DAY’S END ROUNDUP

Bringing up former Weather Underground member William Ayers in tonight’s final 2008 debate will be key to John McCain’s chances in the race, conservative bloggers say. A report that the Republican National Committee (RNC) has stopped airing TV ads in Wisconsin, meanwhile, has others wondering if McCain is conceding the state.

Tonight’s debate will be significant because Barack Obama will have to confront his association with Ayers, RedState’s Mark Kilmer contends, hoping the Democrat has to answer tough questions about his relationship with the former radical. Obama”s association with Ayers speaks to the Democrat’s character and judgment, Townhall.com’s Matt Lewis says, agreeing that it will be important for McCain to raise the association tonight.

An Associated Press report that the RNC has stopped airing ads in Wisconsin has MyDD’s Josh Orton wondering if Wisconsin will follow Michigan as the second battleground state that McCain is conceding. If McCain pulls out, it will free Obama’s field workers to move to redder states, the blogger says. Despite the RNC’s decision, the McCain campaign has not pulled out, The Campaign Spot’s Jim Geraghty asserts. McCain is running ads there until late October, Geraghty says, but the blogger notes that the halt of the RNC’s ad campaign probably won’t help McCain in Wisconsin polls.

A pair of secret Bush administration memos endorsing torture in 2003 and 2004, meanwhile, have unsurprised liberals blasting the administration. The memos, reported today by The Washington Post, give written proof that the administration authorized illegal techniques, TalkLeft’s TChris claims. The entire world has known for years that the White House endorsed torture, Daily Kos’s Kagro X asserts, calling today’s news “predictable.”

FROM THE BLOGS:
Wisconsin to Follow Michigan? – Josh Orton, MyDD
White House Authorized Torture (in Writing) – TChris, TalkLeft
Debate Prediction: Schieffer Raises Ayers – emptywheel
ABC: Mahoney & Federal Money – Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Debate Drama? – Matt Lewis, Townhall.com
Not Quite Conceding Wisconsin – J. Geraghty, The Campaign Spot
NRSC Pulls Out of La.-Sen. – kos, Daily Kos
Ayers Will Be at Tonight’s Debate – Mark Kilmer, RedState
McCain’s Fate in Hands of S&P? – G. Andres, The Weekly Standard
Keeping an Eye – Matthew Yglesias

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
Candidates Prepare for Final Debate – NY Times
McCain Faces Tough Task in Final Debate – Washington Post
Biden, Palin Focus on Economy – LA Times