Today’s Election News Roundup

A plot to kill Ill. Sen. Barack Obama and several black school children was uncovered yesterday. The two young men arrested called themselves believers in “white power.” Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Ark., and Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., had rifles and planned to “drive their vehicle as fast as they could toward Obama shooting at him from the windows,” according to an affidavit filed in a Jackson, Tenn. court.

Obama gave his ‘closing arguments’ in Ohio yesterday, marking his final day of campaigning in the crucial swing state. The words he chose to end with emphasized his theme of change as he gave voters a choice between the past and a “better history.” “That's what's at stake," he announced over a cheering crowd. "That's what we're fighting for."

Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune’s political blog, offers eight reasons why Sen. Obama could lose the election on Nov. 4. On Thursday, Zorn plans to publish eight reasons why Obama will win.

Ariz. Sen. John McCain is still fighting to win Pennsylvania, a key battleground state that Obama leads by double digits in some polls. McCain has gone on the offensive in Pa., calling his opponent, “the most liberal candidate to ever seek the presidency."

Political Perceptions, a blog for The Wall Street Journal, presents perspectives on Sen. McCain from a variety of political analysts. Richard Lowry of the National Review writes that McCain was popular with the media in the past because he was “a gadfly” to the GOP party. But, explains Lowry, “He became the Republican nominee by default, without an organization or fundraising operation to speak of, and soon enough lost the press, too.”

BusinessWeek outlines Sen. McCain’s economic plan, explaining and briefly analyzing each of his proposals on various taxes and financial issues including income, estate and capital-gains taxes as well as the economic stimulus package. 

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.