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You might want to double-check the photo on the right. The woman with Sen. John McCain isn't Gov. Sarah Palin, star of the show Wednesday night at the GOP convention.

It's comic/actress Tina Fey, who posed for the Life cover in 2004 when the newspaper supplement did a story encouraging people to vote. Details here.

Political cliches alert

The bad news is, thanks to Gov. Palin, we'll hear about "hockey moms" in most every presidential analysis between now and November.

The good news is, we'll hear less and less about "NASCAR dads," the cliche of the moment for the 2004 presidential election.

Now, if somebody could do something about retiring "red meat" -- which describes phrases intended to fire up a political party's hardcore supporters -- I'd be really happy.

And while we're at it, can somebody tell MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that no one is impressed by his use of the word "metrics"? When Olbermann talks about the metrics of the election, he is referring to the math.

Really, folks, it's that simple.

Here is Bee reporter Denny Boyles' report on the Fresno mayoral debate between Ashley Swearengin and Henry T. Perea. If their 70-minute square-off was any indication of what's to follow, it will be a gloves-off campaign.

Bee Editorial Page boss Jim Boren will have his take on the debate in Sunday's Bee in the always popular Vision section.

Scott McClain, who hit 287 home runs in the minors, slugged his first big-league home run Wednesday for the San Francisco Giants. McClain, who is 36 years old, hit 29 home runs for the Fresno Grizzlies this season before being called up to The Show. Here is the Associated Press story.

Laugh of the Day: "Delegates were captivated by Palin's speech; at one point while she was speaking, the room got so quiet, you could hear Larry Craig's toilet flush." -- David Letterman

Quote of the Day: "Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly." -- Sir Francis Bacon

Check out my daily commentaries with Jim Boren on KYNO 1300 AM.