by Mark Silva

Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin:

A couple of women celebrating "cracks in the glass ceiling'' this year -- Clinton was the first woman to win a major party's presidential primary election, the Democrats' in New Hampshire, and Palin is the first woman nominated for vice president by the Republicans - who might still like to be president some day.

They could hardly be any more different.

Yet in many ways, while they campaign for their party's presidential candidates this year, they are fighting the same battle.

Clinton, dispelling notions that she really won't offer much help for Democratic nominee Barack Obama this year, is headed to Florida on Monday for a "Change We Need'' rally in Tampa and a community event on the economy in Kissimmee.

Palin, following a post-convention tour with Republican nominee John McCain, will start setting her own schedule for the two-month campaign ahead. McCain has told the nation that "a change is coming,'' and that change includes Palin.

Yet both Clinton and Palin could still have aspirations beyond this contest. Clinton's best hope for the presidency rests on Obama losing in November, something which she vows to work to avoid. Palin's best hope rests on a McCain victory in November. So it's natural to ask which one of these women will be working harder for their parties' nominees between now and Nov. 4.

These two have little in common beyond the glass ceiling that both face as women in a traditionally good old boys' game. Clinton believes it takes a village to raise a child. Palin figures it takes a church. Clinton is "pro-choice,'' Palin pro-life. Clinton is an Ivy Leaguer, Palin a frontier politician. Clinton was the nation's first lady. Palin was the mayor of Wasilla. They've both had some shooting lessons, but Palin's sharp-shooting skills are up to date.

Palin tipped her hat to Clinton when McCain announced her as a running mate. And Clinton tipped hers to Palin.

by Jill Zuckman

Robert Duvall and his wife, Luciana Pedraza, were the opening act for Sen. John McCain and his running mate, Sarah Palin, at the Albuquerque Convention Center this evening.

Walking on stage, Duvall, the star of the "Godfather," shouted out, "Somebody give me an amen!"

The crowd, numbering in the thousands, shouted "amen" back at Duvall.

"My friend, Wilford Brimley, the old cowboy actor you may know, told me, 'Bobby, when you sit down and talk with this man, he will sit down and listen to you with no agenda,' " Duvall said, adding that Brimley told him when McCain "was in North Vietnam in the prison camps, they tried to kill him and he wouldn't let them."

"He will be our next president of the United States of America," predicted the energetic actor.

"For now, my wife will be voting for the first time," he said of Pedraza, who is from Brazil. "Who will she be voting for?"

Thousands of voters shouted "McCain!"

"And who will I be voting for?" he asked. "McCain!" the crowd responded.

"And the point of the whole evening is who will you be voting for?"

"McCain!" was the reply.

by Mark Silva

Republican John McCain told his party at his nominating convention that he doesn't work for the party - he works for the people.

And McCain, who courted the idea of tapping a former Democrat for his running mate, friend Joe Lieberman, says he can promise that, as president, he will have some Democrats working in his Cabinet.

That's not the sort of talk his party wanted to hear, necessarily, at its convention. He told fellow Republicans that he is a "maverick,'' and that is not always a compliment. But it could be the sort of thing that independent voters - and Democrats still smarting over the loss of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries - want to hear.

"I don't know how many,'' McCain says of Democratic Cabinet members, in an interview with CBS News' Face the Nation that will air on Sunday morning. "But I can tell you, with all due respect to previous administrations. It is not going to be a single, 'well we have a Democrat now.'

"It's going to be the best people in America, the smartest people in America,'' McCain says. "So many of these problems we face--for example, energy independence -- what's partisan about that?''

"In other words, we've got to have people who are the best and the brightest, and I'll tell you, some of them I'll ask to work for a dollar a year."

McCain sat for the interview with CBS News' Bob Schieffer today in Colorado Springs. CBS offered some tidbits of the show this evening.

by James Oliphant and Jill Zuckman

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.--Barack Obama turned up the heat on John McCain and Sarah Palin at a rally here Saturday, accusing McCain of hijacking his campaign theme and being surrounded by lobbyists, and he charged that Palin, as governor of Alaska, accepted federal pork "when it's convenient."

In Colorado Springs, McCain and Palin launched a Western swing aimed at pumping up Evangelical voters and veterans that make up so much of the electorate in this evenly divided state. Taking the podium, Palin went after Obama's running mate, Joseph Biden, for being too comfortable with the ways of Washington.

And in a new contretemps, voters waved flags that GOP officials say Democrats threw out in the trash at Invesco Field following their convention in Denver. Republicans say a vendor at Invesco found garbage bags filled with flags in and around dumpsters. Democratic officials say the flags were taken from the stadium "in a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism."

At an event held in a show barn on the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds, Obama employed the strongest language he's used since McCain and Palin formally accepted the GOP nomination for president and vice-president. He also accused them of hijacking his message of change.

"Since the beginning of this campaign, we've talked about change," Obama said. "That's been the theme of this campaign. We must be onto something because I've noticed everybody's talking about change now. Everybody's talking about change."

"John McCain has said that, "change is coming." Now think about this. This is from the party that been in charge for eight years. They've been running the show." Obama said. "And suddenly, he's the change agent."

by Frank James

One of the most notable polling results at the time of the 2006 elections was that Democrats had closed the national-security gap versus Republicans who held a long and significant advantage in that area. That was short-lived.

Unfortunately for Democrats, the gap has reopened. Democrats are regaining the reputation with voters as wimps.

Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner has just released a survey that indicates that voters perceive Republicans once again as far and away better on national security issues than Democrats.

Forty nine percent of those surveyed thought Republicans were better on national security while 35 percent thought Democrats better. When it came to combating terrorism, 48 percent thought Republicans superior to Democrats while 33 percent gave Democrats the advantage.

According to the Greenberg study researchers:

The national security credibility gap is returning. Old doubts about Democrats on security, after diminishing during 2006-2007, have begun to re-emerge: concerns that Democrats follow the polls rather than principle; that Democrats are indecisive and are afraid to use force; and that Democrats don't support the military. Because these weaknesses are longstanding and deeply ingrained, and because Republicanweaknesses are newer and do not yet have a label associated with them, Republicans continue to win on many security issues.

The Greenberg poll, done for the think tank Third Way, echoes a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll which found a large lead for Republican Sen. John McCain over his Democratic rival Sen. Barack Obama, with McCain holding a ten point lead over Obama on the question: who would be better on the Iraq, a 25 point lead on the handling of international crises and a 28 point lead on being better able to handle terrorism.

Results like these in part explain why the Republicans stressed the military and terrorism at their recently completed convention in St. Paul, Minn. They were trying to run up the score on the Democrats in the national security area.

by Mark Silva

A couple of bounces, and the playing field levels.

An Obama "convention bounce'' and a McCain "rebound bounce.''

Barack Obama and John McCain went into their nominating conventions tied in the Gallup Poll's daily tracking surveys. And now, they are virtually tied again.

Obama, the Democratic junior senator from Illinois nominated for president by his party, gained an eight-point advantage over McCain, the Republican senior senator from Arizona nominated by his party, coming out of the Democratic convention in Denver. But now, with a day of surveys following the Republican convention included in the three-day track -- McCain running strong in Friday's post-convention surveys -- McCain has largely erased that advantage, according to Gallup.

"Barack Obama's advantage over John McCain has been shrinking since the start of the Republican National Convention, and is now down to just two percentage points -- 47 percent to 45 percent -- too close to call,'' Gallup's Lydia Saad reports today of a track that carries a possible margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

"Obama had led McCain by as much as eight percentage points in recent days, both during and immediately after the Democratic National Convention in Denver,'' Saad notes. "Those results reflected a convention bounce for Obama of four percentage points in his support among registered voters (from 45 percent to 49 percent).

"It appears that McCain is now enjoying a rebound bounce coming out of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul that is nullifying some of Obama's gains.'

"The interviewing for today's report partially reflects public opinion following the highlights of the Republican National Convention on Wednesday and Thursday nights when McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, made their acceptance speeches. This includes a strong night for McCain in Friday's interviewing, the first full night of interviewing following his acceptance speech.'

"The first Gallup Poll Daily tracking report based on interviewing conducted entirely after McCain's speech (from Friday through Sunday) will be published on Monday. The test for McCain will be whether he can do more than return the race to the absolute tie seen at the beginning of the convention period, and actually lead Obama by a significant margin for the first time since late April/early May.''

For more on the McCain-Obama polling, see Gallup.

by James Oliphant, and updated

TERRE HAUTE, Ind.--Barack Obama turned up the heat on John McCain and Sarah Palin at a rally here Saturday afternoon, accusing McCain of being surrounded by lobbyists and engaging in "Karl Rove-style" politics and charging that Palin, while in Alaska, accepted federal pork "when it's convenient."

At an event held in a show barn on the Wabash Valley Fairgrounds, Obama employed the strongest language he's used since McCain and Palin formally accepted the GOP nomination for president and vice-president. He also accused them of hijacking his message of change.

"Since the beginning of this campaign, we've been talking about change," Obama said. "That's been the theme of this campaign. We must be onto something because I've noticed everybody's talking about change now. Everybody's talking about change."

"John McCain has said that, "change is coming." Now think about this. This is from the party that been in charge for eight years. They've been running the show." Obama said. "And suddenly, he's the change agent."

Then Obama opened a fresh line of attack, one he hasn't used recently on the trail.

"He says I'm going to tell those lobbyists that their days of running Washington are over. Who's he going to tell?" Obama said. "Is he going to tell his campaign chairman who's one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington? Is he going to tell his campaign manager, who was one of the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington. Is he going to tell all the folks running his campaign, who are the biggest corporate lobbyists in Washington?

"Who is he going to tell that change is coming?" he said. "I mean, come on, they must think you're stupid."

by Jill Zuckman

CEDARBURG, Wis. -- Can a Republican candidate be a change candidate in an anti-Republican election year?

With an incumbent GOP president facing very low approval ratings after two terms, that's exactly what Sen. John McCain is trying to do.

McCain on Friday began his first full day as the official nominee of his party, introducing running mate Sarah Palin to voters in Wisconsin and Michigan. He emphasized his reformist, maverick credentials and pointed to the non-Washington ways of Palin, the first-term Alaska governor.

"I want to say how honored I am to have Gov. Sarah Palin as my running mate, who has done so much already to lift the spirits and morale for people all over this country because change is coming, change is coming," McCain promised a roaring crowd of more than 10,000 gathered in this historic community about 20 miles north of Milwaukee.

Change was the word as well at the just-completed Republican National Convention in St. Paul, where McCain was presented as a change agent by an array of speakers.

"That's been his argument all along--that's the story of his career," said Mark Salter, McCain's senior adviser. "He's been for change all his life and he's got the scars to prove it, not the other guy."

Palin, speaking to the crowd in Wisconsin, repeated a signature line from her convention speech about McCain using his career to promote change rather than promote his career.

by James Oliphant

The following statement was released Saturday by the competing presidential campaigns:

On September 11, 2008, we will join together to mark the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at Ground Zero.

"All of us came together on 9/11 -- not as Democrats or Republicans -- but as Americans. In smoke-filled corridors and on the steps of the Capitol; at blood banks and at vigils -- we were united as one American family. On Thursday, we will put aside politics and come together to renew that unity, to honor the memory of each and every American who died, and to grieve with the families and friends who lost loved ones. We will also give thanks for the firefighters, police, and emergency responders who set a heroic example of selfless service, and for the men and women who serve today in defense of the freedom and security that came under attack in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania."

John McCain and Barack Obama will appear together next Thursday at Columbia University in New York at a forum to discuss sacrifice and community service. Neither candidate will campaign that day.

by Mark Silva

Not since Spiro Agnew took on the "nattering nabobs of negativism'' has a presidential running mate stood so ready to wage a media war.

Sarah Palin, with her shots across the bow of the mainstream media in her hugely popular acceptance speech in St. Paul this week, has opened a floodgate of media-bashing. At the same time, her initial reluctance to field questions from the media raises questions of how insular a vice presidential nominee can possibly remain

"I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment.,'' Palin told the delegates of the Republican National Convention and a national television audience of 37 milliion people -- just a notch behind the viewership that Republican John McCain and Barack Obama drew for their acceptance speeches. "And I've learned quickly these last few days that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.''

(Boo, reads the transcript).

"Now here's a little news flash,'' Palin added. "Here's a little news flash for those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion. I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.

(Cheers, applause, chanting, transcript reads.)

"Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reason,'' Palin said, "and not just to mingle with the right people.''

Now, it's not so much a question of mingling with the media powers as it is answering their questions. On this forum alone, we've seen comments today suggesting that nobody cares if Palin talks to the media. But it isn't the media to whom she is talking when she answers reporters' questions. It is the public whom she is addressing.

And we've seen before a candidate's fortunes sink when he couldn't answer the simplest of questions: When retired Gen. Wesley Clark, former European supreme allied commander, took to the presidential campaign trail in 2004, he was foiled by a few reporters asking him what he would have done on the use of military force in iraq.

Game over.

At some point, certainly, Palin will answer reporters' questions, and the public will be the better-informed for it.

In the meantime, a candidate can hide behind speechwriters, as Agnew was doing when he addressed the California Republican state convention in San Diego in 1970. He said, "In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4-H Club -- the 'hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.'"

The words came from a wordsmith, William Safire, later columnist for The New York Times, then a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon and Agnew.

Palin's words this week came from other wordsmiths, and she delivered them powerfully. Still, at some point, a candidate must find her own words.

by Manya A. Brachear

When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin promised to lead the nation with a "servant's heart," evangelical Christians immediately recognized her as one of their own.

Whether before an audience of ministry students or on a national stage at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, the 44-year-old Palin speaks fluently about her faith, striking chords with phrases that evoke Christian virtue. Palin has called on people to pray for the cooperation necessary to build a natural gas pipeline across Alaska, labeled the U.S. mission in Iraq a "task that is from God" and argued that students should be taught the creation account from Genesis in public schools.

In a race where both presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, have tried to court religious voting blocs, Palin's introduction to the Republican ticket adds another dimension.

Just as McCain's politics are largely shaped by his experience as a prisoner of war and Obama's by his embrace of his racial identity, Palin's approach has been shaped by her relationship with God. Palin sees her government work as paling in comparison to a greater mission.

See the rest of the story about Sarah Palin's religion in today's Tribune.

by Mark Silva

President Bush is trying to change the subject.

The subject all week and this coming week: Hurricanes and tropical storms. The ones that have passed and the ones coming.

The story line is good: Recovery efforts so far: AOK.

But Bush wants to talk about oil drilling.

"The fundamental reason for high gasoline prices is that the supply of oil is not keeping pace with demand. By increasing supply through the use of our domestic resources, we can begin reducing the pressure on prices,'' the president says in today's weekly radio address.

"So in June, I called on Congress to open up more of America's domestic oil resources for exploration -- including offshore exploration of the Outer Continental Shelf. The American people overwhelmingly support this proposal. But throughout the summer, the leaders of the Democratic Congress refused to allow it to come to a vote.''

See the rest of the address here:

by Mark Silva

A couple of major political parties have just finished nominating their candidates for president and vice president. Pretty proud, they both are.

So everyone will show up at the Sunday morning news talk shows, right?

Wrong.

Where in the world is Sarah Palin?

As our colleague, Don Frederick, notes at Top of the Ticket, Palin is a no-show on the Sunday shows.

Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee for president, will appear on ABC This Week with George Stephanopoulos. Joe Biden, Obama's running mate, will appear on NBC's Meet the Press. John McCain, the Republican nominee for president - isn't it nice to be able to stop saying, presumptive? - will "Face the Nation'' on CBS.

There are a few cable networks out there with Sunday morning news shows. Funny they haven't booked Palin.

Maybe not so funny: McCain campaign manager Rick Davis has indicated that they aren't "in any hurry to slot Palin for a Sunday show appearance,'' Frederick notes, "and will do so only if he and other strategists determine it serves the ticket's purposes, not because some may view it as a required initiation for a major political player.''

Appearing on MSNBC's Morning Joe, Davis said, "I'd never commit to anything in the future. ... Our strategy is in our hands, not the media's. We're going to do what's in our best interests to try to win the election. If we think going on TV news shows are [sic] in our best interests, we'll do it. If we don't, we won't."

So, maybe putting Sarah Palin out there in public where she has to answer questions from a reporter, as opposed to running circles around a fast-reeling TelePrompTer, isn't in McCain's "best interests?''

Palin, conspicuous by her mere absence: This booking strategy may speak volumes about the McCain campaign's confidence in the governor from Alaska.

(AP Photo/David J. Sheakley)

by Andrew Zajac

What is it about Sarah Palin and e-Bay?

As a gubernatorial candidate, Palin vowed to sell a business jet acquired by then-Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski on e-Bay.

It was a popular move because the jet had come to symbolize Murkowski's arrogance and free-spending ways-- he tried for years to get one, even asking the federal Department of Homeland Security to underwrite a purchase.

When he did buy the jet, for $2.6 million, he used an existing state line of credit to avoid needing the approval of the state legislature, which he likely could not get.

Palin offered the plane for sale on e-Bay three times but bidders didn't meet the reserve price. She eventually turned to a broker, who sold the plane to businessman Larry Reynolds, of Valdez, for $2.1 million, in August 2007.

by Mark Silva

John McCain and George Bush.

That's who Barack Obama wants to talk about

John McCain and Sarah Palin.

That's who McCain wants to talk about.

McCain and Bush - "They share the same out of touch attitude, the same failure to understand the economy... the same questionable ties to lobbyists,'' the Obama campaign says in a TV ad, part of a campaign that will be running the word "same'' into the ground before Election Day.

The ad quotes and pictures McCain boasting about voting with Bush "90 percent of the time.'' That's a handy line for an Obama campaign portraying McCain as "more of the same.''

McCain and Palin: Then along comes Palin, the "lipstick'' hockey mom-pit bull, the come-from-nowhere governor of the state of the bridge to nowhere, and the McCain campaign is more than happy to define the real pair in this race: The reform-minded Republicans.

"Politics isn't just a game of competing interests and clashing parties,'' Palin says in the clips of this streaming ad of clips. "I stood up to the old politics as usual.''

The old politics. The new politics.

Voters get to decide which is which.

You can barely see the Washington Monument and U.S. Capitol today through the fog and rain in the nation's capital, courtesy of Tropical Storm Hanna. Thanks to the Washington Post webcam for the photo, murky though it is.