memeorandum: Palin Leaves Campaign Trail. Flees North. (Akmuckraker/Mudflats)

1:40 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.

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, The Corner, Salon, Wizbang, FiveThirtyEight.com, American Power, Right Wing News and PrestoPundit

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: Ben Smith's Blogs, A Blog For All, Hot Air and TIME.com

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: The Swamp, The Politico, Spin Cycle, Pajamas Media and Boston Globe

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: The Jawa Report, JammieWearingFool and Ace of Spades HQ

David Bauder / Associated Press:

More than 40 million people see Palin speech — NEW YORK (AP) - Barack Obama apparently isn't the only “rock star” in presidential politics this year. — After days of intense media coverage about Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's qualifications, more than 40 million Americans tuned …

Discussion: The Corner, The Daily Dish, The Everyday Republican, Washington Post, Pajamas Media, Blue Crab Boulevard, Jules Crittenden and Soccer Dad

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: Don Surber and The Strata-Sphere

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

Discussion: Wake up America and www.redstate.com

New York Times:
Obama Camp Turns to Clinton to Counter Palin

Discussion: TPM Election Central, Washington Post, Hot Air, Althouse, The Politico, The Caucus, QandO, The Strata-Sphere, Right Wing News, Patterico's Pontifications and Shakesville

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.

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
SURPRISED — I wasn't sure what to expect from this speech tonight.

Discussion: PSoTD and Rising Hegemon

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: Moonbattery, American Princess, Wizbang and PoliPundit.com

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: Macsmind and TIME.com

Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Oprah afraid of Palin?

Discussion: Mother, May I Sleep …

Mike Murphy / Swampland:
The Swooning Over Sarah...

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TalkLeft and Donklephant

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: michellemalkin.com, Commentary, Mother, May I Sleep …, The Corner, Stop The ACLU, The Sundries Shack, The Strata-Sphere and Ace of Spades HQ

Warner Todd Huston / NewsBusters.org: Us Magazine Hit Hard by Canceling Subscribers After Palin Attack

Akmuckraker / Mudflats:

Palin Leaves Campaign Trail. Flees North. — Well this is interesting. Chuck Todd dropped a little bombshell this afternoon. … Hole up in Alaska? I was thinking to myself after her polished but snarky performance at the Republican National Convention, “I wonder who will get the first interview?”

Discussion: Firedoglake, Hullabaloo, Jack & Jill Politics, Emptywheel and Grasping Reality …

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 and Talking Points Memo

MataHarley / Flopping Aces:
Trooper'gate: Different charges, new battlefield, and the planned October surprise

Discussion: The Jawa Report

TMZ.com:

Republicans Lack Heart! — Ann and Nancy Wilson are pissed at the Republican Party and have fired off a cease and desist letter to the McCain/Palin campaign. — Specifically, the Heart women are upset that the GOP has used their classic “Barracuda” as a theme song for Sarah Palin.

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, DownWithTyranny!, Campaign Silo, Hot Air, The Gun Toting Liberal and Snapped Shot

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, Wonkette, Us Weekly and Slog

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: ATTACKERMAN, The Big Picture and BizzyBlog

Jeannine Aversa / Associated Press:
Jobless rate jumps to 5-year high of 6.1 percent

Discussion: Washington Monthly

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

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias

Jim Treacher / Mother, May I Sleep with Treacher?:

YOU CAN CALL A WOMAN A BAD MOTHER FOR NOT FORCING HER DAUGHTER TO HAVE AN ABORTION, AND CLAIM THAT THE SAME WOMAN DIDN'T ACTUALLY GIVE BIRTH TO HER OWN SON... ...but don't you dare ask what a community organizer actually does. — A commenter at QandO was nice enough to explain the difference between Obama Black Nixon and Palin:

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Confederate Yankee, Macsmind, Weekly Standard Blog and Wizbang

Tobin Harshaw / The Opinionator:
Parsing ‘Community Organizer’

Discussion: michellemalkin.com and Jezebel

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Resentment Strategy — Can the super-rich former governor of Massachusetts — the son of a Fortune 500 C.E.O. who made a vast fortune in the leveraged-buyout business — really keep a straight face while denouncing “Eastern elites”? — Can the former mayor of New York City, a man who …

Discussion: Feministe, French Politics, Three Wise Men, James Fallows and Prairie Weather

Matea Gold / Los Angeles Times:

Media on the defensive over Sarah Palin coverage — After the GOP attacks the media over stories about the vice presidential nominee's family, TV networks and newspapers deny bias and say Republicans opened the door to coverage. — NEW YORK — News executives Thursday tried to shake off …

Jed Lewison / The Jed Report:

Did they just cross the line on 9/11? — I ask this as a serious question. I have not seen the video that Olbermann references — I've been watching football, but I've got the video recorded and I'm going to watch it now. — I hope Keith is wrong. — Update (6:35PM): The Boston Globe chimes in.

Discussion: Dr. Sanity and The Reaction