The Rocky Mountain News reports Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin will campaign together at the Colorado Jet Center in Colorado Springs, CO Saturday.

Colorado Springs, home to evangelical America. James Dobson and Focus on the Family and the New Life Church are located there.

When George W. Bush was inaugurated in 2005, they made their intention to have a greater effect in politics well known.

Evangelical leaders promise that in coming years they'll be even more active in politics. And Colorado Springs will continue to be a base from which the evangelical movement launches initiatives that affect civic life across the nation.

John McCain, Panderer-in-Chief.

I'm watching a Pledge of Allegiance video being narrated by a Republican teenager with a wonderful speaking voice.

Then I read this, about Sarah Palin and the Alaska Independence Party, with which she was affiliated (although not a member) for many years. The party founder, Joe Vogel, in 1991 said:

"But you get to thinking. Why the hell do I owe them anything? And then you get mad. And you say the hell with them. And you renounce allegiance, and you pledge your efforts, your effects, your honor, your life to Alaska, that's how I do--I'm an Alaskan see. And they know it. I've told them so-- to go to hell every way I can and then I sway. I took a case to the Supreme Court believing in the Supreme Court. And I'd rather be tried in a wh*rehouse with a madame as a judge--there's more justice! And if they don't like it they know where they can go.

I tried it. I believed in my country. I believed in the court system and it stinks. . . .

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John McCain tells us that Sarah Palin is a "reformer" because she fought against the abuse of earmarks. Palin echoed that theme, saying "I've championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress."

Of course, one politician's abuse is another politician's gravy. During Palin's first year as Alaska's governor, she asked Ted Stevens to seek $550 million in earmarks for Alaska, more than $800 per resident. She claims to be a reformer because, after President Bush insisted on a cutback in earmarks (and after the "bridge to nowhere" fiasco), Palin's second year request for earmarks sought only $198 million, about $295 per resident.

That sounds like it might be "reform" until you consider this:

Other states got just $34 worth of local projects per person this year, on average, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog group.

Talk is cheap. Earmarks aren't. Especially in Alaska, where earmarks are "close to sacrosanct." [more ...]

Citizens of the District of Columbia can vote in a presidential election, but they have no voting representative in the House of Representatives and no representation at all in the Senate. A delegate to the Republican National Convention from D.C. reports that the voting rights issue was of primary importance to the D.C. delegation. They tried to introduce a voting rights plank into the Republican platform, but the measure found little support.

Of course it didn't. Too many Democrats live in D.C. The GOP has no interest in allowing citizens to vote if they might vote for Democrats. Better that they should go unrepresented in Congress, from the GOP perspective.

At the Democratic National Convention, the right to vote was taken more seriously: [more...]

A "festive spirit" has returned to the Republican National Convention, as evidenced by Rudy Guliani's cameo appearance on stage to do a sound check this afternoon.

"Two, three, four. What comes next?" boomed out in Giuliani's famous voice.

Answer: nine, followed by eleven.

The AP evaluates John McCain's claim that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is as experienced as Sen. Barack Obama and says it falls short.

Straight from the mouth of the John McCain campaign:

Rick Davis, campaign manager for John McCain's presidential bid, insisted that the presidential race will be decided more over personalities than issues during an interview with Post editors this morning.

"This election is not about issues," said Davis. "This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates."

And Gov. Sarah Palin's Wednesday speech was pre-written.

Davis said a generic, "masculine" speech was being prepared before the pick was made and, now that Palin is the choice, she is adapting the speech to her own needs and personality.

More support for the suggestion that McCain was hoping for Lieberman or Ridge, got the nix from the radical right, and hastily decided on Palin instead. [More...]

Gallup's daily poll today:

Barack Obama leading the race for president with his highest share of support to date. Fully half of national registered voters now favor Obama for president, while 42% back John McCain.

Toby Harshaw, co-author of the New York Times Opinionator blog, writes up my post suggesting John McCain's choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate will turn out to be another George McGovern-Thomas Eagleton scenario. He notes Ann Althouse's disagreement with me, calling it a "blogspat." Toby writes:

The Opinionator is enjoying an enlightening little blogspat between two of his favorites, Jeralyn Merritt of TalkLeft and Ann Althouse.

Merritt is taking bets on when Sarah Palin will drop out, Thomas Eagleton-style, saying of the historical parallel that: “It had nothing to do with Eagleton’s particular problems, but how [George] McGovern came to choose him, failed to adequately vet him, and then waffled when the problems arose, effectively costing him the election.”

“John McCain picked Sarah Palin to get the enthusiastic support of the evangelical, radical right,” she argues. He didn’t think it would matter that she has no national experience because he perceived he could argue Obama didn’t either.”

On Ann, he writes, in part:

Another NFL player -- the third in 18 months -- has been shot.

Jacksonville Jaguars offensive tackle Richard Collier was shot and critically wounded outside an apartment building early Tuesday as he and a former Jacksonville teammate waited for two women they had met at a nightclub, police said.

Collier was waiting in a Cadillac Escalade with former Jaguars defensive end Kenneth Pettway when someone fired shots through the window for reasons that are as yet unknown. At last report, Collier was in critical condition.

Open threads are filling up quickly today. Here's another. Please remember the rules.

Alberto Gonzales' memory lapses are well documented, particularly when he testifies before Congress. It may therefore be unsurprising that

Gonzales told investigators he did not remember whether he took home notes regarding the government's most sensitive national security programs and did not know they contained classified information despite notations on the papers that they were "eyes only -- top secret," according to a report released this morning.

Here's what Gonzales did that he couldn't remember: [more ...]