Today’s Election News Roundup

With less than a week until Election Day, Ill. Sen. Barack Obama plans to host a 30-minute campaign ad on prime time. The special is set to air on major networks tonight, excluding ABC. The Obama campaign will spend $1 million for each network to show his special message.

Critics of Obama’s intended “infomercial” claim that the move shows extravagance and “overkill.”

The Arizona Republic analyzes Sen. Obama’s health care and tax plans, arguing that the candidate is not a socialist, and explaining how he fits into the mold of “Democratic Capitalism.” The piece explores the flaws in Obama’s financial plans, calling him “an ardent liberal redistributionist.” 

Anity Shales of Bloomberg argues that Ariz. Sen. John McCain’s economic policies are sound, even if the candidate loses in November. Shales analyzes McCain’s stance on a variety of issues including capital gains, capital goods, freezing government spending and others to illustrate why McCain would be effective in helping the economy.

The Hartford Courant reports that many veterans are supporting Sen. Obama in the election, despite expectations that former soldiers would identify with Sen. McCain. Many veterans and military members have been turned off by the long deployments to Iraq and are attracted to Obama’s economic policies, the Courant explains, citing several real-life examples.

The latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll shows Obama leading McCain in both Florida and Ohio, where voters are more confident in his ability to fix the ailing economy. In Ohio, Obama leads 49 percent to 40 percent, while in Florida he is ahead 50 percent to 43 percent.

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.