memeorandum: McCain TV Ratings Beat Obama in Preliminary Numbers (Andrew Krukowski/TVWeek.com)

3:25 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, Salon, The Corner, The Politico, FiveThirtyEight.com, The Anonymous Liberal, NO QUARTER, Taylor Marsh, TigerHawk, Wizbang, Outside The Beltway, American Power, The Other McCain and Right Wing News

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 and A Blog For All

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: Hot Air, Weekly Standard Blog, Open Left, Don Surber, The Volokh Conspiracy, The GOPNation Blog, The Strata-Sphere and TPM Election Central

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, Pajamas Media, Boston Globe and Spin Cycle

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

David Bauder / Associated Press:
More than 40 million people see Palin speech

Discussion: The Corner, The Daily Dish, The Everyday Republican, Flopping Aces, Pajamas Media, Right Wing News and QandO

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

Discussion: www.redstate.com and Wake up America

Charles Krauthammer / Washington Post:
Palin's Problem

Discussion: The Daily Dish

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.

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

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

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

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

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: The Corner, Moonbattery, Debbie Schlussel, Wizbang 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, Macsmind and TIME.com

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

Discussion: Moonbattery

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

Discussion: 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, culturekitchen, Talking Points Memo and The Washington Note

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

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: Think Progress, Little Green Footballs, DownWithTyranny!, Campaign Silo 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: The Colorado Independent, Rolling Stone and Wonkette

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: Confederate Yankee, USA Today and Dr. Melissa Clouthier

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

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

Tobin Harshaw / The Opinionator: Parsing ‘Community Organizer’

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

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: Pam's House Blend, Discourse.net 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: Matthew Yglesias and Jeff Merkley for Senate

Dr. Sanity:

OH GEE, DID I JUST CROSS THE LINE ? — Idiots of all persuasions are asking this important question: “Did they just cross the line on 9/11? I ask this as a serious question.” — They are referring to the fact that the Republicans at their convention DARED to show a video of 9/11.

Discussion: Riehl World View and Ace of Spades HQ

Jed Lewison / The Jed Report:
Did they just cross the line on 9/11? — I ask this as a serious question.

Discussion: Raw Story

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 …

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 and ATTACKERMAN

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 …