The Buzz

• Obama is now officially off the campaign trail for two days as he travels to Hawaii for what could be his last visit with his ailing grandmother. Obama’s campaign announced the suspension earlier this week after word came from family members that 85-year0old Madelyn Dunham was taking a turn from the worse after apparently breaking her hip recently. Details are limited on the exact length and nature of the Hawaii trip, but the campaign has said Obama will be spending “personal time” with his grandmother before leaving Honolulu later on Friday local time. It then appears Obama will immediately head back on the trail for Saturday. hitting unannounced swing states in something resembling another “economy tour.” Ramifications of Obama’d departure from the mainland must be judged after the trip, but the move comes at an awkward time as the McCain campaign continues to hammer Obama on taxes and a new AP national poll has McCain gaining six points to put himself nearly even with Obama with under two weeks left in the race. (But we think that poll is an unreliable outlier…)

• Michelle Obama is picking up the slack as her husband jets of to Hawaii. She will be campaigning in Ohio today with events in Akron and Columbus.

• The Obama campaign’s massive and unprecedented money machine has been so successful at stockpiling money that they have released around $4 million for use by state Democratic parties in key swing states. The money, coming out of Obama’s original presidential campaign fund - meaning it’s besides the specific state party PAC’s Obama already funds - will be handed out to the states for use in GOTV efforts and for state and local races. This is $4 mil that will directly to electing new Democratic Senators and Congressman to build Obama’s hoped-for Democratic super-majority on Capitol Hill.

• The Colin Powell endorsement has helped Obama significantly among independents according to Washington Post analysis.

• Taking refuge in a state that has helped him rise from the political dead on two different occasions, John McCain made a stop in New Hampshire yesterday and made his most basic and desperate plea yet to supporters, telling crowds in the Granite State “don’t give up hope” on his campaign. McCain went on to say that he “loves New Hampshire,” remembering some of his “happiest, happiest memories” came in the state, clearly remembering his underdog triumphs in the GOP primaries of 2000 and 2008. But the general election is not a primary, and this race is about much more than the tiny Granite State. Even here, McCain has bee losing ground for months and is seen as fighting a losing battle with Obama for New Hampshire independents and swing voters. Many of those voters have been part of McCain’s loyal base in his two primary wins. But support has eroded for the GOP nominee in the face of what many moderates see as an unfortunate shift to the right and a borderline sleazy campaign, running dishonest and unfair attacks on Obama - the kind of stuff McCain was fighting against in his primary victories.

• McCain was all over the trail yesterday, jetting off to Cincinnati after his New Hampshire event. There the McCain-Palin team crafted new catchphrases and offered up more “Joe the Plumber”-types to attack Obama as a foe to aspiring entrepreneurs and a typical tax-and-spend liberal candidate. Sarah Palin introduced Obama as “Barack the wealth spread” to resounding cheers from campaign supporters, delivering a new anti-Obama line that has been used multiple times already today in McCain press releases to hit the Dem nominee for his rather unfortunate description of a facet of his economic policy. McCain-Palin also used the Ohio event to introduce more Joe-style characters to the world, including “Tito the Builder” and Pam the Republican Teacher.” This is all in an effort to script the race as a battle over ideology, not specific plans. The McCain campaign just wants to stir up even a sprinkling of doubt in swing voters who have moved into the Obama camp after September’s economic crisis. “Joe” got plenty of attention and may have stopped the GOP bleeding in the polls; why not more like him?

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