ORLANDO, FLORIDA — I met up with Aubrey Jewett, a University of Central Florida political science professor, to find out why the “I-4 corridor,” a stretch running from Daytona on the Atlantic coast all the way over to the Tampa on Florida’s west coast, is critical to winning the presidential election. Jewett explains why this once Republican region is slowly turning Democratic.

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BUENAVENTURA LAKES, FLORIDA — While visiting an early voting location in Buenaventura Lakes, less than 10 miles from Disney World, I was intrigued by one voter, David Fernandez Rido. He’s an unemployed small-business owner who is struggling to make his mortgage payments and find a job in this depressed economy. Like nearly one in two residents of this community, he’s Hispanic. He’ll soon be in the majority.

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ORLANDO, FLORIDA — Early voting in Central Florida’s Orange County has already dwarfed 2004. Four years ago, a total of 79,000 people voted. Today, with two more days left in early voting, some 114,000 people have already turned out here.

Part of that total comes from the “Yes, We Van!” shuttles at the University of Central Florida. These students have been running vans from campus to early voting sites. They’re supporting Obama for the presidency, but they’ll take any student who wants to vote. Takeaway producer Jennifer Hsu rode along.

The most accurate polls around might be a little on the unconventional side: Halloween mask sales, schoolchildren, coffee cups, and cookies.

Mary Beth Williams hits the streets of New York to look at this year's "Xtreme" polls:

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Femi Oke meets up with some Takeaway Listeners in New York after the last of the presidential debates. Fresh from watching John McCain and Barack Obama debate, they make television political pundits look like pussycats.

It felt like Sarah Palin was winking at me constantly during last night’s vice-presidential debate. But in fact she only winked four times. I know, because I went through the entire broadcast and counted….

Wink #1: “And the American workforce is the greatest in this world, with the ingenuity and the work ethic that is just entrenched in our workforce. That’s a positive. That’s encouragement. [Wink.] And that’s what John McCain meant.”

Wink #2: “And how long have I been [wink] at this, like five weeks? So there hasn’t been a whole lot that I’ve promised, except to do what is right for the American people.”

Wink #3: “As for disagreeing with John McCain and how our administration would work, what do you expect? A team of mavericks, of course we’re not going to agree on 100 percent of everything. As we discuss ANWR there, at least we can agree to disagree on that one. [Wink.] I will keep pushing him on ANWR.”

Wink #4: “I come from a house full of school teachers. My grandma was, my dad [wink] who is in the audience today, he’s a schoolteacher, had been for many years.”

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has asked Americans for $700 billion to bailout financial institutions. This morning The Takeaway asked listeners and readers how they would ask for that much money. How would you ask for $700 billion?

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ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — Last night, I met up with Anthony Wojtkowiak on the floor of the Xcel Center, right before John McCain’s acceptance speech. One of 51 state-based youth journalists who report on the presidential campaign and local politics as part of a MTV project called Street Team ‘08, Anthony came to the RNC all the way from Florida to track down some stories. As I watched him effortlessly chat with delegates from his home state, I wasn’t a bit surprised to hear that a day earlier he had scored an interview with Mike Huckabee merely by doggedly pursuing him after a press conference.

When we left the convention floor, we heard a commotion. Anthony rushed toward it, calling out “Mr. Voight, Mr. Voight.” It was actor Jon Voight; unfortunately, before Anthony even got out his first question, a publicist broke them up. Techniques that work on politicians don’t always work on celebrities, it seems.
I spoke with Anthony about getting interviews, the rising cost of education, and how technology is making street-level reporting faster and easier.

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ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — There were more than 300 parties thrown by lobbyists and corporations during the DNC and RNC, and to help me understand them, I turned to Nancy Watzman of the Sunlight Foundation, a watchdog group that investigates the interplay of money, lobbying and politics.

Wondering which companies sponsored events during the conventions?
AT&T
Qwest
Microsoft
Fidelity
HP
Oracle
Viacom…and many more

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ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — After Governor Sarah Palin’s speech at the St. Paul convention center, I headed over to Minneapolis to check out what was going on outside the Rage Against the Machine concert. I found a dismal scene: riot police standing in formation literally fencing in the fans/protestors and released concertgoers watching on in a daze.

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ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — What’s Newsweek, Inside Edition, The Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, and The Christian Science Monitor eating all week long in their media compounds at the Republican National Convention? For the inside scoop, I turned to Gary of St. Paul’s Wildside Caterers, the team that fed the newsmakers’ every meal.

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ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — “Is this your candidate?”

Eddie Perrell, a T-shirt seller outside the convention center, has merch for everyone: delegates all dressed up and buzzing over tonight’s big Sarah Palin speech and Barack Obama fans.

An Obama hat will set you back $10. A McCain/Palin tee? $20.

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ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA — Across the Mississippi river from St. Paul, supporters of Congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, converged on the Target Center in Minneapolis at Tuesday night’s “Rally for the Republic.”

Paul’s bid for the Republican nomination for president ended months ago, and in a sign that there’s ire at the GOP, the agitator Paul wasn’t invited to speak at this year’s Republican National Convention.

No matter. Paul’s supporters’ enthusiasm remains strong for his anti-war, strict Constitutionalism views. Last night I spoke with many of them, young and old, to find out just what Paul had done to endear himself to so many and what he’s promised that John McCain and Barack Obama have not.

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Tameka, age 9, and Kayarah, age 8, love to watch the Olympic swim team so much they have picnics around the television and watch the competitions — even in Spanish! They are two members of a new generation of young swimmers being inspired by Michael Phelps at the Beijing Summer Olympics. Swim coach Offitt Porter is having trouble getting his swim team to practice; all they want to do is rush home to watch the US Olympic swim team. This is “The Phelps Effect,” with which one athlete has inspired children around the country.

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In episode two of our weekly "Around the Corner With John Hockenberry" video series, John goes out looking for Olympic medals ... and finds them, albeit in events not offered in this year's Olympics. In what events would you bring home gold, silver, or bronze medals?

As the economy continues its downward spiral, schools across the country are cutting sports, art and music programs. In the Mount Vernon school system, two proposed budgets failed to pass and now students are bearing the brunt. The Takeaway talks to 16-year-old Sean Harris, a rising senior at Mount Vernon High who expected to play varsity basketball this year — until all of his school's sports teams were axed.

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President George Bush and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani met yesterday at The Oval Office. It’s Gilani’s first visit since Pakistan formed a coalition government earlier this year. Speaking to reporters, the president called Pakistan “a strong ally” and a “vibrant democracy.” The meeting comes as U.S. officials have called on Pakistan to stop militants from organizing cross-Afghanistan-border attacks.

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