Blogger, Author, Palin Booster: Meghan McCain's New Chapter

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 2

Sarah Palin? "I'm obsessed with her!" Meghan McCain told a fan. Aren't we all, honey?

The candidate's daughter was at the Red Balloon bookstore here to launch her new children's book, "My Dad, John McCain." She didn't know her father's veep pick until just before the announcement but nearly shouted how psyched she is about the Alaska governor: "What I love is that she's doing it all!"

The 23-year-old blogger is the most visible and accessible of the seven McCain sibs in the Twin Cities this week. (Tuesday, they all joined Cindy McCain and Laura Bush to create care packages for hurricane victims.) Meghan is the gorgeous golden girl, the GOP's next Jenna.

She bounced into the shop to find two dozen fans clutching multiple copies of her book. Employee Amy Baum invited McCain last week, never dreaming she would actually show up, much less agree to an hour-long author's signing. But there she was (black jacket, jeans, blond hair pulled up), charming every customer, personalizing each book and posing for pictures.

But no interviews, so reporters hovered to hear snippets of small talk -- why she wrote the book ("I thought it would be a really great way to bring my father's story to a younger audience"), memories of summer camp in Minnesota.

No one asked about the uninvited elephant in the room: Bristol Palin's pregnancy. McCain blogged that she met the "three awesome" Palin daughters Friday and immediately bonded. When the baby news broke, she wrote: "It's a rough go being the son or daughter of a politician. . . . You can't fully understand it unless you have lived it. So I just wanted to let it be known that I support Bristol and the entire Palin family."

Smoke 'Em if You Got 'Em

Rudy! New York's former mayor doesn't bother with pesky nods to middle-class humility. Reporters were barred from Giuliani's cigar party Monday night, despite a massive crowd that attended the $25,000-per-sponsor event. What, you ask, does one get for this sort of money? "The cigars are very good," said Greg Gartner, puffing as he left the ritzy R. Norman's steakhouse in Minneapolis. How does he know Hizzoner? He would say only that he is "a friend" and "from Minnesota."

But it was Citizen Giuliani's motorcade that caught our eye: two black Town Cars and a black SUV double-parked in the bike lane on busy Hennepin Avenue downtown, fronted by a Hennepin County sheriff's car flashing red and blue lights. Sweet! (Normal VIPs have to, like, wait for their drivers to show up.)

How does a former elected official/presidential candidate score an official escort? He just called up and asked, according to our spies. (Why didn't we think of that?) Alas, the cars drove off, sans Rudy, before we could ask more questions.

Meet the Father

Two days ago, Levi Johnston, 18, was an unknown high school hockey player from small-town Alaska; now he's the most famous teenage dad-to-be since Casey Aldridge. Yesterday, his mother told reporters he was on his way to Minnesota to be with fiancee Bristol Palin, 17, as her mom accepts the Republican VP nom. More about the young couple:

· His mom says the teens planned to marry even before they knew she was pregnant. "This is just a bonus," said Sherry Johnston.