CQ Politics' Web Picks

Politico: Ten Worst Ads of the Season

Politico asked campaign operatives on both sides to nominate their favorite commercials of the cycle -- and by favorite, we mean the most memorably bad. We weren't looking for ads that were unfair, fact-flouting, insensitive or commercials that otherwise injured our civil society. We asked for those that were poorly executed, dopey, misguided or just plain weird.

Washington Post: In Final Stretch, Pitches Show Stark Contrasts

The presidential candidates pursued votes in the same battleground states on Monday but entered their final week of persuasion with messages that could scarcely be more different in tone and substance.

Los Angeles Times: Social Conservatives Fight for Control of Republican Party

The social conservatives and moderates who together boosted the Republican Party to dominance have begun a tense battle over the future of the GOP, with social conservatives already moving to seize control of the party's machinery and some vowing to limit John McCain's influence, even if he wins the presidency.

New York Times: New to Campaigning, but No Longer a Novice

While some of Senator Barack Obama's advisers once viewed Mrs. Obama as an unpredictable force who sometimes spoke her mind a little too much, she is now regarded within the campaign as a disciplined and effective advocate for her husband.

Anchorage Daily News: Ted Stevens, Convicted

Editorial: Somewhere along the line, the former federal prosecutor lost his ethical compass. Ted Stevens has been in power so long, he developed a sense of entitlement. He thought he should be able to take favors and sweetheart deals from friends like Bill Allen because he was Ted Stevens, Alaskan of the Century, Senator for Life -- and if Ted Stevens does it, it must be OK.

Mental Floss: 10 Presidential Perks

Super interesting facts in the book "How to Be President," especially with the election coming up next week. Who will be the lucky recipient of all of the free M&Ms he can handle? Only time will tell. Until then, here's some trivia about what it's like to be President

New Yorker: Couch Potato Politics

Every four years, beginning in 1984, the artists Antoni Muntadas and Marshall Reese have collected political ads from the Presidential election, adding a dozen or so particularly striking new spots to their project, "Political Advertisement." Reese explained that, in making their selections, they hoped both to spotlight innovative ads and to show how certain motifs return again and again.

Slate: America's Five Best Fictional Black Presidents

What might any of this mean for Barack Obama? Beats me. But the next two weeks will see much talk and many pixels devoted to race and his candidacy, and in a nation drunk on entertainment, the legacy of his fictional forebears has to count for something. Herewith, a scan of the most prominent black presidents in American pop culture and a stab at understanding their significance.

Salon: What Barack Obama Needs to Do to Close the Deal

Though many superstitious Democrats around the country refuse to let the thought even enter their minds, much less pass from their lips, the truth is that the 2008 presidential election is, at this point, Barack Obama's to lose. That said, today we ask a very simple question: What should Obama and his campaign do now to close out his presidential bid?

National Review: John McCain, Against the Wind

In many respects, it's a wonder McCain is standing at all, much less within striking distance eight days before the election.