Surprise?  First Two National Polls Find Palin Gains LESS Support from Women  —  NEW YORK The first national polls on John McCain's pick of Sarah Palin yesterday came out today from Rasmussen and Gallup — and contrary to what the GOP probably hoped, she scored less well with women than men.

Obama Outwits the Bloviators  —  STOP the presses!  This election isn't about the Clintons after all.  It isn't about the Acropolis columns erected at Invesco Field.  It isn't about who is Paris Hilton and who is Hanoi Hilton.  (Though it may yet be about who is Sarah Palin.)

Small Change From Obama  —  DENVER — The Democrats had themselves a successful convention — at the price of appearing quite conventional.  —  The delegates left here happy and enthused, believing that the divisive nomination fight was finally behind them.

McCain: Palin a “soulmate”  —  John McCain, in his first television interview since his shocking vice-presidential pick, said that he saw in Sarah Palin “a partner and a soul mate.”  —  “This is a person who will help me reform Washington and change the way they do business,” McCain told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday.

Vice in Go-Go Boots?  —  The guilty pleasure I miss most when I'm out slogging on the campaign trail is the chance to sprawl on the chaise and watch a vacuously spunky and generically sassy chick flick.  —  So imagine my delight, my absolute astonishment, when the hokey chick flick came out on the trail …

Palin - Not The Most Inexperienced  —  This is simply so ignorant you have to laugh: … Matthew Dallek....Presidential historian or speechwriter for Dick Gephardt?  Guess he could be both but judging from this statement I wouldn't bet on the historian part.  —  Yes, I know...who cares who he is.

Sarah Palin: conservatives find the girl of their dreams  —  The Alaskan governor's family life and political views press the right's buttons  —  When Sarah Palin stepped into the spotlight as John McCain's running mate in Dayton, Ohio, and promised that women could “shatter that glass ceiling once …

Mayor Orders the Evacuation of New Orleans  —  NEW ORLEANS — City officials ordered everyone to leave New Orleans beginning Sunday morning — the first mandatory evacuation since Hurricane Katrina flooded the city three years ago — as Hurricane Gustav grew into what the city's mayor on Saturday called …

Advisers Say Conservative Ire Pushed McCain Away From Picking Lieberman  —  WASHINGTON — In the end, the choice of his running mate said more about Senator John McCain and his image of himself than it did about Sarah Palin, the little-known governor of Alaska whose selection has shaken up the presidential race.

THE VET  —  The Post has a new article out, the gist of which is that far from being a last minute choice who possibly wasn't extensively vetted, Gov. Palin was a top contender in the veep search for some time and was extensively vetted.  “Nobody was vetted less or more than anyone in the final stages …