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WHAT'S NEW IN POLITICS

"New nominee McCain distances himself from GOP" - USAToday.com

On his first day as the official Republican Party nominee for president, John McCain distanced himself from the Republican Party.

McCain told a crowd Friday that he has devoted a four-term Senate career to fighting corruption and overspending in Congress and that "it didn't matter if (the offenders) were Democrat or Republican."

At the center of this small town about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, McCain, accompanied by running mate Sarah Palin, echoed his nomination acceptance of Thursday night.

"McCain, Palin head to battlegrounds" - USAToday.com

After celebrating here, John McCain is wasting no time getting back to work.

The newly anointed Republican nominee and his running mate, Sarah Palin, planned to fly to Milwaukee after his acceptance speech. They are scheduled to do a "meet and greet" today in nearby Cedarburg, Wis. From there, they head to a rally in a blue-collar suburban area north of Detroit.

The weekend schedule for the GOP ticket also includes the battleground states of Colorado and New Mexico. "He's going to those states that were in play almost to the very end" in 2004, said Michigan-based pollster Ed Sarpolus.

McCain and Palin plan to greet Wisconsin voters along what the campaign dubs "McCain Street" in Cedarburg, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee. Democrats have won Wisconsin in six of the last eight presidential elections; the last two were won by 1 percentage point or less

"Biden vows to challenge Palin" - USAToday.com

One day after Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin wowed her party's convention with a speech mocking Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, her opponent said he has no intention of answering in kind.

Unlike almost every other presidential running mate in recent political memory, "I'm not going to be an attack dog," Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden told USA TODAY here.

Interviewed on a campaign day that began at 5 a.m., the 65-year-old senator from Delaware said he's enjoying his role selling Obama to audiences in communities such as this, which President Bush won in 2004 with 59% of the vote.

Biden said his mission is to convince middle-class voters that Obama is one of them. "This guy scratched his way up. This guy fought for everything he's gotten," he said. "The idea of them trying to make Barack out to be an elitist is the most outrageously inconsistent argument that I've ever heard anybody make."

Biden said he and Obama agreed on his high-road campaign approach. "That was part of the deal," Biden said. "I'm not going to fool with my brand."