Update: Sarah Palin's next interview will be with Sean Hannity.

Update: Markos:

We're going to win this thing the way campaigns are won -- by playing hardball. Politics is a blood sport. Republicans understand this and never flinch from flinging the sh!t. We won't win until we learn to fight back in kind. And I'm more than happy to get down in the mud with our friends on the Right so Obama doesn't have to.

Same here, although I think Obama should do it too.

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Sen. Barack Obama runs against John McCain, and only John McCain, at his peril -- and ours.

Family Research Council Action waded ever deeper into the world of electoral politics on Friday with the announcement by Mr. Perkins of the formation of a new political action committee.

More....

Two conservatives from Tennessee went to the Values Voter Summit, sponsored by the Family Research Council, to sell boxes of waffle mix. The two dunces probably thought they were clever to market their Obama Waffles at a family values forum. Their attempt at political satire was a hit with the right wing, at least until this morning, when summit organizers decided that overtly racist satire might not reflect conservative values in exactly the way the summit intended.

While Obama Waffles takes aim at Obama's politics by poking fun at his public remarks and positions on issues, it also plays off the image of the classic pancake-mix icon Aunt Jemima, which has been widely criticized as a demeaning stereotype. Obama is portrayed with popping eyes and big, thick lips as he stares at a plate of waffles and smiles broadly.

The top of the box shows Obama wearing an "Arab-like headdress" while on the back [more ...]

Another John McCain - Sarah Palin lie is that Palin visited Iraq when she took her sole official trip out of the U.S. during her entire career. The Washington Post reports:

Aides to Gov. Sarah Palin are scrambling to explain details of her only trip outside North America -- which, according to a new report, did not include Iraq, as the McCain-Palin campaign had initially claimed.

Palin made an official visit to see Alaskan troops in Kuwait in July of 2007. There, she made a stop at a border crossing with Iraq, but did not actually visit the country, according to a new report in the Boston Globe.

Earlier, McCain aides had said that Palin visited Iraq, and expressed indignation at questions about her slim foreign travel.

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A good ad from Obama:

I would put Bush at the top of the ad as well though.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

I like what Obama had to say in NH yesterday:

The good news is that in 53 days, the name George Bush will not be on the ballot. But make no mistake: his policies will. A few weeks ago, John McCain said that the economy is "fundamentally strong," and a few days later George Bush said the same thing. In fact, Senator McCain has said that we made "great progress economically" over the last eight years. . . My opponent said just last night, "It's easy for me to go to Washington and frankly, be somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have." So from where he and George Bush sit, maybe they just can't see. Maybe they are just that out of touch. But you know the truth, and so do I.

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Newsweek (9/9-11) has it 46-46. Ras (9/10-12) has McCain by 3. Hotline (9/9-11) has Obama by 1. Gallup Tracker (9/10-12) has McCain by 2, 47-45. DKos/R2000 (9/10-12) has it a 47-47 tie.

It seems as if McCain has a slight lead. I was hoping and expecting McCain's Convention bounce to fade. It seems safe to say it has not and the state of the race is a virtual tie/narrow McCain lead. [More...]

I'm still in meetings in Florida learning about new developments for LexisNexis and Martindale Hubbell.

Here's a picture I took last night at the boat marina.

This is an open thread.

As the Supreme Court decides whether to reconsider its decision barring death as the penalty for sexually assaulting a child, the head of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council, Sheikh Saleh al-Lohaidan, announced that television station owners could be put to death under Islamic Sharia law if they broadcast Turkish soap operas during the holy month of Ramadan.

[The soap operas became] popular in Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries this year, provoking a storm of anger among conservatives in Saudi Arabia who fear the spread of secular culture. They gained huge popularity partly because they were dubbed into colloquial Arabic and focused on a Muslim country whose culture many Arabs can relate to. The characters would fast in Ramadan but also drink wine.

[more ...]

I'm watching the end of part 2 of the Charlie Gibson - ABC interview of Gov Sarah Palin.

Excerpts here.

What did you think? Did she put any of your fears to rest?

John McCain's latest departures from the truth came on a visit to The View. McCain assured Barbara Walters that Sarah Palin would "reform all of Washington." How?

“By doing what she did in Alaska.”

What, exactly?

“First of all, earmark spending, which she vetoed a half a billion dollars worth in the state of Alaska.”

But she also put earmarks in, Ms. Walters noted.

“Not as governor she didn’t,” Mr. McCain said.

But as governor, she did.

Movie critic Roger Ebert turns political critic in this column noting Sarah Palin's appeal as an American Idol version of a political candidate. He'd rather have the real thing.

I trust the American people will see through Palin, and save the Republic in November. The most damning indictment against her is that she considered herself a good choice to be a heartbeat away. That shows bad judgment.

David Pollitt was convicted of a number of sexual assaults more than a quarter century ago. When he was released from prison, he moved in with his sister in New London, Connecticut -- much to the displeasure of Gov. Rell, who apparently doesn't think anyone with sex offense convictions should be allowed to live outside of prison. Rell was unsuccessful in her attempt to block Pollitt's move.

Pollitt remains on supervision, equipped with a GPS tracking device. For about 15 minutes on September 3, the device did not indicate that Pollitt was at his sister's home. That was all it took for Rell to demand that Pollitt be returned to prison immediately -- no investigation, no hearing, just lock him up. The governor's press release, demanding immediate incarceration for the "apparent" violation, all but accuses Pollitt's family of lying when they said he didn't leave the premises.

It turns out that the GPS device failed (as it often did, exactly as the family explained) and that Pollitt hadn't violated the terms of his supervision at all. So did Gov. Rell deliver the apology that Pollitt and his family deserved? Far from it. [more...]