memeorandum: Federal Highway Fund About to Run Out of Money (David Stout/New York Times)

5:20 PM ET, September 5, 2008

Top Items:

Palin Power: Fresh Face Now More Popular Than Obama, McCain — A week ago, most Americans had never heard of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Now, following a Vice Presidential acceptance speech viewed live by more than 40 million people, Palin is viewed favorably by 58% of American voters.

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama's Lead Now at 4 Points — Obama's position about halfway between his recent highs and lows — PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup Poll Daily tracking from Tuesday through Thursday finds Barack Obama with a four-percentage-point lead over John McCain in the presidential preferences of registered voters, 48% to 44%.

Discussion: Power Line, Hot Air, The Swamp, Weekly Standard Blog, Daily Kos, American Power, The GOPNation Blog, Open Left, The Strata-Sphere and Don Surber

Andrew Krukowski / TVWeek.com:

McCain TV Ratings Beat Obama in Preliminary Numbers — Presidential candidate John McCain's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention drew more television viewers than his rival Barack Obama attracted at the Democratic party's event last week, according to preliminary ratings from Nielsen Media Research.

Discussion: Hot Air, Ben Smith's Blogs, Wake up America, A Blog For All, Political Machine and TIME.com

Carolyn Lochhead / SFGate:

Obama Suddenly Riled — Sen. Barack Obama ditched his normal languid cool today, punching back at Gov. Sarah Palin as he spoke with reporters in York, Pa, hotly defending his work as a community organizer. He said he assumes Palin “wants to be treated same way guys want to be treated, which means their records are under scrutinty.

Discussion: Buck Naked Politics

Gary Langer / ABCNEWS:

Highly Partisan Reception Greets Palin as V.P. Pick — Half Say Palin Doesn't Have Experience to Be President — Sarah Palin is receiving a highly partisan reception on the national political stage, with significant public doubts about her readiness to serve as president …

Discussion: unbossed.com, Associated Press, Pajamas Media, Boston Globe and Spin Cycle

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Guess which card Obama pulled out of the deck today?

Discussion: Ace of Spades HQ and Riehl World View

David Paul Kuhn / The Politico:
Poll: Democratic bounce gone, race tied

Discussion: www.redstate.com and Stop The ACLU

Marc Ambinder:

No Interviews Till She's Ready — A senior McCain campaign official advises that, despite the gaggle of requests and pressure from the media, Gov. Sarah Palin won't submit to a formal interview anytime soon. She may take some questions from local news entities in Alaska, but until she's ready …

Discussion: Think Progress, The New Republic, The Washington Independent, Political Punch and American Spectator

Ben Smith / The Politico:
Back to Alaska — Howard Fineman reported tonight …

Discussion: TalkLeft, MyDD, The Moderate Voice, Anchorage Daily News, Taegan Goddard's … and AMERICAblog News

Ali / Think Progress:
McCain Campaign Plans To Keep Palin Away From The Press

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland and Booman Tribune

Anchorage Daily News:

Palin's stall — Governor is stonewalling the Troopergate investigation — Gov. Sarah Palin is taking the wrong approach to Troopergate. She should be practicing the open and transparent, ethical and accountable government she promised when running for governor and boasts about now that she's on the national stage.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, The Daily Dish, Political Machine, Talking Points Memo, The Washington Note and culturekitchen

Akmuckraker / Mudflats:
Palin Leaves Campaign Trail. Flees North.

Discussion: Hullabaloo, The Reaction, Martini Revolution, Celtic Diva's Blue Oasis, PoliticalBase.com Blog and Firedoglake

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
DELICATE DANCE — The investigators up in Alaska have come …

Discussion: TPMMuckraker

Drudge Report:

BIG DILEMMA: OPRAH BALKS AT HOSTING SARAH PALIN; STAFF DIVIDED — Oprah Winfrey may have introduced Democrat Barack Obama to the women of America — but the talkshow queen is not rushing to embrace the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket! — Oprah's staff is sharply divided …

Discussion: Commentary, The Corner, Media Blog, Wizbang, Moonbattery, Debbie Schlussel and American Princess

TMZ.com:

Oprah to Palin: I Can Pencil You In Later — Oprah has issued a statement to TMZ — she won't put Sarah Palin on her show until after the election. — Here's the statement: “The item in today's Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show.

Discussion: michellemalkin.com, Moonbattery and Macsmind

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air: Oprah afraid of Palin? Update: Oprah responds

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

MYSTERY SOLVED! — A lot of people were asking tonight: what the hell was that mansion up behind John McCain tonight during the first part of the speech? As I noted below, the TV close-ups only showed McCain's head against the grass in the picture, which made it look like he was reprising his famed green screen performance.

Discussion: The Field on the Narcosphere, Political Radar, Scholars and Rogues, DCist, The BRAD BLOG, Philly.com, TPM Election Central, Political Machine, Daily Kos, Alan Colmes' Liberaland, TPMCafe, Democrats.com, Hullabaloo, Open Left, Guardian, Wonkette and Martini Revolution

Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
The Mystery Of McCain's Walter Reed Backdrop

Discussion: Political Machine

Chris Orr / The New Republic:
McCain Goes to (North) Hollywood

Discussion: Talking Points Memo and TPM Election Central

Marisa Guthrie / Broadcasting & Cable:

Exclusive: News Execs Fire Back at GOP Media Attacks — CNN's Jon Klein, NBC News' Steve Capus dismiss criticism of Palin coverage as stale political strategy. — After several primetime speakers at this week's Republican National Convention unleashed a barrage of attacks on the news media …

Discussion: The Huffington Post, AlterNet and The Swamp

Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times: Media on the defensive over Sarah Palin coverage

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Here We Go — Todd Palin's former business partner files an emergency motion to have his divorce papers sealed. Oh God.

Discussion: I Am TRex, Discourse.net, Pam's House Blend, Wonkette and Jack & Jill Politics

Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Employment Situation Summary — Technical information: — Household data: (202) 691-6378 USDL 08-1252 — Establishment data:(202) 691-6555 Transmission of material in this release — http://www.bls.gov/ces/ is embargoed until 8:30 A.M. (EDT), Media contact: (202) 691-5902 Friday, September 5, 2008.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, Wonk Room, Top of the Ticket, ATTACKERMAN, The Big Picture and BizzyBlog

Michael M. Grynbaum / New York Times:
Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.1%

Discussion: MSNBC, Buck Naked Politics and Jeff Merkley for Senate

Michelle Malkin:

Explaining the “community organizer” joke to the outraged Left — One of the best moments of Wednesday's GOP convention — and there were many — was Rudy Giuliani's jab at Barack Obama's days as a “community organizer.” The follow-up from Gov. Sarah Palin was icing on the cake.

Discussion: The Opinionator, Confederate Yankee, Dr. Melissa Clouthier and USA Today

Jim Treacher / Mother, May I Sleep with Treacher?:
YOU CAN CALL A WOMAN A BAD MOTHER FOR NOT FORCING HER DAUGHTER …

Discussion: Wizbang, The Jawa Report and Macsmind

Courtney Hazlett / MSNBC:

Angry readers dump Us Magazine over Palin — Plus: Britney's mom defends self in book; ‘Thunder’ is going down — Three celebrity weeklies — OK!, People and Us Weekly — featured Sarah Palin on their cover, but one of those magazines is reportedly losing subscribers because of it. — The Scoop

Discussion: NewsBusters.org, Mother, May I Sleep …, Commentary, Wake up America, The Sundries Shack, Stop The ACLU, Ace of Spades HQ, The Strata-Sphere and The Moderate Voice

John B. Judis / The New Republic:

Creation Myth — What Barack Obama won't tell you about his community organizing past. — In late October 1987, Barack Obama and Jerry Kellman took a weekend off from their jobs as community organizers in Chicago and traveled to a conference on social justice and the black church at Harvard.

Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:

'A Servant's Heart' — Sarah Palin killed. And more than killed. — Much has been said about her speech, but a few points. “The difference between a hockey mom and a pitbull? Lipstick” is pure American and goes straight into Bartlett's. This is the authentic sound of the American mama …

Discussion: Ross Douthat, ATTACKERMAN and Jezebel

Timothy Karr / The Huffington Post:

St. Paul in the Hot Seat over Journalist Arrests — Journalists and St. Paul citizens assembled outside St. Paul City Hall today to deliver more than 60,000 letters to Mayor Chris Coleman and prosecuting attorneys demanding that they immediately drop charges against all journalists arrested …

Danny Valentine / media.www.dailyiowan.com: Police detain ex-DI writer, other journalists covering Republican …

Whitney Pastorek / EW.com:

Exclusive: Heart's Nancy Wilson responds to McCain campaign's use of ‘Barracuda’ at Republican convention — Thursday afternoon, Heart e-mailed out a statement regarding vice-presidential candidate Sarah “Barracuda” Palin's use of their similarly monikered song at the Republican National Convention …

Discussion: Rolling Stone, Salon, The Colorado Independent, Buck Naked Politics, Wonkette and Comments from Left Field