Palin fiance sets record straight

WASILLA, Alaska — Levi Johnston, who's having a baby with Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter, can't believe all the things he's hearing.

No, he wasn't held against his will on the campaign trail. No, he's not being forced into a shotgun wedding with 17-year-old Bristol Palin.

"None of that's true," said Johnston, 18. "We both love each other. We both want to marry each other. And that's what we are going to do."

Standing in the driveway of his family home in this small Alaska town, Johnston said he wanted to set the record straight.

For starters, he said his much-maligned MySpace page was a joke — the one that claimed he said: "I'm a ... redneck," and "I don't want kids." And he said he has dated Palin since his freshman year in high school and had long planned to marry.

Johnston said he wasn't forced to campaign with Palin's mother. Bristol Palin invited him.

Non-Native Alaska adviser quits

JUNEAU, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin's rural adviser resigned Monday amid criticism of the governor's record on hiring Alaska Natives.

Rhonda McBride, who is not an Alaska Native, made the announcement in an e-mail to several Native leaders, saying there needs to be more Native voices in Palin's administration.

"I definitely think it would help to have an Alaska Native in this position," McBride said.

Many Alaska Natives have said they felt neglected when Palin, now the Republican vice-presidential nominee, made appointments to her administration, including the rural-adviser post.

State Sen. Al Kookesh, a Democrat, said Palin left the position unfilled her first year in office and ignored Native leaders' suggestions on the selection process.

Alaska Natives make up about 20 percent of the population.

The drill is jobs, baby, jobs

PHILADELPHIA — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton offered a Democratic rejoinder to the Republican chant of "drill, baby, drill." Said the one-time presidential candidate: "Jobs, baby, jobs."

Campaigning for Barack Obama in Pennsylvania, the New York senator reminded 1,500 people in suburban Horsham, that her husband's administration produced a balanced budget and a surplus.

Clinton is trying to use her popularity in places like northeast Philadelphia and the city's suburbs to help Obama beat Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain in this battleground state. She did well in both areas in Pennsylvania's Democratic primary six months ago.

At the Republican National Convention and various GOP rallies, an oft-repeated chant was "drill, baby, drill," a plea for more oil drilling.

Clinton said Democrats have a better answer: "Jobs, baby, jobs."

Great Schlep mostly virtual

MIAMI — When Sarah Silverman told young Jews to get their lazy rotund rear ends to Florida to persuade their grandparents to vote for Sen. Barack Obama, one question loomed: Would they go?

This weekend was the first big test, a kickoff for the so-called Great Schlep, and so far, momentum has been building with the pace of a nice brisket. Though about 7 million people have watched Silverman's four-minute Web video explaining why "visiting your grandparents could change the world," the schlep remains mostly virtual.

Mik Moore, 34, co-director of Jewish Council for Education and Research, the nonprofit group behind the project, said 100 people visited Florida this weekend to convince older Jewish voters that Obama should be president, while about 100 more visited relatives in other swing states.

Declaring it "a really good start," Moore said he hoped that dozens more would officially schlep before Election Day.

Seattle Times news services