Campaign Comedy Wednesdays late-night TV wrap-up

By Nick Ut (AP)

Not just Wall Street is running scared.

The consequences of the financial meltdown now are sinking in with ordinary Americans, who worry whether their jobs, home values, children\'s futures and retirement plans are at risk, according to a poll out Wednesday.

Eight in 10 fear the crisis will affect them directly, according to an AP-GfK poll. Yet 45 percent of all adults still opposed the proposed government bailout.

Some 38 percent were in favor of the $700 billion financial-market rescue plan and 16 percent were not sure in the poll, which was conducted Sept....

By Mike Wintroath (AP)

Pastor Luke Emrich prepared his sermon this week knowing his remarks could invite an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service. But that was the whole point, so Emrich forged ahead with his message: Thou shalt vote according to the Scriptures.

\"I\'m telling you straight up, I would choose life,\" Emrich told about 100 worshippers Sunday at New Life Church, a nondenominational evangelical congregation about 40 miles from Milwaukee.

\"I would cast a vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin,\" he said. \"But friends, it\'s your choice to make, it\'s not my choice. I won\'t be...

By Gerald Herbert (AP)

John Thomas has lots of reasons to support John McCain for president.

Like McCain, Thomas is a former Navy officer. They\'re about the same age, and Thomas considers himself a political independent with a conservative bent.

But Thomas, a one-time supporter of President Bush, said McCain running mate Sarah Palin\'s recent interviews sealed his decision to vote for Democrat Barack Obama.

\"She\'s not prepared at all,\" Thomas, 70, said as he loaded groceries into his car outside a Sam\'s Club warehouse store on the outskirts of Huntsville. He said listening to Palin argue...

By Joe Burbank (AP)

Former President Clinton set aside his cool relationship with Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Wednesday to issue a condemnation of Republican economic policies as well as an endorsement of his wife\'s ex-rival.

For his first campaign trail appearance on Obama\'s behalf, Clinton chose the swing state of Florida, its 27 electoral votes seen as central to Republican John McCain\'s hopes for victory. George W. Bush won the state in 2000, after a disputed recount, and again in 2004. A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday showed Obama with a 51-43 lead over...

By MICHEL EULER (AP)

He\'s photographed Princess Diana in diamonds, Madonna in lingerie and top model Gisele Bundchen in the buff.

But celebrated French photographer Patrick Demarchelier says none of the hundreds of pop culture icons he\'s immortalized in his more than 30 years behind the lens can compare with his dog, whom he calls \"the perfect model.\"

An exhibition at Paris\' Petit Palais museum brings together more than 400 of Demarchelier\'s renowned portraits, including, of course, a ravishing shot of Puffy the long-haired dachshund.

Looking sprightly in his uniform of sneakers and a...

By Charlie Neibergall (AP)

Bill Clinton is playing a starring role in a John McCain commercial. And here\'s the ad\'s kicker: \"You\'re right Mr. President.\"

Fancy that. The Republican presidential nominee with a tip of the hat to the last Democratic president.

A new minute-long McCain commercial features the former president asserting that congressional Democrats could have done more to regulate the nation\'s major mortgage financiers.

In a clip taken from a Sept. 25 interview on ABC\'s \"Good Morning America,\" Clinton says: \"I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in...

By Rick Havner (AP)

The sale of Wachovia\'s deposits and other assets to Citigroup on Monday leaves the nation with three superbanks, reshaping the U.S. banking landscape in the midst of unprecedented financial upheaval.

For customers of those institutions _ Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase _ the consolidation may result in higher fees on everything from checking accounts to bounced checks and overdrafts, and lower interest-rate yields on deposit accounts, banking experts said.

Loan availability also remains in question in the near term, particularly after congressional defeat of...

By (AP)

Verizon Wireless says it is moving forward with plans to acquire Alltel Corp. for $28.1 billion, although the country\'s financial climate has worsened since the companies reached an agreement four months ago.

Verizon maintains that the deal, which would make it the largest wireless carrier in the United States, is still on track to close by year\'s end, company spokeswoman Robin Nicol said Friday.

But a major ratings firm that evaluates companies\' financial strength for world credit markets is not so sure.

\"Considering the size of this deal, it would be surprising...

By (AP)

Today is Sunday, Oct. 5, the 279th day of 2008. There are 87 days left in the year.

Today\'s Highlight in History:

On Oct. 5, 1947, President Truman delivered the first televised White House address. Speaking on the world food crisis, Truman called on Americans to refrain from eating meat on Tuesdays and poultry as well as eggs on Thursdays.

On this date:

In 1829, the 21st president of the United States, Chester Alan Arthur, was born in Fairfield, Vt. (Some sources list 1830.)

In 1892, the Dalton Gang, notorious for its train robberies, was practically wiped...

By (AP)

A disbarred attorney who lived three doors down from Bill and Hillary Clinton in a New York City suburb has been convicted of murdering his wife.

A Westchester County jury deliberated Friday and Saturday before convicting Carlos Perez-Olivo of second-degree murder.

He could get life in prison.

Prosecutors say the ex-lawyer had just $300 in his bank account when he shot his wife of 30 years to collect her nearly $900,000 life insurance policy. Perez-Olivo claimed he and his wife had been shot by a carjacker in 2006 while returning home to Chappaqua (CHAP\'-uh-kwah).

By (AP)

Democratic lawmakers on Friday questioned the independence of a veteran federal prosecutor named to investigate whether laws were broken in the partisan political firings of U.S. attorneys.

Rep. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., who has led the House Judiciary Committee\'s investigation into the firing of nine prosecutors nearly two years ago, said the Justice Department might interfere with the career prosecutor who will conduct the probe.

Nora Dannehy _ the acting U.S. attorney in Connecticut and white-collar crime specialist _ was named early this week by Attorney General Michael...