McCain-Palin Crowd-Size Estimates Not Backed by Officials  —  Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Senator John McCain has drawn some of the biggest crowds of his presidential campaign since adding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to his ticket on Aug. 29.  Now officials say they can't substantiate the figures McCain's aides are claiming.

In Office, Palin Hired Friends and Hit Critics  —  WASILLA, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal.  —  So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship.

ABC News Edited Out Key Parts of Sarah Palin Interview  —  A transcript of the unedited interview of Sarah Palin by Charles Gibson clearly shows that ABC News edited out crucial portions of the interview that showed Palin as knowledgeable or presented her answers out of context.

Campaigns shout it out  —  So much for nuance, or elevating the dialogue.  —  Locked in a political death match with 52 days to live, the presidential campaigns went nuclear on what looked to be a quiet Saturday, with stumping curtailed because of Hurricane Ike's catastrophic overnight hit on Houston.

Florida may be falling from Obama's grasp  —  Barack Obama could be on the verge of falling out of contention in Florida.  —  Despite spending an estimated $8-million on campaign ads in America's biggest battleground state and putting in place the largest Democratic campaign organization ever in Florida …

Are YOU ready to be President?  —  If Charlie Gibson asked me if I were prepared to be the President of the United States .... and if I had the experience, both life and professional, of Sarah Palin, I would not answer the way she did on http://abcnews.go.com/Video/ playerIndex?id=5793131ABC News this past week.

Forum sells ‘Obama Waffles’ with racial stereotype  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Activists at a conservative political forum snapped up boxes of waffle mix depicting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama as a racial stereotype on its front and wearing Arab-like headdress on its top flap.

Greenspan: No McCain tax cuts without reduction  —  WASHINGTON - Alan Greenspan says the country can't afford tax cuts of the magnitude proposed by Republican presidential contender John McCain — at least not without a corresponding reduction in government spending.

Sarah Palin will be interviewed by Sean Hannity next  —  Next up for Palin: Sean Hannity  —  The Sarah Palin media roll-out continues.  After doing two days of interviews with ABC's Charles Gibson this week, the Alaska governor will sit down with Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday.

The latest Sarah Palin smear from the Left: teen molester  —  Just when you thought the Left could not possibly sink any lower in their bid to smear Sarah Palin, Air America manages to provide what hopefully will be the nadir of their efforts.  Randi Rhodes of Air America/Nova M Radio told …

Biden prepares for more prominent role in campaign  —  MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) — The vice presidential nominee you aren't hearing so much about, Democrat Joe Biden, is planning a more prominent role to help validate Barack Obama among white working-class voters and criticize the Republican rival he's long called a friend.

McCain and Palin plan joint town halls in battleground states  —  RENO, Nevada (CNN) — CNN has learned that John McCain and Sarah Palin plan to hold joint town hall meetings next week.  —  A McCain adviser says early plans are to hold the town halls in western Michigan and Wisconsin …

Obama's Fundraising Machine Still Rolling as Campaign Stays Coy  —  Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Barack Obama may be playing possum.  —  John McCain's campaign is boasting about a surge in fundraising following his pick of running mate Sarah Palin, a swell of cash that his campaign says has eroded the money advantage Obama once enjoyed.

Palin's Performance—Fine, But...  My take (and I didn't see the bits that aired on 20/20 or Nightline last night, although I read the transcript) was that she survived.  That's all she had to do.  Politically, everyone was grading her on a pass/fail, and she passed.

McCain on FCS: Flip-flop or fib?  —  Has Sen. John McCain renounced his longtime antagonism toward the Army's Future Combat Systems?  —  On Sept. 8, the Republican presidential candidate told a rally crowd in Lee's Summit, Mo., about an Obama video message to a liberal advocacy group.