Poll shows McCain in 5-point lead over Obama  —  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sharp turnaround, Republican John McCain has opened a 5-point lead on Democrat Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential race and is seen as a stronger manager of the economy, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Wednesday.

“Caroline: Pull a Cheney!”  An Open Letter to Caroline Kennedy (head of the Obama VP search team) from Michael Moore  —  We've never met, so I hope you don't find this letter too presumptuous or inappropriate.  As its contents involve the public's business, I am sending this to you via the public on the Internet.

What Did We Expect?  —  If the conflict in Georgia were an Olympic event, the gold medal for brutish stupidity would go to the Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin.  The silver medal for bone-headed recklessness would go to Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, and the bronze medal …

Two Against The One  —  In the dead of night in a small hideaway office in the deserted Capitol, a clandestine meeting takes place between two senators with one goal.  —  They grin at each other as they lift their celebratory shots of brutally cold Stolichnaya.

JOHN EDWARDS BLOCKBUSTER NEW EXPOSE!  —  The NATIONAL ENQUIRER's exclusive ongoing investigation uncovers shocking new revelations about The John Edwards Scandal!  —  The day prior to Edwards bombshell admission to an affair on ABC's Nightline, Rielle Hunter and her 6 month old daughter …

Local Clinton backers, McCain adviser meet  —  A brother of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and local Democrats who backed her unsuccessful presidential campaign socialized privately Monday with a top surrogate of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain.

Barack Obama's ‘lost’ brother found in Kenya  —  Senator Barack Obama's long lost brother has been tracked down for the first time living in a shanty town in Kenya, reports claimed.  —  The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut …

Obama Campaign to Brody File: Infanticide Suggestion “Offensive and Insulting”  —  As you know, we here at The Brody File pride ourselves on laying out both sides of an argument and letting you, the readers come to your own conclusions.  Hence, let's delve into the aftermath …

Just call me, ‘Political Animal’  —  Now that my friend Kevin Drum has made the announcement, I can pass along the big news.  —  Starting this Friday, Aug. 22, Kevin will be leaving the Washington Monthly, heading over to a new blog at Mother Jones.  He'll be replaced at Political Animal by ... me.

Head-Faker-in-Chief?  —  Biden: 'I'm Not The Guy'  —  As Sen. Joe Biden was leaving his house in Wilmington, Del., Tuesday afternoon (with a set of golf clubs in tow), he slowed down and said to the gathered news reporters outside his home: “Hey guys: I'm not the guy.  See ya,” reports ABC's Z. Byron Wolf.

Denver's homeless get free haircuts to look good for Obama and his Democrats  —  Last month The Ticket wrote about officials in Denver, worried about the impression that 50,000 visitors to the Democratic National Convention would get next week, were planning to hide the estimated 4,000 homeless people …

Obama Played by Chicago Rules  —  Democrats don't like it when you say that Barack Obama won his first election in 1996 by throwing all of his opponents off the ballot on technicalities.  —  By clearing out the incumbent and the others in his first Democratic primary for state Senate …

A World Without The American Soldier  — The first World Without America video.  — A background briefing on the contribution of the US military to the world today.  — Please sign our global declaration against anti-Americanism.

McCain Takes Hands-Off Approach With Platform  —  Republican Party Won't Be Catering To Nominee's Views  —  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.”

PowerPAC: ‘What Matters’  —  The first general election spot from PowerPAC — basically the only independent Democratic player doing media at this point — casts Obama as a success story immigrants can identify with — “A new kind of leader, just like you.”  —  The ad is running in New Mexico, and starts airing tomorrow.

Researcher says bigfoot just a rubber gorilla suit  —  ATLANTA (AP) - Turns out Bigfoot was just a rubber suit.  Two researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say that the carcass encased in a block of ice - handed over to them for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it …

Rachel Maddow to Replace Dan Abrams on MSNBC  —  Rachel Maddow, shown filling in for Keith Olbermann on “Countdown” last month.  Ms. Maddow will host the 9 p.m. hour beginning Sept. 8.  (Ress Greenberg/ New York Times)  —  Just in time for the closing rush of the presidential election …