Opinion - The Weekly Standard

Washington (The Daily Standard) - St. PaulThat was easy. Sarah Palin delivered what may have been the most important speech ever by a vice presidential candidate and made it look like she'd been performing on the national political stage for years. And she made John McCain look good for having picked her as his running mate.

Washington (The Daily Standard) - John McCain spoke to staff and advisers working in the campaign War Room at the Minneapolis Hilton this afternoon, and forcefully vowed to fight hard to defend his running mate Sarah Palin against attacks from the media and Democrats. "They're not doing right by our vice president, they're not doing right by the American people," McCain said, according to a source in the room. "We're gonna fight back, we're gonna get 'em." McCain pounded his fist into his hand as he spoke, the source said, and made clear that he would be aggressively challenging those who are attacking Palin.

Washington (The Daily Standard) - Television viewers would have been hard pressed to find media commentary in the last few days that was, on balance, favorable to Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin.

Washington (The Daily Standard) - Time's Mark Halperin has posted an advance copy of the cover of US Weekly magazine, the tabloid published by Rolling Stone's Jann Wenner. That cover shows a smiling Sarah Palin, holding her youngest son Trig. The screaming headline: "Babies, Lies and Scandal: John McCain's Vice President."Wenner has contributed $5300 to Obama's campaign since 2007.

Washington (The Daily Standard) - By now we know that evangelical Protestants--generally supportive of Republican candidates but eagerly courted by Democrats this year--are a crucial voting bloc in the November election.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 47 - 9/1/2008 - A funny thing happened this summer: John McCain taunted Barack Obama into making a trip to Iraq, whereupon the press looked around and finally noticed what those who were paying attention had known for some months now.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 47 - 9/1/2008 - This week, the least qualified man to receive a major party nomination for the presidency of the United States in modern times will be anointed by his party. He could well win the general election.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 46 - 8/25/2008 - One wonders whether Russia's invasion of Georgia will finally end the dreamy complacency that took hold of the world's democracies after the close of the Cold War.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 46 - 8/25/2008 - The Cold War isn't back. The Russian attacks on Georgia don't mean American soldiers will soon be staring at Red Army soldiers in the middle of Germany or that U.S. defense spending must triple to match a global Russian military juggernaut.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 46 - 8/25/2008 - Blaming the victim is nothing new. But, in the days since Russian tanks first rolled into democratic Georgia, we have been rather surprised at the alacrity with which some--on both the left and right--have blamed that tiny country for the onslaught, and the West for encouraging Georgia's liberalization.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 45 - 8/11/2008 - Jonathan Coors was outnumbered when he met with Colorado governor Bill Ritter Jr. last April. Ritter wasn't alone in his office. The governor's secretary of labor and chief of staff were there, along with several business leaders opposed to the effort by Coors to put a right-to-work referendum on the ballot this fall. Ritter was eager to make a deal.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 45 - 8/11/2008 - Los AngelesFor anyone who has ever been on a movie set, the commotion inside Warner Brothers Studio 15 will be familiar: serious-faced actors and actresses quietly rehearsing their lines; the director of photography huddled with his assistants around two high-definition screens inside a small black tent reviewing the last scenes; extras lounging around the set trying both to stay out of the way and to get noticed; carpenters busily working to construct the set for the next scene; a frazzled first assistant director guzzling Red Bull and yelling instructions to anyone who will listen.

Washington (The Weekly Standard) Vol. 013, Issue 45 - 8/11/2008 - In January 2007, with Iraq in flames and Democrats set to take over Congress, President Bush had two options.