Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a “per diem” allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

MEME TAKING HOLD?  —  We've now had a week of blaring headlines and one-liners about Sarah Palin as the mavericky, pork-busting reformer from Alaska.  But we seem to be witnessing the first stirrings of a backlash and a dawning realization that the ‘Sarah Palin’ we've heard …

O PASTOR IN SEX SCANDAL  —  REV. WRIGHT DONE ME WRONG: CHURCH LADY  —  By SAMUEL GOLDSMITH in Dallas and JEANE MacINTOSH in NY  —  He almost wrecked Barack Obama's presidential dreams, and now firebrand pastor Jeremiah Wright has helped destroy a Dallas church worker's marriage - and her job, The Post has learned.

The Corruption Inside Fannie Mae  —  With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now under federal control, some people are paying attention not just to the housing market conditions involved in their downfall but also to the mismanagement and corruption that helped cripple the federally-backed mortgage companies.

Quietly, Obama Campaign Calls In The Cavalry  —  There's been a spurt of 527 activity on behalf of Sen. John McCain, but Barack Obama campaign has suddenly gone silent on the subject.  —  That's because, after of year of telling donors not to contribute to 527 groups, of encouraging strategists …

Pastor: GOP may be downplaying Palin's religious beliefs  —  WASILLA, Alaska (CNN) — For more than two decades, vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was a practicing Pentecostal.  —  She belonged to the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska.

McCain Now Winning Majority of Independents  —  Majority of independents now prefer him over Obama, 52% to 37%  —  PRINCETON, NJ — John McCain's 6 percentage-point bounce in voter support spanning the Republican National Convention is largely explained by political independents shifting …

Koch backs Obama, calls Palin ‘scary’  —  Former New York Mayor Ed Koch, who endorsed and worked for George W. Bush in 2004, is endorsing Obama today, NY1 first reported.  —  I asked Koch just now what prompted the move.  —  “The designation of Palin to be vice president,” he said.  “She's scary.”

Surprise Me Most  —  None of us have ever lived through an election at a time when 80 percent of voters think the country is headed in the wrong direction.  But now that we're in the thick of it, a few things are clear.  From voters, the demand is: Surprise Me Most.  For candidates, the lesson is: Weirdness Wins.

Straining to Reach Money Goal, Obama Presses Donors  —  After months of record-breaking fund-raising, a new sense of urgency in Senator Barack Obama's fund-raising team is palpable as the full weight of the campaign's decision to bypass public financing for the general election is suddenly upon it.

What's the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists?  Lipstick  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin addresses supporters during a campaign rally in Lee's Summit, Mo., Sept. 8, 2008.  —  John McCain announced that he was running for president to confront the “transcendent challenge” …

Clinton Stumps for Obama, but With Little Fire at Palin  —  In her first campaign outing since the Democratic National Convention, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton urged audiences across central Florida on Monday to oppose the Republican presidential ticket — “no McCain, no Palin” …

On Nov. 4, Remember 9/11  —  THE next president must do one thing, and one thing only, if he is to be judged a success: He must prevent Al Qaeda, or a Qaeda imitator, from gaining control of a nuclear device and detonating it in America.  Everything else — Fannie Mae, health care reform …

Sarah Palin is not such a small-town girl after all  —  It is clear that few in America, let alone Britain, have any idea what to make of Sarah Palin.  The Republicans' vice-presidential candidate confounds the commentators because they don't understand the forces that shaped her in the remote state of Alaska.

Obama camp briefs McCain press corps  —  Obama campaign manager David Plouffe defended the Democratic nominee's strategy on Monday, after a spate of recent polls reported John McCain with a slight lead in the race.  —  “In this building we don't spend a lot of time on national polls …

McCain plans new Palin rollout  —  Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will speak at her son's Army deployment ceremony on 9/11 and spend two days with ABC News crews later this week as part of a McCain campaign plan to increase Americans' comfort with her as a leader.  —  Campaign and network officials …