It's the Economy Stupid  McCain campaign adviser Rick Davis declared the presidency would be decided on personalities and not the issues. Americans are tonight declaring otherwise. One issue, paramount: The Economy. Our fifth story on the Countdown: in heavy trading today, the Dow dropped four percent... and Senator John McCain... dropped seven.

The Palin Truth:  How easily the simplest truths are... to forget. When riding the Alger Hiss perjury case to political prominence, Richard Nixon observed "The Cover-Up Is Worse Than The Crime." 22 years later during Watergate, the thought... apparently never crossed his mind. Our fourth story on the Countdown: in 1991, John McCain probably saved his career by abjectly admitting to his stupidity and impropriety in the Keating Five scandal. Now, running for President, he seems to be doing everything he can to turn whatever messy, regional, embarrassment comprises Trooper-Gate, into a cover-up of national proportions.

ODDBALL: BEAR CHASE!!!

Election Detection:  The Republican Party Office for Macomb County, Michigan, just happens to be in the same building as the state's leading foreclosure firm. The company's boss has donated and raised a couple of hundred thousand dollars for the G-O-P. So our third story on the Countdown seems, in retrospect, inevitable. The Macomb County Republicans decided to try to deny the vote to people -- most of them African-Americans -- whose homes had been foreclosed on.

Worsties...see below.

WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD: Rupert, Billo and Rush vie for tonight's top honors.

Disappear:   Two weeks ago, a little before 9 P-M Eastern Time, the fired Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina spoke -- albeit not very well -- on behalf of John McCain at the Republican National Convention. In our number one story on the Countdown: to quote one of McCain's Senior Advisors, "Carly Will Now Disappear." Yesterday, one of Senator McCain's advisors said something true about the candidate, on this very network, and is now banned from making tv appearances. So based on that logic, the McCain advisors who are still allowed to show their faces are... Well... all of them except Ms. Fiorina.