I’m posting this ad as a public service, since I think it’s only going to run in “selected states,” which means toss-ups, which means Florida, Ohio, etc.

The only thing I don’t like about the ad is the third quote, in which McCain said, “I might have to rely on a vice president that I select,” and the ad writers finished with, “on economic issues.” That’s a bit of McCainy move, since Obama has also said (better, of course) that he would welcome the opinions and expertise of his vice president throughout his term.

Besides, the spin was unnecessary. Saying you’ll rely on your vice president to pass the salt is risky when your choice is Palin.

What do you guys think?

Wow. I worried about Barack Obama taking two days from the end of the campaign to go to see his tutu in Hawaii. I was wrong. Obama is so energized now, he practically pulsates.

I had some time off last week and I used a couple of days to hang out at my local Obama headquarters and do whatever there was to do. I am blessed, despite one and a half full-time jobs, with a certain amount of flexibility and I will use the rest of any spare time I can dig up between now and Nov. 4 to do the same. It’s just too important, and besides, this is what we’ve worked all this time for.

As Obama said, if you can do a little too, we’ll change this country. Let’s do it!

Rasmussen’s latest count: Obama — 313 electoral votes, McCain — 174

Put Florida in the “Leans Obama” category!

At least Rasumussen — my favorite pollster because it’s so conservative that FOX News has a relationship with it — does.

After John McCain pulled even in Florida a week ago, Barack Obama is back on top this week.

The latest Fox News/Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Obama with 51% of the vote while McCain gets support from 47%.

This is the fourth time in five weeks that Obama has held a single digit lead over McCain. Last week was the exception with McCain up by a single point.

McCain has been running the “I’m Joe the Plumber” ad nonstop in Florida. If you’re not familiar (lucky you!), the ad shows Obama using the poorly chosen “spread the wealth around” phrase when he was actually going for “a rising tide lifts all boats,” then parades supposed McCain supporters proclaiming their Joe the Plumber-ness.

I feared seeing McCain’s ad might take a toll, but if Rasmussen is right, then as with every other McCain ad that focuses on Obama, after watching, people only become less favorable toward McCain.

No one wins an election solely because they had the most money, but there is no doubt that proper funding is a great advantage. The Obama campaign is known as a cash king, but that reputation could be a problem in itself if too many people think Obama doesn’t need the money. Candidates always need the money.

Democrat Obama spent more than $105 million during the first two weeks of October, according to new campaign finance reports, and reported raising only $36 million during that period, about half his pace in September when he brought in a record $150 million.

Obama had nearly $66 million in the bank as of Oct. 15, and the Democratic National Committee and a joint Obama-party victory fund had another $31 million combined.

McCain and the Republican National Committee reported having a combined $84 million as of Oct. 15 to spend before Election Day. McCain, who has accepted $84.1 million in public money, had spent all but $25 million as of mid-month…

In seven key swing states – Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia – Obama ran more than double the number of ads between Oct. 6 and Oct. 22 than McCain, 53,049 to 21,106, Nielsen Media Research reported yesterday…

McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, meanwhile, tried to douse a furor over how their side spent theirs.

The RNC came under scrutiny after reporting this week that it had spent about $150,000 in September on wardrobe and cosmetics after Palin joined the GOP ticket.

This is crunch time, guys. We’ve come this far, but to go all the way the Obama campaign needs money. Don’t worry, they’ll spend it wisely. Think of it as an investment. We are all investing in the kind of future we want, not the kind McCain/Palin would give us.

It’s the difference between creating clean-energy jobs and shooting wolves from helicopters, the difference between a sane approach to health care and more tax cuts for the rich, the difference between frank truths and whispered lies.

Donate now. In ten days, it will be too late.

Check out YesWeCarve.com before you slice into your Halloween pumpkin for ideas and templates to create your own Barack-o-Lantern. You can even have a BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) party and compete for an orange iPod. Download a stencil, submit a pun-kin (The Squashacity of Hope and Joe Pumpkin Pie-den are taken), upload photos of your own Jack O-Bama, and see tons of photos of pumpkins. Unfortunately many of them look like I carved them, but they still make great yard signs.

Obama/Biden Florida Field Organizer Jaylen McGrew

I just came from seeing Jill Biden speak, after introductions by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), and his wife, Grace. Dr. Biden, a community college professor, was as great in person as she seemed from the convention cameras, and like the rest of the Obama campaign, urged Florida Democrats to vote early.

I was so taken with Jaylen’s hat that I was a bad reporter and failed to ask how he spells his name. If I find out later I have it wrong, I will update. Thanks for being a great sport, Jaylen, and for all the work you and the other volunteers are doing!

Update: I had it wrong. Now it’s right!

Early voting continues at a brisk pace in Florida, and in my own county, the supervisor of elections reports that on Day Five, more than 10 percent of those registered have already cast their ballots. At this rate, there will be no one left to vote on Election Day.

That scenario would only bode well for Obama, since it’s his campaign that is pushing early voting, and Democrats who are most suspicious of having their votes stolen. We have been making canvassing calls at my local Obama headquarters, which have two purposes: ask people for a commitment to vote for Obama, and then urge them to vote early. The response is mostly favorable on both counts.

In Florida, early voting sites are open on Saturdays as well as Monday through Friday. If you’re a Floridian and don’t know where to go to vote, the Division of Elections has posted a PDF of all the early voting sites in the state.