Endorsement for Edwards

And now the most scintillating two minutes in television, the latest from the political grapevine:

Wrestling a Rumor

Three days after John Kerry denied rumors that he had an affair with a 27-year-old freelance journalist who formerly worked for the AP, the woman, Alexandra Polier, has now issued a statement of her own, saying -- "Because these stories were false, I assumed the media would ignore them.

It seems that efforts to peddle these lies continue, so I feel compelled to ... [say] I have never had a relationship with Senator Kerry."

Polier's parents, meanwhile, have issued a statement too, saying -- "These unfounded rumors are hurtful to our entire family. We appreciate the way Senator Kerry has handled the situation, and intend on voting for him for president of the United States."

Accusation Sagging?

The accusation by Democrats that President Bush went AWOL as a National Guardsman in 1972 and '73 seems to be sagging under the weight of new information. A lieutenant colonel in Mr. Bush's same Alabama unit, John Calhoun, says he recalls seeing Mr. Bush reading flight manuals and safety magazines at each drill period, describing Mr. Bush as -- "very aggressive about doing his duty."

What's more, William Turnipseed -- the unit's commander, who has said he doesn't recall seeing Mr. Bush report for duty -- now tells the New York Post that he's in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease, and that Calhoun would likely remember events correctly.

Meanwhile, former Guardsman George Conn was cited by one Bush accuser as the man who would corroborate allegations that before the 2000 election Mr. Bush's aides had Guard files cleared of anything potentially embarrassing.

But Conn says -- "I have no recollection of that whatsoever. None. Zip. Nada."

Endorsement for Edwards

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the largest newspaper in Wisconsin, has endorsed John Edwards for president.

Among its reasons -- "His boyish good looks suggest a precocious intelligence." And his inexperience -- "means Edwards does not carry as much baggage for his opponents to exploit."

Conservative Complaint

Remember last week we told you that conservative students at Duke University were complaining that the school is biased against conservatives?

Well, the chairman of the political science department, Robert Munger, now says he recalls a recent meeting in which a fellow department head told the faculty that conservative students needed to be confronted with their hypocrisies, but liberal students didn't because they already understood the world.

Munger, quoted by the Durham Herald Sun, says -- "there was no big protest [to the idea], and that was wrong."

— FOX News' Michael Levine contributed to this report