With all the talk of political dynasties passing the torch - or being shoved out of the way - little attention has been paid to another Democratic scion who shared the stage with Hillary Clinton last night. Her name is Cecile Richards.

In the two months since the man nicknamed “the bullet” took charge, John McCain’s campaign has grown harder-edged and more combative, relentlessly attacking Barack Obama’s perceived assets, including his promise to be a change agent.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama portray themselves as agents of change who would clean up Washington by curbing the influence of powerful special interests. So why are they permitting those interests to pay for their weeklong political conventions?

When The New York Times reported last week on a new attack book about Barack Obama, it cited a critique by Media Matters for America, the liberal watchdog group. Which is just the way David Brock envisioned it would work when he founded the group in 2004, with funding from liberal philanthropists.

Political analyst Rachel Maddow has gotten her own show, replacing Dan Abrams in the MSNBC lineup.

All the President’s Men catapulted reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein to stardom. Little credit at the time was given to the book’s editor, Alice Mayhew. But it would be Woodward and Mayhew who became the more important team.

Harriet Miers, former White House counsel and unsuccessful U.S. Supreme Court nominee, has returned to her old law firm, but with a new portfoliio - as a registered agent for the Pakistan People’s Party and the Embassy of Pakistan.

Can a former aerospace engineer who pioneered the development of satellite television save the Los Angeles Times?

Mega-church pastor Rick Warren will accomplish tomorrow what no one else has been able to do: He will bring John McCain and Barack Obama together on the same stage (albeit sequentially) to be grilled about their faith, leadership and compassion.

As NBC’s commentator for women’s gymnastics, Bela Karolyi beat the drum all week arguing that members of China’s Olympics team were under-aged. Chances are, he will turn out to be right, but he has little credibility because of his own conflicts of interest.