Is President Obama sending a message to New York’s Governor Paterson? Some may say so…and after hearing the acknowlegments given by the President to both Paterson and New York’s Attorney General Cuomo, they may be right.

WCBS Anchor Steve Scott talks with Baruch College professor Douglas Muzzio in today’s “Eye on Politics” about what message the President is trying to send to both the Governor and residents of New York.

Here’s the excerpt from the speech:

“We’ve got some special guests here that I want to acknowlege, in addition to Jill (Biden). First of all a wonderful man, the Governor of the great state of New York, David Paterson is in the house. [applause] Your shy and retiring Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is in the house [applause]. Andrew’s doing great work enforcing laws that need to be enforced…”

Now, the President and Paterson did have a few private words as the Governor was on the receiving line when the President arrived in Troy, New York for his speech to Hudson Valley Community College. But, what was said?

Is the President (or members of the administration) really asking the Governor to step aside in next year’s gubernatorial run?

Considering the close relationship President Obama has with the Kennedy’s, Steve Scott also asks Muzzio about whether Paterson’s handling of Caroline Kennedy’s toe-testing into Senate waters left a bad taste.

CLICK HERE and listen to the full WCBS “Eye on Politics” and let us know what you think.

CLICK HERE and listen to the President’s full speech today in Troy, NY.

We have just learned President Obama will be making a prime-time address on Monday night.

The AP reports White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that Obama will answer reporters questions at the 8 p.m. EST event.

We will be carrying the stream live on our site.

Sunday's exclusive interview of President-elect Obama on 60 Minutes was a huge get...ratings-wise.


Watch CBS Videos Online

Tonight Senator Obama’s 30-minute ad spots on CBS, NBC and FOX for $1 million a pop. Looks like ABC will be running that ad at a different time.

I am scouring the blogs and news sites to see how the ad was received. Was it too much? Did it work? Here’s what they’re saying…

Politico: Tonight’s Obama infomercial was about what you’d have expected – thematically strong, with good production values and a solid performance by the candidate – though we wonder how many votes it will actually move.

New York Times: The infomercial appeared to serve a safe, workmanlike purpose. With no attacks on Mr. McCain…

Huffington Post: Five reasons the infomercial was worth the cost.

Townhall: This is a dramatic change from his previously stated tax plan.

The Nation: Before he dismissed it as a “gauzy, feel-good commercial,” John McCain really should have watched the thirty-minute television program that Barack Obama’s campaign aired Wednesday night.

WSJ: The spot also highlighted the struggles of everyday Americans.

The Hill: Republican rival John McCain did not make the final cut.

We had an interesting discussion today during our afternoon drive meeting that I thought you may like to hear about. It started because of a listener.

A few days ago, the story about Governor Palin’s pricey wardrobe first came out and Anchor Wayne Cabot talked with Politico’s Charles Mahtesian about a pretty hefty price tag of $150,000… some of that money spent at upscale department stores such as Sak’s and Nieman Marcus.

For the sake of balance we mentioned that Senator Obama had purchased multiple suits at $1,500 a piece.

Here’s where the listener comes in.

Our News Director Tim Scheld received an email from a man who wanted to point out a few things to us. One, Palin’s wardrobe bill is being paid for by the RNC; whereas, Obama bought the suits himself. Two, the story is newsworthy because of the platform Senator McCain is working on of “Joe the Plumber”, the everyday guy.

Without going into the politics and semantics of the actual story, I wanted to let you know that we hear you. We listen to our listeners and love it when they make good points. Covering politics is hard and it’s important for you to know that we debate everyday about whether to cover a story and how to do it in the most accurate way for you to make up your own mind.

That’s it! That’s all…I’ll get off my (little) soapbox, and go out to find you more stories.

I can’t seem to get enough of this video.

Fascinating on so many levels. The day after Senator McCain tried to tamp down the crowds, Senator Obama and Biden acknowledged the effort and according to The Politico expressed optimism that McCain will chose to back off those attacks.

Tonight the second Presidential Debate and Nashville is gearing up!

I’m interested to see if the different styles will have any effect on the outcome of the debate. During the summer, Senator McCain repeatedly challenged Senator Obama to a series of smaller town hall debates around the country; Obama declined.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, here are the main differences we will see in tonight’s debate:

– Ninety-second answers, followed by two-minute discussion for each question. Two-minute closing statements.

– Questions will come from among 100 to 150 uncommitted likely voters in the audience and one-third from written questions submitted online. All will be screened by moderator Tom Brokaw.

– Audience of voters screened by Gallup Organization to ensure they are representational. 

(Read more of Reporter Joe Garofoli’s article to find out special twists that Town Hall debates pose and why real people are the best questioners)

This style of debate is pretty well-known to be McCain’s favorite style, but there are some questions of whether it will be as beneficial to him as previously thought. The Daily News says the Republican nominee faces a tougher landscape now than when he met Senator Obama in the first presidential debate, just 11 days ago.

Let me know which style you like better!

The days are flying by until voting day and the claws are coming out. I seem to remember both candidates say they wouldn’t go negative… but hey, that was before all heck broke loose on Wall Street (among other things)

So, here’s what we’ve got from the campaigns. Senator Obama’s camp has just released a 13 minute video on the late 1980s Keating 5 scandal involving Senator McCain. Thirteen minutes. That’s long enough to be considered a documentary!

And Governor Palin has been on the campaign trail criticizing Senator Obama for ‘paling around with terrorists’.

It’s pretty well-known that while the public doesn’t necessarily like the negative campaigning, it is the most effective. I guess we’ll see which candidate will most effectively use the tactic.

Did you watch last night? I did.

When it was all over, I wasn’t sure who came out better. Both dodged and weaved, both landed some punches, both acted badly at times.

I was surprised when Senator Obama made reference to the ‘Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran’ song. And I thought Senator McCain made some chuckles in awkward places.

I’ve been scouring the web to find out what politicos and pundits think of last night’s debate, and here’s what I found.

From Politico: In the end, McCain sounded most often like a trumpet, Obama more like a violin.

From National Review: But Obama’s problem wasn’t just saying “John is right” too many times.

From The Fix: As several observers pointed out to The Fix, McCain rarely if ever glanced in Obama’s direction during the entirety of the 90 minute plus debate. Obama, on the other hand, sought to have more of a discussion with McCain, Lehrer and the crowd in attendance at the University of Mississippi.

From CBS News:  Thirty-nine percent of uncommitted voters who watched the debate tonight thought Barack Obama was the winner. Twenty-four percent thought John McCain won. Thirty-seven percent saw it as a draw.

Alrighty, I know you all have been waiting patiently for the poll round-up and I can’t hold back any longer… there are some interesting ones.

Today a new CBS/ NYTimes poll came out “The Econonic Crisis Worsens”

PROVIDING MONEY TO WALL STREET TO HELP WITH CRISIS
           Total  Reps   Dems   Inds
Approve     42%    43%    41%   42%
Disapprove  46     45     48    45
WHICH ISSUE IS MOST IMPORTANT IN VOTE FOR PRESIDENT?
(Among registered voters)
                                        Now      9/12-16    8/2008
The economy and jobs                     52%        48%      40%
Terrorism and national security          11         14        9
Gas prices and energy                    10         10        15
Health care                               9         10        9
The war in Iraq                           9          8       15
Illegal immigration                       3          3        6

Senator Obama leads in that poll by five points.

**This poll was conducted among a random sample of 936 adults nationwide, interviewed by telephone September 21-24, 2008. **

The Detroit Free Press just released the numbers from their first poll since the primaries and it shows Senator Obama with a significant seven-point lead over Senator McCain.

As usual let’s head over to Real Clear Politics for an average of national polls taken around the country.  The average show Obama with a lead of 3.2 points.

I think these graphs are pretty interesting, hope you enjoy it!