by Thomas Pierce

Good morning y'all,

I hope you had a lovely weekend. Barack Obama sure did.

The good news for the Democratic candidate came pouring in on Sunday — most notably when Colin Powell endorsed Obama on NBC's Meet the Press. In addition to being a retired U.S. Army general and Secretary of State under Bush 43, Powell's also a former McCain campaign contributor. However, the endorsement wasn't a complete surprise. Powell had previously hinted at leaning toward Obama — calling his candidacy "electrifying"— but he always stopped short of an official endorsement.

So in case you missed it or don't have time to watch the video, here's the Powell endorsement in a nutshell: the Republican Party's moved too far right. The economic crisis was a "final exam," and McCain didn't score especially well. Obama did. Sarah Palin's not ready to be vice-president because she's not ready to be president. McCain's turn to the negative — Bill Ayers and robo-calls — "goes too far." The Supreme Court doesn't need two more conservative judges. Obama isn't a Muslim, but even if he was, it shouldn't matter. Both McCain and Obama would be good presidents, but because Obama's such a "transformational figure," he'll be voting for him.

Hours later, Obama had kind words for Powell at a rally in Fayetteville, NC saying, "I am beyond honored and deeply humbled to have the support of Gen. Colin Powell." And this morning on NBC's Today, Obama stepped up his appreciation by suggesting that Powell may have a role in his administration as a top presidential adviser. Whether or not Powell would accept such a position, Obama said, is something they'd "have to discuss."

But that wasn't the only good news for the Democratic presidential hopeful. His campaign also announced yesterday that they'd broken previous fundraising records with a $150 million haul for the month of September. That's actually double the previous record (Obama collected $66 million in August). And with fundraising numbers this large, a debate is probably looming over the future relevancy of public financing. The NYT reports this morning that Democrats may not be in such a hurry to fix the public financing system in congress:

Democrats, though, may be reluctant to surrender the significant money-raising advantage they have developed over Republicans, saying that Mr. Obama, by cultivating millions of small donors over the Internet, has built what amounts to a parallel public financing system that is arguably more democratic.

"I think there's going to be a fight inside the Democratic Party on this," said David Donnelly, a director of Campaign Money Watch, a watchdog group.

The more specific fundraising numbers will be available later today when the campaign files with the FEC. But with the RNC raising roughly $66 million (which in any other year would be an intimidating figure) in the month of September, coupled with McCain's $84 million in public financing, we think it's fair to expect more of the same: Obama outspending McCain in battleground states. And that definitely goes for advertising — television, print, radio, video game, wherever.

 

Not long after Colin Powell endorsed Obama, McCain appeared on Fox News Sunday and responded to the endorsement saying he's "always admired and respected General Powell." McCain added:

We're longtime friends. This doesn't come as a surprise. But I'm also very pleased to have the endorsement of four former Secretaries of State, Kissinger, Baker, Eagleburger and Haig and I'm proud to have the endorsement of well over 200 retired army generals and admirals. I respect and continue to respect and admire Secretary Powell.

And in reference to Obama's lead in the polls, McCain noted that he loves, "being the underdog. You know, every time that I've gotten ahead, somehow I've messed it up."

In other, less serious news, Saturday Night Live enjoyed its highest ratings in 14 years this weekend. That might have something to do with Sarah Palin dropping by for a brief encounter of the comedic kind with her doppelganger, Tina Fey:

More than 17 million people tuned in for the show's first half-hour. And as Politico points out, the last time SNL had this many viewers "was in 1994, for a show hosted by the kneecapped figure skater Nancy Kerrigan."

And finally, early voting starts today in Florida. Polls show a tight race. McCain was there on Friday. Obama will be there until Wednesday, stumping with a team of his one-time primary rivals, Bill Richardson and Hillary Clinton.