By Garth Bardsley

Meghan McCain has always been one to speak her mind. While her dad was running for president, the 24-year-old daughter of Senator John McCain kept her own blog, McCainblogette.com, complete with personal anecdotes and behind-the-scenes photos.

On the day before her dad's major comeback victory in the New Hampshire primary, she told MTV News that she thinks Obama is "cute." She even told a GQ reporter about her affection for Marilyn Manson's ex-wife, burlesque star Dita Von Teese, and how a guy once dumped her when he found out who her father was.

But in an interview Tuesday morning on the Monday Morning Clacker, a blog written by a friend of hers, she refused to take the bait on her dad's running mate, Governor Sarah Palin.

"Sarah Palin is the only part of the campaign that I won't comment on publicly," Meghan says.
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John McCain had better be planning on using instrumental music from the 19th century for his next Senate seat run. After a lawsuit he filed against singer/songwriter Jackson Browne in the U.S. District Court in California this week, he'll probably alienate any musicians who haven't already asked him to stop using their songs during his failed presidential bid.

You may recall that back in August, Browne filed suit against McCain's campaign for using his song, "Running on Empty," in a campaign ad, citing copyright infringement and false endorsement. The laid-back California rocker was among a group of musicians — which also included Heart, the Foo Fighters and Van Halen — who asked McCain to stop using their songs in the Republican senator's appearances during his White House bid.

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Given that it's only 1:30 p.m. here in Arizona and the first polls don't close for another two and half hours, there's plenty of downtime at McCain HQ, which means it's perfectly acceptable to have some lunch.

Luckily, the Republican National Committee was kind enough to lay out an impressive spread for the assembled media, but there's a catch: You've gotta pay $685.

Actually, the money gets you a spot in the press filing center, which later will be humming with reporters on deadline, but at the moment it's playing host to a rather extravagant buffet.

(The fee was even higher for Obama's Illinois HQ — no word yet on the menu.)
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We've made it past miles of manicured lawns, golf courses and gated mansions to the epicenter of the McCain-iverse, the Arizona Biltmore, where in a few hours (or you know, like, 10), Mac will deliver a speech that's either gonna be a real barnburner or a certified bummer.

McCain will deliver this speech on the lawn you see here (he got married on this same spot 24 years ago). ... Exactly four minutes ago they closed it off to the general public, and tonight, a lucky (and heavily credentialed) 2,500 will be ushered inside to watch it.
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By Nicole Guanlao

It doesn't matter which teams are playing. Millions of people tune in to "Monday Night Football" every week for that one matchup because they love the game. What better way to reach those Americans — all the "Joe Six-Packs" and "Joe the Plumbers," not to mention many females — than by getting some face time in between all of the helmet bashing.

So, can you really blame Barack Obama and John McCain for putting on their game faces for an interview with Chris "Boomer" Berman the night before Election Day?

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In just over two weeks, one of the two men vying for our nation's highest office will be out of a job. One will get ready to move into the White House, and one will head home — or to one of his seven homes. Sure, the loser will still have a gig in the Senate, but with this year’s presidential campaign winding down, could either John McCain or Barack Obama — who hoisted verbal attacks at each other during the third and final debate Wednesday night — secure future work on the stand-up circuit? Last night, both candidates attended the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where they swapped punch lines about themselves and each other.

(Watch the video after the jump!)
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We're not so arrogant as to think that the McCain and Palin spend their downtime reading the Newsroom blog. We know they're busy and all. So, maybe they didn't read our story earlier this week about how '80s rockers Survivor weren't too happy about the campaign using their "Rocky III" song, "Eye of the Tiger," at rallies.

And maybe they missed the stories about the Foo Fighters, Van Halen, Heart and Jackson Browne complaining about the same thing. We're not saying an intervention is in order, but while five is troubling, six is definitely a sign of a problem.

The latest? Jersey icons Bon Jovi. Jon Bon Jovi told TMZ that the band was "surprised to hear that our song 'Who Says You Can't Go Home,' was used by the McCain campaign at rallies yesterday and today.

"We wrote this song as a thank you to those who have supported us over the past twenty-five years," JBJ continued. "The song has since become a banner for our home state of New Jersey and the defacto theme song for our partnerships around the country to build homes and rebuild communities. Although we were not asked, we do not approve of their use of 'Home.'

McCain certainly should have seen this one coming, what with the singer throwing a $30,800-a-plate dinner at his house for Obama last month.

What do you think of McCain's musical miscues? Does the campaign need to be more careful, or do these musicians need to lighten up?

Dear Fat Joe,

I know you said my endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain made you "sick" to your stomach and made you feel like you wanted to "vomit." And I heard you callin' me a sellout and whatnot, saying I was just doing it for publicity.

Well, I'm ready to pour some "Gasolina" on the fire now. Guess what? I moderated a debate Thursday night among the candidates for governor of Puerto Rico. Maybe you could take a message from the name of the debate, "Vota o quedate calla'o" ( "Vote or keep your mouth shut").

So what if PR paper Primera Hora said I lost my "flow" and poked fun at me for reading every line from the teleprompter, even my greetings to the candidates? Technical difficulties! I did kind of startle them with my closing plea "from the heart" to rid the barrios of drugs.

And yeah, some kids burned my records outside the convention center hosting the debate. So?

Sincerely,

Daddy Yankee (OK, not really.)

Last week, right before Republican presidential candidate John McCain introduced the world to his running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, in Dayton, Ohio, he strutted out to the sounds of Van Halen's "Right Now." A few hours later, Van Halen's publicist told MTV News that the POTUS hopeful was never granted permission to use the track, and had permission been sought, it would never have been granted.

Now, Heart are furious with the McCain campaign for its use of their 1977 hit "Barracuda" as Palin's unofficial theme song during the RNC. (When the governor was a high school basketball champ, her teammates nicknamed her "Sarah Barracuda.") Heart's reps fired off a statement saying they'd asked the Republicans to stop using the song, and in a phone call to EW.com, Nancy Wilson said she felt "completely f---ed over."

It seems McCain's people just can't find the right tunes. Considering how liberal most recording artists are, it's likely this will continue to be a problem for the GOP. Perhaps John should just stick with John Rich's "Raising McCain."

If you had to pick a song to capture the spirit of McCain's or Senator Barack Obama's campaign, which song would you go with? Tell us!

"The Ren & Stimpy Show," "The Goddamn George Liquor Show," "The Ripping Friends" and, of course, the infamous Tenacious D video "F--- Her Gently." There is only one John Kricfalusi, and when the demented cartoon genius turns his pen on you, you better hope he's in a good mood. (See the figurines after the jump!) Read more...