A Clear and Present Danger To the American Left  —  Notes from the convention:  —  Drafts of John McCain's acceptance speech have been bopping around the inside of the campaign for at least a few days, and a question is whether or how much it will be changed to account for the hurricane in New Orleans and the Gulf coast.

Noonan, Murphy trash Palin on hot mic: 'It's over'  —  After a segment with NBC's Chuck Todd ended today, Republican consultant Mike Murphy and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan were caught on a live mike ridiculing the choice of Sarah Palin.  —  “It's over,” said Noonan …

Excerpts from Palin's Speech  —  This just in...

Awful: Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy caught on open mike about Palin  —  I wonder how this little interstitial made its way from MSNBC to TPM.  Oh well.  Fox nailed Jesse Jackson talking about Obama this way, so turnabout's fair play.  —  Simply awful, not only for Palin as a vote of no confidence …

Peggy Noonan, Mike Murphy Caught On Tape Disparaging Palin Choice: “It's Over,” “Political Bulls**t,” “Gimmicky”  —  Wall Street Journal columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and former John McCain adviser, Time columnist, and MSNBC contributor Mike Murphy were caught …

Analysis: GOP contradicts self on Palin family  —  Featured Topics: - John McCain - Barack Obama  —  ST. PAUL, Minn. - People: Make up your minds.  —  For two days, the chorus from Republicans on TV news and in the halls of the convention has been resounding: Back off and let the Palin family be.

“Another Incredible Allegation” — What The Enquirer Is Saying About Palin  —  Concerning the allegations in the new National Enquirer of an extramarital affair involving Sarah Palin, I called the tabloid this afternoon and asked for a copy of the new story.

The War Against the Press  —  I've talked to many political professionals over the years who were mad at the media, or me in particular.  —  But I've never quite had a conversation like the one Tuesday night with Steve Schmidt.  —  He was absolutely furious as he unloaded on the journalistic community …

CHOREOGRAPHY  —  Since there is widespread agreement that the children of candidates should not become topics of campaign debate, it behooves us to note that the McCain campaign has almost singlehandedly made Sarah Palin's daughter a central figure in the Republican convention.

Palin E-Mails Show Intense Interest in Trooper's Discipline  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the running mate for GOP presidential candidate John McCain, wrote e-mails that harshly criticized Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law and ridiculed an internal affairs investigation into his conduct.