It's a bad day for McCain when one of his surrogates claims that he invented the Blackberry and another says neither he nor Palin could run a company as well as she (via Politico and the Pajama Pundit). Paul Begala reminds Hardball viewers how great of a record Carly Fiorina had as a CEO. Hint: not a good one (via Crooks and Liars). The Marathon Blog says the McCain campaign is "melting down." In response, McCain has "neutered his press corps" and taken over Palin's press offices in Alaska (via TNR's The Stump and TPM's ElectionCentral). When does this get the Al Gore treatment, asks Brilliant Husein at Breakfast.

McCain's answer to the current economic crisis: a 9/11-style commission and more regulation, which the Maverick Conservative thinks is "bad idea. Terrible idea." When WashPo pointed out that McCain was "scrambling to recast himself" as a pro-regulation reformer with a record to the contrary, NRO's The Corner defended McCain by calling his plan "vacuous" and a "bad idea." Politico calls it a "rocky week" for McCain; The Hill agreed, saying top McCain advisors spent much of Tuesday "with their feet in their mouths."

 Meanwhile, Obama hits the airwaves with a two-minute ad on the economy, addressing the camera directly and talking to "you," the American worker (via TPM and The Caucus). It's a gamble, says Balloon Juice; will people watch for that long? In the polls, DailyKos has Obama ahead by 4 with a margin of error of 3; Diageo reports Obama has an 11-point lead on the economy; and Gallup has McCain and Obama locked in a statistical dead heat. And what does Obama do after a hard day of defending the common man during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression? Throw a glitzy fundraiser grumbles Tales from the Trail.