This is the fourth straight day of a regular feature on the "CBS Evening News" --- Katie Couric interviewing Sarah Palin.

Seriously, though, in tonight's installment Couric hits a broad range of interviews, including Arctic oil drilling, abortion, the Wasilla Bible church, her views on the media and homosexuality.

Her statement on the latter certainly won't soothe feelings among gay rights advocates --- if for no other reason in that she considers being gay a choice. But it is a commonly held view among older religious evangelicals.

The excerpt:

Couric: The governor told CBS News though she's not a member of any church, she visits a couple of them regularly when she's home. She took issue with news reports that one of them, The Wasilla Bible Church, sponsored a conference where gays could be made straight through prayer.

Palin: Well, it matters though, Katie, when the media gets it wrong., it frustrates Americans who are just trying to get the facts and … be able to make up their mind on, about a person's values. So it does matter.

But what you're talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin. And you know, I don't know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don't know what's prayers are going to be asked and answered. But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years happens to be gay, and I love her dearly. And she is not my "gay friend," she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice I would have made. But I am not going to judge people.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is featured in the first pro-Proposition 8 ad --- which actually uses his line "Whether you like it or not" --- calls the spot "absurd."

He told PolitickerCA, "The claims in this ad are absurd, and I'm confident Californians will see it for exactly what it is - an attempt to distract attention from exactly how Proposition 8 will hurt our friends, neighbors, co-workers and family members."

The Yes on 8 team apparently was delighted with Newsom's response --- they posted it on their own site.

"I guess we got his attention," writes campaign manager Jeff Flint.

Related news: Google takes a stand against Prop. 8.

Updated

One of Hillary Clinton's fund-raisers for Barack Obama on Saturday will be a "green" themed event, held at a former power plant, the Edison, converted into a lounge.

Jon Bon Jovi will perform, and speakers also include Los Angeles city councilman Eric Garcetti.

Tickets cost $500 per person, and $2,500 per person for a VIP reception.

Clinton on Friday will raise money for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at the Santa Monica home of Peter and Megan Chernin. The event starts at $10,000 per person, and also will include Sens. Patrick Leahy, John Kerry, Chuck Schumer and Jim Webb.

Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel will perform at a fund-raising concert for Barack Obama in New York on Oct. 16.

Tickets for the event, at which Obama will appear, range from $500 to $10,000, according to the Huffington Post.

Springsteen campaigned extensively for John Kerry in 2004, including a rally at the University of Wisconsin at Madison that drew tens of thousands.

The Springsteen-Joel event will be at the Hammerstein Ballroom.

Also from Huffington Post: A clip of a 1987 appearance by Joel and Springsteen.

Updated

Jonathan Lewis, entrepreneur and political activist and scion of the Cleveland-based Progressive Insurance Cos. fortune, is pledging to chip in $500,000 to defeat Proposition 8 if the entertainment industry does the same.

The proposition would restrict marriage in California to unions between a man and a woman.

His matching offer comes after Brad Pitt, and Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, each chipped in $100,000 for the No on 8 campaign, after a flurry of stories showing that backers of Yes on 8 have outraised their counterparts. Curiously, at the time, little money to defeat the measure had come from the entertainment business, but the pace of fund-raising appears to be picking up. David Geffen recently donated another $50,000, adding to the $50,000 he already has given.

"With Election Day six weeks away, we are concerned that the entertainment industry hasn't stepped up to the plate to fight this unnecessary initiative. We are pleased to see the leadership of Brad Pitt and Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg. Now it's time for the entertainment industry as a whole to take the lead," Lewis said in a statement.  "My family and I are issuing a $500,000 challenge to the entertainment industry. We will match the next half-million dollars that entertainment industry leaders contribute. This is an urgent time in the campaign, and we have to act now."

Lewis said that the match also applies to contributions to fight Florida's Proposition 2, an initiative similar to California's Proposition 8.

Lewis' father, Peter Lewis, is a longtime contributor to Democratic causes. Jonathan Lewis also has worked as an executive producer along with Russell Simmons, Kenny Edmonds and Tracey Edmonds on a R&B album to encourage young people to vote.

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

Every campaign spends the days leading up to a presidential debate minimizing expectations of their candidate, but John McCain's campaign is turning its attention to the content itself in Sarah Palin's matchup with Joseph Biden on Thursday. Specifically, a spokeswoman, Nancy Pfotenhauer, said on "Fox & Friends" yesterday that Gwen Ifill would "have a lot to answer for" if the queries were too weighted toward foreign policy, when it is the economy that Americans are now most concerned about. Also of concern" A series of "gotcha" questions, which McCain himself has complained about in recent days.

This close to the general election, I have serious doubts as to whether some kind of attack on the debate itself will work, any more than it worked for Barack Obama in April. After a poor performance at a pre-Pennsylvania debate, moderated by Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, Obama complained about the line of questioning --- but quickly dropped it when it made it seem like he was whining.
 
Newman Memories: David Mixner recalls Paul Newman's political involvement, including an anecdote where the actor, who died on Friday, helped him during a difficult political setback.

Russert's Replacement: The New York Times reports on the latest plans for "Meet the Press". NBC News "is leaning toward an ensemble of hosts that would be led by Chuck Todd, NBC’s political director, and include David Gregory, a correspondent and MSNBC anchor, according to a person who had been briefed on the proposal but was not authorized to comment, partly because the plans were not set. Like the turnover of anchors at all three network newscasts, the process of choosing a successor for Mr. Russert has been closely watched in media and political circles."

Clinton Ad: The McCain campaign released this ad today that uses former president Bill Clinton praising their candidate.

Nielsen says that the first presidential debate was watched by 52.4 million viewers --- more than ten million less than watched the first Bush-Kerry debate four years ago.

Given that just about every debate and political-oriented broadcast has posted high ratings this cycle, it's a bit of a surprise. But not when you consider that the debate aired on Friday night, traditionally the second lowest night of the week for watching TV.

The most-watched presidential debate was Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan’s October 28, 1980 debate with 80.6 million viewers, although Nielsen didn't keep records in 1960, the first televised forum with Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.

By contrast, the Friday debate does not even make it into the top ten.

African American viewership ran ahead of the population as a whole, with Hispanics watching at a lower rate than the rest of the audience.

Just how many Sarah Palin-Katie Couric interviews are there?

In addition to the joint interview with McCain and Palin today, and an excerpt that will run on Tuesday, CBS News also apparently has a more devastating clip in which the vice presidential candidate struggles to cite court cases.

The McCain campaign apparently plans to get Palin out there in front of journalists more, albeit it will probably start with conservative outlets, the Politico reports. And they are pressing CBS to release entire interviews, not edited segments.

Updated

Katie Couric continues her interviews with Sarah Palin tonight --- this is like an endless miniseries --- where Palin answers criticism of her interview from last week. The full interview with Palin and John McCain on the campaign trail airs tonight on "CBS Evening News."

It's McCain, not Palin, who is contentious with Couric.

The transcript:

Couric: Gov. Palin, since our last interview, you've gotten a lot of flak. Some Republicans have said you're not prepared; you're not ready for prime-time. People have questioned your readiness since that interview.  And I'm curious …

Palin: Yeah. 

Couric: … to hear your reaction. 

Palin: Well, not only am I ready but willing and able to serve as Vice President with Sen. McCain if Americans so bless us and privilege us with the opportunity of serving them, ready with my executive experience as a city mayor and manager, as a governor, as a commissioner, a regulator of oil and gas.

The full transcript, in which McCain takes aim at "gotcha journalism" after Couric questions Palin for making a statement over the weekend in which she appears to be agreeing with Barack Obama:

Proponents of Proposition 8 --- which would ban same sex marriage in California --- released their first ad today, "Whether You Like It or Not." The spot features San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom telling an enthusiastic crowd, after the state Supreme Court paved the way for gay marriage, “The door’s wide open now. It’s gonna happen, whether you like it or not!"

Included as well is a fund-raising appeal, which hits Hollywood:

"For the past two months, California voters have been presented with twisted, inaccurate and false information about the same-sex marriage issue. Wealthy gay activists and Hollywood liberals like Brad Pitt have spent $5 million on an 8 week media buy airing an issue advertisement designed to create public support for gay marriage. They even got Attorney General Jerry Brown to rewrite the official description of Proposition 8 in order to bias voters against the measure. And last week our opponents began spending millions on their official campaign ads. It's no wonder that some polls have reported a drop in support for Prop. 8."

The ad is here.

Karen Ocamb writes a memory of Paul Newman from the 1960s in Westport, Connecticut, when Ocamb was a teenager, "transitioning from girl to rebel."

"It's strange how someone's death can trigger the oddest of memories. When I heard that Paul Newman died, I suddenly flashed to the moment he walked into the house where I was babysitting and said, "Come on, kid - let's clean these fish."

"Piercing blue-eyes. Brilliant smile. Easy-going, if somewhat hurried manner. Tight white tee shirt, blue jeans and some kind of serviceable jacket -- he was holding a plastic box filled with fish he and my summer-job boss and her husband had just caught.

"Ugh! Of course, it was Paul Newman so I didn't immediately want to tell him "Are you crazy?" Instead I said something like, "Isn't that the man's job?" Well, he would have none of that. It was 1965 in Westport, Connecticut, the woodsy and quaint hide-away for liberal New York artists and media types -- and he knew more about the nascent Women's Liberation movement than I did."

She also shares a bittersweet memory about Newman's son, Scott.

Since Newman passed away on Friday evening, I've been getting a lot of these types of anecdotes. I'll share a few more in the coming days.

Barbra Streisand's latest post on Sarah Palin focuses on the McCain campaign's refusal to give the press more access to her.

Streisand writes, "This reminds me of the movie business. When the studio knows it has a dud on its hands, they ban reviewers from seeing it beforehand."

As I noted earlier, there were two "Saturday Night Live" skits --- and one worked and one did not. The debate skit was a bit too over the top, especially when it hit John McCain's "I am suspending my campaign" with the candidate proposing a series of unseemly gimmicks.

Even with Amy Poehler's not-so-great impersonation of Katie Couric, the recreation of the CBS anchors interview with Sarah Palin was spot on, right from the first words out of Palin's mouth.   Tina Fey's Sarah Palin ranks up there with Dana Carvey's George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot, an impression that is only going to reinforce impressions of the candidate heading into Thursday's debate. Now expectations are so low that apparently the McCain campaign has taken to emphasizing Joseph Biden's gaffes.

The reason that the Couric-Palin skit worked so well is because is stuck very close to what Palin actually said in the interview. As the New York Times pointed out today, "There were moments so bizarre during the last week — a potential financial meltdown; a suspended campaign; an on-again, off-again debate; offers of hugs from the Pakistani leader — that the presidential election entered the realm of surreal.

"And certainly there were moments during Saturday’s “SNL” when the dialogue seemed to be strangely “Law and Order” — ripped from the political headlines (or at least from the transcripts of interviews and debates)."

Need proof? Here's the actual exchange of Couric and Palin, on the bailout. Compare it to the sketch I posted earlier.

COURIC: Why isn't it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families who are struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries; allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, were ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

Just what you would expect...

And some skewering of the Couric-Palin interview...

Jeffrey Ressner and Kenneth P. Vogel in the Politico have more details of Paul Newman's political involvement in their obit of the movie star.

Among the highlights:

He and his wife gave more than $500,000 to federal candidates and committees.

He did not give to Al Gore in 2000, but to Ralph Nader.

They also write, "Newman wound up as the 19th name on the original 20-person list, with a notation next to his name that read “Radic-lib causes. Heavy McCarthy involvement ’68. Used effectively in nationwide T.V. commercials. ’72 involvement certain.”

And it was hard for Newman to straddle celebrity and politics. He told Rolling Stone in 1983 about a meeting he had with President Jimmy Carter during his term.

"I wanted to talk to Carter about SALT II, and he wanted to talk about how you made movies," said Newman.

Former president Bill Clinton released this statement through his foundation:

"Paul was an American icon, philanthropist and champion for children. We will miss our dear friend, whose continued support always meant the world to us. Our prayers and thoughts are with Joanne and the Newman family and the many people who Paul impacted through his endless kindness and generosity."

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger:

"Paul Newman was the ultimate cool guy who men wanted to be like and women adored. He was an American icon, a brilliant actor, a Renaissance man and a generous but modest philanthropist."

Initial ratings: The debate scores highest in St. Louis, lowest in Phoenix.

The combined rating in top local markets was 33.2, according to Nielsen.

National ratings won't be available until Monday.

As many tributes to Paul Newman will suggest, he was the last of the great movie stars of the 20th century.

But he was one of the first in a new brand of actor-activist.

His interest rooted in the civil rights era and the Vietnam war, Newman took Hollywood participation to a new level, particularly in 1968, when he campaigned tirelessly for Eugene McCarthy, then a relatively unknown senator from Minnesota.

When President Lyndon Johnson suffered crushing results in the New Hampshire primary and decided to exit the race, some of his advisers pointed to Newman as a reason for his challenger's success. Without the movie star, many Granite State voters may not have taken a look.

Until then, Hollywood seldom was used as anything more than a prop --- a good wave to the crowd and a few light remarks and that was it. But Newman capitalized on the inevitable publicity that came with fame, savvy in what he said and when he said it.

Ron Brownstein wrote in "The Power and the Glitter," a history of Hollywood and D.C., "As politics came to be seen as more packaged, slicker, more like acting, many stars felt less anxiety about using celebrity as a political tool."

If Newman had any anxieties, he seldom showed it. His activism landed him on Nixon's famous enemies list, a fact that he many years later called "one of my proudest achievements."

"More than the films, more than the awards, finding out that I was on Nixon's enemies list meant that I was doing something right."

Journalist Barbara Howar, a friend of Newman and his wife Joanne Woodward, wrote in a VLife article that "although normally quite jolly, he had a penchant for flippant remarks and a smoldering temper like a spark of injustice flared into an acetylene torch."

But Newman's outspokenness never seemed to hurt his popularity, and he was seldom a lighting rod in the way that Jane Fonda and other stars became coming out of the turbulent 60s and 70s.

His participation was less about grandstanding and more grassroots, or as much as a star could pull that off in glare of celebrity. Howar recalls one dinner he had with the Newmans in which "he was intent on two things only: a juicy cheesaburger and a a beefy tome just published by former U.S. Ambassador to Russia George Kennan."

By the 1980s, his work through his Newman's Own charity, started as something of a joke, often drew more publicity than his political involvement. It set a standard for philanthropic activity among high-profile figures, raising some $250 million, according to a spokesman for the foundation.

"I wanted to acknowledge luck, the chance and benevolence of it in my life, and the brutality of it in the lives of others, who might not be allowed the good fortune of a lifetime to correct it," Newman said.

Other than serving as a delegate to the 1968 convention, he rejected overtures that he get into politics, but he continued to support Democratic party causes. He was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to a United Nations General Assembly session on disarmament. In 2004, he and a group of other stars canvassed homes in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and Newman even knocked on the door of his childhood home to convince the new owners to vote for John Kerry. "I don't give up my citizenship just because I'm an actor," he told Salon.

In later years, Newman invested in the Nation magazine, contributed frequently to candidates, and didn't miss occasional opportunities to jump into the political fray. Last year, Democrats frequently enlisted him to help raise money, including in a fund-raising letter and video he did  for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where he called President Bush the country's "biggest internal threat."

Stars will always come under fire for speaking out; in Newman's eyes, what else was he to do?

Canvassing Indiana for McCarthy in 1968, and trailed by a horde of reporters, Newman told a crowd, "I am not a public speaker.

"I am not a politician. I'm not here because I'm an actor. I'm here because I've got six kids. I don't want it written on my gravestone, 'He was not part of his times.' The times are too critical to be dissenting in your own bathroom."

Photo: Life archives, 1968.

Read the obituary on Variety.com here.

Sean Penn sizes up the debate in the Huffington Post. My favorite graph:

"So, now I'll go out, throw back a couple of sakes at the sushi bar, and re-play this thing in my head. I'll wonder about the state of Bill Clinton's political menopause, and the gullibility of a nation searching for a daddy. And then I'll find a way to giggle. I'd like to see a debate between John McCain and his own vice-presidential choice, were she his opponent in the presidential race. The picture I'm seeing of that exposes both as car salesmen: one of Rolls Royce's, the other of used pick-ups. Somewhere in between there are hopeful young people following an elegant professor from Harvard in belief of a better day. I want those people to win. Bottoms up. (This is not an economic pun...or is it?)"

Ari Melber of the Nation talks about the first presidential debate --- the high points and the low points --- in a special edition of "Wilshire & Washington: The Radio Edition."

Join myself and co-hosts Maegan Carberry and Teresa Valdez Klein here.

It was a draw, as best as I can tell, and judging from the consensus.

Both candidates made strides in removing some of their very superficial debate drawbacks.

McCain looked a few years younger than normal --- credit the make up artists --- which is a big concern given that this debate was watched by a significant portion of the population in HD.

Obama did make some strides in not coming across as too professorial. He refrained from tilting his head upward, and his answers at the start seemed more sharp and coherent than in past debates. He may have benefited from the fact that he came across as nicer than McCain who, as many commenters have pointed out, never even looked at Obama. Some commentators suggested that McCain may have come across as too negative, in his frequent use of the phrase, "what Senator Obama doesn't understand..."

McCain did well in delivering anecdotes about real people, but he did it in the context of foreign policy. On the economy, his focus on earmarks and business tax rates probably was too abstract as average voters worry about jobs and savings. Yet Obama didn't make that personal connection at many points, either.

We'll see how this all plays out, as instant perceptions of a debate often change in the days following. "Saturday Night Live" may come up with a hit skit, or the pundit class may deliver a few points that change the nature of the debate over the debate.

6 p.m.: Wolf Blitzer isn't using hyperbole when he says "this is a moment the whole country has been waiting for." Every debate can be cast as make or break, but it is hard to think of another that has been held against the backdrop of such a crisis as the one in Washington right now.

6:04: One of the big differences from previous debates: direct exchanges between the candidates are permitted at certain points.

6:11: It is McCain, not Obama, who noted that Sen. Kennedy was hospitalized today. Kennedy is a big supporter of Obama.

6:13: Neither candidate has directly answered whether they support the bailout plan. But Obama is trying to come out a bit feistier in casting the crisis as the product of Republican dereuglation, and doing his best to connect McCain to it. McCain, however, is citing a lack of accountability, even citing an anecdote about Dwight Eisenhower. Moderator Jim Lehrer cited Ike in his opening question, where he quoted Eisenhower's warning that security means solvency.

6:16: The age issue:  McCain is using humor to perhaps diffuse it.  When Lehrer instructs Obama to speak directly to McCain, McCain quips, "You afraid I couldn't hear him?" These types of quips carried the day for Reagan.

6:22:  McCain hits Obama for requesting $932 million in "pork barrel spending," a pet issue of his campaign. Obama hits back on McCain's tax policies as following in the footsteps of George Bush. "It is not like you want to close the loopholes, you want to add an additional tax cut over the loopholes."  It is interesting in that they are each trying to seize the nature of the argument, with no clear winner.

6:28: Lehrer asks what the candidates would give up given the cost of the bailout. Obama: "There is no doubt we are going to be able to do everything that needs to be done." He doesn't cite specifics, then goes into health care, energy and education as programs he wouldn't give up. McCain: "No matter what, we have got to cut spending," he says, then he dings Obama by saying he has the most liberal voting record. "It is hard to reach across the aisle from that far to the left." But McCain does cite cost overruns in defense, but he is still not specific.

6:33: Lehrer states the obvious: Neither candidate offers cuts anywhere near enough to account for the bailout.

McCain offers a spending freeze on everything but defense and some veterans entitlements. Obama objects, then states what is surely obvious: Getting out of Iraq. It is somewhat surprising that he didn't mention this earlier.

6:38: McCain suggests Obama cut some of his new spending programs, and warns his health care program will hand decisions over to the government. It's a little ironic, given that the bailout essentially hands the government  the mortgage business, the housing market and much of Wall Street. (OK, a little hyperbole).

6:40: "It is well known I will not be named Miss Congeniality" in opposing Bush and other Republicans, McCain says. It is the second time he has referenced the 2000 movie, starring Sarah Palin lookalike Sandra Bullock.

6:43: With a question on Iraq, the debate has transitioned into foreign policy, its original intent. Other than broad strokes, neither candidate has paved the way through the financial crisis.

6:45: McCain attacks Obama on not holding a Senate subcommittee on NATO --- echoing a Clinton argument during the primary season. Obama challenges the point and calls it "inside baseball," then tries to widen the question of the surge to the question of the entire decision to go to war.

6:48: "Senator Obama refuses to recognize that we are winning in Iraq." McCain hits Obama on cutting off the funds for the troops and not supporting the surge, which is one of Obama's big vulnerabilities. He cites, several times, Obama's quote that the surge succeeded "beyond its wildest expectations."

"We had a difference on the timetable, not on whether we were funding troops," Obama fights back. Clearly, Obama is trying to avoid any nuance answer similar to Kerry's "supported the war before I was against it." His strategy appears to be to focus on Afghanistan, not the surge in Iraq. "We have four times more troops in Iraq than in Afghanistan. That is a strategic mistake."

7:00: McCain cites the wearing of the bracelet of an Iraq vet killed in combat, Matthew Stanley, hwich his mother gave him while pleading that "he did not die in vain." "We will win this one and we won't come home from dishonor." It is a great anecdote, one that I have heard him make several times.

7:02: Obama comes back. "I have got a bracelet too." "No soldier ever dies in vain." He tries to equalize on the support of troops. It is a good comeback, even if he struggled for a second to remember the soldiier's name. He hits McCain on Afghanistan, again tying it to Iraq.

7:06: Iran. McCain: "I believe we can act and I believe we can act with our friends and allies." McCain outlines the threat, and cites the dangers to Israel, but he seems intent on imposing sanctions rather than suggesting military action.

Obama: "I believe that the Republican Guard in Iran is a terrorist organization. I have consistently said so."

This came up during the primary debates, when Hillary Clinton was criticized for voting for a resolution declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. Obama did not vote, but said that he would have voted against it.

McCain struggles with the name "Ahmadinejad" and hits Obama for suggesting meeting with the Iranian president without preconditions, but Obama points that even Henry Kissinger advocates his position.

It's interesting that this is a debate that started last summer, when Hillary Clinton criticized Obama for being naive. Some saw it as an Obama gaffe but he has not backed away from it.

7:19: McCain gets animated in mocking Obama's willingness to meet with Ahmadinejad. It's so far the most animated either candidate has been throughout the evening. This is probably a moment that will be replayed over and over again. The one drawback: McCain has a habit of popping up from the podium, as if leaping from his feet, anxious to get his point across.

7:21: McCain just comes out and characterizes Obama as "naive." McCain tries to accent his leadership on the Russian-Georgian conflict.

7:27: Obama tries to go on offense, pointing to McCain's voting against alternative energy proposals. McCain cites his support of offshore drilling as a "bridge" to alternative energy. But he unfortunately uses the phrase "exploiting these resources" in his defense, which doesn't sound all that good.

7:29: Safer today than on 9/11? "I think America is safer today than it was on 9/11," McCain says. Obama: "We still have a long way to go." He cites nuclear proliferation, one of his signature issues, and the threat of Al Queda. He gives a nod to McCain on the torture issue, and tries to cast it in terms of restoring America's standing in the world.

McCain again tries to bring it back to Iraq and Obama's idea of withdrawal as devastatiing. It's interesting that Obama is not emphasising the point he has made before that he would consult with generals in getting out of Iraq, which gives him some wiggle room.

7:34: Amazingly, McCain is trying to connect Obama's inability to acknowledge the surge's success in this debate --- "inflexiblity" --- to that of President Bush. And he drives home Obama's lack of experience. "I don't think I need any one the job training. I am ready to go at it right now."

7:39: McCain ends with his first reference to his experience as a POW in Vietnam.

"Good job, John," Obama says in shaking McCain's hand.

A few words about the locale of tonight's debate: the University of Mississippi.

Producer Sam Haskell, the former head of television at William Morris, has been working in Oxford with the chancellor of Ole Miss, Robert Khayat.

Haskell, who is also chairman of the capital campaign for the university, says that they've been working to spread the message that it is a much different place than it was in 1962, when white students riots to protest the integration of the school with its first black student, James Meredith.

"We want to get the message out that racial issues have so, so gone by the wayside," Haskell says. "Unfortunately, a lot of people's perceptions seem to be what it was as opposed to what it is."

“For many people, 1962 is locked in their memory, as far as Ole Miss is concerned,” Khayat told the New York Times this week. “Now, 46 years later, we’re hosting the presidential debate and one of the candidates is an African-American. That, I think, speaks volumes about where we were and where we are.”

Also expected to be present tonight: Oxford native John Grisham, a longtime Democrat.

Time compliles a list of ten of the most memorable debate moments of all time.

First on the list (although I don't think they are meant to be in any particular order) is this clip of Gerald Ford's 1976 denial that there was any "Soviet domination of Eastern Europe." It was an amazing gaffe, especially for a Republican president, that Max Frankel of the New York Times even asked him again. But Ford did not back down.

My memory of the debates that year was when a technical glitch wiped out the sound system, and forced Ford and then Gov. Jimmy Carter to wait awkwardly at their lecterns for about 40 minutes. It's hard to believe something like that happening again, or the candidates enduring what was surely a tortuous wait in the electronic age.

Not included on the Time list is another moment from 1976: the vice presidential debate betweem Walter Mondale and Bob Dole. Dole, Ford's running mate, rather bizarrely labels World War II, Korea and Vietnam "Democrat wars" responsible for the deaths of 1.6 million people.

Finally, here's this clip from Carter's 1980 debate with Ronald Reagan, in which Carter says that he asked his daughter Amy what she thought the most important issue was. "She said nuclear weapons." It was a much derided remark that some mocked as seeming as if the president was taking advice from his grade-school age daughter.

Updated

There's a fund-raiser on the books for John McCain on Wednesday at the Century Plaza Hotel, with the candidate set to return to raise money from Los Angeles and Hollywood donors.

The event costs $1,000 per person, or $2,500  per person with a limited edition "McCain-Palin CA" lapel pin. Tickets to a private reception start at $10,000 (contribute or raise), rising to $250,000.

The latter level requires host chairs to raise that amount, with a maximum individual contribution of $40,800. It includes  on table  of ten, special acknowledgment at a host committee dinner and six tickets to a private reception with three photo opportunities.

What's unknown is whether McCain will still attend given the financial crisis in Washington and his announcement that he was suspending his campaign to concentrate on the proposed bailout. He's in Oxford for the debate, but the word is that he's returning to Washington on Saturday.

In any case, expect the Obama campaign to make some hay out of this, as McCain chided Obama last week for his trip to Beverly Hills to raise money at an event headlined by Barbra Streisand.

John McCain announces that he will attend the forum in Oxford this evening.

"The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners."

Jason Alexander is making a fund-raising appeal for Mark Warner, seeking a Senate seat in Virginia.

From the D.C. Examiner Yeas & Nays column is Alexander's e-mail pitch.

"If you thought Seinfeld was a show about nothing, you should check out Congress," writes Alexander. "I can't remember such a lack of productivity since the summer of George."

David Letterman once again chided John McCain for skipping out on "Late Show with David Letterman" on Wednesday night --- only to appear on "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" at just the same time.

From the AP: Letterman "said he felt like a "patriot" to let McCain off his commitment to deal with the economy and "now I'm feeling like an ugly date."

""That's what I feel like, I feel like an ugly date," he said. "I feel used. I feel cheap. I feel sullied.""

He also got in a few digs about Sarah Palin. "Letterman said McCain taking Palin to meet world leaders at the United Nations was like "take-your-daughter-to-work day."

The guest, ironically, was Paris Hilton (below), to whom Letterman said, "You had a little run-in with him, too, didn't you?"

This has been a two-day event, and the network's PR people are releasing excerpts in dribs and drabs.

The first out today was on Palin's response to those who have mocked her contention that Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience.

The transcript is below.

Updated

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

Did David Letterman abandon the tradition of late-night host neutrality in his biting comments about John McCain? It was classic Dave --- like the rants he used frequently when he hosted his show on NBC, the type that aren't confined to just one segment but are referred to over and over again throughout the telecast.

Letterman was clearly miffed that McCain told him personally that he couldn't be on the show because he had to return to Washington DC to resolve the economic crisis, but then they caught the GOP nominee appearing with Katie Couric just down the street. "This just gets uglier and uglier," Letterman said. "It's like we caught him getting a manicure or something."

Jay Leno and Letterman have a tradition of not wearing their partisanship on their sleeves, even as many journalists have tried to guess their affiliations. Although Letterman's routine was aimed at a personal slight, it was passed around so extensively in the liberal blogosphere, and it feeds into perceptions of McCain as out of touch. What's more, Keith Olbermann was McCain's replacement. Letterman's comments will be seen as an attack on McCain, and perhaps invite criticism in the same way that Oprah got flack for backing Barack Obama. (And Letterman would love that).

The risk is that Letterman loses McCain supporters, but won't that be made up by the show's core audience of college-age and upscale viewers taking a look at the show again if they see it as taking on a new energy and edginess? (Video via The Daily Dish).

"EW" Cover: Speaking of late night hosts, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert recreate the New Yorker Obama cover for the latest issue of "Entertainment Weekly." It seems like so long ago. Their interview here. (Via Towleroad).

Silverman Plea: Sarah Silverman encourages young voters to head to Florida to boost Obama's prospects there among Jewish voters, part of a campaign called The Great Schlep.com. It's easily the funniest --- or most offensive --- get-out-the-vote effort around. "If Barack Obama does not become the next president of the United States, I am going to blame the Jews," Silverman says. (Via The Page).

His speech to the nation, where he warns of a "long and painful recession"...

On McCain...

McCain was replaced as a guest by Keith Olbermann.

Katie Couric did an interview with John McCain that they will now tack on to her much publicized interview with Sarah Palin.

The network announced: "Due to that breaking news and its potential effect on Friday’s first Presidential debate, as well as the time constraints of the broadcast, Couric’s interview with Gov. Sarah Palin scheduled for tonight’s CBS EVENING NEWS will be included in both tonight’s and tomorrow’s broadcast.  Tonight’s portion of that interview will focus on the nation’s economic crisis, while tomorrow’s will cover international affairs."

I wonder how much attention her interview will get, not just because of the McCain campaign announcement, but because of President Bush's speech, which will dominate the news this evening, at least on the West Coast. But McCain's campaign does benefit in that they now get two nights on "CBS Evening News."

In the interview, Palin warns of a "Great Depression" if some kind of action is not taken. But they key gotcha moment comes at the end, when Couric asks Palin about McCain's attempts to cast himself as a reformer/regulator.

COURIC: I'm just going to ask you one more time, not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation?"

PALIN: I'll try to find you some and I'll bring them to you

The transcripts of Couric's interviews with Palin and McCain is below.

From the Drudge Report:

"David Letterman tells audience that McCain called him today to tell him he had to rush back to DC to deal with the economy.

"Then in the middle of the taping Dave got word that McCain was, in fact just down the street being interviewed by Katie Couric. Dave even cut over to the live video of the interview, and said, "Hey Senator, can I give you a ride home?"

"Earlier in the show, Dave kept saying, "You don't suspend your campaign. This doesn't smell right. This isn't the way a tested hero behaves." And he joked: "I think someone's putting something in his metamucil."

""He can't run the campaign because the economy is cratering? Fine, put in your second string quarterback, Sarah Palin. Where is she?"

""What are you going to do if you're elected and things get tough? Suspend being president? We've got a guy like that now!""

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared this morning on the Web series "Meet the Bloggers," produced by Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films, and had this to say about the prospects of passing a bailout package without GOP support.

She said, “Absolutely not.  This is their problem.  They created it with their ‘anything goes, no supervision, no regulation’ policies and we are saying to them: the party is over.”

The clip here.

She also called on President Bush to "apologize to the American people for the failure of his economic policies," and said that Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson's original proposal was "almost laughable."

It's an afternoon of political gamesmanship, with no clear winner yet.

Barack Obama is declining to postpone Friday's debate.

He told reporters, “This is exactly the time the American people need to hear from the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsible for dealing with this mess.”

“Presidents are going to have to deal with more than one thing at a time. It’s not necessary for us to think that we can only do one thing and suspend everything else.”

So now, what is unclear is whether McCain will show up in Oxford, Miss. The Commission on Presidential Debates says that the forum will go forward, so now the ball is in the GOP candidate's court. A McCain spokesman simply says that they will work with Obama and the commission on scheduling.

Barney Frank says of McCain's announcement: "It's the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Marys."

Michael Douglas was at the United Nations today urging the United States and eight other holdout nations to ratify a nuclear test ban treaty.

But he couldn't control the subject, as when a reporter asked him about the financial crisis and whether "greed is not good," a reference to the Gordon Gekko character he played in "Wall Street."

"I'm not saying that," Douglas replied, per the AP. "And my name is not Gordon. He's a character I played 20 years ago."

Updated, corrected

John McCain is leaving the campaign trail and heading to Washington D.C. to focus on the economic crisis --- and he's asking that Friday's debate be postponed.

Here's the non-political way of looking at this: Why wouldn't he? The country is facing its worst downtown since the Great Depression, according to some experts, and McCain is a sitting senator.

Here's the political way of looking at it: It gets the political press, which is obsessed with process, focusing on the fact that it is McCain who first issued this call, not Barack Obama. It's a very inspired move, seizing attention and forcing Obama to react at a time when polls show McCain falling in stature when it comes to the economy. And it comes after today's New York Times story that revealed that campaign manager Rick Davis' consulting firm had been receving payments for work from Fannie Mae Freddie Mac. Obama now is forced into a corner --- a position from which he does not do well. This won't be lost on the political media covering both candidates on the trail --- but it's hard to call it a gimmick when McCain can easily point to the fact that the country's economic health is at stake and he is merely doing the responsible thing.

McCain, by the way, has cancelled his appearance on "Late Show with David Letterman" tonight.

Update: The Obama campaign says that it initiated the first call.

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

Everyone wants to know what tone Oliver Stone gives "W," his biopic of President Bush, but they may be missing the point. Josh Brolin, as the eponymous lead, apparently delivers an uncanny performance, in league with other Oscar winner, reports the Politco's Jeffrey Ressner.

He writes, "People who have seen the film, and there are not many at this point, have said the most astonishing part of the movie isn’t the storyline, which doesn’t contain any shocking new information. And it’s not the liberties the film takes with reality — like any biopic, it includes invented dialogue, and several lengthy real-life events have been telescoped into a few minutes of screen time. Instead, “W.” watchers say that Brolin has positively nailed Dubya, channeling his very soul in the same way Jamie Foxx inhabited Ray Charles’ skin in “Ray,” Joaquin Phoenix captured Johnny Cash in “Walk the Line” and Jim Carrey became Andy Kaufman’s reincarnation in “Man on the Moon.”"

One for Two: Bono will meet with John McCain and Sarah Palin today, but he's also making it clear that he plans a powwow with Barack Obama and Joe Biden. The singer is pushing candidates to talk about world poverty, and he's on the bill for the Clinton Global Initiative that starts today in New York.

The Money Trail: The Los Angeles Times' Tina Daunt has details of an appearance last weekend by Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi at the home of Alan and Cindy Horn, where they raised money for House candidates. Leonardo DiCaprio and Annette Bening were the special guests.

Bill on "Daily Show": "I think Obama is going to win. Our party is going to win this presidential race," Bill Clinton tells Jon Stewart on last night's "The Daily Show." Its one of a flurry of media appearances the former president has been making in the past few days, leading up to his Clinton Global Initiative.

Running on the Independence Party ticket, Dean Barkley is challenging Al Franken and Norm Coleman in their Minnesota race for the U.S. Senate.

Barkley's first ad --- for the Web --- certainly has a momentous, urgent feel and is much different from what you would see from a Democratic or Republican consultant this cycle.

From CNN...

After Monday's showdown with the New York Times, the McCain campaign tried to restrict media access to Sarah Palin's United Nations visit, until the networks threatened to boycott coverage of the event.

TV Newser reports that a CNN producer eventually was let in --- but the entire time allowed to watch Palin with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe and Afghan President Hamid Karzai was just 29 seconds.

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

Four days away from the first presidential debate, and the campaigns are in full swing setting expectations for their candidates.

Mike Allen reports in the Politico this quote from Obama spokesman Bill Burton: “John McCain has boasted throughout the campaign about his decades of Washington foreign policy experience and what an advantage that will be for him. This debate offers him major home court advantage and anything short of a game-changing event will be a key missed opportunity for him.” And Allen predicts that McCain's camp will try to use Obama's extensive debate preparation as a way to raise expectations on his side.

The New York Times previews the "completely different styles" of each candidate.

Views from "The View": Cindy McCain complained that the women hosts of "The View" "picked our bones clean" in her recent appearance on the show. The New York Times Jacques Steinberg reports, "As it turns out, the McCain interview — in which he received tougher treatment than either he or his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama, had experienced in previous appearances on “The View” — was part of a conscious effort by Ms. Walters and her producers to insert their daytime talk show forcefully into the nation’s political conversation this fall."

There's this quote from Whoopi Goldberg, who appears somewhat unimpressed by the field: “I’m pretty sure that as McCain is standing right now, the person he is right now, he is not going to be my choice.”

But, she quickly added, “Am I happy with where Barack Obama has been standing? Not particularly. He hasn’t said much. I want to hear something. I’m going to wait until the debates to figure out who really has what it takes.”

The first No on 8 that I posted earlier is set to debut tonight on "Dancing with the Stars" and "Heroes."

Also, the Spielberg and Capshaw donation was made to Equality California. Its executive director, Geoff Kors, made this statement in response:

"We so appreciate their generosity and leadership in standing for the right of all people to marry the person they love. The continued and growing opposition to Prop 8 sends a powerful message to those that seek to eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry."

Karen Ocamb blogs on Bilerico Project about the ad buy and about an event on Sunday where the Gay & Lesbian Task Force gave its Leadership Awards to Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks, director Gus van Sant and writer Dustin Lance Black, honored for the upcoming film "Milk," as well as former Universal Studios president Sid Sheinberg, board vice president of Human Rights Watch.

It still wasn't easy raising money.

Ocamb writes, "When it came time to contribute to the Task Force's No on 8 campaign - few hands went up. Sid Sheinberg, who was the first to contribute - he gave $25,000 - called them out after promising to include LGBT people in all areas considered by Human Rights Watch. Sheinberg: "If it isn't worth you giving $1,000 or $2500 - why should anyone vote no?""

All told, about $100,000 was raised by the Task Force.

Photo by Karen Ocamb.

Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw have donated $100,000 to the campaign to defeat a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage in California.

Their donation is the latest high-profile contribution to the campaign, as gay marriage advocates seek to narrow a gap in fund-raising. Brad Pitt donated $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign last week, in what was seen as a wakeup call to entertainment industry figures to pony up more money for the fight.

The proposition would restrict marriage to unions between a man and a woman.

Spielberg and Capshaw said in a statement, "By writing discrimination into our state constitution, Proposition 8 seeks to eliminate the right of each and every citizen in our state to marry regardless of sexual orientation. Such discrimination has NO place in California's constitution, or any other."

Producer Bruce Cohen, who has been working on the campaign to defeat Proposition 8, said in a statement, "It's phenomenal that Kate and Steven are affirming their unwavering commitment to equality in such a significant a way. More than 15 years ago, Steven was the first person in Hollywood who I came out to, news which he greeted with his full love and support then and ever since. It is my fervent hope that other entertainment industry leaders will follow the lead of Brad Pitt and the Spielbergs and fight to maintain equal rights for all Californians."

Although a recent Field Poll shows that the proposition is losing support, and is opposed by a majority of Californians, opponents have been outraised, and worry that gay rights advocates will grow complacent. Yes on 8 supporters have collected almost $16.2 million from groups ranging from Focus on the Family to the Knights of Columbus.

"Support from the entertainment industry is critical to defeating Prop 8. The forces behind this measure are highly-motivated and supported by millions of out-of-state dollars," said Chad Griffin, political strategist working to defeat the initiative.

It's very much aimed at older voters.

Karen Ocamb reports that there are worries that the economic crisis will depress fund-raising for the No on 8 campaign.

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

A few quick notes this morning...

Rules of Engagement: Nielsen says that voters not committed to either candidate were "12% more engaged by TV coverage of the GOP convention than the Democratic convention." John McCain's acceptance speech "drew the most attentive audience of uncommitted viewers."

"SNL" Post Mortem: James Poniewozik of Time predicts fallout for GE because of the decision of "Saturday Night Live" to take advice from Al Franken. He writes, "Should SNL have accepted input from a Democratic Senate candidate? Dollars to doughnuts this will become a cause celebre among conservatives arguing that NBC as a whole is biased—the ultimate aim being to pressure NBC News to "balance" its coverage to the right. But while I'm sure this is a headache General Electric would rather not have, to me it's a distinction without a difference."

Emmy Post-Mortem: Backstage at the Emmys, Tina Fey made a non-endorsement of Sarah Palin: “I want to be done playing this lady November 5th. So, if anyone can help me be done playing her on November 5th…”

Lifetime Poll: With Sarah Palin on the ticket, John McCain makes huge gains among women in the latest Lifetime survey.

Hillary Clinton will raise money for Barack Obama on Oct. 4 at the Edison in downtown Los Angeles.

It will be Clinton's first trip to the area to raise money on behalf of the candidate.

Tickets for the event will be $500 per person, and $2,500-per-person for a VIP reception. Those who write or raise $10,000 get listed as co-hosts.

Money will go to the DNC's Obama Victory Fund.

The election is less than 50 days away, but don't let that make you think that political humor gets better as the campaign season ages.

The 60th annual Emmy Awards was a parade of jokes that just fell flat.

"The world hasn't seen a pairing like this since John McCain and Sarah Palin," Kathy Griffin said as she stood onstage with Don Rickles.

Mr. Warmth gave her a nice try.

In fact, it was Rickles who stole the show, and he even quipped at the dreadful material that was posted on teleprompters for hosts and presenters to recite: "Let's read these jokes they wrote for us," he said, as the audience finally got the joke.

Otherwise, political statements were not necessarily meant to be funny --- just subtle swipes.

There were digs at the administration. Jon Stewart: "I'm just saying I really look forward to the next administration, whoever it is." There were other digs at GOP attacks on community organizing. "John Adams" star Laura Linney said she was "so grateful and thankful for the community organizers that helped form our country." And there were shots at the current state of campaigning. "John Adams" scribe Kirk Ellis thanked for "this amazing opportunity to talk about a period in our history when articulate men articulated complex thoughts in complete sentences." Then he was cut off.

This close to the election, politics was unavoidable, as much as networks bristle when controversial statements are injected into award ceremonies. Why not? It's these moments that people will remember, not the clips or the presenters or even the winners.

Nothing quite compared to last year's "no more goddamned wars" comment from Sally Field, with portions edited out by Fox censors (for language). Instead, the most controversial figure onstage was Tommy Smothers, receiving an Emmy he should have gotten in 1968. "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" was taken off the air by CBS for its irreverence directed at the Vietnam War.

He said on Sunday, "It's hard for me to stay silent when I keep hearing peace is only obtainable through war.There's nothing more scary than watching ignorance in action. So I dedicate this Emmy to all the people who feel compelled to speak out and not afraid to speak to power and won't shut up and refuse to be silenced."

This time, he wasn't censored --- and you could all but see him thinking of saying something more daring.

Otherwise, laugh out loud comedy was in short supply, as the show got off on the wrong foot with a disastrous segment featuring reality hosts Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Ryan Seacreast, Jeff Probst and Howie Mandell.

Stephen Colbert, presenting with Jon Stewart, started eating a bag of prunes as Stewart spoke. "This dried up old fruit has the experience we need," Colbert said. A passable McCain joke.

It would have been great if the final presenter, Tom Selleck, a Republican, could have thrown one right back at them, equal opportunity proof that the other party exists in Hollywood. But he said nothing. They were running short on time, and given the track record of the night's humor, perhaps it was for the best.

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

Barack Obama and John McCain will engage in a looser debate format than in previous general election debates --- welcome news for anyone tired of the stodgy, structured past forums. But the vice presidential debate will largely stay close to past formats, according to the New York Times.

Patrick Healy writes, "At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden, will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.

"McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive."

My take: A looser format for the presidential debates could help McCain, especially when it comes to candidates ability to engage in personal exchanges. Under attack from Hillary Clinton in primary debates, Obama at times seemed a bit rattled, particularly in their final encounter in Pennsylvania. But the veep debate could end up helping Joseph Biden, as it perhaps removes some unpredictability and risk going up against a largely unknown candidate in the debate format.

But the switch to a more free-wheeling style among Obama and McCain is long overdue, especially given the myriad of formats that voters saw in the record-watched debates during primary season. Debates ranged from town hall forums, man-on-the-street queries, e-mailed questions and, of course, YouTube's talking snowmen. And the new format also will allow the candidates make lengthier comments about the economy in their first debate on Friday. The theme of the debate is foreign policy.

"SNL" Strikes Again: "Saturday Night Live" devoted its opening skit to John McCain, apparently with the help of one of its former writers, Al Franken. According to the Politico, he suggested ideas for the opening sketch via phone from Minnesota, where he is running for Senate.

The Politico: "Franken’s input to the show blindsided his campaign staff, who have been forced to explain away some of the more crass and profane parts of his past writing and acting that have been used as fodder against him in a state known for its polite manners.

"A spokeswoman for Franken, Colleen Murray, first said the Democratic Senate candidate “didn’t write anything for SNL tonight.” But pressed if he was involved in the show or had been in contact with staff members, Murray admitted Franken had a role in Saturday's program."

Expect Franken's challenger Norm Coleman to make a big deal of this (Senator, or comedy writer?) especially in a state where voters elected celebrity candidate Jesse Ventura to the governorship in 1998, then got frustrated when he took a monnlighting job as a commentator for NBC's ill-fated football league the XFL.

Here's the sketch:

Robbins Reacts: Tim Robbins tells the Politico's Jeffrey Ressner, “When McCain's campaign out-and-out lies, why is that a story? Why report the lie?” he asked. “If Charles Manson calls and says that he’s innocent of committing murder, is that a story? Well, no, Charles, you’ve been convicted, it’s a lie and we all know it, so we’re not going to run that story. Isn’t there an attempt made to say, ‘Look, that’s not true and we’re not going to print it’?”

Raising on Pitt: Supporters of Proposition 8, which seeks to ban same-sex marriage in the state of California, are now raising money on Brad Pitt's $100,000 donation last week. Karen England, campaign manager for Yes on 8, says in an e-mail that Pitt's contribution is "more evidence that Hollywood's elite are out of touch with the average American."

"With wealthy Hollywood lining up to destroy marriage, we call on every concerned citizen to donate $15 for every Brad Pitt movie they have ever seen. And if they haven't see any Brad Pitt movies, to donate $10 for those unseen films." (Could she be referring to "Meet Joe Black"?)