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 …

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.

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 …

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.

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.

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:

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 …

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:

John McCain Has a Tax Plan To Create Jobs  —  John McCain's tax policies are designed to create jobs, increase wages and allow all Americans — especially those in the hard-pressed middle class — to keep more of what they earn.  His plan achieves these goals in three important ways.

Documents detail Palin's political life  —  Sarah Palin may be new to most Americans, but she's not entirely new to the national Democratic Party.  —  Democrat Tony Knowles, her opponent in the 2006 Alaska gubernatorial race, put together a detailed, 63-page research document …

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.

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.