McCain: Palin more qualified than Obama  —  Mounting a ferocious defense of his embattled running mate, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said he is buying a TV ad arguing that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has more experience than the Democratic presidential nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

McCain Strategist Blasts Media  —  Top Aide Says News Organizations Are ‘on a Mission to Destroy’ Palin  —  Sen. John McCain's top campaign strategist accused the news media Tuesday of being “on a mission to destroy” Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin by displaying “a level of viciousness and scurrilousness” …

Palin's Start in Alaska: Not Politics as Usual  —  WASILLA, Alaska — The world arrived here more than a century ago with the gold rush and later the railroad.  Yet one aspect of American life did not come to town until 1996, the year Sarah Palin ran for mayor and Wasilla got its first local lesson in wedge politics.

Before Speech, Running Mate Gets Some Coaching  —  Since Sunday night, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has been holed up in her suite in the Hilton Minneapolis while a parade of Sen. John McCain's top advisers have briefed her on the nuances of his policy positions, national politics and, above all …

The Beltway Boys  —  Even as the Obama camp ponders how best to handle John McCain's veep pick of Sarah Palin, the high priests and priestesses of the media have marked her as an apostate.  The Beltway class is in full-throated rebellion against a nondomesticated conservative who might pose …

Palin Slashed Funding for Teen Moms  —  ST. PAUL — Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee who revealed Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, earlier this year used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.

How Palin is Playing in the Supermarket Aisles  —  Rick Klein, from ABC's The Note, reports: Let's say you don't read The New York Times or The Washington Post (or The Note, for that matter).  Let's say you don't follow the big political blogs and you're not obsessed with every turn of the screw of this fascinating presidential race.

Bristol Palin's boyfriend heads to convention  —  WASILLA - The boyfriend of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's unwed, pregnant daughter will join the family of the Republican vice presidential candidate at the GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn.  —  Levi Johnston's mother said her 18-year-old son left Alaska …

The Media Descend to a New Low  —  The smearing of Sarah Palin gets uglier.  —  Time's Mark Halperin has posted an advance copy of the cover of US Weekly magazine, the tabloid published by Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner.  That cover shows a smiling Sarah Palin, holding her youngest son Trig.

GOP Tightens Image Control As Palin Prepares for Debut  —  ST. PAUL, Minn. — The McCain campaign scrambled to take control of the public debate over vice-presidential pick Sarah Palin, canceling her public appearances and teaming her with high-powered Republican operatives as she prepared …

The View on Palin from an Alaskan Anti-Real ID Activist and Democrat  —  I ran into anti-Real ID activist Bill Scannell, “the man who helped kill CAPPS II,” and asked him what intelligence he can give us about Sarah Palin, governor of the state he's lived in for the past several years.

Why Do We Like Palin?  —  Much has been written why Palin both brings strength to the McCain ticket and is a gamble at the same time.  Why then the growing wave of popular sentiment in her favor?  —  Various reasons, but one I think is that millions of Americans are simply tired of being lectured at by smug elites.

Obama to Appear on Fox on Thursday Night  —  CHICAGO — Before Senator John McCain delivers his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday, Senator Barack Obama will make a marquee appearance of his own.  —  Call it counter-intuitive.  He will appear on “The O'Reilly Factor” on Fox News Channel.