Politics - AP

WASHINGTON - Barack Obama made strides toward easing voters' concerns about his candidacy in Tuesday night's debate. John McCain, despite raising pointed questions about his rival's readiness, didn't create the game-changing moment he'll need between now and Election Day.

WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain expressed incredulity in the presidential debate Tuesday that Democrat Barack Obama would tip off the enemy by saying publicly that he'd attack al-Qaida in Pakistan under certain conditions. "Remarkable," McCain said during the presidential debate, meaning remarkably irresponsible.

NEW YORK - The McCains and the Obamas moved about the stage separately for a little while after their debate, greeting people on the stage, but not each other. Then John McCain tapped Barack Obama's back briefly and Obama turned and reached his hand out. Rather than shaking it, McCain directed him to his wife, Cindy.

NEW YORK - After Gwen Ifill seemed frustrated at losing control of last week's vice presidential debate, Tom Brokaw seemed determined not to let that happen Tuesday with John McCain and Barack Obama.

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced Tuesday he would order the federal government to spend $300 billion in federal funds to buy up bad home mortgages and allow financially troubled homeowners to keep their houses.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's practice of charging the state when she stays in her home must be reviewed to determine if she should pay taxes on the payments, state Finance Director Kim Garnero said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON - Republican Sen. John McCain served on the advisory board to the U.S. chapter of an international group linked to ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America in the 1980s.

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has raised about $3.3 million from contributors who did not list a home state or who designated their state with an abbreviation that did not match one of the 50 states or U.S. territories, according to records provided by the Federal Election Commission.

GREENVILLE, N.C. - After weeks of limited contact with the news media, Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin ventured to the back of her campaign plane Tuesday and answered several questions from reporters.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin tells audiences the election is about the "truthfulness and judgment" needed to be president. But the Alaska governor often stretches the truth herself.

ATLANTA - Federal officials have asked election officials in six states to investigate whether social security number checks are being improperly run on people registering to vote.

WASHINGTON - Nearly 20 years of John McCain's contrition over his role in a 1980s banking scandal vanished this week in 17 minutes and 30 seconds.

LAS VEGAS - Nevada authorities seized records Tuesday from a group they accused of submitting fraudulent voter-registration forms — including for the starting lineup of the Dallas Cowboys.

In his liberal Colorado district, it's no big deal that Jared Polis is gay. Yet his expected victory Nov. 4 in a congressional race would be a historic milestone and, he hopes, send an encouraging message to gay and lesbian young people nationwide.

Sarah Palin's promise for a new era of government openness as the reform governor of Alaska started to crack even before Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign built a wall of protectiveness around her.

HARRISBURG, Pa. - Democratic registration has surged by 13 percent and Republican ranks have shrunk by 1 percent as a record 8.6 million people in battleground Pennsylvania registered to vote in the presidential election.

SAN FRANCISCO - "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan may finally have found some in her long-shot independent challenge to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - It's one of Republican presidential candidate John McCain's most surefire applause lines, a vow to veto pork barrel spending like the road and bridge projects that lawmakers hold dear.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The two men who supposedly exemplified a different kind of politics are engaged in an increasingly bitter campaign as character attacks are emerging to compete with issues like the troubled economy.