Palin Makes Her First Gaffe  —  Gov. Sarah Palin made her first potentially major gaffe during her time on the national scene while discussing the developments of the perilous housing market this past weekend.  —  Speaking before voters in Colorado Springs, the Republican vice presidential nominee claimed …

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.

Republicans' Enthusiasm Jumps After Convention  —  McCain edges ahead; Palin speech may be a factor  —  PRINCETON, NJ — As the remarkable two-week stretch of back-to-back presidential nomination conventions ends, a weekend USA Today/Gallup Poll finds that the John McCain-Sarah Palin ticket …

Claiming the ‘Maverick’ Brand  —  The Ad: Announcer: The original mavericks.  He fights pork barrel spending.  She stopped the Bridge to Nowhere.  He took on the drug industry.  She took on big oil.  He battled Republicans and reformed Washington.  She battled Republicans and reformed Alaska.

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 …

Review: Russell Brand hosts the VMAs with candor  —  Russell Brand seemed a little out of place as the host at the MTV Video Music Awards.  —  Not because he's British or relatively unknown in America, as most of the chatter was about before Sunday night's show from Los Angeles.

CNN Poll: Race dead even  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — A new national poll taken entirely after the end of the Republican convention suggests the race for the White House between John McCain and Barack Obama is dead even.  —  A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll out Monday afternoon …

Why Did Violence Plummet?  It Wasn't Just the Surge.  —  Throughout the summer of 2007, as the troop surge in Iraq reached full strength, Gen. David H. Petraeus kept waiting for the tide to turn.  By summer's end, the U.S. commander in Iraq got his wish.  The high of 1,550 attacks …

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.

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 …

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.

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 …