Often called the "People's Tree," this year's tree is an 85-foot blue spruce from the two million-acre Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest in Arizona. This is Arizona's first Capitol Christmas tree and at 125 years old, it is older than state itself.

At the official lighting ceremony in December, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a selected Arizonan student will officially flip the switch to illuminate the tree, which will feature thousands of decorations created by the state's students. Others scheduled to be on hand for the lighting include Arizona's senators, Republicans John McCain and Jon Kyl, along with other members of its congressional delegation and Gov. Jan Brewer.

Every year since 1964, the Capitol complex has hosted a Christmas tree. Superintendent of Capitol Grounds Ted Bechtel traveled to Arizona this year and selected this tree from around 12 candidates based on its form.

"It had great color, great conical shape. You've got to remember that the tree is going to sit on an open lawn area on the Capitol, so you're going to see if it from every angle, Bechtel said. "You always make notation of what looks good. I've got my own rating system."

When asked if he could detail the rating system, he smiled and said, "No. No, I'm sorry, trade secret."

Info about the tree has been available on Facebook and Twitter. And at TracktheTree.com, interested parties have been able to follow the tree's 24-city, multi-state route and read blog entries on some of the stops.

Arriving with the tree were nearly 80 companion trees that will decorate offices and agencies around the Capitol Complex. After the holiday it will be recycled and used as mulch on the Capitol grounds.

Bill Clinton on Thursday urged supporters of President Obama's health care plan to voice their support.

(CNN) – Former President Bill Clinton was on his toes - and on message - as he urged supporters of President Barack Obama's health care reform agenda to step up their efforts.

Speaking Thursday to a crowd of political activists at the annual Netroots Nation convention in Pittsburgh on Thursday, Clinton said a big victory on health care would have serious political implications.

"The president needs your help," Clinton said. "The minute the president signs this bill, his approval will go up. Within a year, when the good things begin to happen, and the bad things they're saying will happen don't happen, approval will explode."

The four-day convention for left-leaning bloggers, thinkers and activists is themed "This ain't no tea party." It's a not-so-subtle jab at recent conservative grassroots efforts against the White House's fiscal agenda.

"Everybody knows what happened in 1993 and 1994," Clinton said, referencing his own administration's failed attempts at health care reform. "One thing we know is that if you get out there and do not prevail the victors get to rewrite history."

Most of the speech centered on mainstay Democratic issues, and Clinton - fresh off of his trip to North Korea to bring home then-imprisoned American journalists - was in top rhetorical form.

"You are the trustees of this moment," he told the crowd. But his speech didn't exactly go off without a hitch: In a moment somewhat reminiscent of the contentious health care town hall meetings around the country, Clinton was at one point forced to defend himself from a heckler demanding answers on gay rights issues.

"You want to talk about 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell?'" Clinton fired back when gay activist Lane Hudson asked about the the controversial military policy. "I'll tell you exactly what happened. You couldn't deliver me any support in Congress, and they voted by a veto-proof majority in both houses against my attempts to let gays serve in the military, and the media supported them."

Throughout his speech, Clinton defended his previous work on progressive initiatives as he urged the audience to make their voices heard.

"We cannot be in the peanut gallery," he said. "We cannot ask the president or Congress to do it alone."

CNN: House Democrats: Panetta testified that CIA misled Congress
CIA Director Leon Panetta recently testified to Congress that the agency concealed information and misled lawmakers repeatedly since 2001, according to a letter from seven House Democrats to Panetta made public Wednesday.

AP: Tehran governor: new protests will be smashed
The governor of Tehran province is warning that security forces will "smash" any attempt at protests amid calls for new opposition marches Thursday. Supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have called for new demonstrations in Tehran and several other cities, the first in more than a week after a heavy crackdown suppressed mass street protests over Iran's disputed June 12 election.

USA TODAY: Billions in aid go to areas that backed Obama in '08
Billions of dollars in federal aid delivered directly to the local level to help revive the economy have gone overwhelmingly to places that supported President Obama in last year's presidential election. That aid — about $17 billion — is the first piece of the administration's massive stimulus package that can be tracked locally. Much of it has followed a well-worn path to places that regularly collect a bigger share of federal grants and contracts, guided by formulas that have been in place for decades and leave little room for manipulation.

CNN: Baucus: Lawmakers $320 billion short for health care plan
After huddling Wednesday with Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee, Chairman Max Baucus told reporters that lawmakers still need to come up with $320 billion over the coming decade in taxes to pay for the health care plan.

Washington Post: Senate Democrats Still Seeking GOP Support; Balance of Power Not Changed Much By Supermajority
Senate Democrats spent their first full day holding 60 votes just as they have spent the previous 2 1/2 years without such a supermajority: scrambling to find Republican support for their key initiatives in order to choke off potential filibusters.

CNN: Obama plans nuclear summit
President Barack Obama revealed to G-8 colleagues at a dinner Wednesday that he's planning a nuclear security summit in Washington for next March, according to senior administration officials.

Washington Times: Bloated deficits endanger dollar's global status
Worries about burgeoning U.S. budget deficits are weighing on the dollar and undermining its status as the world's pre-eminent reserve currency.

NYT: Iran Releases Protesters, but Still Holds 500
Iranian officials said Wednesday that they had released 2,000 people who were arrested for participating in demonstrations after the nation’s disputed presidential election, but continued holding an additional 500 prisoners who would be put on trial, according to the state-run Press TV news service.

Politico: Despite President Obama, G-8 drags feet on Iran
If the outcome of the G-8 summit is any indication, President Barack Obama’s hopes of winning a tougher global stance against Iran’s nuclear program have met with only limited success.

USA TODAY: Roadside bomb attacks in Afghanistan shatter record
Roadside bomb attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan are blowing past previous records, causing a rising number of wounded as U.S. troops are waging a major offensive to stop growing violence from Afghan insurgents.

CNN: GOP slams Obama stimulus as ineffective, wasteful
Congressional Republicans tore into the Obama administration over its implementation of the economic stimulus plan Wednesday, arguing that the White House is mishandling the distribution of the money while dramatically overstating the ability of the package to create jobs

Politico: John Boehner: Joe Biden's lying about stimulus
Vice President Joe Biden is invading House Minority Leader John Boehner’s back yard tomorrow to tout the success of the stimulus package, but Boehner is redoubling his attacks, accusing the vice president of lying about the economy.

CNN: Dems push back hard on GOP stimulus attacks
The war of words between House Minority Leader John Boehner and the Democratic Party over the impact of President Obama's stimulus plan escalated Wednesday — with each side accusing the other of lying to the American people.

CNN: Stimulus propping up cash-strapped states
Fiscally-stressed states are using their stimulus dollars to satisfy immediate needs rather than undertake longer-term reforms, according to a government report released Wednesday.

NYT: Cities Lose Out on Road Funds From Federal Stimulus
Two-thirds of the country lives in large metropolitan areas, home to the nation’s worst traffic jams and some of its oldest roads and bridges. But cities and their surrounding regions are getting far less than two-thirds of federal transportation stimulus money.

CNN: Report: Senator tried to stop colleague's affair
Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn was part of a group of Washington-based intermediaries that confronted fellow Sen. John Ensign in an effort to convince him to end an extra-marital affair, according to a report published on the Web site of the Las Vegas Sun.

Politico: Jeb: Obama couldn't have campaigned on 'secret plan'
Jeb Bush gave a loose, interesting interview to Tucker Carlson for Esquire, lamenting his party's failures with Hispanics and outlining his critique of Obama

CNN: Analysis: Sotomayor quietly prepares for high court confirmation hearings
Judge Sonia Sotomayor's world these days is a tiny, plain office in the Eisenhower Office Building next door to the West Wing of the White House.

Washington Post: Uncommon Detail Marks Rulings by Sotomayor
Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's opinions show support for the rights of criminal defendants and suspects, skepticism of corporations, and sympathy for plaintiffs alleging discrimination, an analysis of her record by The Washington Post found.

CNNMoney.com: 9 firms to run toxic assets program
Among those selected: BlackRock and Invesco. Program will be kickstarted with $30 billion government investment.

CNNMoney.com: California on brink of fresh budget talks
The state has been doling out IOUs ever since negotiations over the $26.3 billion budget gap stalled between the legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

CNN: G-8 leaders have ambitious environmental goals
Leaders of the world's most powerful economies pledged to seek huge cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions at a summit in Italy on Wednesday.

CNN: Emanuel faces liberal pressure over 'trigger' comments
The president's health care reform package — which has faced resistance from conservatives who oppose a public insurance option — came under attack from liberals yesterday, with most of the fire focused on White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.

CNN: Vet-turned-congressman: End 'don't ask, don't tell'
Rep. Patrick Murphy, an Iraq war veteran, kicked off a push Wednesday to persuade Americans that the president should repeal "don't ask, don't tell," the policy that prevents openly gay troops from serving in the U.S. military.

CNN: Massachusetts takes aim at federal definition of marriage
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit filed in federal court Wednesday challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act's ("DOMA's") definition of marriage as "only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife."

NYT: Pick to Lead Health Agency Draws Praise and Some Concern
President Obama on Wednesday nominated Dr. Francis S. Collins, a pioneering geneticist who led the government’s successful effort to sequence the human genome, as head of the National Institutes of Health.

CNN: Sister hears from journalist held in N. Korea
After weeks of silence, the sister of one of the two American journalists imprisoned in North Korea finally got a phone call.

AP: Stalking charges dropped against Marion Barry
Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against former Washington Mayor Marion Barry, who was accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend. U.S. Park Police arrested the current D.C. councilman on Saturday on a stalking charge after they said a woman complained she was being stalked.

Washington Post: For Barry, a Familiar Script Takes an Unfamiliar Twist
It started with an arrest, as it often does. There was a woman involved, as there usually is. And there were the denials, controversial behavior by the police and extraordinary news conferences that feed a local media obsessed with Marion Barry.

Washington Post: Timeline of events before and after Barry’s arrest

Washington Times: Deeds vs. McDonnell: Tweets don't fail now
One Twitters his music playlist. The other Twitters multiplatform requests for money and supporters.

CNN: Director takes blame over lax security at federal buildings
A contrite head of the Federal Protective Service took the blame Wednesday for security lapses that allowed covert investigators to sneak bomb components into 10 federal government buildings.

CNN: Ex-AG Gonzales lands Texas Tech job
Nearly two years after being pushed out of office by a scandal surrounding the firing of federal prosecutors, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has taken a job at Texas Tech University, the school announced Tuesday.

CNN: Blagojevich former aide pleads guilty
A former chief of staff to Rod Blagojevich pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of participating in a scheme to commit wire fraud related to the former Illinois governor's alleged efforts to profit off of his appointment of a replacement to fill the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

Roll Call: Youth Is Served in Senate GOP
For an institution that cherishes its reputation as “the world’s most deliberative body,” change can be hard to swallow — particularly for Senate Republicans.

CNN: Deposed Honduran leader: I'm listening, not negotiating
Deposed Honduran President Jose Manuel Zelaya arrived Wednesday in Costa Rica a day ahead of planned discussions with the man who ousted him and the host country's president. and He vowed he has no plans to negotiate.

CNN: Mayor's office: Michael Jackson memorial cost L.A. $1.4 million
The memorial service for singer Michael Jackson cost the city of Los Angeles $1.4 million, the mayor's office said Wednesday.

CNN: Woman tells lawmakers about son's bullying, suicide
Eleven-year-old Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover liked football, basketball and playing video games with his little brother.

Washington Post: Va. Governor Uses 1½ Days Of Workweek For DNC Job
Timothy M. Kaine said he has been spending a day and a half of each workweek handling fundraising and policy matters for the Democratic National Committee, a departure from his pledge to conduct most of his national party work by phone and fax and restrict it largely to evenings and weekends while he is governor of Virginia.

CNN: Rove deposed in US attorney probe
A House Judiciary Committee spokesman confirms that former Bush advisor Karl Rove was deposed by committee lawyers today. The spokesman declined to provide further detail.

CNN: House Majority Leader open to second stimulus bill
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday he would consider supporting a second economic stimulus bill, but said people need to give the package that passed in February more time to work.

Washington Post: Obama Stands to Be Judged on Economic Recovery
Nothing may be more important to public assessments of President Obama's leadership than the state of the economy, and at this point there are political warning lights flashing.

CNN: Congressional Dems eye health care funding options
Senate negotiators are searching for new ways to pay for an overhaul of the U.S. health insurance system after recent polls showed many Americans oppose funding it through taxes on employer-provided health insurance, a key senator said Tuesday.

CNN: Obama: U.S. not giving Israel green light to attack Iran
The United States is "absolutely not" giving Israel a green light to attack Iran, U.S. President Barack Obama told CNN Tuesday.

USA TODAY: Report: States aren't using stimulus funds as intended
Under pressure to spend stimulus money quickly, many states are using the federal funds for short-term projects and to fill budget gaps rather than spending on long-term improvements, according to a report by congressional investigators.

Washington Post: Pope Criticizes World Economic System, Urges Social Responsibility
Pope Benedict XVI criticized the international economic system yesterday and called for a new global structure based on social responsibility, concern for the dignity of the worker and a respect for ethics.

CNN: Analysis: Is Palin the next GOP 'kingmaker'?
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin caught the political world by surprise when she announced that she will resign at the end of July. Her decision has not only rankled political pundits and observers in Alaska and across the country, it has, oddly enough, united Democrats and Republicans in confusion.

WSJ: Jobless Feel Effects of States' Stimulus Rejection
Latunga Childers lost her $8-an-hour job as a McDonald's manager in April. Soon after, she opened an envelope from Alabama unemployment officials expecting to find a check. Instead, there was a letter declaring her ineligible for benefits. Behind that letter was a complicated fight over the federal stimulus and the strings that come with it.

CNN: Obama in Russia
CNN's Ed Henry sits down with President Obama in Moscow to discuss his visit to the Kremlin. See the interview here:

CNN: Obama: U.S. wants strong, peaceful Russia
A strong Russia is good for the United States, President Obama said in a speech in Moscow, where he is visiting in an effort to "reset" the countries' relations.

CNN: Poll: President Obama's numbers drop in crucial state
A new poll suggests that Barack Obama's approval rating is dropping rapidly in Ohio, a crucial battleground in the race for the White House, and a state with a U.S. Senate seat and governorship up for grabs next year.

NYT: In Russia, Obama’s Star Power Does Not Translate
Let other capitals go all weak-kneed when President Obama visits. Moscow has greeted Mr. Obama, who on Tuesday night concluded a two-day Russian-American summit meeting, as if he were just another dignitary passing through.

NYT: Family Night for Obamas Miffs Some in Moscow
The decision to brush off the Russians on one of his two nights here miffed some in the Moscow government who did not understand why he would not devote the scarce time to his hosts. Mr. Obama had dinner with President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday and lunch with him on Tuesday. But with the second dinner slot unavailable, he ended up having breakfast Tuesday with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, a known night owl not given to American-style early morning business meals.

Washington Post: In Retooled Health-Care System, Who Will Say No?
The question came from a Colorado neurologist. "Mr. President," he said at a recent forum, "what can you do to convince the American public that there actually are limits to what we can pay for with our American health-care system? And if there are going to be limits, who . . . is going to enforce the rules for a system like that?" President Obama called it the "right question" - then failed to answer it.

Washington Post: Leaders Who Succeeded - and Those Who Didn't
A Harvard researcher, along with the government consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, interviewed more than 250 people and reviewed agency budgets, congressional testimony and other documents to produce "What it Takes to Change Government."

NYT: As Iran Calms, a Struggle for Political Power Intensifies
In postelection Iran, there is growing unease among many of the nation’s political and clerical elite that the very system of governance they rely on for power and privilege has been stripped of its religious and electoral legitimacy, creating a virtual dictatorship enforced by an emboldened security apparatus, analysts said.

WSJ: Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy: Oil Prices Need Government Supervision
It is a thorny issue, but complex markets need not be volatile or damaging to the wider global economy. We are convinced that producers and consumers alike would benefit from greater transparency, greater stability and greater consensus on the market fundamentals. After two years of destructive price volatility, the time has come for both sides to work together to build on our common interest.

Washington Post: Bribery Plea in Probe of Firm With Murtha Ties
A former executive of a Pennsylvania defense firm with close ties to Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.) has agreed to plead guilty to taking bribes from a partner defense company and is cooperating in a federal investigation of Pentagon contracting, records show.

CNN: Biden swears Franken in on Senate floor
Satirist-turned-politician Al Franken was sworn in as the newest member of the U.S. Senate Tuesday, officially closing the books on one of the longest post-election recount struggles in recent American political history.

AP: Sotomayor critics step up rhetoric before hearing
Conservatives stepped up their criticism of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on Tuesday, but it was unclear how far Senate Republicans were willing to go to create bumps in what appears to be a smooth road to confirmation for President Barack Obama's first high-court choice.

CNN: South Carolina's Sanford waits for storm to pass
It was late December 2007, and all eyes were on South Carolina. As the state's Republican presidential primary neared, a crowded field of contenders sought the backing of their party's rising star, but Gov. Mark Sanford pledged to stay neutral in what was then a wide-open GOP race.

AP: Jury sees videos of La. congressman accepting cash
A federal jury has seen video of a former Louisiana congressman accepting a suitcase filled with $100,000 in cash outside a northern Virginia hotel. The videos played Tuesday are a key piece of evidence in the bribery trial of William Jefferson, a Democrat who represented parts of New Orleans. He's accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes to broker business deals in Africa.

AP: Marion Barry hired girlfriend while the two dated
City records show that former D.C. mayor Marion Barry hired his former girlfriend soon after they began dating. Citing documents, The Washington Post reports that 40-year-old Donna Watts-Brighthaupt was hired in October to work for Barry, who is a D.C. Council member. She was paid at least $10,000 from Barry's taxpayer-funded budget.

CNN: Poll: Palin decision doesn't change minds
Four days after Sarah Palin announced that she will step down later this month as governor of Alaska, a new national poll by USA Today/Gallup indicates that seven in 10 Americans say Palin's decision had no affect on their opinion of her.

CNN: New Hampshire Democrats using Palin in fundraising appeal
National Democrats wasted no time in accusing Sarah Palin of abandoning her state after the Alaska governor revealed Friday that she was resigning from office.

CNN: Commentary: The politics of self destruction
I'm sure Republican strategists look at their bench and think of what Casey Stengel said of the 1962 Mets: "Can't anybody here play this game?"

CNN Guest Commentary: Racial progress is far from finished
America was proud of itself for electing Barack Obama. The pride was not just partisan and ideological; it was also specifically and clearly racial.

NYT: In California, Even the I.O.U’s Are Owed
The only thing worse than being issued an i.o.u. rather than a check from the State of California may be not getting the i.o.u. at all — at least in time to meet the deadline of your bank.

CNN: Senate hearing probes fairness of Bowl Championship Series
A Senate subcommittee Tuesday tackled one of the most contentious issues in U.S. sports — the fairness of the Bowl Championship Series that decides the top college football team each season.

Washington Post: Utes Play Huskers in the Orrin Bowl
If you're an ordinary college football fan and your team gets passed over for a national championship game, you probably hurl a few choice words at the Bowl Championship Series, the group that sets the bowl pairings.

Washington Post: Jeez, Louise: When Did We Annex Canada?
The committee's home page featured a beckoning photo of a spectacular vista in that mountain range. One problem, though: It was of Lake Louise, which happens to be in the Canadian Rockies.

CNN: Palin says she is not a quitter
Sarah Palin's not a quitter, she wants the public to know. "I am not a quitter. I am a fighter," Palin told CNN on Monday while on a family fishing trip, on the heels of her Friday bombshell announcement that she was resigning as Alaska's governor.

CNNMoney.com: Will Bernanke keep his job?
Obama will have to make a big decision: Whether to reappoint the Fed chair. Bernanke has detractors on the Hill. Right now at least, odds are he'll hang on.

CNN: South Carolina GOP votes to censure Sanford
After nearly four hours of deliberation and multiple rounds of balloting, the South Carolina Republican Party voted Monday night to censure Mark Sanford for secretly traveling overseas to visit his mistress — but stopped short of calling on the governor to resign.

Washington Times: EXCLUSIVE: Israel fears U.S. would foil Iran strike
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his top deputies have not formally asked for U.S. aid or permission for possible military strikes on Iran's nuclear program, fearing the White House would not approve, two Israeli officials said.

Washington Post: The Post Begins Reviews of Events to Avoid Ethics Conflicts
The Washington Post initiated internal reviews yesterday to ensure that its business practices do not compromise its journalistic ethics when the newspaper organizes conferences or private events funded by sponsors.

Washington Post: Hospitals Reach Deal With Administration; $155 Billion in Health Savings Offered
The nation's hospitals agreed last night to contribute $155 billion over 10 years toward the cost of insuring the 47 million Americans without health coverage, according to two industry sources.

Washington Post: Push and Pull in Senate May Recast Climate Bill
President Obama's climate-change legislation begins a daunting march through the Senate this week, with supporters acknowledging they are as many as 15 votes shy of victory and well aware that deals to attract more votes could erode the bill's environment-friendly objectives.

NYT: China Locks Down Restive Region After Deadly Clashes
URUMQI, China — The Chinese government locked down this regional capital of 2.3 million people and other cities across its western desert region on Monday and early Tuesday, imposing curfews, cutting off cellphone and Internet services and sending armed police officers into neighborhoods after clashes erupted here on Sunday evening between Muslim Uighurs and Han Chinese.

Politico: More votes equals more stress for Harry Reid
Oh, the burdens of a Democratic supermajority. After eight months in limbo, Al Franken is poised to be sworn in as the 60th Democratic senator — cause for celebration among party activists, the lefty blogosphere and his fellow Democrats planning to give him a hero’s welcome at Tuesday’s caucus lunch.

Politico: President Obama coverage pays for networks
For all the talk of liberal media bias, there may be a more prosaic reason for all the airtime the networks shower on President Barack Obama: He’s good for their bottom line.

Politico: New U.S.-Russia tone proves elusive
President Barack Obama’s efforts to “reset” relations with Russia were in full view Monday in his joint news conference with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev — but if their first summit is any indication, the two leaders are going to have to hit control-alt-delete a few more times.

CNNMoney.com: Stimulus: Progress or broken promise?
As the economy continues to get worse, many wonder if stimulus is big and fast enough. But the White House says it's too early to judge.

Washington Post: Key Senator Backs Telecom Probe
A senior senator yesterday demanded a federal probe of alleged anti-competitive practices in the wireless industry, escalating recent congressional concern that too much power is concentrating in the hands of a few carriers.

NYT: Health Co-op Offers Model for Overhaul
As Dr. Harry J. Shriver III examined 70-year-old Eleanor L. Riley one recent morning, he seemed in no hurry. He asked about her phlebitis and her gall bladder, and whether her gout was acting up. They discussed her blood pressure readings and whether she was getting any exercise.

Washington Post: CFTC Floats Rules Aimed at Speculation; Wall Street Gears Up to Fight Curbs
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission will consider new measures to curb speculation in the markets for energy and other commodities, the agency is set to announce today.

Washington Times: States struggle to comply with sex offender database
Congress found it easy enough to pass guidelines for a national Internet database of sex offenders. Individual states are finding it far more difficult to comply with those guidelines.

NYT: Social Security Numbering System Vulnerable to Fraud, Experts Say
The nation’s Social Security numbering system has left millions of citizens vulnerable to privacy breaches, according to researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, who for the first time have used statistical techniques to predict Social Security numbers solely from an individual’s date and location of birth.

NYT: Both Sides in Honduras Reach Out to the U.S.
The spotlight on Honduras’s political crisis began to shift away from Latin America’s leaders and onto the United States on Monday, as both sides in the face-off over Honduras’s deposed president turned to the Obama administration to take charge of broad diplomatic efforts that have so far failed to resolve the situation.

Washington Post: Rules on Stem Cell Research Are Eased; More Lines Eligible For Federal Funding
Hundreds of embryonic stem cell lines, whose use in the United States had effectively been curtailed by the Bush administration, can be used to study disorders and develop cures if researchers can show the cells were derived using ethical procedures, according to new rules issued by the federal government yesterday.

CNN: Al Franken: From satirist to senator
Ten years ago, Al Franken wrote a satirical book detailing his fictitious race for the White House. In "'Why Not Me?" Franken trounces former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to win the election, but after countless scandals, a mental breakdown and a cloning incident, President Franken is forced to resign.

CNN: Palin's strength lies in the grassroots
While Marjorie Dannenfelser acknowledges that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to resign from office "defies conventional wisdom," it hasn't dampened the enthusiasm this mother of five has for Palin to run for president in 2012.

CNN: Virginia and NJ Republicans non-committal on Palin
When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Friday that she was resigning from office, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele issued a statement saying that she "will be very helpful to the Party this year as we wage critical campaigns in Virginia and New Jersey."

Politico: The life of Robert McNamara
In photos.

CNN: Alec Baldwin interested in congressional run
Emmy Award winner Alec Baldwin is eyeing a post-acting career that could take him off a Hollywood soundstage into the halls of Congress.

CNN: Congressman slams Jackson
New York Congressman Peter King slams the media for "glorifying" Michael Jackson and calls him a "pervert." CNN's Mary Snow reports.

CNN: Jackson fans rally against Peter King
Angry at Rep. Peter King's sharp criticism of Michael Jackson, a fan of the late pop icon is trying to raise money to defeat the nine-term Republican from New York in 2010.

Bloomberg: Carville to Advise Karzai Challenger in Afghan Election Contest
Democratic strategist James Carville, who ran Bill Clinton’s presidential bid in 1992, is helping another challenger: a U.S.-educated rival of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Washington Post: Scandals Swirl Around Summit Host; Italian Prime Minister's Well-Known Libido Has Drawn Negative Attention Lately
The good news for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is that Italians are no longer quite so obsessed with his wife's demand for a divorce or his flirtations with an 18-year-old model. The bad news is that now they are fixated on his parties with paid escorts and the high-priced hooker who has told Italian media that she spent a night with him.

Washington Post: Canceled Trip Started Barry's Bad Day
They didn't even make it to the Bay Bridge before the argument started.

Anchorage Daily News: FBI says Palin isn't under investigation
The FBI is taking the unusual step of declaring Gov. Sarah Palin is not under investigation, as Palin herself left for Western Alaska and communicated to the world through her Twitter account.

CNN: Reality Check: Canada’s System
Canadians dispute Sen. Mitch McConnell's assertions about their government-run health-care system. Dana Bash takes a look.

CNN: Stimulus money needs to be spent faster, Dems say
A leading congressional Democrat and Republican both expressed disappointment Sunday with the pace of the government's economic stimulus program, but offered differing views on whether it was a good idea.

LA Times: Paying for healthcare overhaul may fall unevenly on states
Reporting from Washington - When Congress decides how to pay for President Obama's signature healthcare initiative, some of his strongest political bastions may be footing a heavy bill. And in a political irony, states that went for Obama's Republican rival, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, in 2008 are among those likely to benefit most from Democratic healthcare policies.

Washington Times: BREITBART: New York Times Barbie strikes again
What a shock that Maureen Dowd devoted her New York Times column Sunday to attack Sarah Palin. It did not so much criticize Alaska's governor for prematurely stepping down from her official duties as to finish off what sister snipers Katie Couric and Tina Fey began last fall. The assassination of Sarah Palin – by media.

Boston Globe: Municipal complaint? There’s an app for that
City officials will soon debut Boston’s first official iPhone application, which will allow residents to snap photos of neighborhood nuisances – nasty potholes, graffiti-stained walls, blown street lights – and e-mail them to City Hall to be fixed. City officials say the application, dubbed Citizen Connect, is the first of its kind in the nation. It was designed as an extension of the city’s 24-hour complaint hotline for the younger set, making the filing of complaints quicker and easier for iPhone users.

Politico: Washington Democrats try to bail out Chris Dodd
With Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) facing an uphill battle to win reelection next year after a series of Washington scandals battered his popularity back home, President Obama and other national Democrats are sparing no effort to help him.

Roll Call: Senate’s Health Timeline May Slip
Senate Democratic leaders’ hopes of approving health care reform before adjourning for the August recess appear all but dead, with the prospect of meeting President Barack Obama’s demand for a bill on his desk by Oct. 15 looking increasingly difficult.

Washington Post: Familiar Players in Health Bill Lobbying; Firms Are Enlisting Ex-Lawmakers, Aides
The nation's largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records.

NYT: In Maine, Two Sides on Health Care Step Up Competition for Senators’ Votes
The rally outside Senator Olympia J. Snowe’s district office here last week was small but heartfelt: a handful of locals describing health insurance nightmares and calling for full-blown change, fast.

Roll Call: The Rose Garden: White House Enlists Troops From K Street
Months after instituting tough new rules designed to limit the influence of lobbyists on the administration, the White House has a growing and thriving relationship with K Street, though not one that appears to violate promises that President Barack Obama made to curtail influence peddling.

CNN: Looking forward to Obama
CNN's Jill Dougherty asks University students in Moscow what they expect from President Obama's upcoming visit to Russia.

CNN: Reliable Sources Web Exclusive: Pitney v. Milbank, the aftermath
Watch as CNN's Howard Kurtz follows up on a recent dust-up between the Huffington Post's Nico Pitney and the Washington Post's Dana Milbank.

Politico: Obama bashers see literary gold
As much as both men might hate to admit it, Barack Obama has been very, very good to Mark Levin. Levin is living the talk-radio dream: His three-hour broadcast is aired on more than 150 stations to more than 5 million listeners a day.

Roll Call: GOP Pushing Malpractice Reform
Republicans see the debate over health care reform as their latest opportunity to reform the medical malpractice system — but they hold out little hope that this will occur.

Politico: Biden, Mullen split on Israel and Iran?
Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was concerned about the unintended consequences of an Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

CNN: Mullen on North Korea
A day after reported short-range missile tests by North Korea, one of President Obama’s top military adviserS said it was possible the regime could be preparing to test longer range missiles capable of reaching the United States.

CNNMoney.com: GM bankruptcy plan approved
Plan for nation's No. 1 automaker to emerge from protection seen by as 'only available means' to continue business.

CNNMoney.com: Mich. Gov: Media hard on Detroit
Governor Jennifer Granholm grades media coverage of Detroit and says automakers are the largest roadblock to recovery.

CNNMoney.com: Wall Street's reality check
A second-quarter rally has given way to what could be a rocky third quarter as investors contend with quarterly results, economic reports.

NYT: Job Retraining May Fall Short of High Hopes
...Tens of thousands of laid-off workers like Mr. Hutchins have turned to retraining as a lifeline. Yet for all the popularity of these government-financed programs, there are questions about whether they actually work, even as President Obama’s stimulus plan directs $1.4 billion more to retraining and other services for people who have lost their jobs.

CNN: Conservatives taken aback by Palin's decision to resign
Astounding. Risky. Quitter. And that's what fellow conservatives had to say Sunday about Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her decision to step down with 18 months left in her term.

CNN: Palin attorney warns media over 'defamatory' charges
As Gov. Sarah Palin blasted the media Saturday in a tough Facebook post, her attorney delivered a strong warning to news outlets that they should not report any stories that allege the Alaska governor is leaving office because she is under any kind of federal investigation.

CNN: State of the Union: Did Palin make the right move?
Three of CNN's political contributors weighed in Sunday as pols and pundits alike continued to try to digest the implications of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's surprise announcement that will she will step down later this month.

Washington Post: Karzai's Challengers Skirt Thorny Issues, Face Huge Odds in Afghan Campaign
As U.S. Marines launched a major offensive against Taliban insurgents in southern Helmand province, the presidential campaign unfolding in more peaceful parts of northern and eastern Afghanistan last week seemed to be taking place on another planet.

Washington Post: Financial Agency IGs Say Bill Threatens Independence
Inspectors general at five financial regulatory agencies are objecting to legislation that would elevate their positions to the presidential-appointment level, arguing that the move would compromise their ability to conduct independent investigations.

WSJ: Electronic Outreach Tests House Rules
House members are spending millions in taxpayer funds on email and other electronic outreach to voters, often in ways that avoid their traditional rules on constituent communications. During the nine months ended March 31, which included the run-up to the last election, House members spent about $3.5 million from their office accounts on electronic outreach, according to a Wall Street Journal review of expense records.

CNN: Queen Noor: We are approaching a nuclear tipping point
On the eve of one-on-one talks between President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin, one of the founders of Global Zero, an initiative aimed at ridding the planet of nuclear weapons, said the time was now to do away with the weapons.

CNN: D.C.'s Marion Barry arrested again
Former D.C. mayor, now Washington councilman, Marion Barry has been arrested again. On July 4, the U.S. Park Police arrested Barry and charged him with misdemeanor stalking.

Washington Post: In Hubby's Time Of Trouble, She Can't Be Bothered
It is only a detail in an outlandish story of adultery, lies, political death and narcissism that knows no bounds, but there is something splendidly defiant in the wardrobe Jenny Sanford, the wife of Gov. Mark Sanford, has been wearing the past few days.

Washington Post: Woods, Obama Are Making Plans for a Very Powerful Pairing in Washington
After winning the AT&T National yesterday at Congressional Country Club, Tiger Woods has done just about everything he wants to in the Washington area. He has played in, and won, Presidents Cups.

CNN: Life on Capitol Hill – This Week’s Episode
What's it like to be a new member of the world's most powerful legislature? Rep. Jared Polis of Colorado and Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah share their stories.

Washington Post: Electric Rates Still a Contentious Issue as O'Malley Looks to Reelection
As rallying cries go, it was a Democratic candidate's dream: Martin O'Malley, the big-city mayor fighting for working families, would stop a 72 percent jump in utility rates for customers around Baltimore and some of the Washington suburbs.

Washington Post: Gay Activist Works to Build Broad-Based Political Party
Popping out of an auto rickshaw, Manohar Elavarthi unloaded a backpack stuffed with protest posters. Soon he would be rushing to a street demonstration, one that would bring together low-caste Dalit activists, Gandhians, cross-dressers and members of domestic workers unions.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Saying public service is near and dear to her heart, first lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday encouraged Americans to lend each other a hand.

Speaking to nearly 200 employees of the Corporation for National and Community Service, she told the story of how she left a job at a high-powered Chicago law firm to found the volunteer group Public Allies in 1993.

"I could have been some rich lawyer somewhere," she joked, "… writing a check here and there to the Obama campaign."

Public Allies was among first recipients of AmeriCorps grants, one of many programs overseen by the Corporation for National and Community Service. The acting CEO of the corporation, Nicola Goren, who introduced the first lady, praised the Obama administration for what she called "skyrocketing" volunteerism and the passage in April of the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.

The bill, which Goren called the most sweeping public service legislation in 75 years, renews and expands her corporation's programs. It will triple the number of positions in the AmeriCorps program, from 75,000 to 250,000, by 2017, she said. It also includes the Silver Scholars Program, awarding Americans 55 years and older $1,000 for 350 hours of service in a year.

Obama said such programs are more and more possible because seniors are making their 70s and 80s more like their parents' 50s and 60s. "I know with my mom, we gotta keep her moving," she said.

During the speech, Obama expressed understanding for people who might not have the luxury of extra time for volunteering.

"Ironically, in order to do some of that service, you had to have somebody supporting you for that summer you weren't working and you were doing something interesting," she said. "For many Americans, it may seem impossible to squeeze even more time out of the day and do more."

But, she said, families are volunteering more often - a good thing because the United States today needs all hands on deck. Quoting Thomas Edison, Obama said, "Opportunity is missed by most people because it comes dressed in overalls and looks like work."

WASHINGTON (CNN) - First lady Michelle Obama turned her eyes to health and education during a trip Monday to a District of Columbia school.

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo one day early, she spoke about education and told the crowd to send "good thoughts" to those in Mexico who have been sickened with swine flu in recent weeks.

"At the time that we're celebrating Mexican culture and heritage, it is so important for us to think about some of the challenges that the folks in Mexico are facing right now," she told the crowd of about 200 students, faculty and guests from two public charter schools, Latin American Montessori Bilingual and Next Step.

She also highlighted the D.C. Scholars program, which grants White House internships to students from Washington-area public schools and encourages them to take advantage of their proximity to the nation's politics by engaging in public service.

Obama took several questions from the students, joking, "Make them very easy questions, because it's very nerve-wracking up here."

Full story

CNN: Obama to pull combat troops from Iraq in 2010
President Barack Obama told Congressional leaders Thursday he’s planning to pull all combat troops out of Iraq by August 2010, which falls short of his campaign promise of bringing all combat forces home within 16 months, according to three Congressional officials familiar with the meeting.

NYT: U.S. Is Said to Agree to Raise Stake in Citigroup
The Treasury Department reached a deal late Thursday to take a stake of 30 to 40 percent in Citigroup as part of a third bailout of the embattled bank, according to several people close to the deal.

CNN: Dem blasts Obama's budget
Mississippi Democratic Rep. Gene Taylor blasted the budget outline President Obama submitted to Capitol Hill today, saying “I don’t like it…change is not running up even bigger deficits that George Bush did.”

Politico: Class warfare returns to Washington
President Barack Obama has spent months recasting Democratic goals on climate change and health care reform from liberal-leaning moral imperatives to hard-core economic necessities.

CNN: Steele to CPAC: The Republican party is just fine
Capping off a day of conservative soul-searching, strategizing and navel-gazing at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele announced Thursday that the Grand Old Party is “alive and well.”

Washington Times: Obama's intelligence pick linked to Saudi Arabia
The Obama administration on Thursday named as chairman of the National Intelligence Council a veteran former diplomat who heads a think tank that has received major financing from Saudi Arabia.

Washington Post: National Security Structure Is Set; Under Obama, Council Will Grow
President Obama's first presidential directive, outlining the organization of his national security structure, adds the attorney general, the secretaries of energy and homeland security, and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations to the formal National Security Council.

Washington Post: 'Combatant' Case to Move From Tribunal To U.S. Court
The Justice Department is preparing to announce criminal charges against Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri for allegedly providing material support to al-Qaeda terrorists, sources said, a groundbreaking step that would place the alleged sleeper agent in the purview of the U.S. courts rather than before a military tribunal.

CNN: Senate committee preparing to launch CIA review
The Senate Intelligence Committee is preparing a review of the CIA's controversial interrogation programs under the Bush White House, a Senate Democratic aide told CNN. The committee would look at how the agency carried out interrogation tactics and whether they provided useful information, the aide said. The review could be announced as early as Friday.

CNN: Poll: Most support plan to bolster troops in Afghanistan
A new national poll indicates that a majority of Americans support President Barack Obama's plan to send 17,000 more U.S. troops to the war in Afghanistan.

Washington Post: Britain Acknowledges 2 Detainees Are in U.S. Prison in Afghanistan
The British government, after years of denying it had any role in the U.S. policy of "extraordinary rendition," acknowledged yesterday that two prisoners its military forces turned over to U.S. custody in Iraq five years ago were subsequently sent to a U.S. prison in Afghanistan.

CNN: Congressmen want more info on ‘burn pit’ claims
Concerns about the effects of potentially toxic emissions from burning trash at military installations in Iraq and Afghanistan has members of Congress demanding more tests and research from the military.

CNN: Rice: U.S. will seek to end any ‘illicit’ nuclear ambitions by Iran
The Obama administration will work to stop any “illicit” nuclear aspirations by Iran, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told the U.N. Security Council Thursday.

CNN: Clinton promises team effort on Afghanistan, Pakistan
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged Thursday to work closely with Afghanistan and Pakistan together as a team to root out extremism within their borders.

CNN: Obama budget boosts State Dept.
The Obama administration says it is going to boost the State Department budget by 10 percent, hire more diplomats and double foreign aid.

Washington Post: White House Plan Would End Subsidies to Student Lenders
The Obama administration has proposed a sweeping change in the $85 billion-a-year student loan industry, one that could fundamentally alter the business of lenders such as Sallie Mae.

Washington Times: Banned firms given millions despite fraud
Companies and people who have tried to ship nuclear weapons materials into North Korea or substituted illegal parts on aircraft carriers, among other crimes, have slipped through loopholes to receive lucrative government contracts.

View the GAO’s report here.

LA Times: 'Conscience' rule on abortions may be overturned
Taking another step into the abortion debate, the Obama administration today will move to rescind a controversial rule that allows healthcare workers to deny abortion counseling or other family planning services if doing so would violate their moral beliefs, according to administration officials.

Washington Post: Right, and Left Out; Young Conservatives Can't Get With the Program
There's hope among today's young conservatives - new Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele just announced an "off the hook" public relations blitz to woo young people - but there's also a lot of alienation.

CNN: Romney home robbed, say police
More than a dozen pieces of jewelry were stolen from former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s Deer Valley, Utah home last week, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

CNN: Obama seeks tax hike, higher Medicare payments
President Obama will ask wealthy Americans to deal with a tax increase and pay higher Medicare premiums to help fund a $634 billion health care "reserve fund" aimed at reforming the system, according to senior administration officials familiar with the budget being unveiled Thursday.

Washington Times: Outlook grim for budget's costly initiatives
A new report reveals how difficult it will be for President Obama to increase spending on health care, energy and education while cutting the deficit in half. Based on budget scenarios outlined by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, federal budget deficits will average $870 billion for the next 10 years, according to a new analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

View the CBO’s report here.

CNNMoney: Treasury unveils 'stress test' for banks
The Obama administration unveiled plans aimed at assessing the health of the nation's leading lenders Wednesday, particularly banks' ability to withstand more dire economic conditions.

CNN: Obama to ask Congress for $200 billion for war spending
President Barack Obama will ask Congress for more than $200 billion to fund U.S. war efforts for the next year and a half, according to defense officials.

CNN: CIA chief sees no place for coercive interrogation techniques
CIA Chief Leon Panetta said Wednesday he cannot envision any circumstance in which he would consider asking President Barack Obama for permission to use a coercive interrogation technique on a terrorist detainee.

Washington Post: CIA Adds Economy To Threat Updates
The daily White House intelligence report that catalogs the top security threats to the nation has a grim new addition, reflecting the realities of the age: a daily update on the global financial crisis and its cascading effects on the stability of countries through the world.

CNN: House passes $410 billion FY09 spending bill
The House of Representatives passed a $410 billion spending bill Wednesday to keep the federal government operating for the remainder of fiscal year 2009, which ends September 30.

Washington Post: Ambitious Blueprint Poses Test for Congress
In the budget he will submit to Congress today, President Obama will outline an agenda that confronts the era's most intractable problems, from a tattered financial system that has helped fuel a deepening recession to health-care, education and energy policies that have long defied meaningful reform.

Washington Post: Seeking Representation - but Probably Not From Burris
Here is the good news for D.C. residents: You have a new friend in the U.S. Senate. Ready for the bad news? His name is Roland Burris.

CNN: DNC to hold first Obama-era fundraiser
The Democratic National Committee is set to hold its first fundraiser since President Barack Obama was sworn into office, a DNC official said Wednesday evening. Obama will not appear at the fundraiser on Thursday and there will be no major headliner, the DNC official said by e-mail.

CNN: Officials: Obama expected to OK 19-month Iraq plan
President Barack Obama is expected to approve a proposal to withdraw most combat troops from Iraq within 19 months, several Pentagon officials told CNN Wednesday. The decision will be announced at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina on Friday, according to one senior administration official.

CNN: Jindal earns bad reviews in national debut
It was billed as a "coming out party" for one of the GOP's most promising young stars. Gov. Bobby Jindal seemed "over-coached and over-rehearsed," CNN's Candy Crowley said.

CNN: Orszag emerges from behind the scenes as budget is unveiled
At 40, Peter Orszag is the youngest member of the Obama Cabinet and one of People magazine's "hottest." These days he's also front and center of the president's key policy initiatives.

CNN: Gov. Bobby Jindal's volcano remark has some fuming
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's swipe at federal spending to monitor volcanoes has the mayor of one city in the shadow of Mount St. Helens fuming.

CNN: Biden convenes first stimulus oversight meeting
Vice President Joe Biden convened the first of what is expected to be a series of weekly stimulus plan implementation meetings Wednesday, saying it's critical to ensure that "the money that is spent is spent well."

CNN: McCain 2.0: Senator on Twitter, with a new BlackBerry to boot
John McCain said during the presidential campaign that he "never felt the particular need to e-mail," but he has apparently developed an urge to Twitter.

CNN: China accuses U.S. of interference after critical human rights report
China accused the United States of interfering in its internal affairs and those of other nations on Thursday after the State Department issued a report sharply critical of Beijing’s human rights record, state-run media reported.

CNN: White House menace caught
After weeks on the run, officials have nabbed a fugitive who infiltrated White House grounds: on Wednesday, they announced the capture of one of the raccoons raising mayhem around the executive mansion over the last month.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan visits with students at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, Tuesday.

ARLINGTON, Virginia (CNN) - Education Secretary Arne Duncan told students and educators at a Virginia high school Tuesday that he'll fight to put $20 billion in education construction funding back into the $838 billion economic stimulus package, as President Barack Obama wants.

Wakefield High School in Arlington was scheduled to be renovated next year, but that project has been pushed back at least until 2013, due in part to lack of funding, school officials said.

During his visit to an advanced placement study group in government and economics, Duncan asked students about building conditions.

"It's pretty bad," a student responded. One student said the temperature in a classroom had reached 96 degrees.

Duncan responded by giving an impromptu student civics lesson, detailing recent Capitol Hill wrangling over education funding.

"This week, there's obviously lots of debate between - a conference between - the House and Senate," he told the students. "A chance to get a huge amount of money to help our construction projects. There's a chance of no money. So, we're working really, really hard to make sure the right thing happens."

Full story

Some people will cross the Potomac River via water taxi on Inauguration Day.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - While nearly all maritime activity on the Potomac River will be halted on Inauguration Day, a handful of Mall-goers will sail from Virginia to Washington on water taxis.

Working closely with the United States Coast Guard, the Potomac Riverboat Company, based in Alexandria, Virginia, plans to ferry up to 3,200 passengers from across the frigid Potomac on seven climate-controlled boats.

The service is partially a response to the closure of all bridges from Virginia to D.C. on Inauguration Day, a measure that prompted an uproar among Virginia residents.

According to maritime authorities in charge of the region, PRC is the only company being allowed to taxi across the river on the 20th.

"Because the taxi service provided us with a security plan that we examined and deemed adequate to provide good security, I granted them a waiver to operate at an increased security level," National Capitol Region Port Captain Brian Kelley says.

"The taxis are going to operate on a strict schedule and a strict route."

Full story

 

CNN: Aide: Obama to hold first national security meeting
President-elect Barack Obama will hold the first meeting of his national security team on Monday in Chicago, according to a transition aide for the incoming administration.

AP: Illinois lawmakers to focus on ousting governor
Republicans and Democrats alike are calling for Illinois lawmakers to begin impeachment proceedings against Gov. Rod Blagojevich, saying the step is necessary to restore public confidence in state government....Legislators were to meet Monday afternoon for the first time since Blagojevich was arrested last week on charges he shook down businesses seeking state deals and tried to profit from his power to choose a replacement for President-elect Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat. The session's focus was supposed to be about considering a special election, but impeachment is likely to be the chief topic of conversation.

Chicago Sun-Times: Tapes have potential witnesses speaking out
When it comes to coming clean, nothing is as motivating as a wiretap. Last week's revelation that Gov. Blagojevich was secretly recorded in his campaign office and on his home phone has prompted more than a dozen potential witnesses in recent days to come forward. They've been calling investigators and defense lawyers to talk about deals or discussions they've had with Blagojevich.

NY Times: 2 Sides of a Troubled Governor, Sinking Deeper
Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich is a polished speaker who can win over elderly women at luncheons in southern Illinois with his earnest attention and eloquently recite historical anecdotes from the lives of the leaders he says he most admires — Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Robert F. Kennedy, Alexander Hamilton, Ronald Reagan.

CNN: McCain: I can't promise to support Palin for president
Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would not necessarily support his former running mate if she chose to run for president. Speaking to ABC's "This Week," McCain was asked whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could count on his support.

Washington Post: Executive Pay Limits May Prove Toothless
Congress wanted to guarantee that the $700 billion financial bailout would limit the eye-popping pay of Wall Street executives, so lawmakers included a mechanism for reviewing executive compensation and penalizing firms that break the rules. But at the last minute, the Bush administration insisted on a one-sentence change to the provision, congressional aides said.

NY Times: Spousal Ties to Lobbying Test a Vow From Obama
Linda Hall Daschle is one of the most important aviation lobbyists in town. Ms. Daschle is also the wife of Tom Daschle, whom President-elect Barack Obama has chosen to be the next secretary of health and human services.

AP: Detroit automakers await deal on auto loans
Detroit automakers are awaiting a financial lifeline from the White House to provide short-term stability to two companies on the brink of collapse which the Bush administration is currently working on.

NY Times: States’ Funds for Jobless Are Drying Up
With unemployment claims reaching their highest levels in decades, states are running out of money to pay benefits, and some are turning to the federal government for loans or increasing taxes on businesses to make the payments....Thirty states are at risk of having the funds that pay out unemployment benefits become insolvent over the next few months, according to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies.

CNN: Hughley: All-Access Obama
D.L. Hughley talks with Scout Tufankjian, a photographer who had unprecedented access with President-elect Barack Obama.

CNN: Iraqi journalist throws shoes at Bush in Baghdad
A man identified as an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at - but missed - President Bush during a news conference Sunday evening in Baghdad, where Bush was making a farewell visit.

Times of London: Gordon Brown ready to defy Barack Obama over Afghanistan troop surge
Gordon Brown is considering rejecting an expected request from Barack Obama, the US President-elect, to send 2,000 more British troops to Afghanistan to join the surge of US forces confronting the Taleban.

USA TODAY: Reports show that more campaigns raise big money
Nearly half of the nation's House and Senate candidates raised $1 million or more in contributions for the 2008 election, about two-thirds more than a decade ago, campaign-finance reports show.

CNN: U.S.: India prepared for strike on Pakistan
The United States believes that India's air force began preliminary preparations for a possible attack against Pakistan in the immediate aftermath of the recent massacre in Mumbai, CNN has learned.

Times of London: Terrorism adviser to Met is on wanted list
A man wanted by Interpol for his links to an alleged terrorist organisation has been advising Scotland Yard on countering Muslim extremism, a Times investigation has discovered... Tunisia has accused Mr Harrath, the chief executive officer of the Islam Channel in Britain and an adviser to the Scotland Yard Muslim Contact Unit, of seeking help from Osama bin Laden. It says that the FIT wants to establish “an Islamic state by means of armed revolutionary violence”.

NY Times: Paterson’s Office Is Not Amused by ‘Saturday Night Live’ Skit
Gov. David A. Paterson’s office criticized a skit on this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” in which Mr. Paterson, who is legally blind, was portrayed as disoriented and buffoonlike.

Washington Times: Records show McCain more bipartisan
Sen. John McCain's record of working with Democrats easily outstrips Sen. Barack Obama's efforts with Republicans, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of their legislative records.

CNN: Rove: Some McCain ads don't pass '100 percent truth' test
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove suggested Sunday that John McCain had gone “one step too far” in some of his recent ads attacking Barack Obama.

CNN: Preston on Politics: Memorabilia helps preserve convention history
The fireworks over Denver and balloon drop in St. Paul are distant memories of the 2008 presidential conventions, but Harry Rubenstein and Larry Bird hope the handful of Democratic and Republican delegates who pledged to help preserve history keep their word.

Click here to watch the video.

AP: Poll: Public opposes increased presidential power
Americans strongly oppose giving the president more power at the expense of Congress or the courts, even to enhance national security or the economy, according to a new poll.

CNN Radio: The political race, the NASCAR race, and the fundraising race
The checkered flag is seven weeks away and Sen. McCain was in New Hampshire, possibly appealing to voters in the south with a pit-stop at a NASCAR race. Meanwhile, Sen. Obama stays ahead in the fundraising race. CNN Radio’s Bob Costantini has today’s radio ticker.

WSJ: Palin's Project List Totals $453 Million
Last week, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, hadn't sought earmarks or special-interest spending from Congress, presenting her as a fiscal conservative. But state records show Gov. Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years.

WSJ: McCain Team Hustles Amid Rising Interest
The exploding interest in Sen. John McCain's campaign, fueled in part by the addition of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to the ticket, has his staff scrambling to expand events.

Washington Post: Into the Rolodex for a Bundle; Business Networks Built Over Decades Fuel Political Donations
P. Wesley Foster, the real estate mogul who founded Chantilly-based Long & Foster, is hitting up acquaintances from a lifetime of business deals to help raise money for Sen. John McCain. When he runs out of names, he gets suggestions from the McCain campaign.

Washington Post: Financial, Defense Lead Area Industries in Political Giving
Executives and employees of financial services firms and defense contractors have given the most money to the two major political parties and their presidential nominees, a review of donations by some of the region's largest companies and nonprofit organizations shows.

CNN: Obama campaign confirms they raised $66 million in August
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's campaign raised $66 million in August, the campaign announced Sunday, topping its previous high mark and running well ahead of Obama's Republican rival.

Politico: Despite record month, Obama needs more cash
Barack Obama's $66 million haul in August donations may set records but it's only a down payment on the huge sums the Democratic presidential nominee must continue to collect in order to compete through the Nov. 4 election.

Washington Post: Bush's Overseas Policies Begin Resembling Obama's
Barack Obama contends that a John McCain presidency would amount to little more than President Bush's third term. But as it turns out, an Obama presidency might look a bit like Bush's second.

Washington Post: Clinton in Ohio: 'Who Is for You?'
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Sunday made a pair of campaign stops in this important battleground for former rival Sen. Barack Obama, generating large, passionate crowds - and barely mentioning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Politico: Bank meltdown wallops campaigns
America’s banking instability could upend the final 50 days of the presidential campaign, with both candidates forced to confront a calamity that has gotten only glancing attention during the first 20 months of the race for the White House.

Politico: Biden speech to take hard hit at McCain
Joe Biden will deliver a high-profile address intended as the first attack in a sustained anti-McCain offensive in a speech called "Bush 44" he'll deliver Monday in the key battleground state of Michigan.

NYT: Both Sides Seeking to Be What Women Want
For evidence of how intensely the presidential candidates are battling over women, consider their investment in Oprah Winfrey. After the news programs, “Oprah” is the chief recipient of campaign advertisements this year, with Senator John McCain buying more commercial spots on the program in the last month than Senator Barack Obama — even though Ms. Winfrey herself is backing Mr. Obama.

Washington Times: Palin's 'Mr. Mom' a secret weapon?
He's a member of the steelworkers union, a registered independent and has championed the need for vocational – not Ivy League – education in his home state.

Washington Post: Familiar Ground May Be Election's Deciding Factor
When the general election began a few months ago, Barack Obama's advisers talked optimistically about dramatically redrawing the electoral map.

CNN: McCain gains ground in new poll of battleground state
Barack Obama appears to be holding on to a significant edge in Iowa in new poll numbers released this weekend, but his advantage over John McCain in Minnesota, which hosted the Republican convention earlier this month, seems to have evaporated.

WSJ: Obama Faces Battle For New Hampshire
Only four electoral votes are at stake, but with the presidential campaign looking increasingly tight, John McCain and Barack Obama both took time to barnstorm in New Hampshire over the weekend.

Financial Times: Obama supporters ready for fight
For Britt Hatch, a volunteer for the Obama campaign in New Hampshire, the past two weeks of the US presidential race have come as an unwelcome surprise.

WSJ: Environmentalists Criticize Palin For Support of Aerial Wolf Hunting
An environmental group introduced a graphic television ad Friday condemning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's support for aerial wolf hunting. The ad also seeks to take the Great White North mystique out of the vice-presidential candidate for voters in the Lower 48.

AP: More errors for Rangel; hires new accountant
A new set of potential problems in Rep. Charles Rangel's financial papers has prompted the tax-writing lawmaker to hire a forensic accounting expert to try to unravel the mess.

* Sen. John McCain holds a Road to Victory Rally in Jacksonville, Florida.

* Gov. Sarah Palin holds a Road to Victory Rally in Golden, Colorado.

* Sen. Barack Obama holds a Change We Need Event in Grand Junction, Colorado.

* Sen. Joe Biden holds two rallies in Michigan.

AP: Obama mocks McCain as computer illiterate
John McCain is mocked as an out-of-touch, out-of-date computer illiterate in a television commercial out Friday from Barack Obama as the Democrat begins his sharpest barrage yet on McCain's long Washington career.

AP: Palin administration may fight subpoenas in court
Gov. Sarah Palin's administration is threatening to block any subpoenas by the Alaska Legislature as it investigates whether she abused her authority in trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.

CNN: McCain, Obama find common ground on national service
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama showed Thursday night that they have more common ground than differences when it comes to making national service a priority in their presidential administrations.

USA TODAY: Palin 'governed from the center,' went after big oil
Weeks after taking office as Alaska's governor in December 2006, Sarah Palin vetoed a bill that sought to ban benefits for the same-sex partners of state workers. It was unconstitutional, she said.

CNN Radio: Candidates come together, Palin answers tough questions
Joining together to remember America's darkest day. And Sarah Palin faces a media inquisitor! Bob Costantini has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

Washington Post: Palin Links Iraq to Sept. 11 In Talk to Troops in Alaska
Gov. Sarah Palin linked the war in Iraq with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, telling an Iraq-bound brigade of soldiers that included her son that they would "defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans."

NY Observer: Team Clinton Says Obama Intimidated By Palin Factor
The harshest thing Hillary Clinton could come up with about Sarah Palin at a Sept. 6 campaign event at Wagner College on Staten Island was that there was no evidence at the convention in St. Paul to suggest Republicans would “guarantee equal pay for equal work for women.”

People.com: Live, From New York: Barack Obama!
Michael Phelps isn't the only person hoping to make waves on the season premiere of Saturday Night Live this weekend.

AP: Mass. lawmakers, unopposed, spend cash freely
Car leases, holiday parties, new office furniture and meals at high-end restaurants are just some of the ways top Massachusetts lawmakers, unopposed at the ballot box, are choosing to spend their campaign donations.

CNN: Live-blogging with The Best Political Team
See what the Best Political Team on Television had to say about Thursday’s forum with the candidates.

Washington Times: 'Values voters' eye a leader in Palin as others fade
Gov. Sarah Palin has seemingly overnight become the leading candidate for future leader of the conservative movement in the nation – regardless of whether she and running mate Sen. John McCain capture the White House in November.

AP: Pentagon to campaigns: Troops, bases aren't props
Before Sarah Palin spoke at a ceremony Thursday for her son's Army brigade, bound for Iraq, the Pentagon sent a message of its own to the Republican vice presidential candidate: Watch your language.

WSJ: Black Voters Fret Over Obama; Close Election Spurs Nervousness, Anger; A Boon to Turnout?
An anxious murmur is rising among black voters as the presidential race tightens: What if Barack Obama loses? Black talk-show hosts and black-themed Web sites are being flooded with callers and bloggers reflecting a nervousness - and anger - over the campaign.

NYT: U.S. Finds Rampant Errors by Commercial Tax Services
A Senate subcommittee pressed the Internal Revenue Service on Thursday to step up efforts to stop complex offshore arrangements that let foreign citizens avoid taxes on dividends paid by American companies.

WSJ: Economic Woes Seen Greeting President
The next U.S. president will be confronted with slow growth, high unemployment and an economy teetering toward recession, say 51 private economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal.

CNN: Palin takes tough stance on Russia
NATO should extend membership to two former Soviet republics, and any Russian invasion of a NATO state could lead to a conflict with the U.S., Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin told ABC News.

NYT: In First Big Interview, Palin Says, ‘I’m Ready’
For the last two weeks, Democrats and even some Republicans have asked: Does Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska have enough experience to hold the second-highest office in the nation, or the presidency if the need arises?

Washington Post: Who Do We Think She Is?
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's nomination as the Republican vice presidential candidate has stirred the hypocrite within us. Women judging women.

WSJ: Palin's Style Sparks Buying Frenzy, And Fashion Firms Rush to Cash In
Fashion companies have discovered a lucrative new marketing vehicle: Sarah Palin. Since John McCain chose her last month as his running mate, Gov. Palin's personal style has sparked a buying frenzy.

NYT: A Way of Life for Alaskans on Ice Skates
Like many parents here in the communities near Anchorage, Sarah Palin raised her older children in hockey rinks.

Washington Post: Candidates Promise National-Service Initiatives
Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain pledged to inspire a new commitment to public service Thursday, as they set aside the rancor of an intense presidential campaign during a two-hour forum on the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

NYT: Hanging On to Biden’s Every Word
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic vice-presidential candidate, is an experienced, serious and smart man. But, boy, does he say some curious things. A day on the campaign trail without a cringe-inducing gaffe is a rare blessing. He has not been too blessed lately.

NYT: Health Care Issue, Not Quite Hot, Remains Strong
When Representative Tom Price spoke to the Roswell Kiwanians the other day, the first three questions concerned health care. When he appeared four days later before the Sandy Springs Rotarians, no one asked about it at all.

CNN: McCain, Obama joint appearance planned last week
The idea of a joint September 11 visit to Ground Zero by both John McCain and Barack Obama was in the works for less than a week, according to both campaigns.

Washington Post: A Tangled Story of Addiction
When Cindy McCain is asked what issues she would champion as first lady, she often cites one of the most difficult periods of her life: her battle with - and ultimate victory over - prescription painkillers. Her struggle, she has said repeatedly, taught her valuable lessons about drug abuse that she would pass on to the nation.

WSJ: In North Carolina, Libby Dole Battles Foe, Own Party's Baggage
Six years ago, Elizabeth Dole won a Senate seat based on a long record in Washington and powerful ties to top Republicans. Few thought her re-election was in doubt.

CNNMoney.com: Democrats call for 90-day foreclosure freeze
Senators urge Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac not to foreclose on mortgages they hold and help borrowers stay in homes.

CNNMoney.com: Lehman in the red zone
On Wednesday, Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld offered up a radical plan to save his beleagured firm. Today the capital markets are giving him the thumbs down.

Washington Post: YouTube Bans Videos That Incite Violence
The video-sharing service YouTube is banning submissions that involve "inciting others to violence," following criticism from Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) that the site was too open to terrorist groups disseminating militant propaganda.

Washington Post: Washington's Last Corner Of Camelot Is On the Market
Another piece of history for sale: the Potomac home of Eunice and Sargent Shriver, the last of the Kennedy family estates in the Washington area. We've learned that the 16,000-square-foot mansion will be listed Monday for $11.8 million.

* Sen. John McCain appears on “The View” and “The Rachel Ray Show.”

* Gov. Sarah Palin’s first conversation with a national reporter since her selection continues Friday when she meets again with ABC’s Charlie Gibson.

* Sen. Barack Obama is on the trail in New Hampshire, holding a morning discussion on tax relief in Dover and a 6pm Change We Need event in Concord.

* Sen. Joe Biden has no public events.

Bloomberg: Obama, McCain Put Politics Aside to Mark Sept. 11 Anniversary
Barack Obama and John McCain will put their presidential ambitions on hold today to make an unprecedented joint appearance at a commemoration marking the seventh anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

NYT: Squad of G.O.P. Aides Prepares Palin for Interviews
Two weeks ago, People magazine was granted an exclusive interview with Senator John McCain’s new running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who spoke about motherhood and career, life in Alaska and the historic nature of her candidacy.

USA TODAY: Palin's town used to bill victims for rape kits
In 2000, Alaska lawmakers learned that rural police agencies had been billing rape victims or their insurance companies $500 to $1,200 for the costs of the forensic medical examinations used to gather evidence. They quickly passed a law prohibiting the practice.

AP: Coverage guarantee can hit young the hardest
Barack Obama's campaign promise should prove irresistible to the millions of uninsured: guaranteed access to affordable health coverage, regardless of illness or condition.

NYT: Palin’s Pipeline Is Years From Being a Reality
When Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska took center stage at the Republican convention last week, she sought to burnish her executive credentials by telling how she had engineered the deal that jump-started a long-delayed gas pipeline project.

Politico: Palin team stocked with Bush veterans
With Sarah Palin facing unrelenting press scrutiny and enjoying off-the-charts excitement from voters, John McCain’s campaign is quickly moving to augment her staff and put in place an infrastructure that can address the unexpected wave of interest.

CNN: McCain criticized Wasilla earmarks in 2001
Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized two his future running mate’s hometown projects in broadsides in 2001 against congressional “pork-barrel” spending, records from the Arizona senator’s office show.

CNN: Fact Check: McCain earmark claims examined
The debate over government spending is heating up on the campaign trail and raising greater focus on which presidential candidate will really change the way Washington does business.

CNN Radio: Pit Bulls, Pigs, and Wolves
The presidential campaign turns to yet another animal metaphor...Ron Paul makes his endorsement - or three - for president and Sarah Palin's plane is overloaded. Pat St.Claire has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

CNN: Judge warned Palin in 2005 to back off brother-in-law's job
An Alaska judge warned Gov. Sarah Palin's family against trying to get her then-brother-in-law fired, according to court records.

AP: ABC plans prime-time Palin special
Charles Gibson's interviews with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will form the basis of a special prime-time edition of "20/20" Friday, ABC said Wednesday.

USA TODAY: Getting to the meat of oft-heard political jab
From folksy Texans to today's presidential candidates, the line about putting "lipstick on a pig" has been a time-honored and bipartisan weapon in the political arsenal.

NYT: Ad on Sex Education Distorts Obama Policy
Escalating its efforts to portray Senator Barack Obama as a candidate whose values fall outside the mainstream, the campaign of Senator John McCain on Tuesday unveiled a new television advertisement claiming that Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee, favors “comprehensive sex education” for kindergarten students.

Politico: Palin's earmarks: Not just for the halibut
Senator John McCain recently told reporters that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has “learned that earmarks are bad.” But not that bad, apparently.

Washington Times: Obama's museum earmarks draw fire
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama tried to direct more than $3 million in taxpayer funds to a Chicago museum whose chairman is one of the Illinois senator's largest campaign fundraisers.

TIME: Poll: Obama, McCain Split Key States
Ten days after the emergence of Sarah Palin on the national stage, Barack Obama is holding his own in two key states but trailing John McCain in two others, according to a new TIME/CNN poll out today, conducted by Opinion Research Corp., of four swing states.

Washington Post: Mixed Impressions on Taxes; Gaps Exist Between Candidates' Positions, Public Perceptions
According to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, a majority of voters - 51 percent - said their federal taxes would go up under an Obama administration, while a third said so of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who has pledged to cut taxes across the board. Fourteen percent think their taxes will go up no matter who controls the White House.

Washington Post: McCain Camp Hits Obama On More Than One Front
Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign launched a broadside against Sen. Barack Obama yesterday, accusing him of a sexist smear, comparing his campaign to a pack of wolves on the prowl against the GOP vice presidential pick, charging that the Democratic nominee favored sex education for kindergartners, and resurrecting the comments of the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

Washington Post: More Voters Perceive Progress in Iraq
The percentage of voters seeing progress in U.S. efforts to restore civil order in Iraq is now higher than it has been in nearly three years, even as Americans still hold broadly negative views about the original decision to go to war.

WSJ: Palin's Entry Gives GOP Ticket Shot at Capturing the Youth Vote
With colleges back in session and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on board as the Republican vice presidential nominee, social conservatives are intensifying efforts to woo young voters, a demographic they once all but conceded to the Democrats.

NYT: With Palin at His Side, McCain Finds Energized Crowds
What a difference a running mate makes. Wednesday morning, 11 a.m.: Senator John McCain appeared in Northern Virginia with Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who had a crowd estimated by local fire marshals at 15,000 — one of the largest of Mr. McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign — chanting “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!”

CNN: A little word makes big waves on campaign trail
In a season when words are weapons, it's the H-bomb of campaign trail rhetoric - a word so potent that a single appearance usually sparks days of cable debate and a sea of news ink. Lie.

Washington Post: The Ads That Aren't
When Democrats turned their attention to national security themes at their nominating convention last month, Sen. John McCain's campaign was ready. In a withering TV commercial called "Tiny," McCain claimed that Sen. Barack Obama had called Iran a "tiny" country that "doesn't pose a serious threat.”

CNN: Palin returns to Alaska
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin returned to Fairbanks on Monday night, her first time back to her home state since Sen. John McCain tapped her as his Republican running mate in the race for the White House.

Washington Post: For Working Moms, 'Flawed' Palin Is the Perfect Choice
Eight working mothers from the Virginia Run development in Centreville went together to the Palin-McCain rally yesterday because Sarah Palin is "just like us." This is something new. Nobody ever accused Franklin Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan of being just like us.

Washington Post: Statesman or Showman? Huckabee's Hip Second Act
Mike Huckabee– why doesn't this man have his own TV show yet? Oh, and not just another news-talk show like the one Fox is considering for him. This man needs a variety show. He plays guitar! He's a monologuist! A stand-up comedian! For years, entertainers have taken politicians' jobs; here's the guy who'll turn that trend around.

Washington Post: New Ad Tests the Strength of Palin's Coattails
Well, that didn't take long: Sarah Palin is now a big-time topic in down-ballot races. State Rep. Jay Love, a Republican running in Alabama's 2nd Congressional District, hit the airwaves yesterday tightly allied with the vice presidential candidacy of the Alaska governor.

Washington Post: Throngs Greet GOP Ticket in N.Va.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, took their bid for the White House to Northern Virginia yesterday, rallying thousands of supporters by vowing to shake up Washington and saying they will fight for votes in the increasingly Democratic region.

CNN: Defense lawyers want judge to limit prosecutors in Sen. Stevens case
Attorneys for U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens on Wednesday asked the judge in his corruption trial to ensure that prosecutors don’t make any reference to activity that — although legal — they believe could taint jurors’ perception of the case.

CNN: Sex, drugs, gifts uncovered in government oil probe
U.S. government employees received improper gifts from energy industry representatives, and engaged with them in illegal drug use and inappropriate sexual relations, according to a report issued Wednesday.

CNN: Admiral: Troops alone will not yield victory in Afghanistan
The U.S. is "running out of time" to win the war in Afghanistan, and sending in more troops will not guarantee victory, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Michael Mullen, warned Congress on Wednesday.

CNN: Officials to Congress: Nuclear terror threat growing
The likelihood that global terrorists will be able to acquire a nuclear weapon and target the United States with it is increasing, a former senator testified before a congressional committee Wednesday.

* Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama are at Ground Zero for a ceremony to mark the 7th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Both candidates later speak at the Service Nation Summit Presidential Candidates Forum at Columbia University. Earlier in the day, Sen. Obama has a working lunch with Former President Bill Clinton.

* Gov. Sarah Palin attends her son Track’s deployment ceremony near Fairbanks, Alaska.

* Sen. Joe Biden holds a discussion with First Responders in Parma, Ohio.

Chicago Sun-Times: Biden isn't afraid of Palin
Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden assured a crowd of donors in Lincoln Park Tuesday night that he would handle himself just fine in his debate with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

CNN: McCain ahead in national polls; Obama up in electoral votes
Sen. John McCain has inched ahead of Sen. Barack Obama in national polls, but the Democratic candidate holds a steady lead in the most recent Electoral College estimates.

Financial Times: Five swing states could hold key to the Oval Office
They said that a contest between Barack Obama and John McCain could redraw the electoral map in the US. However, as polling day draws closer and the campaigns reveal their priorities in where they spend their money and locate field offices, all of a sudden 2008 is starting to look like 2004.

CNN Radio: Open political warfare as troops are withdrawn and Truth Squads deployed
Iraq becomes a campaign issue again, Obama’s not worried about the Palin factor, and remember Ron Paul? Bob Costantini has more in today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

CNN: Fact Check: McCain-lobbyist connections
Republicans say Sen. John McCain and his vice presidential running mate, Sarah Palin, are mavericks. But in a new ad, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign says not so fast - they're no maverick reformers.

USA TODAY: McCain raises cash while limited to public funds
Republican John McCain is asking donors to give far in excess of what they can contribute to him directly, even as he is limited to taking only public funds for the fall campaign.

AP: No questions, please; Palin sticks to her script
John McCain took a risk in picking little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate, but now the campaign's playing it safer. She's sticking to a greatest hits version of her convention speech on the campaign trail and steering clear of questions until she's comfortable enough for a hand-picked interviewer later this week.
 

NYT: Campaigns Adjust Their Pace to Meet Short Season
Senators John McCain and Barack Obama are confronting a sharply abbreviated general election campaign season, the product of the late nominating conventions and a boom in early voting in tightly contested states.

CNN: Palin's budget choices praised, criticized
While Democrats have questioned her budget priorities, some Alaskans see Gov. Sarah Palin as a modern-day Robin Hood who has slashed government spending and given money to the people.

CNN: Palin backed 'bridge to nowhere,' then opposed it
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's boast to have opposed the infamous "bridge to nowhere" is a staple of the Alaska governor's stump speech, but her record is more complicated than the one-liner.

NYT: For ’08 Rivals, a Skein of Ties to Loan Giants
Senators Barack Obama and John McCain each cite the mess at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as a consequence of the corrosive coziness of lobbyists and politicians that they promise to end.

Washington Post: As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone
From the moment Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared that she had opposed the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," critics, the news media and nonpartisan fact checkers have called it a fabrication or, at best, a half-truth. But yesterday in Lebanon, Ohio, and again in Lancaster, Pa., she crossed that bridge again.

LA Times: House Democrats consider aid plan for auto industry
The $25-billion rescue package would provide low-interest loans to automakers for the development of fuel-efficient cars and mean more jobs in key election battlegrounds

NYT: Feeling a Challenge, Obama Sharpens His Silver Tongue
A new character is making a debut at Senator Barack Obama’s campaign rallies: His name is John McCain.

NYT: Palin Aides Defend Billing State for Time at Home
Responding to criticism from Democrats, campaign aides to Gov. Sarah Palin on Tuesday defended her practice of billing Alaska taxpayers for more than 300 nights she spent at home in her first year-and-a-half in office.

USA TODAY: Palin did not ban books in Wasilla as mayor
Despite a national discussion about whether Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin sought to ban books as mayor more than a decade ago, the city says there is no record of any books being yanked from the shelves.

WSJ: Obama Campaign Sets Sights On Familiar Territory
For a view of Barack Obama's Election Day strategy, look no further than his campaign-event calendar. A few months ago, the rhetoric coming out of the Obama camp was that the Democratic presidential nominee's victory could be sweeping, coming from flipping deep Republican states in the West or the South.

Financial Times: Brown breaks convention to praise Obama
Gordon Brown broke with political convention on Tuesday by offering effusive praise for Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, at a time when foreign leaders are meant to maintain a careful neutrality ahead of the US election.

Politico: Obama aide questions McCain's honor
The Obama campaign took its most personal shot ever at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday evening, questioning his honor over a claim in a new TV ad that the Democrat calls "perverse." The issue was a new McCain advertisement belittling Obama's record on education, and accusing him of supporting sex education for kindergartners.

WSJ Op-Ed: Mayor Michael Bloomberg: There Should Be No More Excuses At Ground Zero
The eyes of the world will again turn to Lower Manhattan this week as we mark the seventh anniversary of September 11, and as we remember all those we lost on that tragic day.

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Obama called 'friend of coal'
Hoping to woo coalfield voters who overwhelmingly spurned him in February's Democratic presidential primary, Sen. Barack Obama told a crowd in Appalachian Virginia yesterday that coal - crucial to the local economy - is key to America's future.

USA TODAY: Polls: Latinos favor Obama in 3 important battleground states
New data released at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's annual meeting Tuesday show that the Latino vote could be "crucial" for Barack Obama to win this fall, pollster Sergio Bendixen said.

NYT: Code Words Hint of Race in Campaign, Paterson Says
Gov. David A. Paterson said on Tuesday that he detected “overtones of potential racial coding” in the presidential campaign, drawing a sharp retort from the campaign of Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate.

CNN: Obama dishes out tough talk on education
Sen. Barack Obama on Tuesday detailed his plan to strengthen the education system and charged that the Bush administration's "failure to act has put our nation in jeopardy."

CNN: McCain camp responds to Obama's education ad
As Senator Joseph I. Lieberman stepped tentatively onto the Senate floor on Monday night to record his first vote since casting his lot with Senator John McCain at the Republican National Convention, he was quickly encircled by his Republican friends, with Senator Susan Collins providing a reassuring hug.

NYT: McCain Calls for Limited U.S. Role in Schools
In comparison to Senator Barack Obama’s education plan, Senator John McCain’s is downright terse.

CNN: McCain camp says 'lipstick on a pig' is trip through the mud
John McCain’s campaign said Tuesday Barack Obama’s reference to “lipstick on a pig” to describe the Republican’s vow to bring change to Washington was offensive language, and a slap at VP nominee Sarah Palin – despite the fact that the Arizona senator himself used the phrase last year to describe a policy proposal of Hillary Clinton’s.

CNN: Maher sounds off on Palin
Watch comedian and political commentator Bill Maher as he discusses the presidential race with The Situation Room's Wolf Blitzer.

WSJ Op-Ed: Sen. Jim DeMint: Yes, Palin Did Stop That Bridge
In politics, words are cheap. What really counts are actions. Democrats and Republicans have talked about fiscal responsibility for years. In reality, both parties have a shameful record of wasting hundreds of billions of tax dollars on pork-barrel projects.

NYT: Rangel Owes U.S. Back Taxes on Villa, Lawyer Says
Representative Charles B. Rangel, chairman of the Congressional committee that writes the nation’s tax code, failed to pay an unspecified amount in federal taxes during the past five years on rental income from a villa he owns in the Dominican Republic, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

Washington Post: Obama Says McCain Has Erred by Focusing on Change
Sen. Barack Obama fought back yesterday against Democratic concerns that Sen. John McCain has seized the initiative in the presidential race, arguing that the conventions did little to change the structure of the election and that his rival made a major miscalculation by focusing the choice on who can do more to change Washington.

NYT: Obama Looks to Lessons From Chicago in His National Education Plan
Senator Barack Obama learned how hard it can be to solve America’s public education problems when he headed a philanthropic drive here a decade ago that spent $150 million on Chicago’s troubled schools and barely made a dent.

CNN: Men's support gives Palin edge in latest poll
When it comes to support for Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, a new national poll suggests men and women don't see eye to eye.

CNN: McCain must embrace Palin's beliefs, evangelical leader says
Her faith is one of the reasons many evangelical Christians are excited about Sarah Palin's addition to the Republican presidential ticket, but the Alaska governor's evangelical beliefs have also drawn scrutiny.

Washington Post: Maybe It's Time We Redefined Manliness
Maybe if he had a swagger like Marion Barry or a knack for vicious hyperbole like Jesse L. Jackson Sr. or a military bearing like Colin Powell. Then, perhaps, Barack Obama could put an end to questions about his masculinity.

CNN: Battleground 2008: Obama's fight for Ohio
At the bustling Market Street Cafe, there is a good vibe for the Democrats: The half-dozen younger workers in the kitchen are all for Sen. Barack Obama and excited about voting come November.

Real Clear Politics: Congress Returns To Low Expectations
Members of Congress returned to Capitol Hill this week for what will be their final three weeks of work before Election Day.

AP: Bishops criticize Biden's abortion statements
Two prominent U.S. Catholic bishops said Tuesday that Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden contradicted church teaching by saying in a weekend interview that determining when human life begins is a "personal and private" matter of religious faith he would not impose on others.

WOWKTV: Former Democratic Presidential Candidate Praised Republican V.P. Choice
Charleston - A former Democratic Presidential Candidate was in Charleston Saturday. Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel is promoting his latest book while also campaigning for Jesse Johnson, the Mountain Party candidate for Governor of West Virginia.

AP: Al Franken wins Senate nod amid 7 state primaries
Comedian Al Franken grabbed the Democratic nomination Tuesday for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, setting up a showdown with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.

CNN: Bush shifting U.S. troops from Iraq to Afghanistan
President Bush on Tuesday announced a troop deployment shift for America's two wars, a move that reflects a more stable Iraq and an increasingly volatile Afghanistan.

CNN: Army suicide rate could top nation's this year
The rate of suicides among-active duty soldiers is on pace to surpass both last year's numbers and the rate of suicide in the general U.S. population for the first time since the Vietnam war, according to U.S. Army officials.

NYT: This Author’s Schedule Is Busy but Selective
Senator John McCain’s daughter Meghan, who writes the blog McCainBlogette, is on a tear of television and radio appearances this week to publicize “My Dad, John McCain.”

* Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin hold a Road to Victory Rally in Fairfax, VA. Later McCain moves on to a Roundtable in Philadelphia, PA, while Palin travels back to Alaska for Welcome Home Rally Fairbanks.

* Sen. Barack Obama continues his tour of Virginia, holding an early event in Norfolk. He then tapes Letterman in the afternoon before heading to Washington, DC, where he will address the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute Gala.

* Sen. Joe Biden is in New Hampshire holding a Change We Need town hall meeting.

CNN: Palin shoves Biden out of the spotlight
With Gov. Sarah Palin getting so much attention these days, Sen. Barack Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, is being elbowed out of the vice presidential spotlight.

Washington Post: Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home; Taxpayers Also Funded Family's Travel
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

WSJ Op-ED: Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin: We'll Protect Taxpayers From More Bailouts
The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another outrageous, but sadly necessary, step for these two institutions. Given the long-term mismanagement and flawed structure of these two companies, this was the only short-term alternative for ensuring that hard-working Americans have access to affordable mortgages during this difficult economic period.

CNN Radio: The polls have it...the race is a dead-heat
Not a lot of undecideds! Sarah Palin still tethered to John McCain! Obama slipping! Bob Costantini has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

WSJ: In Palin's Past, the Personal Got Political; An Aide's Affair May Have Become Grounds for Firing
Sarah Palin and John Bitney go way back. They were in the same junior-high band class. Mr. Bitney was a key aide in Gov. Palin's 2006 gubernatorial campaign. When she took office, she gave Mr. Bitney a job as her legislative director, and a few months later stood beside him at a news conference and praised his work.

AP: A Hillary vs. Sarah smackdown? Don't bet on it
Anyone wanting a Hillary vs. Sarah smackdown might be in for a letdown. First, Sarah Palin launched her Republican vice presidential campaign with praise for the strides Hillary Rodham Clinton made in her quest for the Democratic presidential nomination. On Monday, Clinton spoke in kind.

NY Times: Forgoing Subsidy, Obama Team Presses Donors
After months of record-breaking fund-raising, a new sense of urgency in Senator Barack Obama’s fund-raising team is palpable as the full weight of the campaign’s decision to bypass public financing for the general election is suddenly upon it.

WSJ: Bailout Hits U.S. Agenda
The housing crisis appears likely to be the next president's No. 1 domestic priority, sapping time and taxpayer dollars from some of the other initiatives that candidates John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed.

AP: McCain uses Palin as fundraising tool
Republican John McCain seized on running mate Sarah Palin's popularity to raise money for the party, telling donors at a $4 million fundraiser Monday that he's overwhelmed by the buzz she's generating for his White House bid.

LA Times: Obama fans out, McCain stays put as strategists scour electoral map
Entering the final stage of the race, the two presidential campaigns are plotting strategies that rely on vastly different readings of the electoral map, with Democrat Barack Obama competing hard in a large number of traditionally Republican states and John McCain, the GOP nominee, focusing on a small set of familiar battlegrounds.

Politico: Obama, Biden pound on the economy
With polls reporting that John McCain has surged into the lead on the strength of a post-convention bounce, Democratic running mates Barack Obama and Joe Biden hammered hard on economic themes as they campaigned across the Midwest.

Politico: McCain plans new Palin rollout
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will speak at her son’s Army deployment ceremony on 9/11 and spend two days with ABC News crews later this week as part of a McCain campaign plan to increase Americans’ comfort with her as a leader.

Politico: Lieberman returns to Hill, legislative director quits
Joe Lieberman returned to Capitol Hill today - his first day back since speaking at the GOP convention - and was greeted by the resignation of his $120,000-a-year legislative director Joe Goffman.

LA Times: Bush to focus on Afghan civilian deaths, U.S. troop transfers
In a speech today, he is expected to express regret for deaths but also say 'there will be times' when innocent lives are lost. He will also announce the transfer of some Iraq forces to Afghanistan.

WSJ: Palin's Star Power Can Outshine McCain
Sarah Palin has become the new phenomenon on the campaign trail, at times overshadowing her workmanlike running mate, John McCain, with a pugnacious, sarcastic speaking style that whips up crowds and wins over voters who had never heard of her two weeks ago.

AP: Obama puts heat on Palin as she boosts GOP ticket
Listening to Barack Obama, it can seem like Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is the main person standing between him and the White House instead of John McCain.

AP: Obama embraces charter schools in education plan
Barack Obama is promising to double funding for charter schools and replace inferior teachers, embracing education reform proposals normally more popular with Republican candidates.

CNN: Pastor: GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs
For more than two decades, current Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a practicing Pentecostal.

CNN: Head of Palin trooper probe will stay, lawmaker says
The manager of a state investigation into the firing of Alaska's Public Safety commissioner won't be removed for suggesting the investigation could yield an "October surprise" for Gov. Sarah Palin, a key lawmaker announced Monday.

Washington Post: Palin & Press: A Testy Start
From the moment Sarah Palin stepped onto the national stage, she was mauled, minimized and manhandled by an openly skeptical media establishment.

Washington Post: 'The Original Mavericks,' or 'More of the Same'?
John McCain is using this ad to try to reclaim the "maverick" label once routinely attached to his name, before he embraced the Republican right more tightly in seeking the presidential nomination.

CNN: Bush to announce Iraq troop reduction
President Bush will announce Tuesday a plan to withdraw about 8,000 U.S. troops from Iraq over the next several months even as he beefs up the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.

WSJ Op-ED: Dan Senor: Iraqi Leaders Opposed Biden's Partition Plan
On Sunday's "Meet the Press," Sen. Joseph Biden made a series of stunning arguments in defense of his plan for segregation of Iraq along ethnic and sectarian lines. When Mr. Biden first announced his partition plan in May 2006, Iraqi leaders and U.S. officials understood it to mean the establishment of strong Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish regional administrations. The Biden plan would have also begun a phased redeployment of U.S. troops in 2006 and withdrawn most of them by the end of 2007.

Washington Post: Second-Guessing The No. 2 Spot; VP Role Has Confused Folks From Day One
The great edifice that is the United States Constitution has always had eccentricities, wobbly parts, some joists held together with duct tape. From one edge juts a curious protrusion, an architectural afterthought. It is called the vice presidency.

NY Times: To Have (as a Running Mate), and to Hold (Politely)
For now, the rule is simple: Hug your running mate, kiss your wife. When Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, came out on stage to congratulate his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, after her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul last week, he gave her a hug, not a handshake.

Washington Post: Miss Alaska '84 Recalls Rival's Winning Ways
Oh, yes, indeed, Maryline Blackburn remembers Sarah Palin. From the time she first met her fellow contenders for the title of Miss Alaska 1984, the flute player from Wasilla was one who stood out from the crowd.

AP: It's near the campaign's end _ send in the lawyers
Four years after Ohio's near meltdown on Election Day, state officials had a novel idea: Put all the political lawyers in one room and ask them to work things out in advance this time. Good luck with that.

CNNMoney.com: Democrats compromise on oil drilling
Congressional Democrats want tax breaks for big oil companies repealed in return for supporting expanded off-shore oil drilling.

Washington Times: Abramoff associate charged Ex-congressional aide accused of conspiracy
A former congressional aide who became an associate of Jack Abramoff is the latest Washington power broker to be charged in a lobbying scandal that continues to rock Capitol Hill.

CNN: White House rejects claim in new Woodward book
The White House on Monday firmly rejected new allegations that President Bush ignored commanders in Iraq and top military advisers in Washington when he decided to send more troops to Iraq in 2007.

CNNMoney.com: In Fannie mess, McCain and Obama play to type
Republican blasts 'cronyism' that led to problems. Dem notes the complexity of a clean-up.

CNNMoney.com: Fannie, Freddie rescue won't end housing woes
Bailout of Fannie and Freddie might lower mortgage rates but it's unlikely to lead to a quick turnaround for the troubled housing market.

CNNMoney.com: Paulson changes the rules of the capital game
By taking control of Fannie and Freddie, the Treasury Secretary risks making it harder for other troubled financial firms to raise money.

CNN: Rice: Not enough blacks at State Department
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday there are too few black Americans in the State Department.

* Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin visit the historic Golden Lamb in Lebanon, OH for a 10am event.

* Sen. Barack Obama delivers a speech on education at a high school in Riverside, OH.

* Sen. Joe Biden holds a Change We Need town hall in Columbia, MO. He then moves on to a community gathering in St Louis.

USA TODAY: Poll: Convention lifts McCain over Obama
The Republican National Convention has given John McCain and his party a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an "enthusiasm gap" that has dogged the GOP all year.

CNN: McCain vows to have Democrats in Cabinet
Promising a "very bipartisan approach" to how he'll run his administration, Sen. John McCain said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would appoint Democrats to his Cabinet.

WSJ: Alaska Officials Weigh Subpoenas For Palin Staff Over Firing
An Alaska state investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner is turning into a power struggle between the state's executive and legislative branches.

NYT: MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat
MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel’s coverage of the election. That experiment appears to be over.

CNN: Kennedy plans to return to Capitol Hill in January
Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy, who underwent surgery in June for a brain tumor, will not return to Capitol Hill this week when Congress returns from its August recess.

CNN: Palin to give first television interview to national media
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Sen. John McCain’s surprise pick for the VP spot on the Republican ticket, has agreed to her first television interview with a national media outlet since being named as McCain’s running mate.

CNN Radio: Red (and blue) alert!
Battleground Stations! Battleground Stations! That's the call for the major party candidates now, eight weeks before the election. Bob Costantini has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

CNN: Obama, Bill Clinton to sit down for a private lunch
Sen. Barack Obama and former president Bill Clinton will share a private lunch together on Thursday, September 11, CNN has confirmed.

WSJ: Campaign Spills Over to Congress
The 2008 presidential campaign shifts to Capitol Hill this week, where lawmakers are girding for fights over energy and the economy to score points on behalf of their anointed candidates.

LA Times: John McCain has found a muse in Sarah Palin
Ever since she became the Republican presidential nominee's running mate, he's been noticeably feistier - and they're drawing crowds together.

Washington Post: Lawsuit to Ask That Cheney's Papers Be Made Public
Months before the Bush administration ends, historians and open-government advocates are concerned that Vice President Cheney, who has long bristled at requirements to disclose his records, will destroy or withhold key documents that illustrate his role in forming U.S. policy for the past 7 1/2 years.

WSJ: Once Spurned, McCain Finds Corporate Support
Corporate executives, who once discounted John McCain's campaign, have been key to the Republican presidential nominee's rebound on the fund-raising circuit, a new analysis of campaign donations shows.

Financial Times: Candidates get personal in swing vote fight
John McCain and Barack Obama on Monday kick off the first formal week of the general election race, signalling they plan over the next 58 days to fight an unexpectedly conventional battle for swing voters in a handful of states in which attacks on personality will play a big role.

Politico: Doh!: Top eight gaffes of the campaign
It’s a tough gig, running for president. The modern media is brutally unforgiving with its microphones and video cameras: Any word, any image, at any moment can haunt a candidate for a lifetime.

Politico: Obama considered joining military, regrets abortion answer
Barack Obama says his answer about abortion at the Saddleback Church forum was “probably” too flip. During separate televised interviews last month, Pastor Rick Warren asked the two presidential candidates when a baby gets human rights.

NYT: As a Matter of Faith, Biden Says Life Begins at Conception
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic nominee for vice president, departed Sunday from party doctrine on abortion rights, declaring that as a Catholic, he believes life begins at conception.

USA TODAY: Palin candidacy puts spotlight on special needs
Families with children who have Down syndrome are hoping Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin can raise awareness about the condition and boost efforts to help people with disabilities live more independently.

LA Times: Sarah Palin's leadership style has admirers and critics
Some who have worked with the Alaska governor say her bold approach is lacking in follow-through, and that she punishes those who dare say 'no.'

NYT: Drawing a Bead on the Press
Before Gov. Sarah Palin came flying in from the wilds of Alaska for the Republican convention in St. Paul, there was a lot of sniggering in media rooms and satellite trucks about her beauty queen looks and rustic hobbies, and the suggestion that she was better suited to be a calendar model for a local auto body shop than a holder of the second-highest office in the land.

Washington Post: The New Talking Heads, by Way of the West Wing
Four years ago this past Thursday, Michael Gerson was holed up in a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, where a teleprompter had been set up and President Bush was practicing his acceptance speech for the 2004 Republican National Convention in front of a handful of his closest aides.

Washington Post: First Ladies and the Fabric of the Nation
The season of political conventions ended Thursday in St. Paul, Minn., just as the spring 2009 fashion season was getting underway in New York. The convergence of politics and fashion brings together the substantive and the superficial, with neither industry having a monopoly on frivolousness and both relying on the power of appearances.

Washington Post: The Hyatt's On-Site Lobbyist
The Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill is known as a stopover for lobbyists looking to kill an annoying bill or save a favorite tax break. So it's no stretch that the hotel has its own lobbyist, of sorts.

Washington Post: Ban on Political Endorsements by Pastors Targeted
Declaring that clergy have a constitutional right to endorse political candidates from their pulpits, the socially conservative Alliance Defense Fund is recruiting several dozen pastors to do just that on Sept. 28, in defiance of Internal Revenue Service rules.

CNN: Obama-Biden camp turns reporters' gag into attack on Palin
So far, Sen. Joe Biden has declined to question opponent Sarah Palin's record, but a gag by the press corps traveling in Biden's plane gave the senator's staff an opportunity to take aim at Palin for ducking the media and being "more of the same."

CNN: U.S. seizes Fannie and Freddie
Treasury chief Paulson unveils historic government takeover of twin mortgage buyers. Top executives are out.

CNN: How plan protects taxpayers
One expert gives Treasury a good grade. A bond guru even says the government could make money.

Washington Post: In Crisis, Paulson's Stunning Use of Federal Power
Hurricane Hank swept through the nation's capital yesterday with gale-force regulatory winds and a tidal surge of federal cash, upending two of Washington's biggest enterprises and permanently changing the landscape of housing finance in America.

Washington Post: Radical Options In Play for New Structure of Firms
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr.'s rescue plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac almost certainly means the two mortgage financiers will cease to exist in their current form, igniting the battle over the future of these giant institutions.

Washington Post Op-Ed: David Kay: What's Missing From the Iran Debate
It would be impossible and foolish to predict what lies immediately ahead for Iran. Inflation runs rampant and domestic unrest is growing, but the leadership is banding together in support of the country's nuclear program.

* Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin are in Lee’s Summit, MO for an afternoon rally.

* Sen. Barack Obama holds an afternoon economic town hall in Flint, MI before going to an evening town hall in the Detroit suburb of Farmington Hills.

* Sen. Joe Biden visits two states leaning blue at this point, holding town halls in Green Bay, WI and Des Moines, IA.

CNN: McCain: 'Fight with me'
John McCain vowed Thursday to "shake up Washington" and said he's prepared to reach across the aisle to get the country "back on the road to prosperity and peace."'

Full transcript

CNN: CNN Poll of Polls: Obama's lead narrows to four points
Obama now leads McCain by four percentage points – 47 percent to 43 percent — with 10 percent undecided about their choice for president. Since the previous CNN poll of polls released Wednesday, Obama has dropped two percentage points – from 49 percent percent previously to his current support level of 47 percent – while McCain’s support remains steady at 43 percent since Wednesday.

Washington Post: McCain, Obama Vie For 'Reformist' Mantle
This year, in the midst of a war, an economic downturn, an unpopular presidency and general dissatisfaction with the failure of the political system to deal with big problems, both McCain and his Democratic opponent, Sen. Barack Obama, are scrambling for the reformist mantle, hoping to appeal to the disaffected middle without alienating the activist party bases.

WSJ: Anomaly in Arms: Candidates' Children May Face Combat Duty
Regardless of who wins this November's election, the U.S. is about to have its "Prince Harry" moment.

CNN: Palin aides peeked into trooper's files, union says
Aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin improperly obtained her former brother-in-law's state police personnel files and cited information from those records to raise complaints about the officer, the head of Alaska's state police union said Thursday.

CNN Radio: McCain and Palin ride the elephant out of St. Paul and onto the campaign trail
John McCain and Sarah Palin hit the campaign trail today following their Republican national convention. In today’s CNN Radio Political Ticker, Dick Uliano reports McCain's acceptance speech vowed cooperation with Democrats to change the way Washington works.

NY Times: House Chairman Failed to Report $75,000 in Income
Representative Charles B. Rangel has earned more than $75,000 in rental income from a villa he has owned in the Dominican Republic since 1988, but never reported it on his federal or state tax returns, according to a lawyer for the congressman and documents from the resort.

CNN: About last night...
See what CNN’s political experts and analysts had to say about McCain’s speech and the final night of the Republican National Convention.

CNN: Cindy McCain: John McCain speaks truth, at any cost
Cindy McCain praised her husband, Republican presidential nominee John McCain, as "someone of unusual strength and character" in a speech to the Republican National Convention on Thursday.

Full transcript

CNN: Graham: 'On the road to victory' in Iraq
Sen. Lindsey Graham says 'America is safer by winning in Iraq' thanks to Sen. John McCain.

Full transcript

CNN: Heart condemns McCain-Palin use of 'Barracuda'
Blasting through the Republican convention hall is the 1977 hit "Barracuda" by rock band Heart.

WSJ: Obama Camp Parries Palin Delicately
Barack Obama finds himself in the same delicate political situation he faced in the primaries: how to punch back against a hard-hitting female opponent without offending women.

Washington Post: Palin's Efforts to Reform Health Care Are Complicated
When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took office, she inherited a vexing health-care problem common to many states: whether to let small clinics compete freely against hospitals for such services as outpatient surgery and MRIs.

NY Times: Obama Camp Turns to Clinton to Counter Palin
Senator Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain, dispatching Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and bolstering his plan to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said Thursday.

Washington Post: From the Radio Right Comes an Amen Chorus for Palin
Dennis Prager was on the air last week on the day Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was named to the Republican ticket, and without missing a beat, the conservative radio host pronounced her "an American Margaret Thatcher."

LA Times: Holy Limbaugh! Sarah Palin turns Rush to mush over the McCain ticket
We knew that Wednesday night's boffo speech to the Republican National Convention by newly minted vice presidential nominee Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a huge hit inside the house. But perhaps no one among the GOP faithful swooned more than Rush Limbaugh.

NY Times: Split on Foreign Policy, and Unsure Who Will Prevail
Hidden from view during much of the Republican convention here, a fierce struggle has been under way for the foreign policy heart of John McCain.

Washington Post: Obama Rails Against Attacks From Palin, GOP
For the first two days of the Republican convention, Sen. Barack Obama resisted pushing back against the attacks emanating from St. Paul, Minn. But on Thursday, the fourth and final day, his patience gave out, as he dismissed the barrage of criticism from the convention floor as "the same old vitriol and slash-and-burn politics."

NY Times: The Party in Power, Running as if It Weren’t
The nominee’s friend described him as a “restless reformer who will clean up Washington.” His defeated rival described him going to the capital to “drain that swamp.” His running mate described their mission as “change, the goal we share.” And that was at the incumbent party’s convention.

Washington Post: Experts Helping Palin Brush Up on Foreign Policy
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman is among several national security experts helping brief Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on foreign policy issues as she prepares to hit the campaign trail while cramming for a debate with her Democratic opponent, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), in less than a month, according to officials from Sen. John McCain's campaign.

Washington Post: In Va., Biden Praises Rival's Speech, Says Key Issues Weren't Addressed
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., the Democratic Party's vice presidential candidate, grudgingly offered good marks yesterday to his Republican counterpart for her first major campaign speech, saying on a swing through Northern Virginia that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin had given a "heck of a political speech."

CNN: McCain is just part of Washington crowd, Democrats say
Sen. John McCain got one thing right Thursday when he said the Republicans had let Washington change them, Democrats said after his speech.

CNN: After Palin speech, Obama has record $10 million day
Barack Obama's campaign for president has raised $10 million since Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin spoke Wednesday night, the campaign announced, calling it a "one-day record."

Washington Post: Come as You Are? Sorry, Wrong Party
Another difference between Republicans and Democrats: Republican delegates coordinate their convention outfits. Democrats do not.

CNN: Analysis: McCain sincere, short on answers
It's odd to present yourself as a maverick to the most partisan audience imaginable, as John McCain did Thursday night.

CNN: Schneider: Cindy McCain keeps up the tough tone
Cindy McCain is delivering an oddly partisan speech -– it goes from humanitarianism to partisanship in the blink of an eye. It’s an unusually partisan and ideological speech from a prospective first lady.

CNN: Will Palin's tough talk win over undecideds?
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came out swinging Wednesday night, but it's going to take more than just fighting words to win over the independent and undecided voters who hold the election in their hands.

CNN: Obama: 'I've been called worse on the basketball court'
Barack Obama said Thursday that attacks on him at this week’s Republican National Convention were no big deal: “I’ve been called worse on the basketball court,” he told reporters at an afternoon press conference.

CNN: Obama giving some black Republicans 'heartburn'
Armstrong Williams is an African-American conservative commentator who is thinking about making a decision that he says is so agonizing, it gives him heartburn.

NY Times: Firing Up the Faithful With Echoes of Culture War Rhetoric
Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former mayor of New York, said Senator Barack Obama thought a small Alaska suburb was not “flashy enough” or “cosmopolitan enough,” linking his campaign to “Hollywood celebrities.” Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, denounced the “Eastern elites” that he said dominated the television broadcasts and editorial pages.

CNN: 'U.S.A.' chant is code to drown out protesters
In response to early rumors that demonstrators might try to interrupt Republican presidential nominee John McCain's acceptance speech Thursday night, a number of delegations agreed to chant "U.S.A." in order to quell the sound of protesters.

CNN: Police use tear gas to disperse protesters
Police arrested an estimated 200 anti-war protesters Thursday night after using tear gas and percussion grenades to disperse a crowd near the State Capitol, about a mile from the Republican National Convention.

CNN: Military officials: No troop cuts this year
Senior U.S. military leaders say it would be "impractical" to reduce U.S. troop levels in Iraq further before the end of the year because of the logistics required in the redeployments, two military officials told CNN Thursday.

CNNMoney.com: No job turnaround on horizon
Economists expect August to be the eighth straight month of job losses and say that the employment outlook looks weak for the rest of the year as well.

CNNMoney.com: Why the Fed cuts haven't worked
One of the Federal Reserve's staunchest proponents of its rate-cutting spree explains why lower rates haven't helped boost the economy.

CNN: McCain-Palin plane unveiled
A first glimpse of the "McCain-Palin" plane destined for Milwaukee with reporters. The plane is the Jet Blue Braer E190 that the McCain campaign used before the Straight Talk plane came onto the scene.

Washington Post: Red-Carpet Treatment; 'Access Hollywood's' Maria Menounos, Covering a Caucus of Politics and Celebrity
There is no better view of the worlds of celebrity and politics converging than here, in an NBC box above the convention floor, where Maria Menounos is about to tape her daily report.

CNN: Jon Bon Jovi hosting Obama fundraiser
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama will be in New Jersey on Friday for a fundraiser at the home of one of New Jersey's biggest celebrities.

CNN: Sex columnist: There's something about Republicans
Dan Savage, sex columnist and author of the syndicated sex advice column "Savage Love," made his way to St. Paul, Minnesota this week to attend the Republican National Convention, where he’s filming a piece for HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher."

* Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin attend a meet and greet in Cedarburg, WI and then head to a rally in Sterling Heights, MI.

* Sen. Barack Obama holds an event in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

* Sen. Joe Biden and his wife Jill hold a discussion in Langhorne, PA.

CNN: Palin blasts Obama as unfit to lead
Sarah Palin praised John McCain on Wednesday night as a man who has met grave challenges and "knows how tough fights are won."

Click here to read the full transcript of Palin's speech.

CNN: Democrats say Palin mimics Bush divisiveness
Democrats accused Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin of mirroring "divisive" attacks by President Bush Wednesday night and said showed she wasn't qualified to be on the ticket.

CNN Radio: McCain gets props as Palin pulls no punches
John McCain takes center stage tonight after officially securing his party's nomination. Republicans used the third night of their convention to boost McCain and jab Democrat Barack Obama. Dick Uliano has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

WSJ: Speechwriter for McCain Hunkers Down
John McCain's acceptance speech Thursday is the pinnacle of a partnership between the candidate and his friend of nearly two decades, speechwriter Mark Salter.

Click here to read up on all the key speakers here.

AP: Palin: Iraq war 'a task that is from God'
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told ministry students at her former church that the United States sent troops to fight in the Iraq war on a "task that is from God."

AP: Antiwar march planned for last day of RNC
As John McCain accepts his party's presidential nomination Thursday night, protesters calling for an end to the Iraq war plan to march outside the Xcel Energy Center.

Washington Post: McCain Address to Be Wake-Up Call for GOP
When he steps to the lectern at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday night to accept the Republican presidential nomination, Sen. John McCain will face an immediate comparison to an opponent known for his soaring rhetoric who delivered his own speech to a football stadium full of people and a television audience of 38 million. And that's the easy part.

WSJ: McCain Top Fund-Raisers Set New Target
John McCain's top fund-raisers met privately here Wednesday to begin a new effort to raise $100 million in the final two months of the Republican presidential candidate's campaign.

CNN: Hot mic catches GOP strategists trashing Palin pick
Prominent Republican analysts Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy became the latest victims of an open microphone Wednesday, caught after a segment on MSNBC trashing John McCain's pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Washington Post: Criticizing McCain, Obama Keeps Focus on Economy
Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday dismissed the ongoing Republican National Convention as a substance-free spectacle hiding behind Sen. John McCain's biography and ignoring the economic insecurity that many Americans are facing every day as he continued a swing through working-class towns in the Midwest.

CNN: Electoral map alert: Obama picks up two states
Barack Obama may be inching closer to the magic number of 270 electoral votes necessary to win the White House, according to the most recent update to CNN’s electoral map.

NY Times: Driven to Serve, and to Succeed
Senator John McCain’s Republican primary campaign looked all but hopeless. He had risked the wrath of his party to push for an immigration overhaul and now, just months before the Iowa caucuses, his grand compromise was falling apart on the Senate floor as well.

WSJ: Palin's Faith Is Seen In Church Upbringing
At the Pentecostal church where Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin worshipped for more than two decades, congregants speak in tongues and are part of a faith that believes humanity is in its "end times" - the days preceding a world-ending cataclysm bringing Christian redemption and the second coming of Jesus.

USA Today: Palin shook up 'old boy's network'
Long before a legislative investigation into the firing of Alaska's public safety director began, Gov. Sarah Palin faced controversy for her management style.

WSJ: Alaska Governor's National Debut Evokes Voter Passion on Both Sides
As they watched Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin give one of the most anticipated political speeches of the year, the verdicts from voters rolled in. It wasn't a scientific sampling, but from bars to living rooms to the convention floor, it was the first time most Americans had seen Gov. Palin up close.

NY Times: The Unusual Challenges of Governing Alaska
Like so many other distinctions about Alaska — the biggest, wildest, coldest state not even half a century removed from its territorial days — being governor here is just flat different.

Washington Post: In 1988, There Was Another Surprise No. 2 Pick
Before Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin electrified the Republican National Convention Wednesday night with her acceptance speech, one man sitting with the California delegation thought he had been there before.

CNN: Biden says Palin ‘warrants respect’
Joe Biden again refused to attack the experience of GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, hours before she was to deliver a speech sharply critical of the Democratic ticket.

WSJ: Celebrity Media Hits the Trail
Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin eats moose-burgers and paints her toenails pink. John McCain likes reality television. Win or lose, the Obama family is getting a dog this fall.

CNN: Giuliani attacks Obama's record as 'nothing ... nada'
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined the chorus of former Republican presidential hopefuls who praised John McCain at the GOP convention Wednesday.

Click here to read the full transcript of Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s speech.

CNN: Huckabee takes on Obama
Mike Huckabee says Sen. Barack Obama wants to give extremists a 'place setting at the table.'

Click here to read the full transcript of Former Gov. Mick Hackabee's speech.

WSJ: GOP Draws 21.5 Million Viewers
The Republican convention garnered 21.5 million prime-time TV viewers on Tuesday night, Nielsen said, down slightly from the 22.1 million people who watched the second night of GOP coverage in 2004.

USA Today: Dems eye electorate with St. Paul response
Democrats have about 25 staffers in St. Paul, some of whom infiltrate Republican state delegation events so they can be prepared to respond to GOP attacks. They are featuring party officials such as chairman Howard Dean, former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack and several members of Congress. And they are training local volunteers for get-out-the-vote efforts.

Financial Times: US says troops could quit Baghdad soon
General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, said declining violence in Baghdad raised the possibility that American combat troops could leave the capital by next summer.

CNN: Palin attacks 'shrill and sarcastic,' says Reid spokesman
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is hitting back hard at Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's speech Wednesday night, calling it "shrill and sarcastic."

Washington Post: McCain's Focus on Iraq War Carries Risk
The 55-page Republican Party platform, approved here this week, contains exactly one paragraph devoted to the war in Iraq - a sign of how the conflict that dominated the last two national election cycles has faded as a major political issue.

Washington Post: In a More Diverse America, A Mostly White Convention
Organizers conceived of this convention as a means to inspire, but some African American Republicans have found the Xcel Energy Center depressing this week. Everywhere they look, they see evidence of what they consider one of their party's biggest shortcomings. As the country rapidly diversifies, Republicans are presenting a convention that is almost entirely white.

Washington Post: Immigration Issue Gets Little Attention On Convention Floor
During the heat of the primary season late last year, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) said it was imperative for his party to nominate a candidate who was tough on illegal immigration and didn't parrot President Bush's centrist stance on the issue.

Politico: McCain and the politics of mortality
Since John McCain announced Friday that first-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be his running mate, Democrats have been quick to point out that the 44-year-old governor could soon be just “a heartbeat away from the presidency.” The veiled reference to McCain’s advanced age is hard to miss.

WSJ: McCain Shifts Right on Abortion
What are we to conclude about the state of the abortion debate from the fact that Sen. John McCain wavered in choosing a running mate between Sen. Joe Lieberman, who gets a voting score of zero from groups that oppose abortion rights, and Gov. Sarah Palin, who gets perfect reviews from those same groups?

Politico: Clinton aides: Palin treatment sexist
Sarah Palin found some unlikely allies Wednesday as leading academics and even former top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsed the Republican charge that John McCain’s running mate has been subject to a sexist double standard by the news media and Democrats.

CNN: Alaska neighbors love their hockey mom VP candidate
Sarah Palin's neighbors saluted their hometown girl with Alaska Amber brew and testament to her small-town integrity as she accepted the Republican nomination for vice president Wednesday.

CNN: Dems could pull Lieberman chairmanship
Sen. Joe Lieberman’s speech before the Republican National Convention Tuesday night could cost Lieberman the chairmanship of a key Senate committee, a top Senate Democratic aide told CNN.

CNN: Schneider: When in doubt, blame the media
The media attack animating this convention isn’t a new one – it goes back decades, to 1964. It was first heard at the Republican convention in San Francisco, when former President Dwight Eisenhower got up and criticized “sensation-seeking columnists and commentators.”

CNN: RNC bomb plan uncovered
A 23-year-old man was plotting to set off bombs to coincide with the Republican National Convention, according to details federal prosecutors released Wednesday.

Washington Post: This Time, Bush Finds Better Picture
When President Bush visited the Louisiana capital after Hurricane Katrina, most of New Orleans lay underwater, thousands were stranded in squalor, and his administration was feuding with the state's Democratic governor over who was to blame.

Washington Post: In a Historic Year, Ifill Has One Thing to Do: Her Job
Amid the craziness of covering the political conventions, Gwen Ifill has been brushing off one interview request after another.

Washington Post: Radiation Detector Plan Falls Short, Audit Shows
An ambitious Bush administration program to use new technology to stop radioactive materials from being smuggled into the country has fallen far short of its aims and will likely be sharply curtailed, according to an audit report obtained by The Washington Post.

WSJ: Halliburton Ex-Official Pleads Guilty in Bribe Case
In a wide-ranging foreign-corruption investigation, fired former Halliburton Co. executive Albert J. "Jack" Stanley pleaded guilty to orchestrating more than $180 million in bribes to senior Nigerian government officials. The bribes were used to win a contract to build a liquefied-natural-gas plant in Nigeria.

Washington Times: Inside the Ring: China's nuclear capability
China continues to resist disclosing details of its strategic nuclear weapons programs despite exchanges and discussions with the United States during the past two years, defense officials say.

* Sen. John McCain speaks at the Republican National Convention.

* Gov. Sarah Palin has no public events.

* Sen. Barack Obama campaigns in York and Lancaster, PA.

* Sen. Joe Biden appears on American Morning to discuss Sarah Palin’s speech. He then holds discussions on the economy in Virginia Beach and Manassas, VA.

* Sen. John McCain has no public events.

* Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at the Republican National Convention.

* Sen. Barack Obama holds a town hall meeting in New Philadelphia, OH. He then heads to a BBQ in Dillonvale tiny Dillonvale, OH.

* Sen. Joe Biden has two stops in Florida, holding a roundtable meeting in Ft. Myers and a town hall meeting in Sarasota.

CNN: CNN Poll of polls: Obama holds slim lead
Roughly nine weeks before Election Day, a new CNN poll of polls shows Barack Obama holding a five point lead over John McCain. Only four days after Obama’s acceptance speech and three days after McCain’s pick of Sarah Palin as his running mate, Obama is now ahead of McCain, 49 to 44 percent.

CNN: McCain camp claims new fundraising record
John McCain's campaign said Monday that it had raised $47 million in the month of August – his biggest monthly total to date – nearly matching Barack Obama’s July fundraising figure of $50 million.

Washington Post: GOP Deals With the Storm - and the Stork
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.

AP: John McCain's vetter defends Sarah Palin review
Sarah Palin voluntarily told John McCain's campaign about her pregnant teenage daughter and her husband's 2-decade-old DUI arrest during questioning as part of the Republican's vice presidential search.

AP: McCain fought money on teen pregnancy programs
Republican John McCain, whose running mate disclosed that her unmarried 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, has opposed proposals to spend federal money on teen-pregnancy prevention programs and voted to require poor teen mothers to stay in school or lose their benefits.

Washington Post: Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds
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 group.

Washington Times: McCain in talks with Ron Paul for backing
The McCain campaign, acting through the Republican National Committee, has been negotiating with Rep. Ron Paul to win his support and acquire the names of his sympathizers among the 4,607 delegates and alternates at the Republican National Convention, according to a senior aide to the Texas congressman.

CNN Radio: Anarchists and Police make volatile mix at the Republican Convention
Police arrested more than 200 protestors outside the Republican National Convention. Dick Uliano reports President Bush could appear today via satellite from Washington. Get it all in today’s CNN Radio Political Ticker.

WSJ Op-ED: Nancy Pfotenhauer: Ignore the Chauvinists. Palin Has Real Experience.
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.

CNN: McCain communications team sent to Alaska
A senior adviser to John McCain's campaign confirms that they have dispatched a team of 12 people to presumptive VP nominee Sarah Palin's home state of Alaska.

CNN: Obama says Palin's family off limits
Sen. Barack Obama said firmly that families are off-limits in the campaign for president, reacting to news that GOP running mate Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

NY Times: A New Twist in the Motherhood Debate
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.

CNN: Palin has hired lawyer as trooper probe continues
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin hired a lawyer three weeks ago to act on her behalf as state legislators investigate whether she may have abused her power in firing the state police chief for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law, a state trooper, CNN has confirmed.

Politico: New Palin details may help, not hurt
All of this, to one degree or another, has surfaced in recent days as a result of efforts to discredit or undermine Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. But these revelations may have the opposite effect: In one sense, they could reinforce how remarkably unremarkable she is.

NY Times: Democrats, Eyeing Storm, Play Down Partisanship
On this Labor Day, which has long been the traditional opening to the general election season, the Democratic presidential ticket struggled to draw attention.

Financial Times: Crisis a test for Louisiana’s young governor
Bobby Jindal was supposed to be one of the stars of the Republican national convention in Minnesota this week. Instead, the 37-year-old governor of Louisiana was forced to stay home to prepare for hurricane Gustav and deal with its aftermath.

Politico: Obama's bounce smaller than others'
Barack Obama’s post-Democratic National Convention bounce in the polls appears to be slightly smaller than the norm of past conventions, and it's gradually depreciating. The Gallup daily tracking poll has found that since the conclusion of the convention, Obama has risen 4 percentage points in the polls, to lead McCain 49 percent to 43 percent today.

Politico: Some pols ignore calls for Gustav hiatus
With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on the Gulf Coast on Monday, Barack Obama started his day by saying it was not a time for political speeches. But some of his supporters — and his running mate, Joe Biden — did not adhere entirely to the message.

CNN: Bush may address RNC via satellite Tuesday
President Bush may still address the Republican National Convention via satellite from Washington Tuesday evening, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

CNN: Laura Bush, Cindy McCain take convention stage
First Lady Laura Bush and Cindy McCain addressed the Republican National Convention Monday evening, delivering abbreviated remarks due to Hurricane Gustav.

CNN: Obama defends natural disaster experience
Barack Obama defended his experience in dealing with natural disasters, such as Hurricane Katrina, and took a swipe at newly minted GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

CNN: Evangelicals rally behind Palin after pregnancy news
Key evangelical leaders rallied to Sarah Palin's support Monday amid news that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, was having a child.

Washington Post: Calculated Risk With Female Voters Is Suddenly Even Harder to Calculate
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.

Washington Post: Gov. Mom
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.

CNN: Behind the Scenes: Working around the clock in Denver
As the RNC gaveled to order Monday afternoon, I finished producing an in-depth behind the scenes look at CNN's coverage of last week's democratic convention. It's part of a documentary-type podcast called "Inside CNN."

Washington Post: Despite GOP Convention Site, Midwest Unlikely to Be Crucial
When Republican leaders were deciding where to hold their 2008 nominating convention, their final considerations came down to major urban areas in a trio of swing states: Cleveland, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Minneapolis-St. Paul. In settling on the Twin Cities and basing the event in St. Paul, party leaders took a gamble on the electoral map.

CNN: Gustav changes but doesn't crash Republicans' party
Convention-goers pushed politics aside Monday as Hurricane Gustav altered their plans from 1,000 miles away.

CNN: Bush: Gustav coordination better than Katrina
President Bush said Monday that government response to Hurricane Gustav has been better than the response to Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm for which federal efforts were widely criticized.

CNN: Laura Bush on Gustav: Americans 'are here to do what we can'
First lady Laura Bush appealed Monday to the nation to put aside partisan interests and donate generously to charities to help Gulf Coast residents affected by Hurricane Gustav.

CNNMoney.com: Gustav hits U.S. economy
Storm is weaker than Katrina three years ago. But it hits an economy that is at greater risk.

CNNMoney.com: Gustav knocks out Gulf oil production
U.S. Department of Energy says hurricane halted oil and natural gas industry's activities in the Gulf of Mexico.

CNN: Police arrest dozens of 'anarchists' outside GOP convention
At least 56 people were arrested Monday after police fired rubber bullets and used pepper spray and tear gas to disperse a crowd demonstrating near the site of the Republican National Convention.

Newsweek.com: A Leading Hillary Supporter Defects to McCain
John Coale, a prominent Washington lawyer, husband of Fox TV host Greta Van Susteren and a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, announced today that he was supporting John McCain for president.

Washington Post: Paul Is Here, and the RNC Isn't Happy
Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has boasted that he wrote a book slamming the Iraq war and challenging the nation's economic system to continue a grass-roots movement that grew out of his quixotic campaign.

Washington Post: Rail-Riding Biden Is a Strong Backer Of Amtrak in Senate
By now, it's nearly impossible to have missed the fact that Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), the Democratic vice presidential nominee, is such a homebody and regular guy that he rides Amtrak between Washington and Delaware every day when Congress is in session.

* Sen. John McCain campaigns in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

* Gov. Sarah Palin has no public events.

* Sen. Barack Obama has no public events.

* Sen. Joe Biden holds two town hall meetings in Florida.

CNN: CNN Poll: Obama 49, McCain 48
On the eve of the Republican convention, a new national poll suggests the race for the White House remains dead even.

CNN: Gustav prompts major changes to RNC agenda
The Republican National Convention will cut back most of its activities Monday because of Hurricane Gustav, Sen. John McCain said Sunday.

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Thousands expected Monday for protest
About 50,000 are expected today, despite no-shows by Bush and Cheney. But some call recent police actions efforts at intimidation.

USA Today: Palin backed 'bridge to nowhere' in 2006
In her nationally televised speech accepting the job as John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she "championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress" and opposed federal funding for a controversial bridge to a sparsely populated island.

CNN Radio: The Grand Old Party scales back the party
The Republicans are scrapping the celebrating and cutting back most activities at their convention today because of Hurricane Gustav. Dick Uliano has today's CNN Radio political ticker.

NY Times: Don’t Like Palin’s Wikipedia Story? Change It
IN the 24 hours before the McCain campaign put the finishing touches on its surprise announcement Friday that Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska would be the Republican vice presidential candidate, one Wikipedia user was putting the finishing touches on her biography on the site.

Washington Post: With Palin On the Ticket, Evangelicals Are Energized
Outside his evangelical church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Sunday, David Chung was mobbed by friends and church members suddenly excited about the Republican ticket.

USA Today: Gustav: McCain response poses risks, rewards
If anyone was thinking about the political repercussions of Hurricane Gustav — not that anyone at the Republican National Convention would admit to doing that — the bad news was that the GOP lost at least one night of national television programming.

Washington Times: Palin lobbyist ties include oil firms
Gov. Sarah Palin, whose independence was touted when she was named Sen. John McCain´s vice-presidential pick Friday, collected at least $24,000 from registered state lobbyists in her gubernatorial campaign, records show.

Politico: GOP sees potential redemption in Gustav
Republican officials say their radically curtailed convention offers a big political opportunity for the party to redeem itself on the competence issue — and for John McCain to step out of President Bush’s shadow once and for all.

NY Times: McCain’s Pick May Foster Bigger Campaign Role for Clinton
Advisers to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Sunday that Senator John McCain’s selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate would lead to a greater role for Mrs. Clinton as she campaigned this fall on behalf of her former rival, Senator Barack Obama.

Detroit Free Press: Obama, Biden speak to middle class at rally
Sen. Barack Obama and running mate Sen. Joe Biden gave Michigan its first up-close look at the Democratic presidential ticket Sunday night, telling thousands of supporters that they’ll turn around the economy, as they blasted Republican candidate Sen. John McCain for being out of touch with working families.

Washington Post: The Hurricane In Question Is Still Called Katrina
Three years after it battered New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Katrina upended this convention city Sunday.

CNN: Louisiana delegation torn between family, duty
With Hurricane Gustav bearing down on their state, Louisiana delegates to the Republican National Convention on Sunday were torn between party duty and concern for family back home.

Washington Post: This Time, There Won't Be Cake
On the day Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans three years ago, President Bush was in the midst of a working vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Tex., and the storm did little to change his schedule.

CNNMoney.com: Gustav sends oil higher
Crude rises slightly in 'muted response' during a special electronic trading session. Hurricane bears down on region that controls 25% of U.S. crude production.

Washington Post: Hurricane Blows Networks' Convention Coverage Off Course
On the eve of what was supposed to be the Republicans' week in the media spotlight, every network is suddenly turning into the Weather Channel.

CNN: Poll shows no convention bounce for Obama
On the eve of the Republican convention, a new national poll suggests the race for the White House remains even.

Washington Post Op-Ed: Howard Wolfson: A Clintonite in Denver
For many of us who were part of the Clinton campaign, Sen. Barack Obama's appeal was something we understood only in the abstract - data in polls, faces at a televised rally.

CNN: Convention security plan going well, police say
Police Sunday saw little disruption prior to a Republican National Convention greatly scaled back due to Hurricane Gustav.

Washington Post: The Freedom to Look Ludicrous
At political conventions, where every word and gesture have been scripted, reviewed and revised, the motley collection of red, white and blue tailcoats, Uncle Sam top hats and other forms of aesthetically displeasing get-ups are as necessary as the gavels, the speeches and the power brokers flinging red meat.

CNN: Dem apologizes for joking about hurricane
Former Democratic National Committee Chairman Don Fowler apologized Sunday for recently joking Hurricane Gustav's expected landfall on the same day as the opening of the Republican National Convention suggested God was on the Democrats' side.

CNN: Ron Paul's show will go on
The convention for former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will go on as planned, the campaign said Sunday, despite the RNC’s decision to truncate their program.

Washington Post: The Colbert Bump
The comedian Stephen Colbert routinely maintains that he plays an outsize role in influencing the course of American politics. After former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee appeared on "The Colbert Report," the show noted, Huckabee's popularity went from 1 percent to 3 percent.

* Sen. John McCain makes a stop in Toledo, OH Monday morning before heading to Philadelphia.

* Gov. Sarah Palin is in St. Paul, MN.

* Sen. Barack Obama spends Labor Day at a rally in Detroit and a union BBQ in Monroe, MI.

* Sen. Joe Biden will be in Pennsylvania Monday, at a Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh and then a meet and greet in his hometown of Scranton

CNN: Obama blasts McCain, lays out his own agenda
Barack Obama accepted the Democratic nomination for president Thursday in a speech that attacked John McCain and George W. Bush, laid out an ambitious agenda for an Obama administration and called on Americans to unite around common beliefs.

WSJ: McCain Moves To Seize His Target: The Momentum
John McCain worked to seize the momentum in the race for president with a new TV ad congratulating his Democratic rival, and a vice-presidential pick

CNN: McCain camp closely watching Gustav
John McCain’s campaign is keeping a close eye on Tropical Storm Gustav as it heads towards the Gulf Coast and Republicans begin the trek to St. Paul, Minnesota, to nominate McCain for president.

Detroit Free Press: Romney’s brother denies knowledge of Secret Service checking out sister’s house
If the Secret Service is vetting his family in advance of his brother’s selection as John McCain’s running mate, Scott Romney, the brother of Mitt Romney, said early this evening that it’s news to him.

Washington Post: Meanwhile, Back in the Capital . . .
Normally you can't swing an intern in Washington without hitting a politician, a lobbyist, a journalist, a muckety-muck or, at the very least, a deputy assistant undermuckety-muck. But everyone's gone from Official Washington. It's apocalyptically empty.

CNN Radio: Millions watch as Obama accepts historic nomination
Barack Obama made history Thursday night in his acceptance speech and then spent part of it blasting John McCain as out of touch. CNN's Steve Kastenbaum has more in this CNN Political Ticker.

Click here to catch all the Day 4 video highlights here

Click here for the full transcript of Obama’s speech here

Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Has McCain picked Pawlenty? Or ...
The Republican vice presidential watch picked up ever-more intensity Thursday, with Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty right in the middle of it.

Salt Lake City Tribune: Bennett says McCain will select Romney
Republican Sen. Bob Bennett predicts John McCain will pick Mitt Romney as his running mate because the former Massachusetts governor "fills all the holes in McCain's résumé."

CNN: More than 75,000 pack stadium to hear Obama
Sen. Barack Obama's acceptance of the Democratic Party's presidential nomination may be historic in many ways. One of them is the size of the audience at Invesco Field.

Washington Post: For the Descendants of King's Dream, a New Day Dawns
No one said this exactly, but imagination was the quiet star of this day, that thing that leaps over walls and moves the fences of our limitations.

CNN: GOP: Don't believe the hype, Obama not ready
Despite a stadium packed far past capacity, with nearly 90,000 supporters wildly applauding nominee Barack Obama as he spoke Thursday, Republicans responded with one hand gesture: thumbs down.

USA Today: Obama: Six things he must do before Nov. 4
Barack Obama's acceptance of his party's presidential nomination here Thursday night, just four years after his national debut at the last Democratic convention, is a reflection of the political skills that brought the freshman senator to this historic moment — and the challenges that lie ahead.

WSJ: The Last Thing McCain Needs Is a Hurricane to Stir Memories
Tropical storm Gustav may be over the Caribbean, but its forward winds are already buffeting Denver and St. Paul, Minn.

CNN: Huckabee: I won’t be McCain’s V.P.
Former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee told supporters Thursday he would not be John McCain’s running mate, and emphasized that he was never vetted by McCain’s presidential campaign.

NY Times: McCain Ad Is Valentine to Obama on Big Day
The Obama campaign was already nervous that Senator John McCain might try to steal the show from their big night by letting the name of his running mate selection slip out, and when the McCain campaign announced Thursday that it would run a new television commercial during their convention, those fears intensified.

CNN: Chaos and confusion outside Invesco Field
The celebration of Barack Obama’s presidential nomination brought people to their feet inside INVESCO Field. Outside it just made their feet hurt.As 75,000-plus spectators filed out of the stadium, they walked straight into mass confusion.

Washington Post: O'Malley No Longer Outside Looking In
About 20 minutes before Barack Obama officially secured the Democratic nomination for president Wednesday, the Illinois senator picked up the phone and called Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was a big supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's during the primaries.

Politico: Scarlet 'L': Lobbyists mix with pols
Some things just don’t change. Despite new ethics rules, lawmakers, lobbyists and big donors have found plenty of ways to spend time together during the Democratic National Convention.

Washington Post: GOP Considers Delaying Convention
Republican officials said yesterday that they are considering delaying the start of the GOP convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul because of Tropical Storm Gustav, which is on track to hit the Gulf Coast, and possibly New Orleans, as a full-force hurricane early next week.

CNN: What the TV cameras aren't watching
While TV cameras weren't watching, "ordinary guy" Barney Smith — part of the convention's "American Voices" segment — brought mile-high stadium to its feet.

USA Today: Few look back as they step across the aisle
When he appears Monday before the Republican National Convention, former Democrat Joe Lieberman will be reprising the role of turncoat attacker that Zell Miller played so effectively against his party four years ago.

CNN: The columns...it's all a bit much, say conservatives
The Temple of Obama. Barackopolis. Egobama. The descriptions of the transformation of Denver's Invesco Field peppered the Republican blogosphere hours before Barack Obama was set to address a dancing, jubilant crowd of more than 70,000 supporters on the Democratic National Convention's final night.

NY Times: Top Black Donors See Obama’s Rise as Their Own
When Gordon Davis, a top fund-raiser for Senator Barack Obama, made partner at his white-shoe law firm in New York in 1983, it was a vastly different world for aspiring black professionals like him.

CNN: Gore invokes spirits of 2000 election
Former Vice President Al Gore criticized John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, on Thursday, playing on his reputation as an environmental activist.

CNN: Gergen’s Analysis: Worth reading Gore's speech again
While his delivery was way too rushed, the substance of his speech was something that the country needs to think and talk about a lot more: a possible catastrophe building up around us.

Washington Post: Obama's Big Fat Greek Setting
It was a ceremony fit for the gods. Fireworks exploded overhead. A skycam soared through the air the way it does during "Monday Night Football." Strobe lights flashed, spotlights circled.

Washington Post: Stuck in A Groove; Pay No Mind to the Lyrics: Democrats Wax Nostalgic in Musical Choices
Immediately after Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday, the producers of his party's convention cued "The Rising" by Bruce Springsteen.

Washington Post: D.C. Region Thrills to Nomination Of Obama
For 40 minutes, people planted themselves on bar stools in nightclubs and on crowded couches in private homes, their eyes fixed on television screens and history.

LA Times: California governor hopefuls meet, greet in Denver
A gathering of the state's Democratic convention delegates briefly turns the focus to 2010, when several of those in attendance may be vying to become the next governor.

Washington Post: Daschle in a Good Place, in Politics and Life
Thomas A. Daschle spent much of 2005 summoning friends and former colleagues to lengthy meetings. The former Senate majority leader broke out a pen and pad to take notes as he grappled with what to do next after a stinging defeat.

* Sen. John McCain celebrates his 72nd birthday and highlights next week’s Republican National Convention. It is speculated that he may announce his running mate today.

* Sens. Barack Obama and Joe Biden hold an “On the Road to Change” event in Beaver, PA.

CNN: Biden goes on attack in acceptance speech
Sen. Joe Biden hammered Republican presidential candidate John McCain as he accepted the Democratic nomination for vice president Wednesday.

CNN Sources: McCain to reveal VP Friday in Ohio
John McCain has decided on his running mate and will officially reveal his pick on Friday in Ohio, multiple sources tell CNN.

Boston Globe: McCain attack on Obama foreign policy heats up
Republican John McCain intensified his foreign policy assault on Barack Obama yesterday, launching a TV ad that uses a remark his Democratic rival made about Iran to call him "dangerously unprepared" for the White House.

NY Times: The Speeches They Write Often Go Unspoken
While all presidential nominees try to put their own stamp on the convention, Democrats say Mr. Obama’s vetting team has been especially aggressive. And there is concern among many gathered here that the four-day production the Obama campaign is putting on lacks the partisan sharpness and fire that they expect the Republican convention will have.

CNN Analysis: Biden provides 'ham and cheese' to Obama's 'arugula'
See what our political contributors had to say about Day 3 at the DNC in Denver:

Click here to read Sen. Joe Biden’s full remarks

Click here to read Former President Bill Clinton’s full remarks

Catch the video highlights here

CNN Radio: Democrats make history-officially
It was a historic day at the Democratic National Convention as the first African American was nominated as a major party's presidential candidate. Steve Kastenbaum has the latest in today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

LA Times: Executive privilege showdown looms for Congress, White House
House Democrats schedule a hearing that would put former White House counsel Harriet Miers under oath. The Justice Department prepares a last-ditch court appeal.

Politico: McCain plans 3-state VP rollout
John McCain is planning to roll out his vice presidential nominee in three battleground states this weekend, with large-scale rallies planned for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Missouri, according to aides and advisers.

NY Times: 45 Years Later, Witnesses to Dr. King’s Dream See a New Hope
She figured this dream for dead so many decades ago. Dezie Woods-Jones plans to stand Thursday night with her California delegation in a stadium here and listen to Barack Obama, the first black major-party presidential nominee in the nation’s history, give his acceptance speech.

CNNMoney.com: Bankruptcy filings surge to 1 million – up 29%
As things in the economy have gotten worse, the number of people and businesses heading to bankruptcy court has spiked.

Washington Post: Obama Team Works With Hill Democrats
Eager to avoid the missteps that plagued the first months of the Clinton administration, aides to Barack Obama have begun working in concert with top Democrats in Congress to craft a preliminary legislative agenda that would guide the senator from Illinois should he capture the White House in November.

Indianapolis Star: Clinton supporters for McCain?
In the wake of Sen. Hillary Clinton's well-received speech Tuesday night, Republicans are airing a flurry of TV commercials featuring her. On Denver TV this morning, at least three such ads could be seen.

CNN: Obama surprises delegates after Biden speech
Sen. Barack Obama, the Democrats' presidential nominee, took the stage at the Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, marking his first appearance at the event.

USA Today: Parties continue as lobbyists find loopholes
First-term Democrats, who were swept into Congress in the 2006 elections on a campaign against Republican lobbying-related scandals, were among the most vocal supporters of the new ethics law passed last year.

CNN: Behind the Scenes: Women pass Clinton's torch to Obama
The TV is blasting, there's guacamole and chicken wings, red wine and beer, five TV monitors and a lot of cheering. Sen. Hillary Clinton is speaking at the convention and these women, most in their 20s and several who proudly describe themselves as feminists, are listening.

Washington Post: Democrats Press Battle For 60 Seats In Senate
Their moments came outside prime time, but the candidates Senate Democratic leaders hope will propel them to their biggest majority in decades also had their time in the spotlight at the Democratic convention.

WSJ: McCain Seems To Have Obama Beat in One Arena
So-called ambush ads are typically reserved for Web-savvy marketers such as General Motors and AT&T. The newest believer: a 71-year-old presidential candidate.

CNN: Obama makes history as Democratic nominee
On a historic night for America, Barack Obama secured the Democratic Party's nomination for president and emerged for the first time on stage in Denver with running mate Sen. Joe Biden.

CNN: GOP cheers Obama's historic stride, but doubts his experience
Republicans briefly stopped attacking Sen. Barack Obama for what they call his lack of foreign policy experience to note the historic significance of the United States nominating the first African-American for president.

WSJ: Obama Plans to Use Young Voters To Attract (More) Young Voters
Barack Obama's chances of winning the presidency could rest on the votes of 20-to-30-year-olds - and, to an unprecedented degree, he is letting his young supporters decide how to win those votes.

NY Times: New Words and Tools for Covering the Conventions
The musician will.i.am, who produced the hit video “Yes We Can” about Senator Barack Obama, calls the Democratic gathering here the first “batonical” convention.

CNN poll: Obama trails McCain on national security
A new national poll suggests that there's a reason why Wednesday evening's theme of the Democratic convention is "Securing America's Future."

Washington Post: Delegates With a Broken Pledge
Think the Hillary Clinton delegates feel miserable and dejected? Spend a moment with Deb Nelson.

Washington Post: D.C. Voting Rights Plight Drowned Out by Din in Denver
The day did not start well for the activists from the District.Armed with buttons, bumper stickers and postcards, they took to the downtown streets here to sign up compatriots in their fight to win the District a seat in Congress.

Washington Post: Giuliani Swoops In to Join the Republican Attack Squad in Denver
Another former Republican presidential candidate has descended on this city to cast Barack Obama as unready for the White House.

USA Today: Obama outdoor speech echoes JFK's 1960 move
Barack Obama's decision to move his nomination acceptance speech from an indoor arena to an outdoor stadium may be a smart effort to tap the Kennedy mystique, open up the convention and generally stir things up.

WSJ: Meet Obama's Media 'Enforcer'
Robert Gibbs leans into presidential candidate Barack Obama at an airplane-maintenance hangar scheduled for more layoffs and whips out an index card where he has scrawled the latest data on how many Americans have lost health-care insurance in the workplace.

USA Today: Kerry defends Obama's patriotism
Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, who lost the 2004 presidential contest, forcefully defended Barack Obama's patriotism in a speech Wednesday at the Democratic National Convention and assured the party faithful that "this time we're going to win."

NY Times: For a New Political Age, a Self-Made Man
From the earliest days of his presidential campaign, those around Senator Barack Obama have heard the same mantra. He repeated it after he announced his candidacy and after debates, after victories and defeats. “I need to get better,” he would say.

Washington Post: Black Delegates Also Bask in Obama's Big Moment
Lena Taylor, a Wisconsin state senator from Milwaukee, is "overwhelmed" by the history that will be made Thursday night, when Sen. Barack Obama will become the first African American to accept a major-party presidential nomination.

WSJ: Tiptoeing to the Right on Abortion
At an opening interfaith prayer ceremony at the Democratic convention Sunday, an evangelical minister spoke about saving unborn children. During another official convention event, a "faith caucus" on Tuesday, a former congressman urged the elimination of 95% of all abortions in the next decade.

Washington Post: For Veteran Speaker, the Challenge of a Lifetime
Sen. Barack Obama will step onto a stage bordered by Greek columns and walk down a runway that dead-ends at a lectern on an island. There, alone at the center of Colorado's biggest stadium, he will stare out at 2,000 lawn chairs pressed toward the stage, 80,000 people crammed into three levels of seats and 450 stadium spotlights pointed directly at him.

NY Times: Democrats Work to Minimize Stadium Setting’s Political Risks
When Senator Barack Obama announced in early July that he would give his nomination address in an outdoor stadium in front of 75,000 people, he wowed members of both parties who saw it as an inspired stroke of campaign image making.

Washington Post: ABC's Attempt To Film Donors Ends in Arrest
An ABC News producer was arrested outside a downtown hotel here Wednesday while he and a camera crew tried to shoot footage of corporate donors leaving a meeting with a group of Democratic senators.

CNN: Indicted senator wins Alaska GOP primary
Indicted U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens easily turned back challengers in Alaska's Republican primary, but the state's longtime representative, Don Young, was locked in a neck-and-neck battle with a GOP rival Wednesday.

WSJ: Green Businesses Jump On Opportunity in Denver
The Democratic National Committee promised to make this the greenest convention ever. And that is making some entrepreneurs see green. Viewing the convention as a launching pad for sales, small entrepreneurs and international companies alike have set up shop around town, trying to capitalize on their environmental credentials.

AP: Prosecutors seek to slash Abramoff prison term
The Justice Department on Wednesday recommended a dramatic reduction in the prison sentence of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who became the key witness against lawmakers and congressional aides he spent years corrupting.

* Sen. John McCain has no public events.

* Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Party nomination at Invesco Field in Denver, CO.

* Sen. Joe Biden attends Sen. Obama’s speech at Invesco Field.

CNN: Clinton: Obama 'must be our president'
Sen. Hillary Clinton introduced herself as a "proud supporter of Barack Obama" at the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday as she called on her party to rally behind her former rival.

CNN: McCain campaign: Clinton did not say Obama ready to lead
Sen. Hillary Clinton may have endorsed Sen. Barack Obama for president in a speech at the Democratic National Convention Tuesday night, but Sen. John McCain's campaign said she stopped short of saying that he is ready to lead the country.

CNN: Bill Clinton to take center stage at Democratic convention
Sen. Joe Biden will make his first appearance before the Democratic National Convention as his party's vice presidential nominee Wednesday night, but the real drama of the evening may come from former President Clinton and what he says about Sen. Barack Obama.

Boston Globe: Romney: McCain earned his homes; Obama didn't
Former governor Mitt Romney, perhaps continuing his audition to be John McCain's running mate, attacked Barack Obama today for making an issue out of McCain's many homes.

CNN: America needs Obama, says ex-Virginia governor
Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner told the Democratic National Convention that the most important race facing the country is the "race for the future ... and it won't be won with a president who is stuck in the past."

CNN Radio: Hillary goes all-out for party unity
It was Hillary Clinton's night to shine at the Democratic Convention as she called for unity in the party. CNN's Steve Kastenbaum has the details in the CNN Political Ticker.

Click here to view all the Day Two video highlights

Click here to read Sen. Hillary Clinton’s full remarks

Click here for Keynote Speaker Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner

CNN: Analysis: Clinton speech was 'generous,' 'authentic'
CNN’s political analysts had all angles of Sen. Clinton’s speech covered. Take a look at what they had to say.

CNN: Source: Bill Clinton will not attend Obama's Invesco speech
Hillary Clinton will be on hand for Barack Obama's acceptance speech, but according to a source close to former President Bill Clinton, he will not: the source tells CNN that Clinton will not join his wife at Invesco Field Thursday night.

CNN: Some Clinton delegates say they'll heed unity call
Before Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's address to the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, many in the party - including the delegates she had won - were looking for her to preach unity.

Politico: Did Hillary heal the wounds?
There is no second place in American politics. There is no silver medal, no shadow prime minister, no government in exile.

Politico: Obama camp mulls shortened roll call
The Obama campaign is considering an abbreviated roll call Wednesday that would allow Democratic convention delegates in Hillary Rodham Clinton’s strongest states to support her — and is mulling a plan to let delegates vote by secret ballot, according to those familiar with the planning.

USA Today: '3 A.M.' McCain ad uses Clinton clips
Republican John McCain's campaign released a TV ad Tuesday that uses part of an ad that Hillary Rodham Clinton deployed against Barack Obama during the Democratic primaries. It reprises a question Clinton posed: "Who do you want answering the phone" in the White House at 3 a.m.?

Washington Post: Obama's Response Ad Reflects Lessons of 2004
Sen. Barack Obama's campaign and its allies, mindful of the lessons of the Swift boat attacks of 2004, have begun an aggressive, multi-pronged attack on an advertisement running in swing states that seeks to link the Democratic presidential candidate to former domestic terrorist William Ayers.

NY Times: For Obama, a Challenge to Clarify His Message
Modern presidential conventions are mostly political circus, but for Senator Barack Obama, the question is whether the theatrics and drama of this one are overwhelming one of his most important tasks here: connecting with the economic anxiety gripping voters and convincing them that he has concrete and achievable solutions.

Financial Times: Obama team hones in on economy
Barack Obama’s campaign plans to push back aggressively against what it sees as John McCain’s distortions of his economic policies and hammer home the message that every blue-collar household will get a $1,000 tax cut if he is elected.

Politico: Democrats take aim at McCain’s temper
John McCain’s Democratic colleagues in the Senate are zeroing in on his oft-discussed temper, questioning whether the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is too volatile to be commander in chief.

Washington Post: All Aboard for the Senator
The strangest thing happened Monday morning at the train station here. "Joe came in here with a motorcade," says Daniel Thorpe, 44, a cab driver at the Amtrak station. A motorcade? For ol' Joe? Everybody here is used to seeing Joe Biden by himself, on his way to and from the train - used to being able to go up and shake Joe's hand, talk about the grandkids.

CNN: Giuliani: Hillary 'a no brainer' for VP
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined the choir of ardent Hillary Clinton supporters Tuesday night– asking why Barack Obama passed up the New York senator for his number two spot.

Washington Post: Obama, Biden's Son Linked by Earmarks
Sen. Barack Obama sought more than $3.4 million in congressional earmarks for clients of the lobbyist son of his Democratic running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, records show. Obama succeeded in getting $192,000 for one of the clients, St. Xavier University in suburban Chicago.

WSJ: Biden Helped Delaware Keep Corporate Bankruptcy Filings
Joe Biden has fought to preserve Delaware federal courts' disproportionate share of corporate bankruptcies, benefiting law firms in his home state that rank among his top supporters.

Washington Post: Obama, Bill Clinton Remain Distant
Bill Clinton and Barack Obama - in so many ways two sides of the same coin. Old heat and new cool, two guys who came out of nowhere, bereft of early connections, overcoming the odds.

WSJ: As Democrats Convene, McCain Strategists Take to 'War Room'
It was the bleary-eyed end of a 16-hour day, and the strategists in the Republican war room were about to call it quits. Then an image from the Democratic National Convention flashed across their banks of television sets.

NY Times: Some Clinton Fund-Raisers Are Still Simmering
A significant number of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s top fund-raisers remain on the sidelines and unwilling to work for Senator Barack Obama, a nettlesome problem that appears to be contributing to the campaign’s failure to keep pace with ambitious fund-raising goals it set for the general election.

NY Times: One First Is Celebrated. What About the Second?
History is being made in Denver, but so far, it has been slipped under the carpet during prime time. Tuesday night was tailored to pay homage to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s barrier-breaking near-miss, yet there was no overt celebration of the bull’s-eye: Barack Obama is poised to be the first African-American presidential nominee.

WSJ: Candidates Spending More on Cable Ads
Do the presidential candidates want their MTV? As the campaign heads into the final media battleground, each candidate will be throwing millions of dollars at television. This time though, they're expanding their sights to new outlets: non-news cable networks.

Washington Post: Conveying a Sure Sign of Political Passion
Long before the evening program began, before Lee Hedgepeth got into sign-distribution mode, he was on the convention floor, checking out Hillary Clinton's rehearsal and seeing who else was doing what and why.

Washington Post: Rocking the House Comes at a Cost for Lawmakers, Staff
House staff members who had been planning on free entry to a much-anticipated Kanye West concert here sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America and the One Campaign received an unwelcome message on Monday: The House ethics committee had concluded that a free ticket was akin to a gift, and was therefore illegal.

LA Times: Howard Wolfson, ex-Clinton spokesman, turns indie rock blogger
Speaking of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton not being the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, her former director of communications, Howard Wolfson, has a new job many of us knew about - commentator on Fox News. But add to that now another pastime: He's an indie rock blogger.

LA Times: Villaraigosa denies Denver snub; says he's working hard for Obama
Some speculated that the mayor's limited role at the convention was retribution for his support for Clinton during the primaries.

Washington Post: Washington Area Speakers Take the Podium
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton made a heartfelt and rousing push for D.C. voting rights at the Democratic National Convention yesterday afternoon, vowing that the city will "keep the promise" for full representation to honor Darryl T. Dent, a soldier from the District who died in Iraq.

Washington Post: Crises Reveal Limits of Bush's Personal Diplomacy on World Stage
He glimpsed inside Vladimir Putin's soul and found something to his liking. He has also showed off his Texas ranch to Saudi King Abdullah, talked economics with Chinese President Hu Jintao and visited Graceland with then-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Washington Post: Detroit Mayor Could Face Removal
Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm announced yesterday that she will hold a hearing to decide whether Kwame M. Kilpatrick should be forced from office, denying the embattled Detroit mayor's appeal to have the hearing delayed or canceled.

Washington Post: Archbishop Disputes Pelosi's Statements
Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl and several other U.S. bishops are disputing statements by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a "Meet the Press" appearance about the Catholic Church's teachings on abortion. They say she misrepresented the church's longstanding opposition to the procedure and twisted some church teachings.

* Sen. John McCain has no public events.

* Sen. Barack Obama holds a discussion with veterans and military families in Billings, MT.

* Sen. Joe Biden speaks at the Democratic National Convention.

CNN: John McCain is not lying low
Presidential candidates usually keep a low-profile during the other guy's convention, but not John McCain. He's trying here in his home state to stay relevant to what's happening in Denver at the Democratic National Convention.

CNN: Obama a spectator as Michelle takes center stage
Hands cupped under his chin as he sat in a family’s living room, Barack Obama smiled as they watched Michelle Obama introduced on their television screen.

Washington Times: Lobby ties counter Biden's 'outsider' label
Sen. Barack Obama is trying to portray himself and his running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr., as the "outsider" ticket of the year, but Mr. Biden's 35-year career in the Senate may make that a difficult sell. One need look no further than Mr. Biden's relationship with his lobbyist son and his law firm to see why.

CNN: Edward Kennedy, Michelle Obama draw tears and cheers
Sen. Edward Kennedy declared there was "new hope" for the nation in his surprise appearance at the Democratic National Convention, while Michelle Obama addressed critics of her patriotism and stressed her love for the country.

CNN Radio: Dems put on emotional spectacle for day one
The first day of the DNC went off without a hitch for the Democrats. CNN's Steve Kastenbaum tells us what took place at the Pepsi Center in Denver in the CNN Radio Political Ticker.

CNN: Analysts dissect convention's first day
How did it go? Members of the Best Political on Television weigh in with their thoughts.

View all the video highlights from Day One here

Read the full transcriptof Edward Kennedy's DNC speech here

Read the full transcript of Michelle Obama's 'One Nation' speech here

View Tuesday’s Convention Schedule here

CNN: Watch: A tribute to Senator Ted Kennedy:
Watch as Caroline Kennedy introduces her uncle- Senator Ted Kennedy and a tribute to his life and nearly 50 years in public life.

LA Times: John McCain fundraises in Sacramento, claims he'll compete in California
And now for a change of pace, some actual Republican news: With many political eyes on Denver and the Democrats this week, John McCain came to Sacramento to raise money today and offered straight talk that raised a few eyebrows. First, he revealed that his wife, Cindy, is on a humanitarian trip to the nation of Georgia.

AP: GOP touts McCain's support among Clinton backers
As Democrats try to mollify disappointed supporters of Hillary Clinton, Republicans pushed the theme Monday that Democrats are divided and open to voting for John McCain.

Politico: McCain brings out the age jokes on Leno
Now it’s John McCain’s turn to make age jokes about himself. Walking onto the set of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" Monday afternoon, McCain had the funnies cued up: “You forgot to mention that I warned the people about the British coming,” McCain said after Leno introduced the senator as a hero.

Dallas Morning News: Immigration won't be top issue for either Obama or McCain
Mindful of Hispanics' growing clout, Barack Obama has vowed to push for comprehensive immigration reform as president. But energy, the economy and Iraq get top billing at the Democratic National Convention.

CNNMoney.com: U.S. view of economy is getting worse – poll
Three out of four Americans believe the economy is in bad shape, CNN/Opinion Research Poll shows.

WSJ: Shaky Economy Challenges Ambitious Obama Agenda
Democrats convened in Denver on Monday with the economy's woes muscling to the top of political concerns, as reflected in further drops in stocks and housing prices.

Washington Post: Biden Arrives To Acclaim, Begins Work On Campaign
Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.) made his debut appearance in the host city of the Democratic convention Monday as he rushed to integrate himself into Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign and prepared to accept the party's vice presidential nomination Wednesday night.

Washington Post: The Bidens of Delaware Descend on Denver
Meet the Bidens! Grandpa Joe brought the entire clan to Denver yesterday, introducing its brand of Delaware bonhomie to the proceedings.

CNN: Clinton to take stage, then step aside for Obama
For a moment, the spotlight will be back on Sen. Hillary Clinton as she takes the stage Tuesday for her last solo "hoorah" of the 2008 presidential election.

Washington Post: Majorities Again Say They Hold Favorable Impressions of Both Clintons
After dips in public opinion toward the end of the primaries, narrow majorities of all voters now view both Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former president Bill Clinton favorably, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. But both still receive lower marks than Sen. Barack Obama.

Washington Post: For Those From Swing States, The Watchword Is . . . Worry
The anxiety comes in several forms, but particularly common is the pained look, followed by the quick glance away and the lengthy pause, in the face of a simple question: How is Barack Obama doing?

WSJ: These Days, the Delegate Tally Is No Longer the Roll Call of the Wild
At some point on Wednesday evening, Florida - or maybe it will be Michigan, Colorado or Ohio - will cast the votes that give Barack Obama a majority of convention ballots and, with that, the Democratic presidential nomination. The choice of state won't be left to chance.

WSJ: Hometown Papers Splurge On Convention Coverage
Like their counterparts across the country, the local newspapers in Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul have been cutting back as advertising sales dwindle. The next two weeks will be an exception: As the political conventions roll into town, the four major hometown dailies are planning lavish coverage worthy of the Olympics.

Washington Post: Alaskans Vote Today in Pivotal Republican Primaries
Alaska's Republican voters go to the polls Tuesday to decide whether a pair of GOP incumbents with a combined 75 years in Congress should continue to be the dominant figures in state politics as they battle criminal investigations.

NY Times: Guns Silent, Moscow and Tbilisi Open New Front in Denver
Just hours before the Democratic National Convention was gaveled open on Monday, several party leaders sat down with the delegation from Georgia. But for these Georgians, the term “battleground state” had an altogether grimmer meaning.

CNN: Authorities investigate 'threat'
Authorities arrested one person and detained two others Sunday on drugs and weapons charges in suburban Denver and were investigating whether the suspects made a threat against someone at the Democratic National Convention, a federal law enforcement source told CNN.

Washington Post: Political Coverage That's All a-Twitter
John Dickerson, who covers the presidential campaign almost single-handedly for Slate, is a man of few words.

Washington Post: A Yankee For McCain
A celebrity endorsement for John McCain: Puerto Rican reggaeton star Daddy Yankee, whose unexpected stop with the candidate at a Phoenix high school yesterday caused teen girls to completely freak out, reports our colleague Michael Shear. The singer, whose crossover 2004 hit "Gasolina" extolled hot women, sex and cars, said McCain is the best "fighter for the immigration issue."

WSJ: Who Are You Calling Old?
In 1996, Bob Dole, the Republican Party's presidential nominee, battled criticism that, at 73 years old, he was too old to be president. Now 85, Mr. Dole is working "pretty much every day" at a Washington law firm, says the firm's spokesman.

Washington Post: Dean's 50-State Strategy Continues to Generate Debate
When Howard Dean officially opened the Democratic National Convention on Monday night, he could look with satisfaction at the assembled delegates from all 50 states, knowing that many more states are in play this campaign season than were before he took over the party.

NY Times: Lost in a Convention Haze, With Bloggers Lurking at Every Turn
The first working day of a party convention is never going to be a comfortable one. Credentials will be misplaced, procedures will be unknown, and routes will be circuitous, often ending in the wrong place.

Washington Post: Clinton Advisers Skipping Obama Speech
A number of Sen. Hillary Clinton's top advisers will not be staying in Denver long enough to hear Barack Obama accept the nomination for president, according to sources familiar with their schedules.

WSJ Op-Ed: Sens. Graham and Lieberman: Russia's Aggression Is a Challenge to World Order
In the wake of Russia's invasion of Georgia, the United States and its trans-Atlantic allies have rightly focused on two urgent and immediate tasks: getting Russian soldiers out, and humanitarian aid in.

WSJ Op-Ed: Tony Blair: We Can Help China Embrace the Future
The Beijing Olympic Games were a powerful spectacle, stunning in sight and sound. But the moment that made the biggest impression on me came during an informal visit just before the Games to one of the new Chinese Internet companies, and in conversation with some of the younger Chinese entrepreneurs.

The Guardian: Revealed: Britain's secret propaganda war against al-Qaida
A Whitehall counter-terrorism unit is targeting the BBC and other media organisations as part of a new global propaganda push designed to "taint the al-Qaida brand", according to a secret Home Office paper seen by the Guardian.

USA Today: FEMA spends almost $3B on emergency housing
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid nearly $3 billion in hotel bills and rental assistance for the victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita — by far the costliest emergency housing effort in the nation's history, according to government statistics.

Washington Times: FBI blames phone flap on miscommunication; Critics unlikely to be mollified
The FBI's top lawyer said miscommunication – not malevolence – led the bureau in 2004 to improperly obtain the telephone records of newspaper reporters writing about Islamic terrorism in Indonesia.

CNNMoney.com: Fannie and Freddie woes spread
The sharp decline in the value of preferred shares of the troubled mortgage finance firms could lead to billions of dollars more in bank writedowns.

* Sen. John McCain gives a speech in Arizona at 1pm.

* Sen. Barack Obama holds a town hall meeting in Kansas City, MO.

CNN: Poll: Race for White House tied
The first national poll conducted after Barack Obama publicly named Joe Biden as his running mate suggests that the battle for the presidency between the Illinois senator and John McCain is all tied up.

CNN: Get to know me, Obama says going into convention
Sen. Barack Obama says this week's Democratic National Convention would help give voters a better "sense of who I am" - and Obama could get some unexpected help.

San Francisco Chronicle: McCain-Romney? Dems fear it could hurt in West
With several polls showing Democratic Sen. Barack Obama trailing Republican Sen. John McCain in Colorado on the eve of the Democratic National Convention, some of the state's Democrats worried Sunday that McCain might pick former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney as a running mate to solidify his support among a key voting bloc – Mormons.

CNN: Clinton likely to release her delegates to Obama
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton likely will release her delegates to Sen. Barack Obama, a Democratic official said Sunday, the eve of the Democratic National Convention.

CNN: Full voting rights restored to Florida and Michigan
In another bid to restore party unity, the Democratic National Committee voted unanimously Sunday to restore full convention voting rights to Florida and Michigan delegates.

Christian Science Monitor: McCain uses Hillary in new ad. Will Obama use Romney?
Early this morning (interestingly at 3 am), the McCain campaign launched a second ad using another Democrat’s words against Barack Obama. First, it was Obama’s new running mate, Joe Biden, and now it’s Hillary Clinton.

CNN Radio: Lights, Camera, Rhetoric!
The finishing touches have been placed on the Pepsi Center and the city of Denver is ready to host the Democratic Convention which begins today. Steve Kastenbaum has more in today’s CNN Radio Political Ticker.

WSJ: Platform Will Reflect Shifts On National Security and Economy
Convention delegates are set to ratify a party platform that refers sparingly to the "war on terror," among other marked shifts in tone on national-security issues from four years ago.

Chicago Tribune: States that could turn blue
Four states where the West—and the White House—could be won.

New York Sun: Census Data Will Put Economy at Top of Convention Agenda
Senator Obama will likely have another talking point at the Democratic National Convention tomorrow when the Census Bureau releases data on poverty, income, and the number of uninsured.

AP: McCain intrudes on Obama's convention message
John McCain certainly won't let Barack Obama have his Democratic convention all to himself. If Obama has a story to tell voters over the next four days, McCain is already pitching a far less flattering version from afar.

USA Today: Poll: More than half of Clinton backers still not sold on Obama
Fewer than half of Hillary Rodham Clinton's supporters in the presidential primaries say they definitely will vote for Barack Obama in November, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, evidence of a formidable challenge facing Democrats as their national convention opens here today.

Financial Times: McCain seeks to capitalise on discontent
John McCain sought on Sunday to capitalise on lingering discontent among Hillary Clinton’s most ardent supporters with a new advertisement that accused Barack Obama of passing over the New York senator as his running mate “for speaking the truth”.

WSJ: Biden Camp Pressed Hard For a Slot on the Ticket
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate reached a pivotal point in a secret meeting on the night of Aug. 6.

LA Times: Convention donors often have business before lawmakers and regulators
Contributors, including unions and corporations, say they are performing a civic duty in giving millions and don't expect anything in return.

WSJ: From Prayer to 'Faith Caucuses,' Party to Show Religious Side
The Democrats hope this week to show that they have found religion. Their convention opened Sunday with an interfaith prayer, which is set to be followed this week by an opening invocation and closing benediction on each day of the get-together.

Washington Post: African Americans Exult in Historic Leap
For Deborah Ross of Greenbelt, the sight of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama standing on stage this week to accept the Democratic nomination for president is something she knows her daughter, Miranda, has to experience even though it means she will miss her first week of her senior year at Eleanor Roosevelt High School.

NY Times: Blacks Debate Civil Rights Risk in Obama’s Rise
On the night that Senator Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination for president, Roderick J. Harrison plans to pop open a bottle of Champagne and sit riveted before the television with his wife and 12-year-old son.

NY Times: Obama Aides Defend Bank’s Pay to Biden Son
During the years that Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. was helping the credit card industry win passage of a law making it harder for consumers to file for bankruptcy protection, his son had a consulting agreement that lasted five years with one of the largest companies pushing for the changes, aides to Senator Barack Obama’s presidential campaign acknowledged Sunday.Washington Post: Candidates Running Closest In the West.

On Thursday, Sen. Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination here before a crowd of around 70,000, a figure with resonance in the Mountain West: Had Sen. John F. Kerry flipped that number of votes combined in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada in 2004, he would have been president.

CNN: CNN forces Obama to release VP pick early
Barack Obama planned to name Joe Biden as his running mate by text message at 8 a.m. ET Saturday morning, but was forced to move up the announcement when CNN broke the story after midnight, a senior Obama official said.

Washington Post: Not Much News, but Journalists Can't Make Themselves Scarce
In the end, reporters were finally able to crack the wall of silence surrounding Barack Obama's running mate, but only by staying up mighty late.

Washington Post: Experience Is Double-Edged Sword for The Ticket
A week after a young state senator named Barack Obama stood in Chicago's Daley Plaza and denounced the move toward a "dumb war," Joseph R. Biden Jr. took to the well of the U.S. Senate to make a much more nuanced argument, both for a resolution that he knew could lead to the invasion of Iraq and for a diplomatic effort that he hoped would avert it.

CNN: Mark Preston’s Analysis: Biden's role is filling gaps and taking shots
Sen. Barack Obama, who chose a foreign policy expert with roots in Pennsylvania and an appeal to blue-collar voters as his running mate, wasted little time explaining his decision Saturday.

NY Times: For a Kennedy, an Unexpected Role in the No. 2 Choice
Yes, Caroline Kennedy says, she was taken aback when Senator Barack Obama asked her in the late spring to play a primary role on his vice-presidential search team.

Washington Post: The GOP's Delicate Passing of the Baton
When it gathers next week in Minneapolis-St. Paul for its quadrennial convention, the Republican Party will try to turn the page from George W. Bush to John McCain. It won't be an easy trick.

CNN: Pawlenty: McCain VP can handle Biden
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, long-rumored to be on Sen. John McCain’s short list for vice president, told CNN’s “Late Edition” he isn’t concerned about newly chosen Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware.

Washington Post: The 17 Minutes That Launched a Political Star
The Hawker jet lifted out of Springfield, Ill., under midnight darkness, and Barack Obama leaned back into a leather chair. In his lap rested a copy of the keynote address he would deliver in three days at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.

NY Times: Jill Biden Heads Toward Life in the Spotlight
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. has said he first saw pictures of Jill Jacobs in March 1975 in an advertisement for a local park in Wilmington, Del. The young blonde caught his eye. She was beautiful — you might call her drop-dead gorgeous.

Washington Post: A Chance for the Candidates' Wives to Court Support
As Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain prepare for prominent appearances at the party nominating conventions, both are viewed more favorably than not, even though a substantial slice of the electorate has yet to form a firm opinion.

Washington Post: Delegates, Too, Have Traveled a Long Road to Reach Denver
When Sen. Barack Obama accepts the Democratic nomination Thursday night, he will stand before thousands of delegates who fought hard to get him to his triumphant moment, and many who opposed him. They will make up the most diverse party delegation in history - half are women, and more than 40 percent are minorities. A generation ago, the majority were white men.

Washington Post: Why Fluff-Over-Substance Makes Perfect Evolutionary Sense
The question is not which scandals are true but why certain story lines hook our interest. Why are we more likely to discuss a gossipy rumor at a party than a policy error that can actually make a material difference to our own lives?

NY Times: Anxious Party Hopes to Show Strong Obama
Democrats gathering here for their nominating convention are significantly more nervous about Senator Barack Obama’s prospects this fall than they were a month ago, and are urging him to use the next four days to address weaknesses in his candidacy and lingering party divisions from the primary fight.

CNN: Dems might counter-program GOP rally
Call it the battle of rallies. Barack Obama campaign sources told CNN's Gloria Borger and Jessica Yellin that Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, will have their first post-convention joint rally Friday, likely in Pennsylvania.

CNN: Blitzer: Democrats kick off major marketing in Denver
And now the selling begins. The Democrats need to do some major marketing at their party convention in Denver, Colorado.

NY Times: Networks Hope to Find Unique TV Moment at Democratic Convention
When Barack Obama accepts his party’s nomination on Thursday before a capacity audience of 70,000 at Invesco Field in Denver, an aerial camera will hover above the stadium turf, using a TV technique normally applied at football games.

Washington Post: In the Quake Model, Rumblings Favor Obama
More than a quarter-century ago, a historian with an interest in American politics was at a dinner party at the California Institute of Technology and found himself seated next to a Soviet geophysicist and mathematician who studied earthquake prediction.

CNN: Stars come out for political conventions
Kanye West raising the roof. Charlize Theron leading the charge. Gwyneth Paltrow and Edward Norton stumping for the arts.

CNN: Camping out for the Obama speech
Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is preparing for supporters to sleep outside of Invesco Field the night before he formally accepts the Democratic presidential nomination before more than 75,000 people.

NY Times: For the Last Presidential Debate, a Nation’s Eyes Will Turn to Hofstra
When Stuart Rabinowitz, president of Hofstra University on Long Island, began his quest to play host to one of this year’s presidential debates, he was told by many friends and associates that the odds were not in his favor.

* Sen. John McCain appears on the Tonight Show.

* Sen. Barack Obama speaks via Satellite at the Democratic National Convention.

* Sen. John McCain has no public events.

* Sen. Barack Obama has no public events.

* Sen. John McCain has no public events.

* Sen. Barack Obama holds a discussion on the economy with VA Gov. Tim Kaine in Chester, VA. He later holds a town hall meeting in Chesapeake.

CNN: Campaign stops add to VP speculation
In the run-up to the vice presidential announcements, a campaign stop is less about what's said than where it is; geography and choreography are clues.

WSJ: McCain Takes Hands-Off Approach With Platform
Jean from Ferrisburgh, Vt., wants the Republican Party to get off "the global-warming bus." Paul from Carrollton, Texas, wants it to "reject fetal stem-cell research." And Larry from Waynesboro, Pa., wants the party to promise to "deport those who are here illegally."

NY Times: Obama’s Ads in Key States Go on Attack
Senator Barack Obama has started a sustained and hard-hitting advertising campaign against Senator John McCain in states that will be vital this fall, painting Mr. McCain in a series of commercials as disconnected from the economic struggles of the middle class.

AP: McCain, Obama to silence critical ads on Sept. 11
Presidential contenders Barack Obama and John McCain plan to pull ads on Sept. 11 that criticize each other, a respite from the political fray to honor the anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

CNN Radio: Looking for clues in the VP whirlwind
The letters "v" and "p" may go up in value on the Scrabble board, as we get deeper into the daily guessing game about Barack Obama and John McCain's choices for number two. Lisa Desjardins has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

USA Today: St. Paul hopes GOP convention wows guests
The last time the Twin Cities hosted a major political party's nominating convention, delegates from the 44 states arrived at Minneapolis' Exposition Building in horse-drawn buggies and street cars, and "Flour City" was derided by some Easterners as a frontier town.

Washington Post: This Time, McCain Knows the Drill
Last month, a hurricane and an oil spill derailed Sen. John McCain's visit to an oil rig to tout his support for offshore drilling as a solution to the nation's energy woes.

Washington Times: Obama courts military voters; Gives nod to success of surge
Sen. Barack Obama, edging away from a long-held position, tacitly acknowledged the success of the Iraq troop-surge strategy during an appearance Tuesday before the country's largest organization of combat veterans.

USA Today: Democrats planning everything but the weather in Denver
Democrats are hoping for an open-air sendoff of Barack Obama on Aug. 28 as big as the Colorado sky. But what if Denver's heavens open up with a thunderstorm, as they can do on late-summer evenings on the Rockies' eastern slopes?

Washington Post: Candidates' Abortion Views Not So Simple
The narrative of the presidential campaign appeared to be set on the issue of abortion: Sen. Barack Obama was the abortion-rights candidate who was reaching out to foes, seeking common ground and making inroads. Sen. John McCain was the abortion opponent whose reticence about faith and whose battles on campaign finance laws drew suspect glances from would-be supporters.

LA Times: In announcing a running mate, timing and place are key
For McCain and Obama, the choice of when and where to announce their vice presidential picks can maximize publicity and minimize potential problems at their conventions.

Politico: McCain weighs a Lieberman surprise
John McCain is seriously considering choosing a pro-abortion-rights running mate despite vocal resistance from conservatives, with former Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) very much in the mix, close McCain advisers say.

Politico: Biden their time? Lieberman, Graham head to Georgia, too
McCain men Joe Lieberman (a rumored veep choice) and Lindsey Graham are leaving today for a two-day tour of Poland, the Ukraine and Georgia, where they will meet with President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Bloomberg: Bayh's Running-Mate Chances May Be Hurt by Wife's Board Seats
Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, on a short list of Democrat Barack Obama's possible running mates, may face questions about potential conflicts of interest from his wife's work on seven corporate boards that paid her more than $837,000 last year.

NY Times: Obama’s 2003 Stand on Abortion Draws New Criticism in 2008
Abortion, a familiar issue in elections past, has again emerged in recent days as a focus of controversy. Senator Barack Obama is coming under intense fire from anti-abortion groups because of the position he took as an Illinois state senator on legislation regarding the status of fetuses that survive abortion procedures.

NY Times: Talk of McCain’s No. 2 Concerns Conservatives
Senator John McCain is facing increasing scrutiny about his selection of a running mate as some social conservatives expressed alarm on Tuesday that Mr. McCain might ask a candidate who favors abortion rights to join him on the ticket.

NY Times: One Hand on Her Job, the Other Across the Aisle
Of all those said to be on the short list for the Democratic vice-presidential nomination, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas best embodies the kind of bipartisanship that Barack Obama hailed in the convention speech that made him a household name four years ago: no red states or blue states, just the United States.

WSJ: Biden's Foreign Policy Background Carries Growing Cachet
Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden returned from a visit to the war-torn country of Georgia to find himself in a new spotlight as speculation intensifies over Barack Obama's imminent choice of a running mate.

CNN: Blake: A glimpse of the young Obama in action
In 1987, I got a sneak preview of one of the most unlikely political stories of our time. It would take me nearly 20 years to figure out that I had stumbled upon a slice of American history.

CNN: Slow change frustrated young Obama, friends say
As a young man, Barack Obama idolized the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement. "Reading about people not that much older than me who had gone to jail and suffered beatings in order to liberate a people," he said, "I thought there's something powerful about that."

Washington Post: Obama's Wide Web
Amid the cramped, crowded cubicles inside Sen. Barack Obama's campaign headquarters here, sandals are as ubiquitous as iPods.

Politico: Nader predicts Obama to pick Clinton
Count Ralph Nader as unimpressed by the crop of supposed finalists to be Barack Obama’s running mate. “I don’t think he’s that dumb,” said Nader, commenting on widespread speculation that Obama’s choices are down to Sens. Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, or Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine.

CNN: MoveOn.org targets Elizabeth Dole's Senate race
MoveOn.org has its sights set on U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's unexpectedly competitive contest for re-election in North Carolina, spending nearly half a million dollars on an ad accusing the North Carolina senator and fellow Republican John McCain of being "in the pocket of Big Oil."

Washington Post: Agreement on Drilling Doesn't Yet Mean Action
Republicans are in their third week of House floor protests on the energy issue, and the political terrain appears to have shifted significantly since they launched their efforts Aug. 1.

NY Times: Some Democrats Urge Delay in Building a U.S. Missile System in Eastern Europe
As the Bush administration speeds ahead with plans to construct a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, some Democrats in Congress want to put on the brakes, saying it has not been adequately tested.

USA Today: States throw out costly electronic voting machines
The demise of touch-screen voting has produced a graveyard of expensive corpses: Warehouses stacked with thousands of carefully wrapped voting machines that have been shelved because of doubts about vanishing votes and vulnerability to hackers.

Washington Post: Sibling Revelation: An Overlooked Branch of Cindy McCain's Family Tree
When Cindy McCain talks about growing up, she usually refers to herself as an "only child" - a phrase that ignores the existence of her half sisters. "It's terribly painful," Kathleen Hensley Portalski said yesterday. "It is as if she is the 'real' daughter. I am also a real daughter."

Washington Post: Bush Administration Rule on Pollution Struck Down
A federal appeals court yesterday struck down a Bush administration rule that prevented states and local governments from imposing stricter monitoring of pollution generated by power plants, factories and oil refineries than required by the federal government.

Washington Post: Capturing The Bush Legacy Online
The Bush administration will soon be packed and gone, but part of its legacy will live on in cyberspace. A consortium of government and nonprofit agencies plans to capture snapshots of every federal government Web site before Jan. 20, when the next president moves into the White House and starts remaking the federal bureaucracy to fit his agenda.

* Sen. John McCain holds a town hall meeting at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM.

* Sen. Barack Obama campaigns in Virginia, holding a discussion on the economy in Martinsville and then a town hall meeting Lynchburg.

NY Times: Obama Ready to Announce Running Mate This Week
Senator Barack Obama has all but settled on his choice for a running mate and set an elaborate rollout plan for his decision, beginning with an early morning alert to supporters, perhaps as soon as Wednesday morning, aides said.

Washington Post: Obama Tells Allies He Is Ready to Hit Back
Sen. Barack Obama returned to the presidential campaign trail on Monday after a week-long Hawaiian vacation and tried to assure anxious Democrats that he is ready to fight back against Republican character attacks that grew sharper in his absence.

Washington Post: Obama's Vice Presidential Pick Is Already Staffed
If you're one of those political junkies who can hardly bear the anxiety of waiting for Barack Obama to choose his vice presidential running mate, think of how David Wade and Chris Mather feel.

CNN Radio: Tick-tock you don’t stop – VP buzz reaching fever pitch
The clock is winding down on the V.P. race as it turns from a marathon into a sprint. Lisa Desjardins has today's CNN Radio Political Ticker.

CNN: The night that changed McCain's life
It was September 1967, and Lt. Cmdr. John McCain was back from Vietnam on home leave. He invited Chuck Larson over for dinner, and during a late night game of bridge, McCain pulled his buddy from the U.S. Naval Academy and flight school aside.

CNN: Barack Obama: A meteoric rise
When Sen. Barack Obama accepts his party's presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado, he will have experienced one of the most rapid - and unexpected - ascents in American political history.

WSJ: As U.S. Economic Problems Loom, House, Senate Sweat the Small Stuff
The 110th Congress, whose term officially ends in January, hasn't passed any spending bills or attacked high gasoline prices. But it has used its powers to celebrate watermelons and to decree the origins of the word "baseball."

Washington Post: Candidates Got Advance Look at Questions
Responding to questions about whether Sen. John McCain had an unfair advantage over Sen. Barack Obama at Saturday's forum on faith at the Saddleback Church in California, a spokesman for the Rev. Rick Warren said both candidates had an advance look at a few questions.

USA Today: Suburbs: New shortcut to White House?
Suburban counties including these — outside Portland, Denver and Cleveland, respectively — have become the hardest fought and most closely won battlegrounds of national elections

WSJ: Candidates Hone Messages In Convention Run-Up
Playing to perceived strengths as the conventions loom, John McCain polished his military credentials before an audience of veterans, while Barack Obama empathized with the economic cares of female supporters.

NY Times: Ethics Thicket for Convention Parties Crimps Events
National party conventions are known as much for their nonstop partying as they are for their politics — a time for lobbyists, politicians and corporate executives to gather at lavish receptions and elegant dinners.

WSJ: Google Will Offer Services for Bloggers at the Conventions
Google Inc. will help set up a two-story, 8,000 square-foot headquarters for hundreds of bloggers descending on the Democratic convention in Denver next week, and it will offer similar services at the Republican convention in September, as new media gain influence in politics.

CNN: Rollins’s Commentary: Conventions are high-risk for Obama and McCain
On August 25, the Democrats meet in Denver, Colorado, and a week later, the Republicans gather in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

NY Times: Democrats Get Big Gift for Denver
Tom Golisano, the Rochester billionaire and registered Republican, donated $1 million on Friday to the host committee of the Democratic Party’s convention in Denver, making him one of the largest donors to the planning efforts surrounding the expected coronation of Barack Obama as the party’s nominee next week.

LA Times: L.A. mayor passed over for speaking role at Democratic convention
Some speculate it's because Antonio Villaraigosa backed Hillary Clinton in the primaries. Others think it's because California is a given for Obama. And there are other theories.

Washington Post: That's Entertainment - or Is It?
Whatever you do, do not call the events at the upcoming presidential conventions that feature Kanye West and the band Daughtry "concerts." They are not, according to their sponsor, the Recording Industry Association of America.

NY Times: The Lingering What-If Question: Clinton?
No power brokers in the Democratic Party are openly campaigning for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton as their vice-presidential nominee this year, and even Mrs. Clinton’s closest aides have stopped talking her up. Yet privately, some Democrats continue to see her as exactly the partner that Senator Barack Obama needs.

AP: Clintons join in mourning for Ark. party leader
Former President Clinton and others remembered the slain chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party on Monday for his strength of character and the unity he brought to Democrats in the past two political seasons.

CNN: Rendell voting for Clinton
Perhaps Ed Rendell's name can be officially scrapped from the list of potential VPs. The Pennsylvania governor and fervent Hillary Clinton backer said Thursday he's planning to vote for the New York senator at the Democratic convention next week.

CNN: Obama tells supporter: 'You're wrong,' defends compromise
Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, took the opportunity Monday to answer many critiques leveled at him by his own supporters.

CNN: McCain questions Obama's ability to be commander in chief
Sen. John McCain questioned his Democratic opponent's ability to be commander in chief in an address before a national veterans convention Monday.

Washington Post: Obama Suggests $2 Billion In New Funding for NASA
Sen. Barack Obama has detailed a comprehensive space plan that includes $2 billion in new funding to reinvigorate NASA and a promise to make space exploration and science a significantly higher priority if he is elected president.

NY Times: Early Sales of a Book on Obama Anger Stores
Barnes & Noble has substantially reduced its 10,000-copy order of “Obama’s Challenge,” by Robert Kuttner, after Chelsea Green, the book’s publisher, announced it would initially be sold exclusively on Amazon.com.

Politico: Bob Woodward to reveal 'The War Within'
Bob Woodward’s new book is shrouded in such mystery that even the title was a secret until now. Publishing sources say the book, completed just three weeks ago and out Sept. 8, is titled “The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008.”

Washington Post: Anti-Regulation Aide to Cheney Is Up for Energy Post
A senior aide to Vice President Cheney is the leading contender to become a top official at the Energy Department, according to several current and former administration officials, a promotion that would put one of the administration's most ardent opponents of environmental regulation in charge of forming department policies on climate change.

CNN: White House: U.S. had nothing to do with resignation
The United States and Britain praised Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's contribution to the war on terror while the Bush administration claimed no role in the leader's resignation Monday.

CNN: Blackwater defends team in Baghdad shootings
Security contractor Blackwater said any guards who acted improperly in a deadly 2007 shooting in Baghdad should be held accountable, but believes its team acted in self-defense, a company spokeswoman said.

CNN: Jonas Brothers drop in on White House press corps
It's not often the White House press corps is the envy of your average 13-year-old, but then again, it's not every day the Jonas brothers stop by.

Washington Post: If I Were the Boss . . .
Like other federal workers not content with their current jobs, Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama seek a higher government position with better pay, a bigger office and more responsibility. A major part of that responsibility is being the boss of the federal workplace and its employees.

* Sen. John McCain tours an oil rig platform near New Orleans, LA.

* Sen. Barack Obama speaks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars annual convention in Orlando, FL. Later, he holds a town hall meeting in Raleigh, NC.