After another crazy week in the presidential campaign, we now know for sure that John McCain's passion for gambling extends well beyond occasional trips to casinos.

Whether it's at the craps table he's known to frequent or on the campaign trail, McCain is a gut player who relishes high-stakes risk-taking. If not for his solid debate performance Friday night, the Arizona senator might have derailed his entire campaign last week with his roll-of-the-dice announcement that he was suspending his campaign and seeking to delay the first presidential debate so he could help negotiate a financial bailout package in the works on Capitol Hill.

More here. On Thursday we should see the next installment of the Sarah Palin gamble. "Mostly vice presidential debates don't matter, but the Palin-Biden debate will be as important a debate as we had Friday,'' said Republican strategist George LeMieux of Fort Lauderdale. "I don't think Joe Biden is going to factor much into the debate. It's going to be Sarah Palin vs. (moderator) Gwen Ifill."