Republican presidential candidate John McCain hit the campaign trail yesterday calling for Congress to go right back to work on a bailout plan. McCain blamed Democrats and his rival Barack Obama for the legislation’s failure. (NPR)

Campaigning in Colorado, Obama blamed the crisis on Republicans, charging President Bush, the party and McCain with pushing a culture of deregulation. (NPR)

Also today NPR looks at Obama’s health plan, which he says would make insurance available to all Americans, but policy analysts say would cost far more than the campaign is saying. (NPR)

Plus, Ohio holds same-day voting today. (NPR)

WBUR’s senior media analyst says this year’s ad campaigns by “527″ advocacy groups are not quite political advertising as usual.

Meanwhile, Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard says the media is Barack Obama’s not-so-secret weapon.

Speaking of media, both candidates have new political ads out today (via RealClearPolitics blog). Obama attacks McCain on healthcare.

McCain links Obama to the “corrupt Chicago political machine.”

As Obama and John McCain meet in the first debate of the presidential campaign later this week, NPR’s Steve Inskeep and Cokie Roberts look at how the huge Wall Street bailout is likely to play out in the political sphere.

Bloomberg’s Albert Hunt says Obama, not McCain, is showing the steady hand as the financial markets implode. But Republican strategist Ed Rollins says both candidates are botching the response to the crisis.

The presidential candidates are courting voters with their plans for reform. John McCain says he’ll fight for working people; Barack Obama says he’ll lower taxes. (NPR)

Obama’s senior economic advisor says the Democrat won’t second-guess the Fed’s decisions. (NPR)

Plus, an economic debate between McCain advisor John Taylor and Obama advisor Lawrence Summers, former Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton. (On Point)

(These links taken from WBUR’s daily newsletter WBUR Today. Sign up here.)

“Ready.”

That’s the word on front pages across the country today, after ABC aired excerpts of Charles Gibson’s interview with Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (video) Thursday night.

            

And it’s an all-Palin front page in Anchorage, Alaska, the candidate’s home state:

The Boston Globe, which kept Palin off its front page, writes:

Palin, in her first interview since being plucked out of relative obscurity by McCain two weeks ago, presented a confident face in what was considered an important early test of her knowledge of foreign affairs.

Almost overnight, Palin became a pop culture icon — appearing on magazine covers from Newsweek to US Weekly and inspiring a line of action figures — all before granting a single interview, notes WBUR’s Senior Media Analyst, John Carroll.

Carroll says he was just as interested in the performance of the interviewer, ABC’s Gibson. The McCain campaign has skewered the media over its persecution of Palin. In light of that, Carroll says Gibson remained limply deferential: “Throughout the interview, Gibson was low-key and mildly persistent,” Caroll says, “while Palin stuck to her talking points — right down to her response to that pesky foreign policy experience question.”

Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor reports the “Palin effect” is throwing the Obama campaign off stride. “In just two weeks, the 2008 presidential race has become the Sarah Palin election.”

It’s a busy political week New Hampshire, where Barack Obama and John McCain plan to campaign over the next three days. Joe Biden campaigned in Nashua yesterday after a speech in Boston. Four electoral votes are at play in New Hampshire, and both candidates are aggressively courting voters there. The small state is proving to be a critical battleground for November. McCain took New Hampshire in the primary election; Obama lost it to Hillary Clinton.

Political science professor Dante Scala spoke with WBUR’s Bob Oakes about why Massachusetts’ neighbor is in play now.

Meanwhile, the Massachusetts for Obama Web site is asking voters to “Drive for Change” by joining a caravan to New Hampshire. The Republicans are also turning their attention to the Granite State: A Real Clear Politics average of national polls shows McCain and Obama in a statistical dead heat in New Hampshire. Four years ago, New Hampshire voters favored John Kerry over George W. Bush by a 2 percent margin. In 2000, they favored Bush. (The New Hampshire secretary of state offers past election results in detail.)

Obama visits Dover and Concord on Friday and Manchester on Saturday. McCain visits the state Sunday.

Stay tuned to this election blog for coverage of the political weekend in New Hampshire, and check out NPR’s election map for New Hampshire:

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd when she returned to Alaska for the first time since the GOP convention. (NPR)

The Alaskan Governor has said her stance on the Bridge to Nowhere proves she can stand up to Washington, but some critics say she’s not telling the whole story. (NPR)

Barack Obama is firing back after the McCain camp accused him of sexism toward Palin for a “lipstick” remark. (NPR)

Obama’s running mate, Delaware Senator Joe Biden, spent the day on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. (WBUR)

With just four electoral college votes, the small state is expected to play a big role in November. (WBUR)

Plus, a look at how the McCain-Palin ticket has co-opted Obama’s long-held message of change. (NPR)

President Bush announced a modest drawdown of U.S. forces in Iraq by February. He also said if progress continues, military leaders think additional troop reductions will be possible in the first half of next year. (NPR)

Both presidential nominees responded to the news. Campaigning in Ohio and Pennsylvania yesterday, John McCain praised the plan, while Barack Obama was critical on the campaign trail in Ohio and Virginia. (NPR)

Former Massachusetts Governor Jane Swift will help lead a so-called “truth squad” to dispel rumors about the Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. (WBUR)

The candidates will set aside partisan politics to visit Ground Zero on the seventh anniversary of 9/11. (NPR)

Logan Airport has unveiled a memorial to the 147 people who lost their lives aboard the two planes that departed Boston and tore into the World Trade Center. (WBUR)

John McCain’s popularity among white women has seen an increase since he announced Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his presidential running mate. (NPR)

The duo drew a big crowd in Missouri yesterday. (NPR)

Meanwhile, Barack Obama was on the campaign trail in Michigan, a battleground state for November. (NPR)

Hillary Clinton was in Florida, hoping to shore up support for Obama among women and Hispanic voters. (NPR)

The Justice Department is rolling out a national plan to ensure the November elections will go smoothly. (NPR)

While most eyes are on the presidential election, Boston will decide a close primary contest next week. (WBUR)

Pins for sale in the Xcel Center during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008. (AP)

Following Governor Sarah Palin’s debut speech as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate last night at the Republican National Convention, tonight the presumptive nominee, Senator John McCain, is in the spotlight.

It’s McCain’s turn to address the delegates and appeal to potential voters watching and listening at home. (NPR)

WBUR’s Bob Oakes is in St. Paul, Minnesota, from where he joins WBUR’s Delores Handy, for a preview of the convention’s final night. (WBUR)

On Point’s Tom Ashbrook previewed the night’s events with an all-star cast this evening, including Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, Wall Street Journal political editor Jonathan Kaufman, Politico senior editor David Mark, and New Mexico Representative Heather Wilson, the only female veteran currently serving in Congress. (On Point)

Senator John McCain is joined by Senator Joe Lieberman at the podium during his walk through the XCel Center before the final session of the RNC. (AP Photo)

Tom Ashbrook previews the McCain speech, as WBUR’s live convention coverage gets underway with On Point at 7.

The Republican nominee has a unique story to tell, from his days a POW to his political independence on Capitol Hill.

Here and Now Host Robin Young previewed the McCain speech with Karen Tumulty, Senior Political Correspondent for Time magazine, Mike Carey, host of KAKM Alaska Public Television’s Anchorage Edition and a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News, and Matt Zencey, editorial page editor for the Alaska Daily News.

Robin also spoke with a Massachusetts delegate to the GOP convention, who worries his party is not paying enough attention to some important issues. Bristol County Sherriff Thomas Hodgson says the party must return its attention to law enforcement and immigration.

John McCain has long been a supporter of the Iraq War and the surge last year. We speak with some convention goers what “winning the war in Iraq” means to them.

McCain Nominated; Palin Strikes Back At Critics
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin electrified the crowd Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention. (NPR)

The vice presidential nominee attacked Barack Obama, praised John McCain and pushed back against criticism that she is too inexperienced to be on the ticket. (NPR)

WBUR’s political analysts weigh in.

In Palin’s hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, residents watched her speech with anticipation. However, her vice presidential nomination has caused some political stress on the state level. (NPR)

Delegates also heard from former presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Rudolph Giuliani.

Click here to see an NPR photo gallery of the RNC, Day 3 and link to WBUR’s continuing coverage.

Battleground states get the best treatment at national party conventions, and this year, delegates from New Hampshire have some of the most prized seats, speakers, and hotel rooms. (WBUR)

Tonight, Senator John McCain officially accepts the presidential nomination from the Republicans, a party with which he’s had an on-again-off-again romance. (NPR)

As McCain prepares to step up for his big speech tonight, On Point looks for clues as to what kind of president he might be.

And,McCain spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam andhas a lot of supporters in Hanoi. (NPR)

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, accompanied by his family, addresses a meeting of Republican delegates in St. Paul, Minn., Wednesday morning Sept. 3, 2008. From left behind Romney are his sons, Matt and Josh, and wife, Ann. (AP Photo)

Delegates at the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul are eagerly awaiting tonight’s speech from Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. The GOP Vice Presidential hopeful will introduce herself to much of the country in tonight’s prime time address. (NPR)

WBUR’s Bob Oakes has been gauging the mood on the floor, particularly in response to news of Palin’s teenage daughter’s pregnancy. Bob talked with WBUR’s Delores Handy about what the delegates are expecting to see tonight. (WBUR)

Whether Gov. Palin is facing an unjust double standard was a hot topic on this evening’s “On Point” from Saint Paul. Tom Ashbrook picked through the issue with Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway, Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, and Yale political history professor Beverly Gage. (On Point)

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is also set to take the podium tonight at about 9:30 Eastern. Romney says he’ll offer a comparative analysis of Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama’s policies.

Sarah Palin stands at the podium during a walk through at the Republican National Convention. (AP)

On Point beings WBUR’s live coverage tonight at 7 with a look at Palin’s career

Here and Now host Robin Young discussed Sarah Palin’s role in the GOP with syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman and Diana Banister, a Republican consultant.

Robin also spoke with McCain senior policy adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin about the Arizona Senator’s plans to turn around the economy.

Also addressing the convention tonight is former eBay CEO Meg Whitman. Known as John McCain’s “right hand man” on economic issues, she works the crowd at the convention like an experienced politician.

It’s a big tent, the Republican Party likes to say. But for years now the religious right has worked hard to put a pulpit in the middle, and has often been the face of Republicanism. With John McCain is the party’s Presidential candidate, Tom Ashbrook took at look at the role of religion in the party now.

Texas delegates react as President Bush speaks via satellite at the Republican National Convention. (AP)

Governor Sarah Palin electrifies the social conservative base of the Republican Party. On Wednesday, Palin addresses delegates at the Republican National Convention. (NPR)

Some of those who support the selection of Sarah Palin include this group of
Evangelicals from South Carolina. (NPR)

Former Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor, Republican Kerry Healey knows what it is liketo be under the campaign microscope and to have her family there with her. WBUR’s Bob Oakes spoke with Healey about the Palin controversy. (WBUR)

Despite John McCain’s efforts to shrug off the Palin controversy, Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank is one of the first Democrats to comment on the political relevance of Palin’s recent family troubles. (WBUR)

WBUR’s Fred Thys was with the Massachusetts delegation during last night’s proceedings. (WBUR)

Across the Mississippi River at a public park, thousands of Republicans–along with independents, Libertarians and probably even a few Democrats–rallied on behalf of Ron Paul.Bob Oakes speaks with one of his Bay State supporters. (WBUR)

Meanwhile, John Kerry is facinghis most seriousopponent in years. Bob Oakes spoke with Republican Jeff Beatty, who’s challenging Democrat John Kerry for his seat in the U.S. Senate. (WBUR)

Alternate delegate Alberta Brinkman, of Emporia, Ks., wears a pin in support of Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., as she sings the national anthem at the opening of the session of the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008. (AP Photo)

The Republican National Convention is moving forward. In St. Paul, Minnesota tonight, the schedule is more comprehensive than it was on opening day yesterday, when the Party postponed most events due to Hurricane Gustav. (NPR)

WBUR’s Bob Oakes is in St Paul following developments with the Massachusetts delegation and with party organziers. He joins WBUR’s Delores Handy for an update on the RNC. (WBUR)

Tonight, President Bush will speak by satellite link from Washington. In primetime, former Tennessee senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson will speak. So will former Democrat now independent Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut. Tom Ashbrook gets a preview of events from a panel of RNC deglegates, along with Ken Walsh, chief White House correspondent for U.S. News & World Report. (On Point)

On Morning Edition yesterday, WBUR’s Bob Oakes spoke with Republican Jeff Beatty, who’s challenging Democrat John Kerry for his seat in the US Senate. But before that race happens, Kerry must defeat his first in-party rival in 24 years. Ed O’Reilly, a criminal defense lawyer from Gloucester says the incumbent senator is not connected with the people of Massachusetts. In less than two weeks, Massachusetts voters will have their say in the Democratic primary. WBUR’s Monica Brady-Myerov reports. (WBUR)

RNC 2008 – On Point, originally uploaded by WBUR.

The levees held. Good news for the people of New Orleans.

And it’s Day Two of the Republican National Convention in St Paul, September 2nd. President Bush will address the convention after all. He’ll speak remotely tonight from the White House

Republicans haven’t always loved John McCain. Now, he’s out front. But the party’s still wrestling over what it means to be a good Republican now.

During On Point, Host Tom Ashbrook asked what it means to be Republican in the age of John McCain.

Massachusetts delegates to the GOP convention are looking forward to the resumption of a regular schedule. Yesterday’s abbreviated schedule gave them time to ponder the future of the party in their home state. WBUR’s Fred Thys talked with Massachusetts delegates about where they see their party heading.

Jeff Beatty is hoping that Republicans retake Congress come November. The Harwich businessman is a GOP candidate for the US Senate, running against the longtime incumbent, Democrat John Kerry. Beatty is in Saint Paul to court supporters and donors from all over the country for his run.

WBUR’s Bob Oakes spoke with Beatty about his party’s chances against one of the highest profile Democrats in the Senate.

The Republicans are meeting in the Twin Cities this week, in part because they have hopes this year of capturing the purple-hued upper Midwest.

Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa regularly swing between the parties, but Minnesota may be a tougher fight. The state has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1976, but people forget that the Republican Party started in Wisconsin or Michigan.

She may be the real maverick in the family – a mother of four who chose to stay in Phoenix away from Washington DC to bring up her children; a pilot who learned to drive race cars with her son; after the first Gulf war, she camped in the desert in Kuwait for days with her medical charity to bring aid to war refugees; and she won a show down with the Bangladeshi minister of health to bring back the girl the McCains adopted.

Here and Now Host Robin Young spoke with Newsweek White House correspondent Holly Bailey in St. Paul. Bailey has been traveling with the McCain campaign since the early primaries and wrote a profile of Cindy McCain for the magazine.

There are an estimated 23 million U.S. veterans, and around 400,000 of them experience homelessness at some point over the course of a year. We speak with Chad Lego, the Logistics Coordinator and Spokesman for the homeless veterans’ advocacy group, Circle of Friends for American Veterans, which will hold an event at the RNC tonight. Lego also served in Iraq until he was honorably discharged earlier this year.

A satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Gustav as it nears the Louisiana coast on Monday Sept. 1, 2008. (AP Photo/NOAA)

With Hurricane Gustav making landfall, plans for how to proceed with the Republican National Convention are uncertain.

Today, the party is using the gathering in Saint Paul to launch a fundraising driver for anyone affected by the storm.

On the anniversary of Katrina, the question for the party is whether the storm works for or against John McCain. On Point host Tom Ashbrook examined what momentum might be lost at the beginning of the week.

The mood at the convention is one of caution today.

Here and Now Host Robin Young is also in Saint Paul. She examines the impact of the change in convention plans on campaign efforts to introduce Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

There is one surprise for convention delegates today about the Vice Presidential pick. Palin has revealed that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant.

President Bush will not address the convention tonight, as scheduled. Tonight at 7 pm ET, On Point Host Tom Ashbrook takes a look at George W. Bush’s legacy and its impact on the party.

Bush, with FEMA administrators, was updated on hurricane preparations at FEMA Headquarters yesterday. (AP)

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., visits a hurricane command center with his running mate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, in Jackson, Miss., Sunday morning, Aug. 31, 2008, as Hurricane Gustav heads to the Gulf coast. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

Republican presidential candidate John McCain has instructed his party to tone down the festivities for this week’s convention because of Hurricane Gustav. McCain says only those activities that are “absolutely necessary” will take place on the opening day. (NPR)

Now that the RNC schedule has been scaled-back, here’s a preview by WBUR’s political analysts. Also, listen to the response of Ron Kaufman and other Massachusetts’ delegates at the convention to the schedule changes. (WBUR)

On a side note: it’s not the first time the Republican National Convention has been held in St. Paul. Benjamin Harrison was nominated there in 1892. (WBUR)