In what may be another signal that the troubled economy is forcing John McCain’s campaign to play electoral map defense, Sarah Palin has scheduled a bus tour for Sunday through West Virginia [bold mine-DL], a state that’s been leaning red throughout this presidential race. ~CNN Political Ticker

Obviously, if the campaign is trying to hold West Virginia, which should be far out of reach for Obama, the GOP ticket’s position is even worse than it appears.  In other Palin-related news that seems likely to spell doom for the McCain campaign, the investigation into her alleged abuse of power determined that she had, in fact, abused her power as governor.  The full report (.PDF) is here.  In addition, a FoxNews poll confirms that Palin has become a significant liability: 40% of independents are less likely to vote for McCain because of her versus 28% who were more likely.     

P.S.  As an aside, the public still opposes the bailout 53-34.