The New Talking Heads, by Way of the West Wing

"Karl's wrong," McCain adviser Steve Schmidt shot back when asked about it by Katie Couric of CBS. "She's an exceptional governor, a reform governor."

Campaigning, but Not With McCain

Even though McCain graciously acknowledged President Bush's wartime leadership Thursday night, don't expect to see much of the president on the trail this fall. Although both sides are polite, the truth is that the McCain campaign does not think it will be useful to have the president campaigning for the party's nominee.

Asked about the president's plans for fall campaigning, White House press secretary Dana Perino said Bush "will be out on the campaign trail a lot this fall on behalf of the entire GOP ticket."

"You'll see him traveling as much as he can," she added. "But for the first time in many years, his name is not on the ballot, so the campaign schedule isn't necessarily comparable to the last several election cycles."

The First Lady, Front and Center in St. Paul

Although the president stayed away from St. Paul, Laura Bush was very much in evidence for the first two days of the convention. She did media interviews, made two appearances inside the hall, and attended meetings with delegates and a reception for the anti-poverty One Campaign.

Bush seems more comfortable with the limelight and more willing to mix it up politically than she has in the past. Asked by Greta Van Susteren of Fox News whether there was sexism in the media treatment of Palin, the first lady replied: "I think that might be a part of it. But I do think people will really watch themselves -- I certainly think the media will watch themselves. We certainly hope so."

While the president focused his brief remarks to the convention on McCain, the first lady mounted a fierce, if unexpected, defense of her husband's record. "Recently, you've heard a lot of politicians offer a lot of opinions. But you haven't heard very many facts," Laura Bush said. "So I thought I'd share a few with you tonight. In honor of our nominee, let's call it a little straight talk."

Bush told the delegates that her husband initiated the "most important educational reforms in a generation," empowered religious charities and launched a major initiative to provide drugs for AIDS patients in Africa.

Sally McDonough, the first lady's press secretary, said the defense of the administration came at Laura Bush's instigation. "She felt pretty strongly about wanting to set the record straight," McDonough said.

Goodbye, Gaggle

The morning "gaggle" -- an informal media briefing held at the White House -- is no more.

Press secretary Dana Perino said last week that the gaggle, which usually occurs about 9:30 a.m., will be ditched in favor of an earlier on-camera briefing, which will be moved up from the lunch hour to about 10:30 or 11. She jokingly referred to the new hybrid as "the griefing."

She said the gaggle, which began years ago as an informal huddle to sketch out the president's day, has become more akin to a regular briefing held only a few hours before the formal one. In addition, she said, an earlier briefing would make more sense because of foreign deadlines and the quickening rhythms of the 24-hour news cycle.

"I think the original intent of the gaggle was a great one and worked for many years, but the model is just not necessarily the best in a modern era," Perino said. The switch began Friday, when she started the daily briefing at 11 a.m.

The Presidential Tourist

President Bush broke off from his stay at Camp David last week for a little sightseeing Friday, visiting the battlefield at Gettysburg with unidentified friends. One reason for the trip was to tour the $103 million visitor center that is supposed to open this month.