With only 11 days left until the US election, we’re really starting to see all the big issues come to the fore — Sarah’s Palin’s wardrobe, John McCain’s makeup and Barack Obama’s dancing. Fortunately, our Campaign Crikey live news page and blog bring you all the real news, analysis and videos from the campaign trail, for those more interested in polls than puff pieces.

Here’s our daily pick of the best commentary and analysis, as featured on our website:

Palin in 2012: The argument. Palin is an enormously talented politician. When she knows what she’s talking about, or even when she knows enough to fake it, she is very, very appealing, and very good at redirecting questions to whatever her message is. Pro-Palin voices will begin to talk a great deal about how the only person to ever come close to beating Barack Obama was Hillary Clinton. Palin will seem to fit the Hillary mold for many Republican primary voters. — Mark Ambinder, The Atlantic

Is the tax revolt over? It is true today that Barack Obama is promising a tax cut to 95% of earners. We haven’t yet reached the point where a Democrat can tell a $40,000 a year…oh, plumber, to pick an occupation out of the air, that his taxes will go up. (We may never get to that point, and it could well be argued that that’s not such a bad thing.) But we do at least have the Democrat saying, as he famously said to Joe the Plumber, that wealth should be spread around. — Michael Tomasky, Guardian

The seven biggest blunders of the election. The headline on the Aug. 20 Quinnipiac University national poll is enough to prompt instant nostalgia: “Gas Prices Gaining As Americans’ Biggest Worry.” Brooding about a $100 fill-up seems so overwrought two months later with a financial system in tatters. Who would have ever guessed back then that oil prices would drop below $70 a barrel before Election Day. The moral, of course, is that voters choose a candidate based on what is bugging them in November, not August. — Salon

The Obama show. The Obama campaign is spending millions of dollars on 30 minutes of prime time next week in what amounts to a big gamble for a presidential candidate with a decent lead in the polls so close to Election Day. The Obama show, airing on the major broadcast networks and three cable news networks, will be the last big set piece of the extraordinary 2008 presidential campaign. One senior source close to the campaign puts the price tag in the $6 million range—which would make it the most expensive single political ad ever. — Newsweek

Palin has an image problem. One assumes that her campaign is populated by some of the brightest minds and they have spent an inordinate amount of time obsessing over mind-numbing details, right down to whether the candidate would stand or sit during the debate and who gets to hover behind her for photo ops. But Palin’s handlers would do well to occasionally read a fashion magazine. — Washington Post

The latest election coverage on the Crikey blogs:

Powell bounce sees Obama lead stretch further — Trevor Cook, Corporate Engagement

Oh no, Ohio — US election blog

The picture that tipped over Colin Powell — US election blog

The best clips from our US election video wrap — posted daily on the Crikey US election blog:

Ellen DeGeneres sends a message to Sarah Palin on gay marriage

Palin speaks to CNN, part one and two

Plus, don’t forget to pledge your allegiance by buying a set of First Dog on the Moon US election badges from the Crikey shop.