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conventions

What you can--and can't--find about Palin on the Internet

John McCain's announcement last week that he has chosen Sarah Palin as his running mate left the public thirsting for information about the Alaska governor-- and inspired hundreds of commentators, entrepreneurs, and Palin imitators to try to fill in the gaps.

A would-be Palin shares her inner-most thoughts on "The PalinDrome: Sarah Palin's Blog". A faux Levi Johnston (that'd be Palin's soon-to-be son-in-law, for those of you out of the loop) can also be found online.

You can join one of the hundreds of new Facebook groups passing judgment about Palin-- ranging from "… Read more

McCain talks up oil drilling, green energy

ST. PAUL, Minn.--John McCain formally accepted the Republican Party's presidential nomination here on Thursday in a speech extolling the virtues of both oil drilling and green energy.

The Arizona senator received one of his loudest rounds of applause when he lashed out at his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, and characterized the dispute over oil drilling as a matter of international relations and security as well as economics.

"We are going to stop sending $700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much," McCain said. "We will attack the problem on every … Read more

Football player pitches video game to GOP

ST. PAUL, Minn.--Republicans like to call Democrats a party of "celebrities," but the GOP sometimes finds value in star power as well.

Cris Carter, the former NFL wide receiver who played for the Minnesota Vikings, was in town for the Republican convention to promote a video game called Financial Football that Visa designed with the NFL as part of a national initiative to educate young adults about money management. The Young Republican National Federation and the College Republican National Committee were also promoting the game.

Developed in 2004, the computer-based game gives players points for answering financial … Read more

Police, advocates monitor Web sex ads during political conventions

ST. PAUL, Minn.--The tremendous jump in online requests for sexual services that seems to occur during large political conventions has placed police departments and advocacy groups on the alert.

Denver and St. Paul police, as well as nonprofits the Klaas Foundation and the Polaris Project, have turned to classified advertising Web sites like Craigslist to monitor such illegal activities during the Democratic and Republican conventions.

The Colorado branch of the Polaris Project, a national organization that combats human trafficking, monitored ads on Craigslist, particularly in the "casual encounters" section, from April 1 through the Democratic convention last … Read more

Republican VP candidate pushes oil over clean tech

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Wednesday called for more domestic oil and natural gas drilling, pulling the McCain ticket further from the clean-tech industry.

In her acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Palin touted her accomplishments in laying more pipelines and creating more competition among oil companies as governor of Alaska.

If elected, she said that a McCain-Palin administration would tap more oil and gas from Alaska, while investing in nuclear energy and so-called clean coal, where pollution is stored underground at coal power plants.

"We Americans need to produce more of our own oil and gas. And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska: we've got lots of both.

Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems - as if we all didn't know that already.

But the fact that drilling won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all," she said.

McCain, too, has called for more domestic oil and gas production but has opposed drilling in Alaska's North Slope. He advocates a massive increase in nuclear power, with the goal of building 45 new reactors by 2030.

In policies generally favored by the clean-energy industry, McCain supports national cap-and-trade carbon emissions regulations and tax credits for people who purchase fuel-efficient cars. Both McCain and Palin promised investments in renewable sources of energy--solar, wind, and geothermal.

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Video: Republican convention, day 3 recap

Sarah Palin had her first big moment on the national stage Wednesday night, as she sought to show why she should be the next vice president of the United States.

The VP nominee was the evening's marquee speaker at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn. For many attendees, and for much of the country, it was the most thorough introduction yet to Palin, who currently serves as the governor of Alaska.

Other speakers included two men--former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani--who had contended early in the primary season to get the … Read more

Technology lobbyists gather at Republican convention

MINNEAPOLIS--The streets of the twin cities were relatively quiet Wednesday afternoon: convention attendees were busy wandering from one private event to another. For technology lobbyists, the choice was Chambers, a self-described luxury art hotel here.

A large crowd of Silicon Valley types mingled at a Washington-esque party hosted by trade associations including the Business Software Alliance, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, and the Consumer Electronics Association. Folks from Facebook, Oracle, Advanced Micro Devices, and other tech companies sipped cocktails amid sleek, minimalist design and large pieces of contemporary art.

The late-afternoon event had a festive feel, though perhaps not … Read more

Ex-eBay, HP chiefs laud McCain's economic plan

ST. PAUL, Minn.--Two of Silicon Valley's best-known female executives on Wednesday enthusiastically endorsed Sen. John McCain's presidential bid, saying he was a far more attractive candidate than his Democratic rival on economic and tax grounds.

The pro-McCain pair were Meg Whitman, who stepped down as eBay's chief executive officer in March, and Carly Fiorina, the chairman and CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005. Both are active in the McCain campaign; both have been talked about as receiving high-level appointments if McCain is elected.

"I know John McCain," Fiorina said. "He will demand … Read more

Republicans register delegates on the cloud

ST. PAUL, Minn.-- Plans are back on track at the Republican National Convention, but Hurricane Gustav's unexpected interference with the four-day event highlighted the deft communications needed to direct nearly 5,000 delegates and alternate delegates through the formal presidential nomination process.

The RNC turned to cloud computing for the most efficient means of registering the delegates, and when the clouds of Hurricane Gustav threatened to throw the event off course, the RNC stepped up their communications with the delegates.

Early in the week, before the storm subsided, Republican leaders were reviewing the convention schedule on a day-to-day … Read more