Former U.S. Sen. John C. Danforth said Thursday that critics of Gov. Sarah Palin's nomination for vice president on the GOP ticket were using a double standard, and he predicted that a looming political fight over her selection could be as bitter as the battle over the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also said Palin, like Thomas, was strong enough to weather the storm.

Cindy McCain stood up before the Republican National Convention Thursday night and told the crowd why she believes her husband should be president of the United States. Describing John McCain as "a patriot who will always do the right thing," Cindy McCain said he is "a man tested and true who's never wavered in his devotion to our country, a man who's served in Washington without ever becoming a Washington insider." Click here for complete Dallas Morning News article.

Amid repeated and extended cheers from delegates, Sarah Palin accepted the GOP vice presidential nomination with a feisty, occasionally pugnacious speech lasting nearly 40 minutes. She celebrated life in small-town, blue-collar America, praised the presidential candidacy of GOP nominee John McCain, and drew sharp distinctions between him and the Democratic nominee Barack Obama.

It's tough for non-profit businesses with a social mission to do well financially while doing good - and especially so in today's economy. Yet there are several successful efforts in St. Louis aimed at helping immigrants, the homeless and others to get the skills they need to enter the mainstream.

When John McCain takes to the floor Thursday night, he will surely sketch out his vision of the country and what he hopes to accomplish as president. The Beacon polled a number of delegates and guests to the Republican National Convention and asked what McCain's top priority should be, if he's elected president.

In advance of her speech Wednesday night, McCain's advisers have been briefing his vice presidential choice on his positions and the pitfalls of national politics. Working at a hotel suite, they've also had to rewrite the speech they'd drafted because it now sounds too "masculine." Read the Washington Post story.