Marc Ambinder calls it an ObamaPollSplosion. I don't know what to call it. Or if it will last. But the polls are definitely moving. (Disclaimer: The race is by no means over. Polling five weeks out is never a sure predictor of final results.) It is, however, newsworthy that Obama is breaking 50 percent all over the place. As Peter Brown of Quinnipiac said this morning in a press release, "Sen. John McCain has his work cut out for him if he is to win the presidency. There does not appear to be a role model for such a comeback in the last half century."

First today we have Quinnipiac (Sept. 27 to 29; error +/- 3.4 percent) which puts:

--Obama up 8 points in Florida, 51 to 43
--Obama up 8 points in Ohio, 50 to 42
--Obama up 14 points in Pennsylvania, 54 to 39

McCain dismissed these polls as "laughable." The Obama campaign said they were "a bit rosier than reality."

Next we have today the new TIME/CNN (Sept. 28 to 30; error +/- 3.5 to 4 percent):

--Obama up by 4 points in Florida, 51 to 47
--Obama up by 11 points in Minnesota, 54 to 43
--Obama up by 1 point in Missouri, 49 to 48
--Obama up by 4 points in Nevada, 51 to 47
--Obama up by 9 points in Virginia, 53 to 44

If Bob Barr, Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney are included in the question the spreads get slightly larger, favoring Obama more.

Finally we get the national Pew Poll (Sept. 27 to 29; error +/- 3.5 percent) which shows Obama up 7 points, 49 to 42. The same Pew poll in mid-September showed a virtual dead heat, Obama 46 and McCain 44.

Also new registrants are breaking to Obama by a margin of 2 to 1, according to WSJ/NBC/Myspace polling.

Mark Blumenthal, of Pollster.com, provides context and charts.

UPDATE: The national daily Gallup tracking has the race slightly closer this week than last week, with Obama up 4 points, 48 to 44 (error +/- 2).

UPDATE 2: Two more: AP/GfK has Obama up 7, 48 to 41 (Sept. 27 to 30; error +/- 3.4); CBS News has Obama up 9, 50 to 41 (Sept. 27 to 30; error +/- 3).

In this new ad from the McCain campaign, the Republican nominee seeks the non-partisan high ground. There are so many contradictory messages emanating from this campaign now that it's hard to keep track of them all. "What a week," McCain says, and he's right. It was a week (make that two) that Republicans would love to forget. Here's the ad, which the campaign says will air nationally:

Me and Maddow, together again:

Pass the Excedrin... and quick. 33 more days.

There's been a shakeup in Pakistan's feared and reprehensible Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI), reports Time's Omar Waraich. Historically, the ISI supported--arguably created--the Taliban (and Al Qaeda) as a counter to India's power in Afghanistan. But the new boss, General Ahmed Shujaa Pasha, seems more pro-American and anti-terrorist--a reflection of his boss's fear that the U.S is sufficiently unhappy about Pakistan's support for the Taliban that we might stop sending truckloads of cash to support Pakistan's military.

It seems there's been a fair amount of quiet arm-twisting going on--CIA Director Michael Hayden recently paid a call--and one can only hope that this change proves more than cosmetic: the Pakistanis always seem to respond to American pressure...and then do nothing. The key to settling the war in Afghanistan lies on the Pakistani side of the border. If General Pasha doesn't put the clamps on the terrorists, we face a near-impossible situation--and Pakistan itself may be threatened by the extremists (although, as Waraich implies, the more likely outcome is yet another military coup).

As a former general in the GOP, I get a lot of emails from various operative types around the country. Many are old comrades from the forgotten wars of old Republican statewide campaigns. Unlike the well meaning but under-experienced six month wonders who seem to populate most of the GOP campaign apparat in Washington of late, these salty old pros have years of experience out in the field actually winning campaigns for our side, especially during the Republican glory years of the 90's when we held about every Governor's office in the country worth holding, as well as the House and Senate. Most are sidelined this time. And almost to a person they are dismayed by what they see as the stunning lack of competence in the McCain operation. One very smart consultant who knows McCain well sent me a link this morning to the video of McCain at Des Moines Register Editorial board interview. Set aside whatever you think of McCain's interview; this operative's point was purely technical and dead on correct:

What the Hell was McCain even doing there in the first place?

1.) Obama is going to win Iowa.

2.) Editorial board meetings are usually pure trouble to begin with and result only in newspaper endorsements that persuade very few voters beyond the immediate family members of the editorial board.

3.) Within the rarified category of newspaper editorial boards, the Des Moines Register is one of the most liberal in the country. I'm rather surprised that halfway through the McCain interview they failed to switch over to Esperanto, the peace-loving language of all nations.

So, 35 days left and McCain is in Iowa? Why put McCain in the wrong state, at the wrong place? No surprise the result is the wrong message and the wrong tone.

In a remarkable series of exchanges with the Des Moines Register editorial board Tuesday, McCain took personal affront to the widely-accepted notion that his campaign has departed from the facts in describing Obama. It makes fascinating viewing, not just for what he said, but how he says it.

Here is a partial transcript. After bringing up McCain's kindergarten ad, a reporter asks McCain the following.

REPORTER: It seems like with the rescue plan we have just this crisis of confidence. People don't trust the President, the Congress. They don't trust the media. How can you go about rebuilding trust without, I would contend, 100 percent absolute truth?

MCCAIN: Because I have always had absolute 100 percent truth, and that's been my life of putting my country first. And I'll match that record against anyone's, and I'm proud of it. And an assertion that I have ever done otherwise I take strong exception to. And you will have to provide better proof than a bill that Sen. Obama supported that clearly calls for the teaching of sex education of young children.

REPORTER: Even something like the ad implying that the lipstick on a pig reference was to Gov. Palin? That just seems like it's not worth your seriousness in this campaign.

MCCAIN: Well that certainly is your opinion, and I respect your opinion. But it's not the facts that changes my positions and my honorable service to this country. So I respect your opinion. I strongly disagree with your assertion.

Again, the transcript hardly does the exchange justice. Watch the video. Hat tip to Jon Martin at Politico who flagged the exchange.

Here's the latest from me on the financial crisis. An interesting aside: both Gallegly and Murphy were angry at the role politics, particularly presidential politics, played in process so far. When asked if they meant John McCain's involvement, both were quick to praise McCain for standing up for House Republicans. But nor were either willing to blame Barack Obama solely for the injection of politics into the process. Obama and McCain are returning to Washington this afternoon for the Senate vote but neither is sticking around for the House's second attempt expected later this week. Seems the feeling is mutual – presidential politics doesn't like this process either.