TRAILMIX: McCain vs. Obama and More from Newspaper Blogs

By: Suzanne Rosenberg In today's edition of news from newspaper campaign blogs: more Americans interested in election, Spielberg, Capshaw and Pitt put big money on No-on-8 proposition, and Elizabeth Edwards talks about her focus on her family.

Americans never more interested in an election?
On Politics
USA Today
By Mark Memmott

Gallup reports "it has never seen Americans so interested in an election before." A Gallup survey reports that 43% of those asked said they are following the election "very closely." This is higher than the 36% who said the same in 2004. Gallup has been asking this same question since 1996. Mark Memmott of On Politics also reported that Nielsen found that non-committed voters were "more engaged" by the Republican National Convention than by the Democratic Convention, which it had earlier reported drew record TV audiences.

McCain's press blackout
The Trail
The Washington Post
Michael Shear

Shear writes: "The country may have turned its attention to the economic crisis and a staggering $700 billion bailout proposal, but political operatives still have their eyes on other issues. Among them, for the Democrats, is keeping track of how long it's been since the Republican presidential ticket has answered questions from the media.
As of this writing, it has been 39 days and 22 hours since Sen. John McCain last held a news conference (despite having promised to hold weekly Q&A sessions with the press if he's elected). According to the Democrats, it's been 24 days and 11 hours since his running mate, Sarah Palin, held one.

Not the most important issue of the day, perhaps. But maybe the most ironic, given where McCain and Palin were Monday: In Media, Pa.
Where they didn't take questions.

Spielberg, Capshaw and Pitt donate big
Top of the Ticket
Los Angeles Times
By Dan Morain

California's No-on-8 campaign has led fundraising with approximately $18 million dollars to the Yes-on-8's $12.4 million. Proposition 8 will ban same-sex marriage through a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Hollywood is stepping up to the plate big time in the last two weeks to defeat the proposition. Steven Spielberg and his wife Kate Capshaw announced on Monday that they will match a donation of $100,000 for the No-on-8 campaign by Brad Pitt which was announced last week.

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Elizabeth Edwards: living in the wrong novel
By Andrew Malcolm

Andrew Malcolm reports that Eizabeth Edwards gave a moving and frank telephone interview to Patricia Anstett of the Detroit Free Press, in which she acknowledged that "it's an ongoing process of finding your feet again? you thought you were living in one novel, and it turns out you were living in another, " referring to the public disclosure last month of her husband's affair with a campaign worker two years ago. Elizabeth Edwards, who has had to face a recurrence of her cancer, says that she's tried to focus entirely on "the best thing for my children." In her mind that means to lie low and allow public interest in the scandal to subside. Ms. Edwards intends to return to her public role as a breast awareness advocate next month with a speech in the Detroit area and testimony before Congress.


Early endorsements
Political Intelligence
Boston Globe
By Foon Rhee

Foon Rhee reports in Monday's Political Intelligence blog that the National Association of Police Associations, a national organization which has a membership of 2000 police unions and associations including 238,000 law enforcement officers and 11,000 retired officers, also endorsed Barack Obama and Joe Biden.