In case you’re not interested in the biggest financial meltdown in the history of our country, Gov. Sarah Palin will hopefully provide plenty of family entertainment Thursday night, as she attempts to prove to the nation that she knows how to construct a basic subject-verb sentence that relates to something relevant in the lower 48. Biden, the word on the street indicates, will be playing “prevent defense,” attempting to minimize condescension or off-color jokes. The senator has a history of both. We’re going to be live-blogging the debate again, so if you have any comments that you feel absolutely must be heard, please feel free to post them during the debate. Hopefully we’ll be able to get some comments to fill our “online comments” section in Friday’s paper. And now, a little moment courtesy of Gov. Palin.

The Wisconsin State Journal runs a comprehensive story on the lawsuit Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is pursuing against the Government Accountability Board for not having Wisconsin’s voter rolls in order.

Ultimately, the worst case scenario would probably not be the actual “disenfranchisement” of thousands of voters, but rather the effective disenfranchisement of those who show up at the polls only to find them clogged with interminable lines. That is still a very serious issue, and one that no doubt favors the Republicans. The bureaucratic mess will most likely hit poor areas hardest, where the bureaucratic mess will probably be even more severe. Moreover, the voters being examined are only those who have registered since Jan. 1 2006, and are undoubtedly overwhelming Democratic. Remember election 2006? Remember the primaries? Both served as registration boons for Democrats, so it’s no wonder the Democratic Party reacted so harshly to Van Hollen’s lawsuit.

Howdy Folks, Well, we’re trying something a bit new today. Since live blogging fast-paced debates is often hard to do when you’re switching between posting software, we’re trying something different. Below you’ll see our live blog of the debates. The opinion editors and myself will be giving our minute-by-minute reactions and analysis of the debates and you can chime in too! Just type in your comments and they should be approved (as long as it’s not incredibly offensive or pointless) in very short order. So sit down, pull out the drinks and send us your comments.

Anybody interested in the financial health of this country, as well as those interested in reading a script worthy of prime-time television programming should check out the front page of the New York Times.

* In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.*

Apparently this has come down to partisan politics, as if it would be any different. The Republicans have decided against the package and the Democrats do not want to vote for the bailout unless the GOP also supports it, lest the package fail and the Democrats get the blame.

Pitiful American government at work.

The Grand Old Party won big today in court when a Dane County judge Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen to personally continue his lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board. This came in light of revelations that some of Van Hollen’s aides had discussed the lawsuit with the Republican Party before it was presented it court. Democrats, worried that Van Hollen, who is the co-chair of McCain’s presidential campaign in Wisconsin, brought the lawsuit with the intent of depressing voter turnout among Democratic voters, since the voters in question are only those who have registered since Jan. 1, 2006. Whether or not Van Hollen had been dismissed from this case or not, it would have very likely had no bearing on the conclusion of this case. It would have simply been taken up by an assistant attorney general, and the department would have pursued the case just as aggressively, I assume. What is truly infuriating is that the court set the date for the case on Oct. 23, two weeks before the election, meaning that if a mammoth voter re-registration must take place, it will mean wreak absolute havoc on the election process. I don’t know what this judge is thinking. I just hope the GAB has its act together.

It seems Barack Obama has benefitted from the financial crisis here, where voters favored him over John McCain 49% to 43%, an increase of a few points from the virtual tie the senators had been stuck in for a couple weeks. The key to the margin: women. Among Badger State women, Obama leads 53%-38%. He trails by four points among men.

John McCain called for the scheduled presidential debate to be postponed so he could go back to Washington and work on the bailout plan.

At first, this move struck me as shrewd politically. Why not reinforce the image of McCain as a hard worker and Obama as a grandstanding speaker with little qualification to respond to a crisis. But apparently the nation feels differently. A poll done by SurveyUSA shows only 14 percent of Americans believe the campaigns should be suspended.

Obama perhaps anticipated this response and urged the debates to go on.

So it’s done. By it, I mean that thing that only 7 percent of our campus cares about: student government.

ASM has rewritten its constitution to include an executive, who hopefully will serve as the face of the organization and will likewise be subject to the same scrutiny that plauges our 19% approved U.S. president.

In the last two weeks Wisconsin has gone from “leaning Obama” to a toss-up state. Although all polls show the Illinois senator at least even with McCain, few have shown him with a lead of more than four points, meaning the race is virtually a tie. [Today Rasmussen Reports has Obama up by two. ](http://www.rasmussenreports.com/publiccontent/politics/election20082/2008presidentialelection/wisconsin/election2008wisconsinpresidentialelection)

Nevertheless, most continue to assume Obama will win Wisconsin, largely, I believe, because if Obama loses a state as Democrat-friendly as Wisconsin he will almost certainly lose the election.

A couple things to keep in mind though:

— Wisconsin was host to a vigorous voter-registration drive during the primaries, which overwhelmingly benefits Democrats.

— If ever there was an election in which polls that neglect cell phone users are inaccurate, it’s this one. Not only are more people only using cell phones than in 2004, but the most politically significant segment of that group — young people — are actually going to vote in much greater numbers this year than ever before, as the primaries have shown. It’s hard to imagine how a pollster could even factor in the UW campuses with such limited ability to poll cell phones.

The New York Times editorial board has solidified its mainstream position on the drinking age in an article today denouncing the 130 college presidents who form the Amethyst Initiative, a movement in favor of re-examining the 21 minimum drinking age.

The Times predictably asserts the high drinking age has reduced highway casualties. However, what was a little surprising was its citation of research that shows “brains still develop up to age 30.” And? Should we explore raising the drinking age to 31?

The Times makes the absurd claim that binge drinking is the result of low alcohol prices. Think about it — would your weekend follies be curtailed significantly if a 30 of Natty cost $17 instead of $13? While raising the price of cigarettes, for instance, almost certainly affects a user’s behavior, “drinking to get drunk” is one of the guiding principles of campus socialization, and will not be changed by even a significant increase in the price of alcohol. It is simply too popular.

The Dane County Board is expected to vote on legislation that would approve the creation of a county registry for domestic partnerships — same-sex and opposite sex — which would then allow the county to require companies with county contracts to offer the same benefits to those employees as it would married couples.

Madison already has similar rules in place for city contractors, but its heartening to see the county implement what is obviously the right position from a civil rights perspective.

In response to critics who accused him of declaring the “fundamentals of the economy strong,” John McCain has clarified his position by saying he supports — wait for it — the American worker.

“You may not agree. Others may not,” McCain said, giving the elitist media the stiff-arm in favor of the masses he seeks to help in a variety of ways, namely consolation and drilling.

Yes, the article is as amusing as it sounds. The Critical Badger has a post linking to a Wall Street Journal piece on “the new Wisconsin” in Bloomington, Indiana —- meaning the new coastie magnet.

Full disclosure: I went to high school in New Jersey.

As Marx said, the choice is between socialism and barbarism. For those who would prefer socialism, I recommend the kickoff meeting of the International Socialist Organization, tonight at 7:30 p.m. in 1101 Humanities.

Former Madison mayor, Paul Soglin, posted today about the need for the Obama campaign to respond strongly to the McCain message of “experience and leadership.”

McCain, Soglin reasons, is conveying a message of competency instead of ideology, which is considerably more important to swing voters. Hence, it is important for Obama to respond accordingly, by bringing McCain judgment into question.

In all fairness, the Obama camp has done this by using McCain’s support of Bush as an indicator of judgment. The ads portraying McCain as a Bush loyalist do more than “play to the party faithful,” as Soglin argues. They appeal to a large segment of the population that considers Bush an incompetent fool, regardless of ideology. If Obama can successfully portray McCain as a Bush crony, he will win this election.

Another way to pick at McCain judgment would be to get Hillary Clinton back on the campaign trail, to question the selection of Palin as V.P. Although the voters Palin appeals to are principally conservative evangelicals — not disaffected Hillary supporters — if the Obama campaign can shine light on what a cynical and nonsensical choice for VP Sarah Palin truely is, more indepedents will lose trust in McCain.

For the first time since the announcement of their respective V.P. candidates, the Obama and McCain campaigns came to Wisconsin. While McCain and Palin hit up Cedarburg to talk about Washington corruption and energy independence, Joe Biden made his way to Green Bay to talk about jobs, human dignity and the Packers. John McCain is a Republican and Joe Biden is a Democrat, in case anybody was confused.

McCain’s use of “friends” twice in one sentence made me vomit a little bit in my mouth.

From the Capital Times…

The new Wisconsin Government Accountability Board is considering going where the state Legislature refuses to go by requiring organizations that run so-called “issue advocacy ads” to reveal who paid for them and subjecting the expenditures to the state’s campaign finance limits.

The Cap Times editorial board goes on to endorse the proposal, which groups like Wisconsin Manufacturers Commitee, the Wisconsin Education Association and Wisconsin Right to Life oppose.

The presence of WEAC (Dems) in the anti-reform group displays the non-partisan nature of this issue. The Times correctly asserts the importance of requiring these independent groups to submit to the same disclosure standards required of candidates:

*The Legislature has had numerous chances to close that loophole, but each time key legislators have caved in to pressure from the special interests. Senate Bill 77, co-authored by Democrat Jon Erpenbach and Republican Mike Ellis, is not only perfectly constitutional, but would allow voters to understand whose interests are being served by the attack advertising. *

If the Government Accountability Board implements this change, maybe “squeaky clean Wisconsin” will once again become a non-ironic description of Wisconsin politics.

Times nails McCain campaign in front page news article:

Party in Power, Running as if It Weren’t

Now, it’s undeniable that there are relatively significant political differences between McCain and Bush, regardless of McCain’s positioning during this campaign. McCain has rhetorically shifted to the right in a calculated move to energize the right, although last night’s speech was a refreshing dose of moderation (it made Palin’s speech seem quite shallow and juvenile, but perhaps that is fitting).

Nevertheless the mantra about changing Washington from a whole lineup of Republican power brokers — Mitt Romney (he hates East Coast elites), Giuliani (he’s suspicious of big city machine politics), and Fred Thompson (no more lobbyists!), was Orwelian in hypocrisy. It reminds me of the scene in 1984 when the narrator describes the “hate sessions,” in which the citizens go to movie theatres and rally against whoever they’re told the enemy of the day is. Often the enemy of today is yesterday’s ally.

Rememer President Bush and Gov. Palin — that’s “new clear.”

Anyway, apparently Gov. Jim Doyle received nearly $24,000 in campaign contributions from a Florida nuclear power company several weeks before revising his position on nuclear power as an alternative energy in Wisconsin.

It looks like our favorite libertarian nuclear engineer might have to revisit his opposition to Democratic candidates.

According to the Journal-Sentinel, Gov. Jim Doyle might have violated the state ethics code by using a state aide to write the speech he gave at the Democratic Convention last week. State employees are not allowed to work on political speeches or speeches interpreted to bring “personal gain” to the officeholder.

However, the case is not so clear cut. If the speech is interpreted to be relevant to “state issues or policy,” then the governor may have been using state resources appropriately. That’s the argument Doyle is making.

For those of us cynical enough to realize that every speeh a politician gives is political, this may sound like a bunch of nonsense. However, there are rules for a reason, and Doyle should have known better. Moreover, these rules are there to discourage officeholders from dedicating their policy staffers to campaigning full time.

Coming to you live from the Xcel Energy Center...

Right now, the Republicans are lauding wounded and killed veterans in the "War on Terror." The last speaker mentioned how she leg was amputated, her left eye blind and her life almost taken.

Despite her service, in all honesty, she was an awful speaker. Perhaps that's just because it was disturbing to hear her speak of death with a smile on her face.

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As for the rest of the convention itself...it's a very different world inside and outside the Xcel Center. Right now, out on 12th street, protesters are getting tear gassed and pepper sprayed. The city is in a constant state of chaos and no one really knows where to go. The barricade around the Xcel Center was moved further into the city after protesters tried to rush the gates last night. Columnist Kyle Szarzynski, who was here earlier today, said "It got kind of bloody."

Youth Vote Correspondent Jason Fisher was in Denver for the DNC and Denver and is here with me covering the whole shindig in St. Paul. He says Denver was a celebrity bonanza of sorts where so many people were greeting visitors and handing out information.

Here, it's a very different scene. The only celebrity we've seen so far is Rachel Leigh Cook (who is here on a non-partisan assignment). Not even Chuck Norris is here (who we're apparently looking for?).

I know I've been brief, but I'll try and post more extensive thoughts on the convention tonight.

A new state report found Wisconsin saved $487 million between 2003 and 2007 because of a comprehensive family planning program targeting lower-income women, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

The program provides birth control for women making up to 185 percent of the federal poverty line ($19,240). For any number crunchers out there, including Patrick McEwan, the state estimates each birth covered by BadgerCare -- the state health care plan -- costs an average of $5,791.

Nevertheless, the Family Research Council didn't hesitate to be quoted in opposition to this "travesty." Their main beef is the birth control access granted to underaged women (15-17).

So Sarah Palin's daughter is pregnant.

But don't worry guys, she's going to marry the guy. So everything is going to turn out alright. And if he turns out to be an abusive dead-beat husband, mom can always step in and have him fired.

Got into St. Paul at about 12:30 today and we were met by police and swat teams, which were covering the downtown area. When trying to navigate bacl toward I-94, a group of about 60-70 protestors clad in black, scarfs and ski masks marched in front of us. One of them picked up a large piece of concrete and tried to throw it at a car. Police followed quickly behind them but didn't arrest anyone. Shortly thereafter, a band of about 30 people --and I mean an actual band-- where dressed in green with black and green flags playing, oddly enough, Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" and a couple of Beyonce tunes. They were marching in the same direction as the protestors. Right now, as I turn onto 12th Street in downtown St. Paul, I can see a massive group gathering near the State Capitol. As of yet, I am unsure what is going on but I'm going to find out.