The US election battleground overnight was all about guns and money. The Republicans are trying to shore up the gun vote by painting Obama as an “anti-gun candidate” while Hillary Clinton’s campaign is upping the pressure on the Obama camp to help her pay her massive campaign debt.

The Gun debate. Gun control and the right to bear arms have rocketed into the US election courtesy of the Supreme Court decision overturning the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns and declaring for the first time an individual right to possess a gun, writes Politico. They say the McCain camp is trying to “frame Democrat Barack Obama as a radical liberal on the issue of gun rights, in the first step toward a media and advertising push in more rural battleground states that “highlights that Barack Obama is the most anti gun candidate in American presidential history.'”

But MyDD played down the McCain challenge, saying he probably can’t get too much mileage out of it because he and Obama aren’t that far apart on the gun issue: “Barack Obama has released a statement of support for the Heller decision and for the position that the second amendment does protect the right to bear arms. By essentially agreeing with McCain, Obama takes gun control off the table as a wedge issue and leaves McCain with very little to point to distinguishing between their positions.”

Courting the Christians. John McCain is making moves to shore up the Christian conservative vote, reports the Huffington Post, who says he’s told community leaders he’ll speak out more to highlight his pro-life record and views on other social issues.

Hillary Clinton (needs money). The Obama campaign is stepping up attempts to persuade its donors to come on board to help Hillary Clinton relieve her multi-million dollar campaign debt, writes Politico.

The Plank says Hillary Clinton is $22.5 million in the red (and points out that campaigns including former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani’s are still fundraising to pay off campaign debts).

Hillary Clinton (on health). When she’s not shoring up campaign funding, Hillary is talking up healthcare. She’s made her first post-Obama endorsement speech, to the American Nurses Association. The speech slammed McCain’s health plan, and My DD reports that she may be positioning herself as a health care crusader.

Obama and the Muslim issue. The Progressive describes as “sad” the Obama campaign’s treatment of Muslims, referring not only to the two women in headscarves who were moved out of camera view at an Obama rally, but also to Keith Ellison, the first Muslim member of Congress. The Progressive says while Ellison offered to campaign for Obama in the Muslim community in Cedar Rapids, “The campaign asked him to cancel his trip.”

The debates — and the height issue. Will the fact that the presidential debates are seated cancel out Obama’s advantage as the taller of the two presidential candidates? McClatchy asks the lofty question.

Quote of the day. Daily KOS brings us the enjoyable read of the day in their abbreviated pundit roundup:

Richard Perle, one of the architects of the war in Iraq, a man who in 2003 predicted that there would soon be a square in Baghdad named after George Bush, is now offering his foreign policy expertise on what to do about Iran.

What’s next from the Washington Post? Woody Allen offering advice on how to bond with your stepchildren?