In the Headlines

"A Hard-Hitting Final Round" (Michael D. Shear and Robert Barnes, Washington Post) - Seeking to recapture the momentum in the presidential race, John McCain aggressively criticized Barack Obama's past relationships and challenged his character Wednesday night while Obama sought to link McCain to President Bush and direct the conversation to "solving the big problems here in America."

"Obama, McCain line up for red-state sprint" (Ben Smith and Jonathan Martin, The Politico) - Senator Barack Obama is on offense, and Senator John McCain on defense, and the next 19 days offer little chance of a change in that dynamic.

"Palin Makes Pitch to Independents" (Elizabeth Holmes, Wall Street Journal) - Sen. John McCain's campaign is testing the popularity of his running mate, Sarah Palin, in battleground territories of key states, a shift from her previous charge of rallying the base in conservative enclaves.

"Democratic hopefuls top GOP senators in third quarter" (Aaron Blake, The Hill) - Democratic Senate candidates looking to stretch their party's advantage in the upper chamber to a 60-seat, filibuster-proof majority continued to raise big money in the third quarter, with most of them edging GOP incumbents in the top races.

On the Morning Shows

Good Morning America - Joe Biden: "Joe the Plumber is not going to get any additional tax cuts with us. On the critical issues, on taxation, on health care, on jobs, on the basics of the economy there is not one fundamental difference McCain has with Bush. I think John did a little better than he did in the first two."

Joe the Plumber!: "You have to be taxed but just because you work a little harder to have more money taken from you, that's a little scary. Because you're successful, you have to pay more than everybody else? That's a very socialist view, it's incredibly wrong. What if he says $150,000 too, that's a slippery slope."

CNN American Morning - Ed Rendell: "It is not a sacrifice to this country to make the improvements it needs to. What McCain said is the same trickle-down economics as the last eight years. Trickle-down economics doesn't work to help 90 percent of Americans. If he makes more than $250,000 he'll just pay part of the burden."

From Late Night

Stewart:

(Greg Bobrinskoy contributed to the Morning Report.)