Palin in the Green Room  —  NEWSWEEK's Karen Breslau shares a personal moment with the Alaska governor.  —  When Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin arrived backstage for our NEWSWEEK Women & Leadership Event in Los Angeles last March, John McCain had just wrapped up the GOP nomination.

Cold Water on Palin  —  Both the pros and the cons are pretty obvious.  I'm going to focus on the cons, mostly because conservatives right now seem to be paying them less attention.  —  The pros: She's a pro-life conservative reformer from outside Washington, and a woman.

Exclusive: Chief Fired by Palin Speaks Out  —  The July firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan by Gov. Sarah Palin, who was announced as John McCain's running mate on Friday, has unearthed a stream of soap-opera-like details about Palin, her husband, her family and top state appointees.

An Astonishingly Arrogant V.P. Selection  —  It may be John McCain's birthday, but it seems like he's the one giving out gifts today.  The selection of Palin doesn't simply, as others have pointed out, undermine the notion that Obama is too inexperienced to be president …

PALIN A HUGE HIT AT THE CLINTON FORUM.— You would not believe how the Sarah Palin pick is playing out at the Hillary Clinton Forum (tip to a VC commenter).  In order, these are all the posts on the first (and only) page I've looked at (page 8 of the Palin thread; this link may not point to exactly the same posts).

Gallup Daily: Obama Stretches Lead to 8 Points  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking finds Barack Obama moving to an eight percentage point lead over John McCain, 49% to 41%.  —  Obama's significant lead over McCain almost certainly reflects the effects of the Democratic National Convention.

Palin dissed veep job  —  If Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin got the job as running mate for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), count her as one of the most surprised.  —  In an interview just a month ago, she dissed the job, saying it didn't seem “productive.”  —  In fact, she said she doesn't know what the vice president does.

38 Million View Obama's Speech; Highest-Rated Convention In History  —  A crowd gathers on the lawn near the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia to hear the acceptance speech of Barack Obama on a giant TV screen.  (Bradley C Bower/Associated Press)

What is McCain Thinking?  One Alaskan's Perspective. … “Is this a joke?”  That seemed to be the question du jour when my phone started ringing off the hook at 6:45am here in Alaska.  I mean, we're sort of excited that our humble state has gotten some kind of national ‘nod’....but seriously?

Analysis: Palin's age, inexperience rival Obama's  —  Featured Topics: - John McCain - Barack Obama  —  DENVER - John McCain's risky choice of Gov. Sarah Palin gives him a running mate who doubles down on his maverick image, may appeal to “hockey moms” and other women, and counters Barack Obama's aura of new-generation change.

Did Palin Really Fight The “Bridge To Nowhere”?  —  Republicans have been heavily touting Sarah Palin's reformist credentials, with her supposed opposition to Alaska's “Bridge to Nowhere” as Exhibit A. But how hard did she really fight the project?  Not very, it seems.

Obama distances himself from “hair-trigger” campaign criticism  —  At a stop in Monaca, Pa., Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from his campaign's first, harshly critical response to the Palin pick.  —  “I think that, uh, you know, campaigns start getting these, uh, hair triggers and …

60 Days To Judge a Commander in Chief?  —  I'm going to be very blunt, here.  I wish Senator McCain a very long and happy life.  But, at age 72 with a history of cancer, John McCain may not live through his first term, if elected.  That would make Sarah Palin our Commander in Chief.

Palin on Iraq  —  Make of this what you will:  —  I, frankly, have no idea what she's trying to say here.  Apparently the McCain campaign didn't think it was important to brief her on their Iraq policy before she did an interview with Time  —  UPDATE: Apologies, I misunderstood …

UH-OH  —  The Post's James Grimaldi got an exclusive interview with Walter Monegan, the canned Alaska Public Safety Commissioner at the center of Palin trooper-gate scandal.  And he basically says Palin is lying in her assertion that while some of her aides contacting Monegan about firing her brother-in-law, that she herself did not.

Why McCain Picked Palin  —  John McCain needs to persuade swing voters that he's willing to take on the Republican establishment.  He needs to persuade conservatives that he isn't squishy about social issues.  And he needs to close the gender gap.  When you think about it …