John McCain's new lead over Barack Obama in the latest national polls has some liberal bloggers suggesting patience and others calling for more attacks against McCain. Obama's suggestion Sunday that he thought about joining the military when he was younger raises skepticism among conservative bloggers. And the news that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews are out as MSNBC's election night anchors pleases bloggers on both sides.

McCain leads Obama in the Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls and in a USA Today poll. But before poll watchers put too much stock in the new numbers, they should account for McCain's current convention bounce and the fact that the campaign schedule lacks other major news events right now, writes FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver. The polls show, however, that McCain has improved his standing among voters concerned about the economy, something that should make Obama increase his efforts to tie McCain to President Bush's domestic policies, writes TalkLeft's Big Tent Democrat. McCain's strategy of portraying Obama as a tax-and-spend liberal and his base-pleasing veep pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) seem to be working, writes Hot Air's Ed Morrissey.

Though Obama said on ABC News that he thought about joining the military while in college, Townhall's Carol Platt Liebau doubts that Obama actually did because he surrounded himself back then with the type of people who opposed the military's ban on gays. Obama didn't write much about his military views as a student in either of his two introspective books, writes RedState's Jeff Emanuel, who finds the Democrat's latest statement to be "dishonest opportunism."

With "partisans" Olbermann and Matthews anchoring its election coverage, MSNBC had crossed a journalistic line that Fox News tried to respect by separating talk shows from news shows, writes Contentions' Jennifer Rubin. The problem with Olbermann was that he wasn't willing to admit his bias for Obama since he started going after his opponents back in the primaries, according to Taylor Marsh. Olbermann had become just like Bill O'Reilly and other talk show hosts on the right in that he had stopped giving the news and began to give his own take on the news, writes TalkLeft's Jeralyn.

FROM THE BLOGS:
Patience, Poll Watchers - Nate Silver, FiveThirtyEight
McCain/Palin=Bush's Third Term - Big Tent Dem, TalkLeft
54-44 And Fight! - Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
Barack Claims He Wanted to Join Military - C.P. Liebau, Townhall
Sounds Like Dishonest Opportunism - Jeff Emanuel, RedState
Why Did Obama Say 'Muslim Faith'? - Althouse
Return of the Grown-Ups - Jennifer Rubin, Contentions
The Olbermann Train Wreck - Taylor Marsh
Olbermann and Matthews Dumped as Anchors - Jeralyn, TalkLeft
Olbermann's Exit Raises Questions - Jazz Shaw, Moderate Voice

OTHER NEWS SOURCES:
U.S. Seizes Mortgage Giants - Wall Street Journal
Poll: Convention Lifts McCain Over Obama - USA Today
Olbermann, Matthews Dropped As Anchors - Washington Post
Fusing Politics and Motherhood In New Way - New York Times