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.

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.

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:

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.

Gramm Reiterates “Whiners” Argument  —  Phil Gramm, who fake stepped down as a McCain adviser while continuing to advise McCain after it became embarrassing for the candidate to be associated with a man who thinks America is a “nation of whiners,” is back at it:

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 …

This should play well with the parents of teenagers...  Partial transcript from Larry King last evening, featuring liberal radio host Ed Schultz and Republican Moderate, former Rep Susan Molinari: … Of course, by this logic, the fact that Hillary's hubby was getting his gear shaft polished under …

Sarah Palin: she came from nowhere  —  Can a mother-of-five who shoots bears and eats moose, and whose political experience is limited to governing a population the size of Bristol, really expect to be Vice-President of the US?  We visit Wasilla, Alaska to investigate the Sarah Palin phenomenon

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 …

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.

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.

Scarborough rips Bush for using Gustav to demand more offshore drilling: ‘Just stop!’  —  This morning, President Bush discussed Hurricane Gustav, using the occasion to push for more offshore drilling: … Reacting to Bush's statement on MSNBC's Morning Joe, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman …

Obama Gains Among Former Clinton Supporters  —  Obama gains on other dimensions, including terrorism and leadership  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The Democratic convention appears to have helped solidify support for Barack Obama among former Hillary Clinton supporters, with the percent saying …