DAY’S END ROUNDUP

TV ratings for Barack Obama’s 30-minute primtime ad last night impress liberals, while conservatives downplay The Economist‘s endorsement of Obama for president.

Obama’s 30-minute ad was a ratings success, Andrew Sullivan proclaims at The Daily Dish after looking at Nielsen’s early ratings. The ratings service reported that 21.7 percent of households in top media markets watched the ad, and Political Animal’s Steve Benen writes that the 30-minute spot did pretty well for an infomercial. The numbers indicate that quite a few Americans are interested in politics in 2008, Benen asserts, while noting that it’s not yet clear whether viewers liked the ad or not.

It’s not terribly shocking that the fiscally conservative Economist has backed Obama, Jim Geraghty writes at The Campaign Spot, noting that the magazine backed President Bill Clinton in 1992 and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) in 2004. And though The Economist endorsed President Ronald Reagan in 1980, Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kansas) in 1996, and President Bush in 2000, it’s far from accurate to call the endorsement a coup of conservative support for the Illinois Democrat, The Corner’s Andrew Stuttaford declares.

Democrat Kay Hagan, meanwhile, has impressed AMERICAblog’s Robert Arena with an ad hitting back at her opponent, incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), for an ad that sought to link Hagan to an atheist group. Hagan accuses Dole of “bearing false witness against fellow Christians,” and Arena congratulates her for fighting fire with fire in the strongly worded response.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Hagan Hits Back on Dole – Robert Arena, AMERICAblog
Will bin Laden Cut an Ad? – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
McCain Up among Fla. Early Birds – Abe Greenwald, Contentions
Not Bad for an Infomercial – Steve Benen, Political Animal
Not as Bad as Consensus Thinks? – Larry Kudlow, The Corner
Pure McCarthyism – Andrew Sullivan, The Daily Dish
Barack Still Wants My Money – M. K. Ham, The Weekly Standard
Where’s Joe? – Ezra Klein
Surprising Nevada Nmbers – Jim Geraghty, The Campaign Spot
Obama Gaining in Red State Polls – Todd Beeton, MyDD

IN THE NEWS:
Campaigns’ Foot Soldiers Hit Battleground States – USA Today
Stark Signs of a Slowdown, Days before Election – NY Times
Candidates Urge Supporters to Boost Efforts in Final Days – LA Times