Top Items:
Washington Post:
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.
Discussion:
Firedoglake, The Swamp, The Corner, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, www.redstate.com, Emptywheel, Weekly Standard, The RBC, Calitics, Jack & Jill Politics, The Jed Report, The XX Factor, MSNBC, Pam's House Blend, The Sundries Shack, Neptunus Lex, Liberal Values, Daily Kos, Political Machine, Ace of Spades HQ, The Washington Independent, Flopping Aces, D-Day, Outside The Beltway and The Caucus
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CNN:
McCain and Palin once again play ‘Barracuda’ — LEBANON, Ohio (CNN) - The rock band “Heart” may have asked John McCain and Sarah Palin stop playing their song “Barracuda” at their rallies, but the campaign is apparently paying no heed. — The track — played at the Republican National Convention …
Michael Kinsley / Time:
Sarah Palin's Alaskonomics — Sarah Palin thinks she is a better American than you because she comes from a small town, and a superior human being because she isn't a journalist and never lived in Washington and likes to watch her kids play hockey. Although Palin praised John …
Discussion:
QandO
Amanda / Think Progress:
Palin repeats Bridge to Nowhere lie. — Today at a rally with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in Ohio, Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) once again repeated the lie that she opposed the infamous Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska: … Watch it: — ThinkProgress has been keeping track of how many times the McCain campaign is repeating this lie.
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, Political Machine, Comments from Left Field, Kevin Drum, Spin Cycle, AMERICAblog News, Salon, The Caucus and Obsidian Wings
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Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
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 …
Michael Crowley / The New Republic:
About that Bridge.... WSJ: … I wondered about this yesterday.
About that Bridge.... WSJ: … I wondered about this yesterday.
Discussion:
Jonathan Martin's Blogs
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
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.”
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Andy Barr / The Hill's Blog Briefing Room:
Biden: Palin Would Be ‘Backward Step for Women’
Biden: Palin Would Be ‘Backward Step for Women’
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics
Paul Steinhauser / CNN:
Poll: Men and women don't see eye-to-eye on Palin
Poll: Men and women don't see eye-to-eye on Palin
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog
Wall Street Journal:
We'll Protect Taxpayers From More Bailouts — The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another outrageous, but sadly necessary, step for these two institutions. Given the long-term mismanagement and flawed structure of these two companies, this was the only short-term alternative …
Discussion:
The Foundry, Hot Air, Think Progress, Political Punch, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and pandagon.net
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New York Post:
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.
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
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 …
Discussion:
Commentary, The Swamp, The Moderate Voice, Reuters, Hot Air, Scared Monkeys, Wake up America, Taylor Marsh, NO QUARTER, Vox Popoli and MyDD
Marc Ambinder:
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 …
Reuters:
World wants Obama as president: poll — US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may be struggling to nudge ahead of his Republican rival in polls at home, but people across the world want him in the White House, a BBC poll said. — All 22 countries covered in the poll would prefer …
David Brooks / New York Times:
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.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias, Political Perceptions, The Next Right, marbury, Balkinization, The Glittering Eye, Commentary and Sadly, No!
Marc Ambinder:
Andrew Sullivan — Lots of e-mails asking about Andrew's whereabouts. I checked in with him; he's fine. He's taking a few days off. Worry not, fans.
Manu Raju / The Hill:
Lieberman to skip Dem lunches — Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) will not attend the Democratic policy lunches in the Senate this month, the latest sign that he is moving away from the party after criticizing Barack Obama at the Republican National Convention.
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Natalie Gewargis / Political Punch:
In a Not-Remotely-Comic Strip, Bill Ayers Weighs In on What He Meant By 'We Didn't Do Enough' to End Vietnam War — In a four-panel not-even-remotely-comic strip, William Ayers, the former member of the Weather Underground and associate of Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., weighs in on his blog on some of the controversy he's been causing.
Richard Cohen / Washington Post:
Too Cool to Fight? — Thank God for Sarah Palin. Without her jibes, her sarcasm, her exaggerations, her smug provincialism, her hypocrisy about family and government, her exploitation of mommyhood, and her personal attacks on Barack Obama, the Democratic base might never be consolidated.
William McGurn / Wall Street Journal:
Generals Behaving Badly — When Abraham Lincoln famously sent word to Gen. George McClellan that he'd like to “borrow” the army if the general wasn't planning on using it, the commander of Union forces likely did not take it kindly. McClellan, after all, was a man whose letters home referred …
Discussion:
SWJ Blog
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David Plotz / Slate:
I Dream About Sarah Palin. Do You? — SEND US YOUR DREAMS ABOUT THE REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE. — I rarely remember my dreams, but for the past week, GOP vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been haunting me. Night after night, she appears in my dreams, always as a scolding, ominous figure.
Discussion:
The Corner
Randi Kaye / CNN:
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.
Polimom / The Moderate Voice:
Obama vs. McCain: Why I'm Back on the Fence — This morning, I wrote at my own blog that I've pulled the Obama sticker off of my truck; that although I'm not suddenly a McCain supporter, I can no longer be counted in the Obama column. — In short, that I'm back on the fence.