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 …

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.

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.

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:

Paul Is Here, and the RNC Isn't Happy  —  Amid Questions of His Book's Authorship, He Hosts ‘Counterconvention’  —  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 …

This AIP Stuff  —  About this allegation that Palin was a member of the Alaska Independence Party.  At first I thought it was a big deal or at least a potential big deal.  But, upon inspection it seems much less serious.  For starters, it seems she was never a member.  She's been a registered Republican since 1982.

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.

Sun Makes History: First Spotless Month in a Century  —  Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on earth.  —  The sun has reached a milestone not seen for nearly 100 years: an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.

Look Long & Hard At This Photograph, America.  I Mean Really Long & Hard  —  Look long and hard at this photograph, America.  I mean really long and hard.  Because when all is said and done, this is what selecting a vice presidential running mate is all about.  —  Look long and hard at this photograph, America.

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.