Unemployment Shoots Up to a 5-Year High

New government figures show that unemployment is now at 6.1%, the highest level in five years. Along with the mortgage mess and high gas prices, the economy is now front and center in the election campaign. Voters will be demanding to know how the candidates are going to fix it.

Republicans are Courting Lieberman

Senate Republicans are trying to get Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to switch parties and become a Republican. It is doubtful he will do it. First of all, he would lose his chairmanship of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Second, while the Democrats don't have memories like elephants, they can probably remember this for four months when the new Senate meets. It is expected to have 55-58 Democrats, even without Lieberman, and being exceedingly unpopular with a large majority doesn't usually lead to having much influence. Third, while Lieberman and McCain are personal friends, Lieberman disagrees with senators like Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, and James Inhofe on absolutely everything except Iraq. He would not be a happy camper in their caucus.

Young Still Ahead in Alaska

Most of the absentee ballots have been counted in the Alaska Republican primary and Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is now leading Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell (R-AK) by 239 votes. the overseas absentee ballots have still not been counted. whoever wins the primary will face former Alaska house minority leader Ethan Berkowitz (D). Polls show that if Young wins the primary, the seat will flip to the Democrats. If Parnell wins the primary, the Republicans hold the seat. For Parnell, it is a win-win situation. If he wins the primary, he goes to Congress. If he loses the primary, he stays on as lieutenant governor and will become governor if Sarah Palin is elected Vice President.

Anchorage Daily News Calls for Subpoenas in Troopergate

The Anchorage Daily News, the main newspaper in Anchorage, Alaska's biggest city, ran an editorial yesterday saying Governor is stonewalling the Troopergate investigattion. She is being investigated by the Republican-controlled state legislature for unethical conduct and abuse of power when she fired the state commissioner of public safety for refusing to fire her ex-brother-in-law. The paper called for subpoenas to be issued so the investigator, retired prosecutor Steve Branchflower, can complete his report before the election. Palin says she is cooperating but is resisting everything Branchflower wants to do. The last thing Palin needs now is a big fight with the Republican-controlled state legislature. It could get messy.

McCain's Son on Board of Failed Bank

Silver State Bank has failed and been closed by federal and state regulators. It is the 11th bank failure this year. What is particularly noteworthy about this failure is that John McCain's son, Andrew McCain, was on the board of directors until about a month ago. While Barack Obama has said that candidate's children are off limits, it is not clear if that also holds for adult children involved in bank failures. This incident is surely going to drum up interested in the failure of another Western bank, the one run by Charles Keating, who ultimately went to federal prison despite his trying to get John McCain to help him. The Wall Street Journal has more.

U.S. Has Highest Teen Pregnancy Rate in the Developed World

Bristol Palin is not alone. There are 400,000 other unwed teenage mothers in the U.S. right now, the highest per capita rate among developed countries. The U.S. is tied with Hungary for the most abortions. One might think that people who believe abortion is murder would be doing everything in their power to prevent unwanted pregnancies to eliminate potential abortions, but that is not the case at all. While everyone should leave Bristol alone now, since the subject is in the news, the public policy issue of how to avoid unwanted teen pregnancies is certainly fair game. This op-ed piece in the NY Times discusses how the policy of abstinence-only education has been a dismal failure that leads to pregnancies and abortions. Other countries have other policies and far fewer abortions.

Today's Polls

There are no state polls today, but there are five post-convention national polls.

It appears that John McCain is getting his post-convention bounce in the form of reducing Barack Obama's lead somewhat. The bounce is likely to continue for a few more days.

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