Powell’s endorsement won’t sway voters. Traditionally, endorsements don’t sway voters. Powell’s won’t be any different. Solid Republicans will dismiss it as predictable, or vengeful, or race-based, or whatever. But Powell doesn’t have to persuade solid Republicans. He merely has to help Obama hang onto his softest supporters–i.e., maintain the status quo. — Stumper, Newsweek

Race for the Senate. One of the biggest question marks right now about what will happen on election day is whether Democrats will gain a filibuster-proof Senate by reaching 60 votes. — The Swamp

The interesting data behind Obama’s record $150 million month. With an average contribution of $86 that means that more than 1.7 million people donated last month. Plouffe reports that September brought 632,000 new donors. The interesting number to me is the remainder: more than one million people out of almost 2.5 million that had given earlier in the year gave again in September. — The Field [via techPresident]

McCain campaign linked to firm accused of voter rego fraud. McCain’s campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states. According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of “registering voters.” — Huffington Post

The larger problem for the McCain-Palin ticket’s attempt to tie Obama to socialism is … George W. Bush. In the last four weeks, President Bush has proposed a $700-billion bailout of the financial sector, pressed his Treasury secretary to push equity into the system and met with key world leaders on how to regulate the global markets. — Countdown to Crawford, LA Times