Start your Monday with a barrage of must-reads:
• President Bush, abandoned by media, loses influence
• The surge isn't working: Iraq suicide blasts cause carnage; at least 47 dead; no end to insurgency in sight
• US War on Terrorism Is Losing Ground in Pakistan
• McCain: Do away with affirmative action
• NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg will form PAC to funnel millions for Senate Republicans, says source
• Media Narrative: Presidential Race Is a Dead Heat, and Damn the Facts
• The Tomnibus: Senate Democrats Try to Break Grip of the Senate's "Dr. No", Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Hates Americans)
• Over $4 billion in failed rebuilding projects for Iraq
• Three states illegally purging voter rolls
• Think tank exposes evidence of bias toward "liberal bias" narrative on cable "news"
More below the fold…
• Why we never need to build another polluting power plant
• Obama Returns to Economy as McCain Remains Obsessed with Obama's Successful Foreign Tour
• Congress probing whether New York City wildly inflated value of land for new Yankee Stadium
• Rumblings of declaration of victory in Iraq: are they a prelude to pullout?
• SEC Intensifies Efforts to Rein in Speculative Short Selling
• Gallup: Obama 49%, McCain 40%
• Sponsors ditch talk host Savage
• McCain now flip-flopping on affirmative action
• Kenneth Copeland and family: in it for God… or the money?
• Prosecuting Bush for Murder
• McCain Fumbles His "This Week" Appearance
• Frank Rich: How Obama Became Acting President
• The GOP-aligned Pentagon sandbagged Obama
• Impact of DOJ political blacklisting unclear, but definitely ‘on our radar screen'
• Blacks and Latinos with Identical Credit Far More Likely than Whites to Receive Subprime Loans
• The Endless Smearing of Joe Wilson
• The Big Pharma boondoggle – windfall profits from Medicare
• AP analysis: US now on offensive in Iraq war
• India Arrests Dozens in Bombings That Killed 45
• Oil industry spills tons of money into political sea, and it all washes up on McCain's shore
• Meet Mike Connell, GOP operative and election thief…
More at the Newswire.