ACORN: We Registered 1.3 million new voters; NY Times: ACORN registered 450,000 new voters

Frank James of the Chicago Tribune says...

ACORN is an organization definitely in need of a brand makeover.

Americans United files IRS complaint against Catholic Bishop

Americans United previously was known as Americans United for Separation of Church and State. Prior to AUSCS, it was known as a project of the American Civil Liberties Union. They just filed a complaint with the IRS in regards to a column written by the Bishop of Paterson of the New Jersey Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church.

USA Today published the story.

In a letter sent to the IRS on Wednesday (Oct. 22), Americans United for Separation of Church and State accused Paterson Bishop Arthur Serratelli of illegal partisanship for lambasting Obama's support of abortion rights.

What did Serratelli write?

Serratelli wrote that Obama has pledged, if elected president, to sign the Freedom of Choice Act, abortion-rights legislation the Catholic Church vehemently opposes.

Seratelli is right. Obama did pledge to sign the Freedom of Choice Act. He told the Planned Parenthood Action Fund - which has subsequently endorsed him in the Democratic Primary and the General Presidential Election - that his first act as President would be "to sign the Freedom of Choice Act."

Bishop Seratelli violated no laws whatsoever. The Catholic Church is free to take positions in favor of, or opposing to, any specific legislation that conflicts with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Americans United is grasping for straws. Expect to see them use this non-issue complaint to raise money for their organization. The IRS will deny their complaint. Americans United will then claim all is not well in the United States and your money must contribute to their mission.

JOM Reacts to the NY Times' endorsement of Obama

The NY Times takes another head first dive into bilge water. Tom Maguire reacts.

There was time when the charge of racism carried some weight. As the Times demonstrates, it now comes so casually from the left as to not require justification or evidence.

AP Report on decline in Obama fundraising doesn't mention Address Verification System

Obama fundraising drops as McCain's cash dwindles

I have written to AP reporter Jim Kuhnhenn, AP DC bureau chief Ron Fournier, and AP Managing editor Michael Oreskas asking them if they had any information about the use of or lack thereof of the Address Verification System(AVS) that apparently is not being used by the Obama camp to validate online credit card contributions.

AP: Franklin Raines' email to Carly Fiorina

AP says Frank told Carly he's not advising Obama.

Obama's campaign says Raines is not an Obama adviser and that McCain's campaign knows it because Raines said so in an e-mail earlier this week to Carly Fiorina, a top McCain adviser. Obama's campaign provided The Associated Press with a copy of the e-mail.

I really don't get these people. The Obama camp is sending copies of Frank Raines' email to the AP? Why isn't Frank Raines sending copies of his own email to the AP?

Frank Raines allegedly isn't advising Obama, but Obama still has copies of his emails?

Why the McCain campaign is winning; Update: Does Obama read this blog?

Team Obama is trying to move forward while walking on their heels. Barack Obama's comment about lipstick on a pig wasn't directed at Sarah Palin. However, the McCain camp effectively played it up that way. The media bought it hook, line, and sinker.

Yesterday's slow news day was only made worse by the fact that Barack Obama cannot control the message of the day. The President still does that as he did yesterday.

Obama started his day with a big speech on education outlining his policies. But this was after the President made his comments about Iraq. Naturally the press had all sorts of questions for Obama at his education policy speech ABOUT IRAQ.

Did this foil the entire day for Team Obama? Later Obama makes his lipstick remark trying to be casual and humorous. I laughed when I heard the quote, but then started trying to figure out what he meant beyond the humor.

It didn't matter what the remark meant to convey. The McCain team pounced on it which led to the quote dominating the talk circuit that evening. To make matters worse, Larry King's show was devoted to featuring women in politics talking about Sarah Palin.

Whoops. But still this campaign is freaking sweet.

Barack Obama cannot set the national agenda for the day. This campaign strategy is foolish and further attempts by Team Obama to do so will have to be based on defensive positions or capitalizing on immense gaffes from Team McCain.

And there is a gaffe today from Team McCain. It's an ad about education which I posted earlier. Here Team Obama can play defense effectively to push the media to talk about what they want to talk about - Education. However, did Team McCain already consider this option? If Barack Obama starts talking about Education, Team McCain can start asking about the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, something Barack Obama NEVER TALKS about.

Mr. "32 percent approval" President still sets the agenda for the day. The Obama campaign should know better.

Team Obama should be reading Mark Halperin's dispatches at The Page as well as reading his fantastic book.

Update: Barack Obama made some public statements in Norfolk, VA this morning. I promise I have no direct access to his Blackberry. Via Politico.

Obama said the McCain campaign moved to "seize an innocent remark and take it out of context because they knew it's catnip for the news media."

"See, it would be funny, but the news media decided that would be the lead story yesterday. This happens every election cycle. Every four years, this is what we do. This is what they want to spend two of the last 55 days talking about...Enough!" he said.

Obama called the attacks "lies, outrage and swift boat politics."

"These are serious times and they call for a serious debate...spare me all the phony outrage. Spare me all the phony talk about change."

Barack Obama just kicked this discussion from a topic that was moving to life support to a topic that will be discussed yet again for another 24 hour news cycle.

Where are the handlers? The rookie needs a visit to the mound. Coach him.

Governing from home: Alaska meet Illinois

The Washington Post has a front page story today about "per diem" expenses Governor Sarah Palin billed to Alaskan taxpayers.

ANCHORAGE, Sept. 8 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.

The Post goes on to report that these expenses are neither unusual, nor did Sarah Palin fully exercise her rights to reimbursement for expenses.

Governor Palin is naturally under the national press microscope, so expect any story about Palin to get coverage. But front page coverage? Meh. Must be a slow news day.

To help compliment a slow news day, here's a look back at some expenses claimed by the current Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. Dude, I commute in an airplane.

But after winning that election in 2002, "Blago" decided to break 150 years of precedent by choosing not to live in the governor's mansion. Instead, he and his family chose to continue living on Chicago's Northwest Side.

The Latest Obama Gaffe: I thought about selective service before it was made a law?

A must read to believe.

Update: New information discovered. Obama did register for the selective service in September 1980. Obama tells This Week that he gradudated in 1979. Presumably, that's May or June of 1979, though I suppose it could be December 1979. Occidental claims in this LA Times story that Obama is an alumnus from 1979-1981.

What the LA Times report also tells us is,

In his 1995 autobiography, “Dreams From My Father,” Obama recounted how he was accepted into “several respectable” colleges but chose Occidental “mainly because I’d met a girl from Brentwood while she was vacationing in Hawaii.”

If you like Obama this says very little. He's still the guy running for President that has received a massive amount of support from frequent voters and new voters. Lay off him.

If you have questions about Obama, this says what you think you know about his background isn't the same way he talks about it today.

Ambinder invites the mob

Marc Ambinder has done today what the almost never does. He's opened a post for comments.

How should the Obama campaign respond to the Palin phenom?

Best behavior kids.

Confirmed: Palin Speech Ratings, 37.2 million viewers

Trying to confirm this comment over at Hot Air.

Update: The Chicago Tribune's The Swamp confirms the news.

The Sarah Palin speech generated 37.2 million viewers, just 1.1 million viewers short of Barack Obama's record-breaking speech on Day 4 of the Democratic Convention. The Palin speech was carried on only six networks while the Obama speech was carried on ten (including BET, TV One, Univision and Telemundo).

Whoa. Whoa. Astonishing numbers. This should be a huge story today.

Because I Can't Shut The Hell Up

I have to keep on blogging. For as many times as I start and stop, it is time to stop stopping. That is a waste of time.

What isn't a waste of time is reading Ross Douthat today. Especially right now.