Because if we have this much financial leverage to find [...]

Joe Biden likes to make a point on the stump that he’s not part of the jet set crowd; that he hammers out an ordinary living like the rest of us.
Well Diamond Joe wasn’t kidding.  He released his tax returns last Friday, and evidently he’s not a big believer in charity.  
The numbers are uglier [...]

Delivering on the gamble to not accept public financing, this is the biggest one month take in the history of American politics. Still, is it enough to keep up with McCain and the RNC?
Politico has more…
It doesn’t mean the Democrats will outspend the Republicans this year, though. The Republican National Committee’s cash advantage over the [...]

The hits just keep on coming…
NEW YORK - Republican presidential candidate John McCain on Friday defended two debunked television ads attacking Democrat Barack Obama and claimed erroneously that running mate Sarah Palin never sought money for lawmakers’ pet projects as Alaska governor.
Palin sought $197 million in so-called “earmarks” for 2009. In the previous budget year, [...]

In an article that details how Palin’s Bridge To Nowhere claim is a lie, The Wall Street Journal also points out another fib that McCain has been throwing around on the campaign trail…
At a rally today, Sen. McCain again asserted that Sen. Obama has requested nearly a billion in earmarks. In fact, the Illinois senator [...]