<><>DEMOCRATS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
OBAMA/BIDEN
Poll: Obama gets post-convention 'bounce'
By Susan Page
USA Today
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — The Democratic National Convention significantly boosted Americans' views of Barack Obama as a strong leader who "shares your values" and can manage the economy and Iraq, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken Saturday and Sunday finds…
Obama to Pause Campaign Trail, Biden Cancels Sunday Stops
Corey Dade
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2008
Campaign aides say Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama will leave the trail Monday night and return to Chicago to decide whether to cancel upcoming campaign stops as Hurricane Gustav batters Louisiana…
Anxiety Over the Economy Tops Obama's Agenda
Goal Is to Convince Voters the Nominee Can Ease Worries
By Gerald F. Seib and Bob Davis
Wall Street Journal
August 30, 2008
DENVER -- Barack Obama had two goals going into his party's convention here: Put to rest the festering division with Hillary Clinton supporters, and persuade voters beyond the convention that he would be safe as commander in chief…
Democrats, Eyeing Storm, Play Down Partisanship
By John M. Broder and Jeff Zeleny
New York Times
September 2, 2008
SCRANTON, Pa. — On this Labor Day, which has long been the traditional opening to the general election season, the Democratic presidential ticket struggled to draw attention…
<><>REPUBLICANS<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
McCAIN/PALIN
McCain Raises $47 Million in August
By Michael Luo
New York Times
September 2, 2008
Senator John McCain raised $47 million in August, more than double his previous best fund-raising month, driven in large part by $10 million in contributions that have come in since he named Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin his running mate on Friday, campaign officials said…
Military past on center stage in McCain run
By Jill Lawrence
USA Today
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — John McCain's captivity in a Vietnam prison is the defining narrative of his life. Now, as he prepares to accept the Republican presidential nomination here this week, it is an increasingly prominent part of his campaign…
By Michael Crowley
The New Republic
September 10, 2008
It's hard to remember now, but there was a time when John McCain was widely viewed as a pretty earnest guy. His best-selling books are written in a tone of solemnity and idealism, with treacly titles such as Character Is Destiny. And he has long called for high-minded debate: "If we're going to lead," he said in early June, "we have to begin by reforming the tenor of political discussion in our campaigns."
Convention News
McCain Team Scrambles to Rescript Show
Creator of 'Britney' Ad Designs Somber Convention on the Fly; the Palin Factor
By Monica Langley
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Just as he put the finishing touches on the Republican convention, McCain campaign adviser Fred Davis suddenly had to rip up his entire playbook for a last-minute addition to the program's cast of characters: Gustav…
GOP Platform Emphasizes Issues, Plays Down McCain
By Nick Timiraos
Wall Street Journal
August 30, 2008
Republicans are set to ratify a party platform next week that includes sharp reversals from 2004 on hot-button issues like immigration, and makes scant reference to Sen. John McCain…
Subdued Convention Opens Amid Focus on Gustav Relief
By Henry J. Pulizzi and Corey Boles
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A subdued Republican National Convention got under way Monday, as Hurricane Gustav's arrival 1,400 miles down the Mississippi River shifted the event's focus from politics to disaster relief…
Lousiana Delegates Face Hard Choice: Stay or Go
By Siobhan Hughes and Henry J. Pulizzi
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2008
ST. PAUL -- Hurricane Gustav is forcing members of Louisiana's delegation at the Republican National Convention to make a difficult decision: return to the Gulf Coast to help their families cope with the storm or remain in St. Paul to cast their vote for John McCain…
McCain Cancels First Day Of Republican National Convention
By Elizabeth Holmes in St. Louis and Laura Meckler in St. Paul, Minn.
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2008
Sen. John McCain canceled the first day of his Republican National Convention, and his campaign made plans to turn the gathering into a giant fundraiser as they braced for the natural and political fallout from Hurricane Gustav, speeding toward the Gulf Coast…
As Protesters Hit the Streets, Hundreds Are Arrested After Clashes
By Patrick Healy and Colin Moynihan
New York Times
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — Thousands of protesters, many of them demonstrating against the war in Iraq, marched on Monday through the streets outside the arena where the Republican National Convention is being held, with some smashing windows and battling with the police in clashes that led to more than 250 arrests…
Start of Republican Convention Is Muted by Storm
By Sheryl Gay Stolberg
New York Times
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — With one eye on Hurricane Gustav and their plans still in flux, Republicans opened their convention here on Monday, conducting an abbreviated business session and appealing to delegates to help victims of the storm…
A Convention Is Sheltered by the Storm
By Alessandra Stanley
New York Times
September 2, 2008
It took resources, coordination and lots of volunteers, but the McCain campaign managed to push back the dreaded split-screen between St. Paul and Hurricane Gustav and save the Republican convention from a flood of bad Katrina memories…
Lifting Spirits At Center Stage
The First Lady Does Her Part to Brighten Mood
By Libby Copeland
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Laura Bush reprised her role as official spirits-booster Monday, taking the stage at a convention stripped of almost any pomp in an effort to convey to Republican delegates -- and the nation -- that things will be okay…
GOP Deals With the Storm -- and the Stork
By Dana Milbank
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 Hurricane Gustav made landfall on the Louisiana coast about 10:30 a.m. Monday. Hurricane Bristol made landfall in Minnesota at 11:43 a.m…
It's a short day at the Republican convention
By Dan Morain
Los Angeles Times
September 2, 2008
SAINT PAUL, MINN. — Republicans convened their national convention Monday in a session truncated by a hurricane and roiled by vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's revelation that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant…
Party must go on for young Republicans at the convention
Even if the lineup of entertainment isn't quite as A-list in Minneapolis as it was in Denver.
By Tina Daunt
Los Angeles TImes
September 2, 2008
The Republican elders may be able to scale back their party's convention, but when it comes to the late-night parties, the show definitely is going on -- and the young GOP politicos seem to be loving it…
Study: Sharp drop in black GOP delegates
By Jill Lawrence
USA Today
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — There are 36 black delegates at the Republican convention here — fewer than 2% of the total and a sharp drop-off from 2004, a think tank reports…
Romney not on ticket, but still active
By Brian C. Mooney
Boston Globe
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL -- Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, no longer auditioning for the vice presidential berth on John McCain's ticket, is nevertheless maintaining a busy schedule at the Republican National Convention…
Palin
By E.J. Dionne, Jr.
Washington Post Writers Group/The New Republic
September 1, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn.--By all rights, there should be a revolt at this week's Republican convention against John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate--for the very same reasons so many Republicans opposed President Bush's selection of Harriet Miers for the Supreme Court…
Palin's Family Life Moves to Center Stage -- And With It, Debate
By Stephanie Simon
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
In her two years as governor of Alaska, and especially in the four months since her son was born with Down syndrome, Sarah Palin has been portrayed as the very model of a working mother: She answers her BlackBerry while pumping breast milk for her infant; keeps a playpen by her desk; and manages a state while cooking caribou hot dogs for her family…
By Kate Phillips
New York Times
September 1, 2008
ST. PAUL — Conservative bloggers struck back today at their left-leaning Web counterparts, blaming them for forcing the family of John McCain’s vice-presidential choice, Gov. Sarah Palin, to release the news that their teenage daughter was pregnant. But right-leaning bloggers also used the megaphones of their Web sites to tout the idea — just as Republicans here at the convention site were doing — that a teenager giving birth and keeping the baby — reinforced their anti-abortion, family beliefs. And they seized the news today to attack Senator Barack Obama on his abortion rights views…
In Political Realm, ‘Family Problem’ Emerges as Test
By Adam Nagourney
New York Times
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — For at least the time being, Gov. Sarah Palin appears to have survived the initial test after the disclosure that her unmarried teenage daughter was pregnant. Republican delegates rallied around her on Monday, saying the disclosure would not threaten her hopes of being Senator John McCain’s running mate…
Pregnancy of Palin Daughter Interrupts G.O.P. Script
By Monica Davey
New York Times
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — Just days after Gov. Sarah Palin was named as Senator John McCain’s running mate, Ms. Palin made an unlikely announcement of her own on Monday: Her daughter Bristol, 17 and unmarried, was five months pregnant…
A New Twist in the Motherhood Debate
By Jodi Kantor and Rachel L. Swarns
New York Times
September 2, 2008
When Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska was introduced as a vice-presidential pick, she was presented as a magnet for female voters, the epitome of everymom appeal…
Disclosures on Palin Raise Questions on Vetting Process
By Elisabeth Bumiller
New York Times
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — A series of disclosures about Gov. Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain’s choice as running mate, called into question on Monday how thoroughly Mr. McCain had examined her background before putting her on the Republican presidential ticket…
Even in Intimate Alaska, Palin Pick Remained Secret
By Jim Carlton
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2008
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- With their shock subsiding over their governor being named John McCain's running mate, Alaskans are asking themselves a new question: How could they have not known?
Anti-Abortion Activists Cheer McCain's Pick
By Stephanie Simon
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2008
Sen. John McCain's pick for his vice-presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, drew loud cheers from opponents of legal abortion -- and sent the left scurrying into strategy meetings…
Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds
By Paul Kane
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog…
Hurricane Isn't The Only Jolt For Convention
Palin's Daughter, 17, Is Pregnant
By Michael Abramowitz and Dan Balz
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Republicans opened their scaled-down national convention Monday with calls for aid and compassion as Hurricane Gustav smashed into the Gulf Coast, but even before the gavel had come down to begin the proceedings, they were met with another jarring distraction, as the party's presumptive vice presidential nominee announced that her 17-year-old daughter is five months pregnant…
No Surprises From Palin, McCain Team Says
Daughter's Pregnancy and Trooper Controversy Were Revealed Before Pick, According to Campaign Aide
By Michael D. Shear and Karl Vick
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Before she was chosen to be Sen. John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin submitted to a three-hour interview with the head of his vice presidential search team, and responded to a 70-question form that included "intrusive personal questions," a senior campaign aide said Monday…
Calculated Risk With Female Voters Is Suddenly Even Harder to Calculate
By Anne E. Kornblut and Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
In a presidential campaign that has challenged assumptions about female voters and candidates across the spectrum, the announcement yesterday that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's unmarried teenage daughter is five months pregnant added a variable to the multiple factors that will motivate the votes of more than half of the electorate in November…
A Blogger, a Baby, a Cry of Concern
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- When Markos Moulitsas saw that one of the contributors to his liberal blog was accusing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin of lying about her 4-month-old baby, he was a bit skeptical…
The Land of the Midnight Sun's New Claim To Fame: Being Led by a 24-Hour Mother
By Lois Romano
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
It's quite a compelling image: An accomplished -- even glamorous -- working mother, projecting to the world that she can and does have it all: five children, a successful career and a husband who doesn't mind being Mr. Mom. Oh, and she's going to be a grandmother, and her infant has special needs, and she's running for vice president…
Palin (and news of pregnant daughter) steals GOP convention spotlight
By Peter Grier
Christian Science Monitor
September 1, 2008
St. Paul, Minn. – Douglas Holtz-Eakin is a serious person. He’s John McCain’s top economic adviser, and before that he was chief economist of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and director of the Congressional Budget Office, among other things. He’s taught economics at Columbia and Princeton…
Sarah Palin represents John McCain's new focus on reform
By Robin Abcarian and Peter Wallsten
Los Angeles Times
September 1, 2008
ST. PAUL, MINN. — With his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain is giving his campaign a political makeover: Rather than selling himself as a war hero with national security credentials, he is donning the mantle of the reformer…
Bristol Palin's pregnancy raises issues of privacy, judgement
By Martha T. Moore
USA Today
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL — Delegates to the Republican National Convention, as well as Democrat Barack Obama, reacted sympathetically Monday to the disclosure that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's unmarried teenaged daughter is pregnant. But others said the revelation raised questions about John McCain's judgment…
<><>RACE TO THE WHITE HOUSE<><><><><><><><><><><>
Small Business Looks at Where Candidates Fall on Its Issues
McCain Seems to Be Favorite, but the Picture Isn't Quite That Simple
By Simona Covel and Raymund Flandez
Wall Street Journal
September 1, 2008
With the presidential campaign in full swing, the candidates will no doubt set their sights on the huge group of voters who own their own businesses. But winning their support will be a daunting task for Barack Obama and John McCain…
Rove: Palin Will Boost GOP Ticket By 2-3 Points Nationally
By Chris Cillizza
Washinton Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL -- Former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove predicted that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin "gives [John McCain] the ability to add two or three points nationally" to his vote total, a margin that could make a significant difference in what is expected to be a very close general election contest with Barack Obama…
Sarah Palin says daughter Bristol, 17, is pregnant
By Maeve Reston, Robin Abcarian and Mark Z. Barabak
Los Angeles Times
September 1, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Republican vice presidential hopeful Sarah Palin said today that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is pregnant and plans to wed, upsetting the political world as the GOP nominating convention began…
<><>WAR/TERROR<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<><>CONGRESS<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
<><>OTHER NEWS<><><><><>><><><><><><><><><><><><>
GEORGIA
Cheney's Trip to Caucasus Could Presage a Tougher Russia Policy
By John D. McKinnon
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney will travel to Georgia and Ukraine this week in a trip that could help lay the groundwork for stiffer Western responses to last month's Russian incursion of Georgia…
In Rebuff to Russia, IMF Is Set to Lend Georgia $750 Million
By Andrew Higgins
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
TBILISI, Georgia -- When Russia sent troops into Georgia last month, the West balked at joining the fight. But now that the shooting has ended, Western nations are mobilizing to thwart a key Russian war aim: regime change in Tbilisi. Their weapon is cash…
Amid Dispute With Russia Georgian President Says West Ignored Pleas for Support
By Marc Champion in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Jay Solomon and Mary Jacoby in Washington
Wall Street Journal
August 30, 2008
Russia's claim that the U.S. orchestrated the conflict in Georgia has sharpened the dispute between the two superpowers. But despite close links between the U.S. and Georgia, their relationship in recent years has been marked more by frustration than coordination…
West mulls few options in Georgia-Russia crisis
It gingerly considers how to set consequences for Russia and maintain cooperation.
By Howard LaFranchi
Christian Science Monitor
August 29, 2008
Washington - Vice President Dick Cheney's travel next week to Georgia and other former Soviet republics has the potential for both bridge-building and bridge-burning…
<><>EDITORIAL/OPINION<><><><><>><><><><><><><>
Opinion: Why McCain Still Has a Chance To Win
By Peter Robinson
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
With Barack Obama already established as a skillful rhetorician, people keep asking me, a former White House speechwriter, about John McCain. Can he say anything -- anything at all -- that might place him in the company of Ronald Reagan, the president for whom I used to work?
By William Kristol
New York Times
September 1, 2008
Thursday night, after Barack Obama’s well-orchestrated, well-conceived and well-delivered acceptance speech in Denver, Republicans were demoralized. Twenty-four hours later, they were energized — even exuberant. It’s amazing what a bold vice-presidential pick who gives a sterling performance when she’s introduced will do for a party’s spirits…
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin and her husband Todd confirmed yesterday that their 17-year-old daughter Bristol is pregnant. In a statement issued by the McCain campaign, they said Bristol plans to have the baby and marry the father. Their daughter's pregnancy, the Palins added, "would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned."
Opinion: The Politics of Hurricanes
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
After Hurricane Katrina and in our 24/7 media world, natural disasters have become the equivalent of national car wrecks, as millions of rubberneckers tune into cable to assess the material and political damage. That's especially true with Hurricane Gustav, as the media prepared a story line that this might be "another Katrina" that could doom John McCain's convention and maybe his Presidential prospects…
By Paul Krugman
New York Times
September 1, 2008
It’s an ill wind that blows nobody good. Three years after Hurricane Katrina, another storm is heading for the Gulf Coast — and this has given Republicans a reason to cancel President Bush’s scheduled appearance at their national convention. The party can thus avoid reminding voters that the last man they placed in the White House did such a heckuva job that he scored the highest disapproval ratings ever recorded…
Editorial: John McCain’s Challenge
New York Times
September 1, 2008
Later this week the Republican National Convention will formally send John McCain to go forth and do battle for the White House with Barack Obama. One cannot envy Mr. McCain, burdened as he is with the toxic legacies of the Bush administration — including a fragile economy, a battered middle class, an increasingly unequal society and a grinding, unnecessary war that has exacted a huge toll in lives, money, civil liberties and America’s reputation abroad…
Editorial: Mr. McCain and Iraq
New York Times
September 1, 2008
Senator John McCain’s rival, Senator Barack Obama, once was a lonely voice demanding the withdrawal of all combat forces by mid-2010…
Opinion: John McCain Has a Tax Plan To Create Jobs
By Martin Feldstein and John B. Taylor
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
John McCain's tax policies are designed to create jobs, increase wages and allow all Americans -- especially those in the hard-pressed middle class -- to keep more of what they earn. His plan achieves these goals in three important ways…
Opinion: Michelle Obama Is Right About Avoiding the ER
By Scott Gottlieb
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
When Michelle Obama was an executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center, she worked to expand a program that encouraged uninsured patients on Chicago's South Side to visit local health clinics in lieu of her hospital's emergency room. That "Urban Health Initiative" saved her hospital money, and it also surely improved the health of the people it served…
Opinion: Ignore the Chauvinists. Palin Has Real Experience.
By Nancy Pfotenhauer
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
In Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain has found a fellow maverick to be his running mate -- one who can help bring the right kind of reform to Washington. Ms. Palin, like Mr. McCain, has a strong record of battling the status quo, restoring accountability and effectiveness to government, and working to secure energy independence, root out corruption and curb wasteful spending…
By William Mcgurn
Wall Street Journal
September 2, 2008
Since Joe Biden landed on the Democratic ticket, we've all been treated to commentary attesting to the Lincolnesque rise of this proud son of Scranton, Pa. Here we read the references to "working-class roots." There we see a headline trumpeting a "blue-collar messenger." And everywhere we turn, we bump into the most treasured compound-adjective of them all: lunch-bucket…
By Richard Cohen
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
One of the great sights of American political life -- a YouTube moment if ever there was one -- was to see the doughboy face of Newt Gingrich as he extolled the virtues of Sarah Palin, a sitcom of a vice presidential choice and a disaster movie if she moves up to the presidency: "She's the first journalist ever to be nominated, I think, for the president or vice president, and she was a sportscaster on local television," Gingrich said on the "Today" show. "So she has a lot of interesting background. And she has a lot of experience. Remember that, when people worry about how inexperienced she is, for two years she's been in charge of the Alaska National Guard."
Op-Ed: The Lesson of Bristol Palin
By Ruth Marcus
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
Bristol Palin's pregnancy may be the ultimate teachable moment. It just might not be the lesson that John McCain intended…
By Eugene Robinson
Washington Post
September 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Has anyone noticed that Sarah Palin's central claim to political fame is a fraud? She represents herself as a fiscal conservative who abhors pork-barrel projects and said no thanks to the "Bridge to Nowhere" -- a $398 million span that would have linked Ketchikan, Alaska, to its airport across the Tongass Narrows. But as mayor of Wasilla (pop. 9,780), she hired a Washington lobbyist to bring home the bacon. And as a candidate for governor just two years ago, she supported both the Ketchikan bridge and the congressional earmark that would have paid most of its cost…
Opinion: Sarah Palin: a bold choice, or a desperate one?
So far, so good: McCain's VP pick has electrified conservatives.
By John H. Hinderaker and Scott W. Johnson
Christian Science Monitor
September 2, 2008
Minneapolis, Minn. - John McCain likes bold, daring strokes. The question that hangs over his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate is whether it was a bold move or a desperate one…
Opinion: Is the U.S. Army ready for conventional war?
By Gian P. Gentile
Christian Science Monitor
September 2, 2008
Images of Georgian infantry moving under fire and Russian tanks on the attack show that the days of like armies fighting one another on battlefields are far from over…
Op-Ed: McCain, a warrior, but ...
By Bob Kerrey
Los Angeles Times
September 1, 2008
Sen. John McCain and his campaign surrogates have been making a lot of his military experience lately, hoping to convince Americans that one man's military record versus another's lack of one should determine who would be the best president…
Opinion: Renewing America's 'contract with the middle class'
By Leo Hindery Jr.
Los Angeles Times
September 1, 2008
Not all that long ago, America's prominent business and government leaders widely believed that our nation's prosperity depended on a strong middle class growing from the bottom up. Workers were rewarded for their hard work with fair wages, benefits and advancement opportunities -- and our economy and our national security were much stronger for it…
Opinion: GOP's house too divided for Palin to repair alone
By John Kass
Chicago Tribune
September 1, 2008
BLOOMINGTON, Minn.—Amanda Marko, a GOP delegate from suburban Cleveland, is the Republican in her family…
