United States election news from October 20: Colin Powell's Obama endorsement, wealth vs. candidate support, politico.com comments

Urbs Novum Eboracum sive Neo-Eboracum, urbs maxima in Civitatibus Foederatis Americae est. Malum Magnum et Urbs quae nunquam dormit appellatur.

• First of all, the big news is Colin Powell's endorsement of Barack Obama for president and that video is quite easy to find, but there was also another video made just a short while ago that interposes the context of what Powell was talking about with some of what he said on Meet the Press and afterward, which illustrates why he made the endorsement he made quite well:

• Next is a small but interesting study in the Wall Street Journal that shows that the wealthy are much more likely to support McCain, but the super wealthy are more likely to support Obama:

More than three quarters of those worth $1 million to $10 million plan to vote for Sen. McCain. Only 15% plan to vote for Sen. Obama (the rest are undecided). Of those worth more than $30 million, two-thirds support Sen. Obama, while one third support Sen. McCain.

• Blog comments: I read politico.com all the time and occasionally look at the blog comments as well; 99% of the time they're trite or spammy or boring, but every once in a while they just make you laugh. Here are two I like in particular:

First in response to this post quoting a journalist that was kicked in the back of the leg by a McCain-Palin supporter:

This was met with curses, screams and chants of “U.S.A” by McCain-Palin folks who crowded under the windows trying to drown it out and yell at the person playing the stereo.

It was a moment of levity in an otherwise very tense situation and so I let out a gentle chuckle and shook my head.

“Oh, you think that’s funny?!” the large bearded man said. His face was turning red. “Yeah, that’s real funny…” he said.

And then he kicked the back of my leg, buckling my right knee and sending me sprawling onto the ground.

One of the comments: "You should have gotten up and gone "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I'M BEN M*TH&@F#$K!N SMITH, YO! YOU GONNA GET BLOGGED SO HARD!" But seriously, bring a camera next time."

(the commenter thought it was Ben Smith that got kicked in the back of the leg and it wasn't, but the comment was still hilarious)

Then another one about McCain's response here to Obama's having raised $150 million over the month of September:

McCain, reacting to Obama's announcement, raised the potential of fundraising abuses given the amount taken in by the Democrat.

"History shows us where unlimited amounts of money are in political campaigns, it leads to scandal," McCain said on "Fox News Sunday."

Comment below: "History has shown us that when my opponent has grapes, they are usually sour and inedible."

• Lastly, a Barack Obama / John McCain soundboard. No insight into the election provided here, but probably fun for those learning English and interested in politics.