TRAIL MIX: RNC Sends Mixed Signals on Bailout Package, and Are Your Political Contributions Safe?

By: Suzanne Rosenberg In today's edition of news from newspaper campaign blogs: Piano Man and The Boss to play for Obama, Bloomberg wants to run for a third term, and the RNC sends mixed signals on the bailout package.


Confusing Signals on bailout coming from the RNC
The Washington Wire
Washington Post
By Ed O?Keefe

The Republican National Committee?s independent expenditure unit -- created in July, in part from funds that came from the McCain campaign in order to target Obama through advertising and mailers -- is planning to spend $5 million to air ads in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin, all potentially critical states in the upcoming election. The ad attacks the economic bailout proposal, on which their own candidate continues to work. According to Ed O?Keefe, the ad states that ?Wall Street squanders our money and Washington is forced to bail them out with -- you guessed it -- our money. Can it get any worse? Under Obama?s plan, the government would spend a trillion dollars more, even after the bailout.? McCain told CNN yesterday that in spite of the fierce opposition to the bailout, ?I?m glad to stay at it. That?s what my job is, I believe as an American, not as a candidate for president.? There is something confusing here -- and more grist for fact-check.org.


The Piano Man and The Boss to kick out the jams for Obama
On Politics
USA Today
By Mark Memmott

If you are a die-hard Springsteen and Billy Joel fan and have from $500 to $10,000 on hand and you happen to be an Obama supporter, you can attend a fundraiser that will feature both megastars in New York City on Oct. 16. Mark Memmott reports sourcing this from The Huffington Post.


Chris Matthews doesn?t ID his daughter in TV interview
Top of the Ticket
Los Angeles Times
By Andrew Malcolm

At the University of Oxford in Mississippi last Friday night as the Presidential debate went ahead, Chris Mathews interviewed numerous students on campus. Among them was his own daughter, although he didn?t ID her as such. Andrew Malcolm points out that MediaBistro was able to identify her as Caroline Mathews, the daughter of Chris Matthews, "the bright and articulate college student who appeared to be leader of a self-professed nonpartisan group of college students named CYA or Concerned Youth of America, whom Mr. Matthews interviewed."


Mixed poll results for Thursday VP debate
The Swamp
Chicago Tribune
By Mark Silva

A Marist poll regarding the VP debate this coming Thursday anticipates that although Joe Biden will win the debate (45%-36%) his opponent will come off as more likable (65%). 61% of those surveyed expect Biden to have a greater understanding of the issues than Gov. Palin, but the poll suggests that neither Biden nor Palin have high ratings in the likability index. The Marist poll then, with a 4% point margin of error, found 49% holds a favorable impression of Palin and 45% of Biden -- which leaves the candidates almost dead even in the likability index.



Are your political donations safe?
Michael Luo
The Caucus
The New York Times

An interesting new angle to the financial crisis issue: Luo asks, "With every day seeming to bring a new bank failure, a jittery political donor might very well ask: Where does my campaign keep its millions of dollars in contributions and are they safe? Queries to the Obama and McCain campaigns, as well as the Democratic and Republican National Committees, yielded differing answers and levels of specificity. All emphasized there was no cause for concern." He offers details.


Trail Mix's Featured Blogs:

Chicago Tribune: The Swamp

Los Angeles Times: Top of the Ticket

The Boston Globe: Political Intelligence

The Denver Post: Politics West

The New York Times: The Caucus

The Wall Street Journal: The Washington Wire

The Washington Post: The Trail and The Fix

USA Today: On Politics