Blog Buzz: Financial Meltdown, Sarah Palin and John McCain Rack Up Lies, Barack Obama Accused of Double-Dealing in Iraq

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

Wall Street Woes Mark a Campaign Turning Point

The news of today's financial meltdown—Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch—has bloggers analyzing its impact on the election. Chris Cillizza says it could "fundamentally reshape the playing field" and thinks whoever can come out on top in the coming debates about the economy will have a "major edge" in the election. Another liberal blogger says the crisis has given Obama his "game-changer," a chance to move up in the polls. McCain and Obama have both issued statements about the crisis, and Palin has commented as well. McCain's take on it—and his comment today that he still thinks "the fundamentals of our economy are strong"—has drawn criticism from liberal and pro-Obama bloggers, who think it's further proof that electing McCain (a "clone of George W. Bush") would spell disaster for the economy.

Palin and McCain: Pants on Fire

Liberal bloggers are busy keeping track what they call the mounting McCain-Palin lies—on the Bridge to Nowhere, polar bears, firing employees, even the size of their crowds. TPM's Josh Marshall says the extreme dishonesty is making how the media covers the campaign (whether they're willing to report accurately) a "big press story". Even Fox News's Megyn Kelly recently called out McCain on his dishonesty, giving him a grilling that surprised liberal bloggers.

Obama: Double-Dealing in Iraq?

Conservative bloggers say they aren't surprised by a column in the New York Post that accuses Barack Obama of attempting to persuade Iraqi leaders to delay an agreement of a drawdown of American forces while on his trip to Baghdad in July. They say it's the "height of hubris" that Obama tried to conduct foreign policy before becoming president and also think the column is further proof that Obama says one thing and does another, and that he does what's best for his campaign, not his country.

—Gretchen Hannes