Polishing off his strawberry-banana yogurt, Jacob Moore races to his keyboard with a whoop, picks his way through "Pop Goes the Weasel" and gives his mom a high five. This is the average stuff of childhood, and it has not come easily to the 8-year-old with Down syndrome. For his mother, Heidi Moore, achieving average "is like climbing Mount Everest." The family has been clambering up with the help of therapists, 15 surgeries, prayer and a tight-knit community of parents whose children live with the disorder. That network is abuzz with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's arrival on the national scene as Republican presidential candidate John McCain's running mate. ...more

September 8, 2008

The battle for the White House is now a 60-day sprint, with John McCain and Barack Obama in pursuit of an elusive political catch: undecided voters who will pick the next president. ...more

September 8, 2008

Barack Obama and John McCain brought the battle over who is better prepared to change Washington to a pair of states that will be critical to the November election, and they sought to win over voters eager to turn the page on eight years of the Bush administration. ...more

September 7, 2008

"Daniel Ruth is such a frickin idiot." "Daniel Ruth is such a moron." "Daniel Ruth exemplifies the liberal elitist arrogance." ...more

September 7, 2008

Remember the Democratic National Convention? The Clintons and the Obamas, Invesco Field, the fireworks? ...more

September 7, 2008

Remember the Democratic National Convention? The Clintons and the Obamas, Invesco Field, the fireworks? ...more

September 7, 2008

The long and divisive war in Iraq is about to resonate with presidential candidates in a way not seen so far in the campaign: The sons of both vice presidential nominees are assigned to go there soon. ...more

September 6, 2008

Risky, Bold, Smart Move In reading this past Sunday's edition of the Hernando Today, I came across the letter from Fred Peters in which he mentions me by name and says I misrepresented the facts regarding the issue of who was responsible for making Social Security benefits taxable. ...more

September 6, 2008

A few weeks ago Frances Earl, Hernando County's curmudgeon-in-chief, used the entire first half of her column trying to convince everyone how intelligent she was. I guess she thought that was necessary because she must have gotten a handle on the majority of the readership's real opinion. ...more

September 6, 2008

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hit it out of the park. ...more

September 5, 2008