Today’s Election News Roundup

Newspapers nationwide have been making endorsements for president. Some backings came as a surprise: the Chicago Tribune endorsed Ill. Sen. Barack Obama—the first Democrat the publication has ever endorsed. The Anchorage Daily News also endorsed Obama, despite Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s ties to the GOP ticket.

As Election Day approaches, Sen. Obama leads in several states that could help him with the 270 Electoral College votes necessary. But the Obama campaign has made an effort not to feel overconfident: David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, explained, "It wasn't too long ago that people thought McCain was on a pathway to sure victory. As an organization, we don't get too high or too low."

Sen. McCain insists that the polls, which show Obama holding a 7 to 8 point advantage, are misleading. McCain told Meet the Press, “Those polls have consistently shown me much farther behind than we actually are. We’re doing fine. We have closed [the gap] in the last week. We continue to close this next week. You’re going to be up very, very late on election night.”

Sen. McCain stated that he and President Bush “share a common philosophy” during his interview on Meet the Press. Hours later, Sen. Obama criticized McCain’s comments at a campaign rally, stating, "I guess that was John McCain finally giving us a little straight talk, and owning up to the fact that he and George Bush actually have a whole lot in common.”

Former deputy Pennslyvania attorney general Philip Berg challenged Obama’s U.S. citizenship and has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court with the case, claiming that the senator is not officially American.

Amazon was selling masks of Sen. Obama’s face in its online Halloween section, labeling the item “Terrorist Costume.” The company has changed the title of the mask, but a picture of Amazon’s original display screen can be seen on The Swamp.

The findingDulcinea 2008 Election Web Guide highlights the best online resources relating to the candidates and the election.

Project Vote Smart describes the process of nominating a presidential candidate, with concise descriptions of the convention, caucuses, primaries and the process of awarding delegates.

An overview of the role of delegates and superdelegates is presented by the Council on Foreign Relations.

Daily coverage of the 2008 Election is gathered from media sources across the political spectrum and presented by Real Clear Politics to provide up-to-the-minute coverage. The site publishes daily political transcripts, including addresses on the campaign trail and withdrawal speeches. It also constantly updates and compares polling reports from Rasmussen, Gallup, CNN, Pew Research, and other major media sources. Additionally, the site provides a 2008 Primary Delegate Count, which presents the delegate counts of each candidate.

NPR provides an interactive calendar of past primaries. Headline stories that detail the events of the primaries and campaigns accompany the primary map. In addition, NPR hosts a “National Delegates Total,” with an ongoing count of delegates won by each candidate.

Minnesota Public Radio’s online “President Survey” matches the political convictions of respondents with the candidates’ policies in order to help voters make an informed choice come election day.

The New York Times publishes a constant stream of articles from the Associated Press. These concise AP stories cover new developments on the campaign trail.

As election momentum picks up, the Times of London offers British readers a glossary of campaign jargon that will be of use to many Americans as well.

OpenSecrets.org compares the total campaign donations for each candidate and looks into the war chests to see where the money comes from.