EARLY MORNING BLURBS BECAME EARLY AFTERNOON BLURBS BECAUSE LARK AND ME GOT INTO A LITTLE TIFF EARLIER

• The U.S. Supreme Court rejects the GOP bid to purge Ohio’s voter rolls of over 600,000 people who have registered since January.

• 56.5 million people watched the third and final Presidential debate this week. That’s slightly more than the first (52.4 million), considerably less than the second (63.2 million), and far less than the number of people who tuned in for the Veep debate (69 million).

• The self-described “Pit bull in lipstick” avoids campaign news coverage because she’s concerned about feelings of “depression”…

• Which makes sense because after converting her Secret Service detail into a press blockade, a reporter is assaulted at a Palin rally in North Carolina.

• The buzz seems to be that Colin Powell will endorse Barack Obama this Sunday on MTP.

• More celebrities speaking out on the election. James Bond star Daniel Craig: “Barack Obama is pushing things in the right direction. I’m excited … [and] hopeful for the first time in a long, long while.” Zebra Lounge star, Stephen Baldwin: “I’d like to knock some good sense into Barack. I wouldn’t hurt him. But if he wins the election, he’ll hurt me. He’s a cultural terrorist.” Still, of the two men, only Baldwin can actually vote in this election. Craig is a British national.

• With 18 days left in this race, the McCain campaign announces that their “narrow victory scenario” is basically to mortgage everything on “Joe the Plumber”…

• But symptomatic of the McCain campaign overall: aides never vetted “Poor Joe” before thrusting him into the national spotlight, (sound familiar to anyone, Sarah, maybe?) Politico: “A day after making Joseph Wurzelbacher famous … McCain learned the fine print Thursday on the plumber’s not-so-tidy personal story: He owes back taxes. He is not a licensed plumber. And it turns out that Wurzelbacher makes less than $250,000 a year, which means he would receive a tax cut if Obama were elected president.” Oh, and his real name is “Sam.”

• Jodie Marsh becomes the latest bold name “fauxmosexual.”

• Gawker compiles their list of “this week’s three worst examples of outright bullshit hate-mongering [to] come from professional, official Republican party staffers.” Our list is here.

• The Washington Post endorses Obama. Rumors that the New York Times will follow suit on Sunday.

• Eminem is planning a comeback.

• A man from Queens, New York, is suing the Kennedy family claiming that he the love child of JKF and legendary sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, also known as John R. Burton, wants “his share” of the Kennedy estate and is asking that the court order a DNA test to prove his lineage.

• And the latest from the late night comedians:

Jay Leno: “Well, if you watched the debate last night, you know John McCain kept talking about this guy Senator Obama met on the campaign trail named Joe the Plumber. Do you know the saddest part about the Joe the Plumber story? Last month, he was an investment banker.”

Jay Leno: “Well, actually, here’s the best story. I just got this from ‘The New York Times.’ Turns out Joe the Plumber, his name is not Joe and he is not a licensed plumber and he owes back taxes. So it sounds like he has the best plan to reduce taxes – don’t pay them.”

Jay Leno: “And happy birthday to Winnie the Pooh,” who is “82 years old this week.” And he is “still sharp as a tack. In fact, earlier today, Winnie was registered to vote by ACORN in Florida.”

Conan O’Brien: “A poll came out today; 67% of Americans say they’ve seen enough and they don’t want any more presidential debates. … The other 33% are plumbers who want to hear their name on television.”

Tags: 007, 56.5 million viewers for debate 3, Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Daniel Craig for Obama, Eminem, fauxmosexual, Gawker, Joe the Plumber, John F. Kenney, John McCain, John R. Bolton, Obama a "cultural terrorist", Palin clueless, Palin depressed, Pitbull in lipstick, Poor Joe, presidential debate, SCOTUS, Stephen Baldwin, Supreme Court, Supreme Court overturns GOP bid to purge voter rolls