MSNBC Takes Incendiary Hosts From Anchor Seat  —  MSNBC tried a bold experiment this year by putting two politically incendiary hosts, Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, in the anchor chair to lead the cable news channel's coverage of the election.  —  That experiment appears to be over.

Poll: Convention lifts McCain over Obama  —  WASHINGTON — The Republican National Convention has given John McCain and his party a significant boost, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll taken over the weekend shows, as running mate Sarah Palin helps close an “enthusiasm gap” that has dogged the GOP all year.

Ms. Palin's Pipeline  —  PEOPLE ARE still buzzing about Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's acceptance speech.  But while her style has been minutely analyzed, very little commentary has focused on one of the few substantive claims she made about her brief tenure as governor of Alaska …

Few Stand to Gain on This Bailout, and Many Lose  —  Over the years, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac showered riches on many winners: their executives, Wall Street bankers and Washington lobbyists.  Now the foundering mortgage giants are leaving some losers in their wake, notably their shareholders …

Palin in Debate  —  I just finished watching a video on C-Span's website of the August, 2006 Republican debate in the Alaska governor's race.  It pitted Frank Murkowski, the then-governor of the state and veteran of 22 years in the U.S. Senate, against Republican politician John Binkley and Wasilla mayor Sarah Palin.

Rice Offers Less-Than-Hearty Palin Endorsement  —  ABC News' Jonathan Karl Reports: In a weekend interview, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice passed up an opportunity to defend Sarah Palin from allegations that she does not have the foreign policy experience to be vice president.

SLOW SLIDE INTO OBLIVION  —  I spent most of the day today traveling and then giving a talk up at Union College a few hours north of New York City.  So I was offline most of the day.  And though I heard about Charlie Gibson bagging the first interview with Sarah Palin, I was eager to get home and read the details.

POST ENDORSES JOHN MCCAIN  —  THE Post today enthusiastically urges the election of Sen. John S. McCain as the 44th president of the United States.  —  McCain's lifelong record of service to America, his battle-tested courage, unshakeable devotion to principle and clear grasp of the dangers …

A Heartbeat Away  —  “We're not running against Governor Palin.”  —  David Axelrod, the Obama campaign's chief strategist, on “Fox News Sunday,” Sept. 7, 2008.  —  Actually, the Obama campaign is running (in part) against Sarah Palin.  Her name will appear with John McCain's on the ballot.

Sarah Palin's Secret Emails  —  The Palin administration won't release hundreds of emails from her office, claiming they cover confidential policy matters.  Then why do the subject lines refer to a political foe, a journalist, and non-policy topics?  —  In June, Andrée McLeod …

McCain's Convenient Untruth  —  When it comes to fighting wars, John McCain stands up and calls for sacrifice.  “We never hide from history; we make history,” he declared in his convention speech.  But when it comes to taxes, McCain is unwilling to demand even a teensy bit of sacrifice.

Brief slip puts Barack Obama in tough spot  —  Bellantoni (View Blog)  —  ST. LOUIS, Mo. — In a testament to the lightning speed of the false viral email rumors about Sen. Barack Obama's faith, a brief misstatement on a Sunday talk show already has caught fire on the Internet.

Patience, Poll-Watchers  —  If you peruse the comments in today's polling thread, you will see various sorts of proclamations about when John McCain's convention bounce will become meaningful (that is, when it can be described an actual shift in electoral preferences, rather than a temporary bounce).

Palin & Press: A Testy Start  —  ST. PAUL, Minn. — From the moment Sarah Palin stepped onto the national stage, she was mauled, minimized and manhandled by an openly skeptical media establishment.  —  That lasted six days.  By Thursday morning, after a speech in which she chided the journalistic elite …

Ban on Political Endorsements by Pastors Targeted  —  CHICAGO — Declaring that clergy have a constitutional right to endorse political candidates from their pulpits, the socially conservative Alliance Defense Fund is recruiting several dozen pastors to do just that on Sept. 28, in defiance of Internal Revenue Service rules.