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Steve Schmidt, John McCain's chief strategist, says his former boss Karl Rove is "wrong" in his assessment that the pick of Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate was "not a campaign decision but a governing decision."

"Karl's wrong. She's an exceptional governor, a reform governor in Alaska," Schmidt said in an interview on CBS.

"The simple fact here is that this is a mom of five children. There's been a private family matter and she's been under viscous assault and attack from the angry left. And we've seen that today. There's a lot of allegations and rumors, almost all of them untrue. The other side is throwing everything but the kitchen sink at her to see what sticks."

Rove made the statement during a Tuesday interview with the Washington Post. Video of the interview is below.

Government lawyers have filed another round of salvos against indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), rejecting his lawyers' claims that the case violates the Constitution.

In the new filings, Justice Department attorneys reject claims by Stevens's lawyers that the case should be dismissed because it focuses on his legislative behavior

Even Lindsay Lohan is weighing in on the news that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) teenage daughter is pregnant.

Lohan, the 22-year-old actress who has railed against tabloid newspaper coverage of her, called the coverage of Bristol Palin's pregnancy "distracting.""Well, I think the real problem comes from the fact that we are taking the focus off of getting to know Sarah Palin and her political views, and what she can do to make our country a less destructive place," Lohan wrote on her MySpace blog. "Its [sic] distracting from the real issues, the real everyday problems that this country experiences."

Lohan, however, placed some of the blame on the Republican veep nominee and suggested that she act more like her Democratic counterpart.

"I am concerned with the fact that Sarah Palin brought the attention to her daughter's pregnancy, rather than all world issues and what she believes she could possibly do to change them-if elected," Lohan wrote. "I get Sarah Palin's views against abortion, but i would much prefer to hear more about what she can do for our country rather than how her daughter is going to have a child no matter what. Maybe focus on delivering some words and policy with stronger impact like Joe Biden."

Lohan, whose dating life has long been tabloid fodder, also showed little support for abstinence-only sex education, which Palin supports.

"i heard a woman say on TODAY on NBC that teens are feeling as if they have to grow up faster," Lohan wrote. "Really? Because, i think that girls that are CHOOSING to be sexually active and are making a conscious decision to grow up faster..... I think that parents need to recognize how important it is to talk to their children about the things that can result from being sexually active if they aren't protecting themselves (birth control, condoms, etc.)"

From the Anchorage Daily News:

Gov. Sarah Palin wants a state board to review the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan -- taking the unusual step of making an ethics complaint against herself.

According to the Washington Post:

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was not subjected to a lengthy in-person background interview with the head of Sen. John McCain's vice presidential vetting team until last Wednesday in Arizona, the day before McCain asked her to be his running mate, and she did not disclose the fact that her 17-year-old daughter was pregnant until that meeting, two knowledgeable McCain officials acknowledged Tuesday.

John McCain's allies began to try to define their candidate and Barack Obama during the first full night of the GOP convention Tuesday.

Videos of the session's three major speeches are posted below.

President Bush, appearing via satellite, said that McCain is "the man we need" while the country is at war.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) retold the story of McCain as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He also castigated Obama as "the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president."

And Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), appearing at his first Republican convention, said there's little comparison between McCain's record of bipartisanship and Obama's.

Follow the rest of the Republican convention at The Briefing Room and TheHill.com.

Wednesday night's session will feature former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who will accept the Republican nomination for vice president in her speech.

Bush:


Thompson:


Lieberman:

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) slammed the media for questioning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) resume, telling an MSNBC reporter that Palin is a more experienced leader than Barack Obama and has, in her career, demonstrated courage that the Illinois Democrat hasn't.

"It's stronger than Barack Obama's," Gingrich said of Palin's resume. "I don't know why you guys walk around sayin' this baloney."

MSNBC's Ron Allen had prodded Gingrich on the issue of Palin's experience, saying, "But to be fair, her resume is not something that we're familiar seeing with presidential candidates." Read more...

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (Mont.), who received rave reviews for his speech at last week's Democratic convention, is the subject of growing speculation over his possible future in national politics.

A story in the Great Falls (Mont.) Tribune suggests that Schweitzer could serve in Barack Obama's cabinet should the Democratic nominee win the election. It notes that Schweitzer gave a "non-denial denial" when asked in an interview with National Public Radio whether he would serve as Obama's Secretary of Energy.

Schweitzer's spokeswoman Sarah Elliot dismissed the Cabinet talk as "purely speculation."

"He is happy being governor, and at this point we're working hard to win an election. He's got the best job in the world," she told the newspaper.

But she would not rule out the possibility that Schweitzer would serve in an Obama administration.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) lashed out at the press Wednesday, calling the media's treatment of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) "unfair" and "indecent."

"The scrutiny you

Former President Bush adviser Karl Rove will address the Colorado delegation at their breakfast Wednesday morning, according to a source who will attend the meeting.

The meeting will take place at the Sheraton Four Points in Minneapolis at 7:30 a.m.

In an August 14 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Rove listed Colorado as one of four states that will be key battlegrounds in 2008. Democrats had their national convention in Denver last week.

Rove wrote that Democrats "have succeeded at shrinking the Republican advantage among registered voters. The GOP now has just 68,507 more voters on the rolls in Colorado than Democrats, down from a 176,572 edge four years ago."

Rove indicated that Obama must carry either Colorado or Virginia in addition to another small state to win the election.

"Of the two, Mr. Obama is best positioned to pick up Colorado's nine electoral votes," Rove wrote.

- Jackie Kucinich