politics

OXFORD, Miss. -- Kathleen Williams stared at the display window of the shop where she works, cocked her head and frowned."It's supposed to say 'Presidential Debate,'" she said.It currently says "Presi Debate.""I know," she said. "I had written the rest, but it was crooked."

While the candidates spend Friday afternoon rehearsing one-liners for this year's first presidential debate, moderator Jim Lehrer will be flipping through a stack of ties.Every debate since the 1996 contest between Bob Dole and Bill Clinton in Hartford, Conn., Lehrer has purchased a new tie in the city hosting candidates on the day of the debate.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A new pitch for John McCain's presidential campaign aimed at older Democratic voters is causing complaints by Democrats and concern from Florida elections officials.

LAS VEGAS -- Rabbi Felipe Goodman looked on Monday as Sen. Joe Lieberman, a onetime Democrat turned independent, spoke to his Las Vegas congregation on behalf of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

The 2008 presidential contest between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain is taking place against an economic backdrop that is more troubled than at any time in the past generation.

Highlights of the candidates' economic proposals:TaxesJohn McCain: Would extend all Bush income tax cuts. Would lower corporate tax rate and maintain current capital gains rate. Would offer tax credit of up $5,000 for those buying health insurance. Would ban Internet taxes.

FAIRFAX, Va. -- This week's lipstick brawl has masked the red-hot intensity of a shrinking presidential campaign battlefield as a flurry of post-convention polls show Republican John McCain starting to move ahead of Democrat Barack Obama for the first time nationally and gaining ground in key states.

In a presidential race in which unexpected factors like lipsticks and pigs have driven questions about sexism and feminism, a central question remains: What do women want?This is especially true now that Alaska's Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, a self-described hockey mom, is a major player in the race -- and is shaping its coverage and its issues in surprising ways.

Seven years ago this week, the roar of exploding planes and the spectacle of collapsing buildings riveted the nation's attention on a single topic -- terrorism -- and in the terrible aftermath, it seemed that focus would never waver.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Two Alaska state leaders have lashed out at the public record of Gov. Sarah Palin , saying that the Republicans' vice presidential pick made rape victims pay for their own forensic tests when she was mayor of Wasilla.