Boyfriend will join Palins at speech
WASILLA, Alaska - The boyfriend of the pregnant teenage daughter of Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska will join John McCain's family at the GOP convention.
Sherry Johnston said her son, Levi Johnston, 18, left Alaska yesterday morning to join the Palin family at the convention, where Sarah Palin is scheduled to address the convention tonight. Traditionally, her family would join her on stage at the conclusion of her speech.
On Monday, Sarah and Todd Palin said their 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, planned to have the baby and wed a young man identified only as Levi. The family asked the media to respect the young couple's privacy.
Sherry Johnston said there had been no pressure on her son to marry Bristol Palin and the teens had made plans to wed before it was known she was pregnant
"This is just a bonus," Johnston said.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Clinton's appeals for unity appear to boost Obama
Hillary Clinton's impassioned pleas at the Democratic convention for her supporters to unite behind Barack Obama appear to have worked.
A new Gallup poll out yesterday says that the percentage of Clinton loyalists planning to vote for Obama in November jumped from 70 percent before last week's convention to 81 percent after, and the percentage saying they are certain to back Obama increased from 47 percent to 65 percent.
The Gallup survey is among several suggesting that Obama did get a bump in support coming out of the convention, which received wall-to-wall media coverage, including his acceptance speech Thursday night that drew more than 40 million TV viewers.
A Hotline/Diageo poll out yesterday gave Obama a 48 percent to 39 percent national lead over his Republican rival John McCain, up from 44 percent to 40 percent in the previous poll. And a USA Today/Gallup survey released Monday gave Obama a 50 percent to 43 percent lead, up from a 4-percentage-point edge before the convention.
FOON RHEE
GOP ad links Obama, congressional Democrats
About the only group with lower approval ratings than President Bush is Congress.
So the latest spot out yesterday from the Republican National Committee tries to link Senator Barack Obama to the Democratic party's congressional leaders.
"Take away the crowds, the chants, all that's left are costly words," the announcer says. "Barack Obama and out-of-touch congressional leaders have expensive plans, billions in new government spending, years of deficits, no balanced budgets, and painful tax increases on working American families."
Meanwhile, Obama's campaign released an ad yesterday that seeks to tie McCain firmly to the president.
"They share the same out-of-touch attitude," the announcer says as a series of images appear on screen of McCain and Bush together.
FOON RHEE 