DAY IN A NUTSHELL
As early voting begins in Florida and Colorado, Joe Biden releases his medical records and pundits react to Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama. Mr Obama makes a joint campaign appearance with Hillary Clinton, only his second since beating her in the Democratic primaries.
KEY QUOTES
"This was all about Powell and race, nothing about the nation and its welfare. He said it's not about race - show me all the inexperienced white liberals you've endorsed if it's not about race."
Talk radio host Rush Limbaugh on Colin Powell's Obama endorsement
"What other candidate has eight homes and 13 cars and has the temperament of a meth-mouthed snapping turtle?"
"I was surprised that he didn't call me before."
John McCain wanted Gen Powell to give him a bit of notice before endorsing his opponent
"It's getting so bad that even Senator McCain's running mate denounced his tactics last night. As you know, you really have to work hard to violate Governor Palin's standards on negative campaigning."
Barack Obama responds to Sarah Palin's comment that if she had a "magic wand" the campaign would not use robocalls
"Can you tell me anybody that sorted out who it was that supplied Barack Obama the drugs that he claimed in his own book to have taken? No... If Joe the plumber's back taxes are relevant... then everything is relevant."
Mike Huckabee opens up a new line of attack on Mr Obama
"What other candidate has eight homes and 13 cars and has the temperament of a meth-mouthed snapping turtle? Really, what's not to love in John McCain, satire-wise?"
Christopher Buckley reveals that he and his fellow satirists are hoping for a McCain-Palin victory
"I have a nine-year-old son named Omar. I firmly believe that he will be able to do absolutely anything he wants in this country when he grows up. But I admit that I will feel more confident about his future if a man named Barack Obama became president of the United States."
Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria endorses Obama
NUMBER NEWS
After a slight contraction in Barack Obama's lead over recent days, the Democratic candidate's numbers crept back up slightly in today's tracking polls.
His lead varies from four points (according to Rasmussen) to nine points (Gallup).
Mr Obama's leads in the battleground states are holding steady, polls indicate.
He is up by seven points in New Hampshire (Research 2000), nine points in Ohio (Suffolk University), 10 points in Virginia (Rasmussen), and six points in North Carolina.
The polls also suggest that John McCain leads by just two points in the usually solidly Republican state of Georgia (according to a poll from the partisan organisation Democracy Corps), and by one point in Missouri (Suffolk University).
DAILY PICTURE
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