Top Items:
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama Hits 50% for First Time — Leads McCain by eight percentage points, 50% to 42% — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1, finds Barack Obama leading the race for president with his highest share of support to date.
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Chris Cillizza / Washington Post:
McCain Manager: ‘This Election is Not About Issues’ — Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning. — “This election is not about issues,” said Davis.
Arnab Datta / Political Radar:
Schlafly Chides McCain Camp for Palin Cancellation — ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly is taking the McCain campaign to task for notifying her at the last-minute that Sarah Palin will be a no-show on Tuesday when the Republican National Coalition for Life holds an event honoring the Alaska governor.
Discussion:
PoliticalBase.com Blog
Bloomberg:
Gramm Says Supporters of McCain Aren't ‘Whiners,’ Defends Palin — Sept. 2 (Bloomberg) — Former Texas Senator Phil Gramm, who stepped aside as John McCain's campaign co-chairman in July after an uproar over comments that those worried about the U.S. economy are “whiners,” today revisited that sentiment.
John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:
Palin lied about visiting Ireland as part of her foreign policy experience
Palin lied about visiting Ireland as part of her foreign policy experience
William Kristol / Weekly Standard Blog:
Kristol on Sarah Palin, Hockey Mom — McCain aides whose judgment I trust are impressed by Sarah Palin. One was particularly amused by this exchange: A nervous young McCain staffer took it upon himself to explain to Palin the facts of life in a national campaign, the intense scrutiny she'd …
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Laura McGann / The Washington Independent:
Palin: The Iron-Fist Mayor? — WASILLA, Alaska — Earlier today, First Lady Laura Bush urged us to remember Gov. Sarah Palin's record as mayor of her hometown from 1996-2002 when assessing her experience. I agree. — Driving around this city today, I decided it looks more or less …
Byron York / National Review:
Why the Palin Baby Story Matters — St. Paul — At 6:30 Monday morning, at a hotel here in St. Paul, a team of senior McCain staffers got word from even more senior staffers that there was news about vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin. Everybody had heard the rumors, spread on The Atlantic …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Nashville Post, MyDD, Little Miss Attila, bustardblog, Clayton Cramer's BLOG and The Other McCain
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Palins' Privacy — Here's a post that reads like it was …
The Palins' Privacy — Here's a post that reads like it was …
Discussion:
Upturned Earth
Kate Klonick / TPMMuckraker:
Todd Palin Was Registered Member of Alaska Independence Party Until 2002 — The McCain camp today disputed rumors that presumptive vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was ever registered with the secessionist Alaska Independence Party by releasing years of voter registration history …
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Natalie Gewargis / Political Punch:
Another AIP Official Says Palin Was at 1994 Convention* — An intense “she said"/"she said" has emerged over whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was ever a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, the third-largest political party in the 49th state. The AIP wants Alaskans to get an opportunity …
Discussion:
Barack Oblogger, The Huffington Post, Marc Ambinder, Emptywheel, Washington Post, The Jed Report and Swampland
Byron York / The Corner:
Team McCain Hits Back on Palin, Vetting — Had a long talk this morning with a senior strategist in the McCain campaign. I think it's fair to say Team McCain is seriously unhappy with a New York Times story, “Palin Disclosures Raise Questions On Vetting,” which came out this morning and is driving much of the coverage of the issue.
Byron York / The Corner:
She Is a Small-Town Mayor. She Is Not — Repeat, Not — the Governor of Alaska. — In an interview of Barack Obama last night, CNN's Anderson Cooper mentioned Sarah Palin's experience as a small-town mayor and as governor of Alaska. Obama, hewing to his campaign's talking points, ignored the governor part:
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Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds
Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds
Discussion:
Firedoglake, TPMMuckraker, MSNBC, New York Times, Hot Air, The New Republic, Slog, TPMCafe, Salon, PoliBlog (TM), Christian Science Monitor, The Washington Independent, unbossed.com, Flopping Aces, DownWithTyranny!, QandO, Ace of Spades HQ, Bring It On!, The Huffington Post, Guardian, TPM Election Central, Boston Globe and Booman Tribune
The Huffington Post:
Palin's Church May Have Shaped Controversial Worldview — Three months before she was thrust into the national political spotlight, Gov. Sarah Palin was asked to handle a much smaller task: addressing the graduating class of commission students at her one-time church, Wasilla Assembly of God.
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Republicans Rush In — One of the great sights of American political life — a YouTube moment if ever there was one — was to see the doughboy face of Newt Gingrich as he extolled the virtues of Sarah Palin, a sitcom of a vice presidential choice and a disaster movie if she moves up to the presidency …
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Chris Orr / The New Republic:
The Case Against the Case Against Palin — A very good friend, who is a lifelong Alaskan and one of the smartest people I know, offers this word of caution to those (yes, like me) inclined to take Sarah Palin lightly: … —Christopher Orr
The Huffington Post:
McCain Spokesman Stumped Trying To Explain Why Palin Is Ready To Be Commander-In-Chief (VIDEO) — So, I know that one of the reasons John McCain hastily chose Sarah Palin as his running-and-soul mate was because he thought that Palin would exude some general appeal to female voters …
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Bob Cusack / The Hill:
Fred Thompson rips NYT on Palin coverage — ST. PAUL - Former Sen. Fred Thompson lambasted The New York Times for its coverage of Sarah Palin on Tuesday, claiming the newspaper is “trying their best to drag her down.” — Thompson told Fox News that the Times has focused on Palin's children, saying, “I don't think they get it.”
Discussion:
Don Surber
RELATED:
Roosevelt Room / White House:
President Bush Participates in Briefing on Hurricane Gustav, Discusses Energy — THE PRESIDENT: Members of my Cabinet have assembled here, and I thank you all for coming. We recognize that the pre-storm efforts were important and so are the follow-up efforts — in other words …
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Michael Wolff / Vanity Fair:
Tuesdays with Rupert — Since buying The Wall Street Journal, Rupert Murdoch has talked freely with the author about his business, his family, and the future. (There was serious gossip, too.) It's an unparalleled look at the 77-year-old mogul, transformed by his marriage to Wendi Deng, yet utterly, unapologetically himself.
Laura McGann / The Washington Independent:
Vetting? — ANCHORAGE — I just got off the phone with the very helpful city clerk at the Wasilla City Clerk's office, Kristie Smithers, who is pulling some documents for me from when Gov. Sarah Palin was mayor. — I told her I appreciated her help, since I'm sure she's been bombarded with requests these last few weeks.
Discussion:
Balloon Juice
Rasmussen Reports:
52% Still Have Favorable View of Palin, But Partisan Gap Widens — After a long weekend of Democratic criticism of John McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, over half of voters (52%) still have at least a somewhat favorable opinion of the Alaska governor. Thirty-one percent (31%) view her very favorably.
Discussion:
Hot Air