Politics - AP

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The banners, buttons and signs say McCain-Palin, but the crowds say something else.

Obama, McCain suggest changes in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac ... Republican vice presidential hopeful's church promotes prayer to make gays straight ... Presidential candidates plan joint appearance at Ground Zero to mark Sept. 11 attacks ...

CLAIRTON, Pa. - Five days a week, Linda Graham trolls tattered neighborhoods of this once thriving steel city outside Pittsburgh for unregistered voters she can sign up as Democrats — one of thousands of unknown volunteers whose work outside the limelight has already altered the basic arithmetic of the November election.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A Republican lawmaker wants the Democrat overseeing an investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's dismissal of her public safety commissioner removed because he seems intent on damaging her vice presidential candidacy.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Barack Obama made his first direct criticism of Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin on Saturday, saying she pretends to oppose spending earmarks when she actually has embraced them.

NEW YORK - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton marched for labor and stumped with Democrats on Saturday, but sidestepped questions about the woman who has taken her place as the nation's most-talked-about female leader.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin's church is promoting a conference that promises to convert gays into heterosexuals through the power of prayer.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - They embody four uniquely American stories. They offer messages of transformation with two distinct world views. They pursue one goal.

WASILLA, Alaska - The mother kneels in the snow, cheerfully posing beside her bundled up daughter, behind the bloody, dead caribou the mom just shot.

NEWARK, N.J. - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain's approach to Social Security on Saturday, saying it would undermine the government program aimed mainly at retirees. McCain said he would preserve Social Security.

WASHINGTON - Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama said Saturday they will put aside partisan politics for a joint appearance at Ground Zero to mark the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - John McCain's presidential campaign did not speak with the Alaska House speaker and other leading Republicans before McCain tapped Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate.

DURYEA, Pa. - The challenge for Barack Obama is to make himself acceptable enough to disgruntled voters eager to toss Republicans from the White House if they see a comfortable, competent alternative.

DILLONVALE, Ohio - So much for the full-on 50-state strategy. Call Barack Obama's implementation of national Democrats' coast-to-coast plan "Fifty-State Lite."

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Legislature is hastening its ethics investigation into Gov. Sarah Palin's firing of her public safety commissioner, making it far more likely it will be completed before November's election.

DURYEA, Pa. - Democrat Barack Obama called Republican rival John McCain's acceptance speech the final piece of an out-of-touch convention that focused on its nominee's biography instead of the struggles of the middle class.

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. - Unlike his Republican opponent, Democrat Barack Obama is still raising money for his presidential campaign, and he turned Friday to rock legend Jon Bon Jovi for help.

Sandy Goodman was deeply disappointed when Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't get the Democratic nomination, then again when she was bypassed for the VP spot. So Goodman, a longtime Florida Democrat, flirted with thoughts of shunning Barack Obama, and perhaps even voting Republican.

WASHINGTON - The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission said Friday that he is unlikely to delay plans for an important test in North Carolina that could disrupt television service for some viewers in the path of Tropical Storm Hanna.