One Newspaper's Extreme Case of Bad Timing

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Buyer's Remorse?

In an extreme case of bad timing, the Palm Beach Post newspaper endorsed Florida Democratic Congressman Tim Mahoney Sunday, just one day before he was embroiled in a sex scandal. The Post said voters should give Mahoney two more years and that, "The very unlikely winner in 2006 very much deserves to be re-elected in 2008."

Mahoney was sent to Washington after Republican incumbent Mark Foley was involved in his own sex scandal. Foley had been sending lewd e-mails to underage pages who worked on Capitol Hill.

Since news of Mahoney's alleged affairs and hush money payments surfaced, The Post has published two very critical editorials. The newspaper has not yet decided whether to scrap the endorsement, but the editorial board meets tomorrow and will publish its decision Friday.

A Virtual First

For the first time ever, a presidential candidate has bought commercial space in video games.

Barack Obama ads will appear on billboards and signs in 18 games, including hits such as "Guitar Hero" and "Madden 09."

The commercials remind players that early voting has begun. They also plug a campaign Web site that encourages people to register.

If you are wondering how an Obama ad popped up in your video game even though you bought it months ago, that's because the games update with new ads and other features when your console connects to the Internet.

The campaign did not say how much the ad blitz cost.

Paying the Price

We've heard a lot about voter fraud in the last few weeks, but now there is a report of a case of political credit card fraud.

The FOX affiliate in Kansas City reports Steve and Rachel Larman say a strange charge appeared on their statement this month — a $2,300 donation to Senator Obama's campaign. The couple notified their bank.

"They were familiar with this. It was fraud, they believe through telemarketing," Steve Larman said.

The Larmans are registered Republicans, but they say they do not want politics to become a part of the investigation. Rachel Larman says their bank "kept on asking me, 'Are you sure you wouldn't have gone to a site in support of Obama?' And I repeatedly said, 'I'm voting for McCain — I would not be going to an Obama site.'"

The Cold Truth

Another chilling report for global warming alarmists. The Anchorage Daily News reports 200 years of glacial shrinkage in Alaska has stopped. Large amounts of winter snow were followed by unusually chilly temperatures over the summer, resulting in the growth of many of Alaska's glaciers.

Glaciologist Bruce Molnia at the U.S. Geological Survey says, "It's been a long time on most glaciers where they've actually had positive mass balance."

Mass balance is the difference between how much snow falls in the winter and how much snow melts in the summer. For most of Alaska's glaciers, snow loss has exceeded snowfall for decades, but glaciers at Prince William Sound, the Juneau Icefield and Bering Glacier all experienced growth this year.

— FOX News Channel's Zachary Kenworthy contributed to this report.