McCain's speech had record viewership

John McCain's acceptance speech may not be getting the rave reviews of his Democratic rival Barack Obama's, but they nearly tied in how many people watched on TV.

Nielsen Media Research reported yesterday that a record 38.9 million watched McCain's acceptance speech Thursday night on the three broadcast networks CNN, FOX News Channel, and MSNBC, compared with 38.4 million who watched Obama's speech last week, which was also carried on four other cable networks.

McCain even drew a bigger audience than his running mate, Sarah Palin, who drew about 37 million for her speech Wednesday night. McCain's ratings are the highest for a political convention since Nielsen began collecting data in 1960.

PBS, which compiles its figures separately, said that about 2.7 million people tuned in for its coverage Thursday night - down from 3.2 million for Palin and 3.5 million for Obama's acceptance speech.

That makes McCain's total audience nearly 41 million, compared with nearly 42 million for Obama and 40 million for Palin.

FOON RHEE

Palin's experience lacking, half of voters in poll say
Vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a hit among Republicans, but a new poll out yesterday suggests she has quite a bit of work to do to convince Americans she's ready for the White House.

Half of those surveyed said they don't believe the first-term Alaska governor has the experience to be president, while 42 percent do, according to the ABC News survey.

Her Democratic rival, veteran Senator Joe Biden, was viewed to have the experience by 66 percent of those surveyed.

While half of Americans overall have a favorable opinion of Palin, 85 percent of Republicans do, the poll found.

Biden's favorability rating is slightly higher at 54 percent.

The potential impact in November of the running mate selections are also similar: 25 percent said Palin makes it more likely they will vote for John McCain, and 19 percent said she makes it less likely. For Biden, 22 percent said he makes it more likely they will vote for Barack Obama, while 10 percent said he made it less likely.

FOON RHEE

Palin's office didn't get bid it sought for state jet sale
It's one of the big applause lines for the Republican ticket: Sarah Palin, cleaning house when she became Alaska's governor, sold the state jet on eBay.

It turns out it's not quite that simple. Palin's office put the plane on eBay, but couldn't get a bid close to the $2.7 million asked.

"We brought the broker in and said, 'Find a buyer,' Palin's former aide Meg Stapleton said on CNN yesterday. "We found a buyer. It went for 2.1 million bucks. And we did save the state dollars. And that jet, she never stepped in. And we got rid of the symbol of corruption in Alaska."

Now, Palin has her own jet, delivered yesterday, a 100-seat plane freshly painted with the "McCain-Palin" logo for the two months of campaigning before Election Day.

FOON RHEE

Ethics probe of Palin to end before election
ANCHORAGE - The Alaska Legislature will work to complete its ethics investigation into Governor Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner by Oct. 10 - three weeks earlier than scheduled and before the November election.

Lawmakers said yesterday they have put the investigation on a fast track now that Palin is Republican presidential nominee John McCain's running mate. The investigation previously was expected to end on Oct. 31.

State Senator Hollis French said seven witnesses told the Legislature's investigator they will not provide depositions and canceled their meetings; the legislature will subpoena witnesses, he said.

In July, a state oversight committee approved $100,000 for the investigation into whether Palin fired public safety commissioner Walt Monegan because he would not dismiss a trooper who went through a messy divorce with her sister before Palin ran for governor.

ASSOCIATED PRESS