SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:55 P.M. ET: 

AWOL – It didn't take long for Obama's new Ebola czar to absent himself.  From Breitbart:  "Ron Klain, the newly-appointed 'Ebola Czar' for Barack Obama's administration, did not attend a White House meeting Friday discussing the federal response to the domestic threat of the deadly Ebola virus."  Off to a great start.  Imagery is important in government and Klain, who is essentially a political operative, should have known better and been there.  His absence reflects the lack of urgency of the president who appointed him.

KENTUCKY TILTING RIGHT – From Gallup:  "WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A series of disheartening figures could make Democratic Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes' attempt to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell all the more difficult. Kentuckians are now more likely to identify as or lean toward Republicans (45%) than Democrats (39%). In the prior six years, Gallup found Democrats held at least a slight advantage.  The six-percentage-point edge favoring Republicans, based on interviewing conducted in Kentucky from January through June of this year, underscores the uphill battle Grimes faces in trying to unseat McConnell. And given typical Republican advantages in voter turnout, the Democratic deficit on partisanship among those Kentucky residents who actually turn out to vote may be even greater than six points."  It's going our way, but only the votes cast on election day or by absentee ballot are the only decisions that will count.

WHOOPS – First it was Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, Senate candidate from Kentucky, who messed up by refusing to say whether she'd voted for Obama.  Now it's incumbent Senator Kay Hagan, who has a narrow lead in North Carolina in a desperate attempt to keep her seat, who has egg on her face.  From the Weekly Standard:  "Democratic senator Kay Hagan of North Carolina was emphatic earlier this week that instituting a travel ban on those attempting to enter the United States from West African nations ravaged by the Ebola virus was 'not going to help solve the problem.'  Hagan's Republican opponent, Thom Tillis, had been one of the first candidates for office to suggest the ban.  But in a statement released Friday afternoon by her official Senate office, Hagan appears to have changed her mind.  'I have said for weeks that travel restrictions should be one part of a broad strategy to prevent Ebola from spreading in the U.S. and fighting it in Africa,' said Hagan in her statement. 'I am calling on the Administration to temporarily ban the travel of non-U.S. citizens from the affected countries in West Africa. Although stopping the spread of this virus overseas will require a large, coordinated effort with the international community, a temporary travel ban is a prudent step the President can take to protect the American people, and I believe he should do so immediately.'"  Guess she read the polls.  A candidate of conviction.

MAJOR FINANCIAL NEWS – From the Washington Times:  "President Obama came perilously close to having to wash some dishes on his recent trip to New York.  Mr. Obama revealed Friday that his credit card was rejected when he went to pay for his meal at a New York restaurant during the U.N. General Assembly gathering last month.  'Turns out I guess I don’t use it enough,' so the payment wouldn’t go through, Mr. Obama explained.   'Apparently they thought there was some fraud going on,' Mr. Obama joked at a meeting Friday with employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Board, adding that 'even I am affected' by the difficulties of dealing with the American financial system."  He handles his job the same way.

October 17,  2014