Keith Cate, reporter with our sister station WFLA News Channel 8 in Tampa Florida, interviews Governor Sarah Palin at a rally in Ft. Myers on Oct. 6, 2008. Keith sat down with her for an exclusive interview. This is an unedited, long version.

John McCain and Barack Obama, who meet Tuesday in their second debate, are no longer running neck and neck. 

(Reuters) - The U.S. presidential election hinges on a handful of battleground states where opinion polls show Democrat Barack Obama making significant gains against Republican rival John McCain.

Each argues the other has shady connections, and Barack Obama says the economy is at stake.

Seven Alaska state employees have reversed course and agreed to testify in an abuse-of-power investigation against Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday accused Democrat Barack Obama of “palling around with terrorists” because of an association with a former ‘60s radical, stepping up an effort to portray Obama as unacceptable to American voters.

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - The morning after the most anticipated vice-presidential debate in American history, U.S. voters seemed to share a common reaction: Republican Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wasn’t that bad after all.

Democrat Barack Obama used word of the nation’s worst monthly job loss in over five years Friday to argue the policies of his Republican opponents “are killing jobs in America every single day.“ Republican John McCain retorted that Obama’s tax and spending plans won’t solve the problem.

The vice presidential candidates have clashed on the economy, foreign policy, energy and global warming in their only debate. The faceoff between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden was held in St. Louis at Washington University.

Libertarian Presidential candidate Bob Barr will be in Charleston on Tuesday.  He is expected to speak at several locations. 

You have less than a week to register to vote.  The deadline to register in South Carolina is this Saturday. 

Who knew the word “lipstick” would be so loaded.  The McCain-Palin camp is demanding Obama apologize for a lipstick comment he made yesterday. 

On the presidential campaign trail today, Barack Obama is hitting back against John McCain.  For the first time the word “lying” has come into this campaign.

The USA Today/Gallup Poll has McCain leading Barack Obama 50% to 46% among registered voters.  That’s outside the poll’s margin of error. 

The folks at Image Eyewear in Dallas, Texas say the phone is ringing off the hook with people wanting to know about the spectacles.