The following is reported by Yereth Rosen in Anchorage, Alaska.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin got a $1.25 million advance from HarperCollins for her soon-to-be-released memoir “Going Rogue.”

Palin listed the advance, which she received while still governor, in the 2009 financial disclosure form filed Monday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. See the form on The Anchorage Daily News Web site.

“The Governor has complied with Alaska disclosure law by her filing yesterday. Now, as a private citizen, her business dealings, including her publishing agreement, are confidential,” Palin spokeswoman Meghan Stapleton said in an email.

The report covers Palin’s last seven months as governor. She announced her resignation on July 3 and left her post on July 26. During that time, she received a state salary of $73,000 and perdiem payments of $6,370.80, according to her financial disclosure report.

Palin also reported taking out an unspecified home loan from Wells Fargo Bank to pay for “legal fees to fight false allegations while governor,” according to her handwritten explanation.

And she reported that she has set up a marketing business, called Pie Spy LLC, with headquarters at the office of her Anchorage attorney.

Palin’s husband Todd was paid $34,086.14 during that period by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. in wages for his job as a North Slope oil-production manager. He resigned that position effective Sept. 18, according to BP.

Todd Palin also earned $32,260.35 during the period from his commercial fishing operation in Bristol Bay, according to the report.

The report also lists numerous valuable gifts received by Palin and members of her family during her last seven months in office, including out-of-state trips. She reported receiving $6,885 from her political action committee, SarahPAC, to travel with her husband to Indiana to appear at the Vanderburgh County Right to Life dinner and attend associated events. She, Todd and daughter Willow received Yankees tickets worth $4,250 from former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, part of her June trip to New York that produced a now-famous feud with television host David Letterman.

Other gifts included a $2,666 “Nu Skin skincare” package, $1,664.70 for air transportation to a pair of remote Alaska villages, courtesy of evangelist Franklin Graham and his Samaritan’s Purse organization, $1,000 from Republican patron Fred Malek to attend the Alfalfa Dinner in Washington in January and $2,000 from the Candie’s Foundation for Todd to travel to New York to attend an abstinence-promotion event with daughter Bristol.

UPDATE: The $1.25 million book advance reported in her financial disclosure form is likely only a portion of the full advance she received for the book, with some media reports estimating the total advance could be as much as $7 million.

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo credit: Reuters/Nathaniel Wilder (Palin shares a laugh at governor’s picnic in Alaska in July)

This is one of those Washington days that seems to defy a theme. Consider:

Iran is the topic at the Senate Banking Committee, where officials from the State and Treasury departments are set to testify on economic sanctions against Tehran.

Afghanistan is expected to be front and center when President Barack Obama briefs congressional leaders about his Afghan strategy.

Pakistan’s foreign minister has a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The Dalai Lama is in town, too, meeting with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and getting a human rights award.

In the background is the steady drumbeat of the healthcare debate, the fight over climate change legislation and defense spending.

Serious subjects, all of them. And what was the top story on the morning network newscasts? Ten points if you guessed the natural choice: David Letterman’s sex life.

What does this say about Washington? The U.S. media? The public appetite for scandal? Let us know what you think.

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo credits:  REUTERS/Christinne Muschi (exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Montreal, Canada, October 3, 2009)

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (U.S. President Barack Obama and David Letterman at a taping of the comedian’s show, New York, September 21, 2009)

They’re not linked, but the stories that topped the news shows this morning had to do with sex and with the Olympics.

Late-night comedian David Letterman made an unusual confession on his show last night: he was the victim of a $2 million extortion plot by a man who threatened to write a screenplay about Letterman having afffairs with female employees.

The talk show host quoted a blackmail note as saying: “I know that you do some terrible, terrible things and I can prove that you do these terrible things.”

Initially, Letterman’s audience didn’t understand and thought he was telling a joke. They laughed as he said he found a package in his car three weeks ago from a person who was trying to blackmail him.

Then the audience seemed kind of stunned, not knowing how to react as the 62-year-old comedian spoke about the “very bizarre experience” as he admitted that he had had sex with women who work for him on the show. He then went on to say he hoped to protect his family and his job.

An employee with CBS’s “48 Hours” was arrested in the case.

The other top story: President Obama’s Olympic plea to try to win the 2016 Summer Games for Chicago.

Obama flew overnight to Copenhagen then went directly to speak to the International Olympic Committe, which will choose the host of the 2016 Olympics. Finalist cities also include Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

Obama made an impassioned plea for the place he said he fell in love with 25 years ago, the city he called the “most American of American cities.”

The president was accompanied by his wife, Michelle, who spent the last two days lobbying IOC members to vote for her hometown to host the Summer Games.

Obama is due to make a statement shortly after he returns to the White House, around 4 p.m. (2000 GMT). The IOC is expected to announce its decision at 12:30 p.m. (1630 GMT).

 For more Reuters political news, click here.

Photo credits: Reuters/Robert Galbraith (Letterman at the 57th Emmy Awards in 2005);  Reuters/Kevin Lamarque (Obama hugs his wife before speaking to IOC in Copenhagen)

President Barack Obama has sought to distance himself from Jimmy Carter’s recent comment that some of the anger directed at him over the summer is because he is a black man.

But he couldn’t avoid the issue when he appeared on the “Late Show with David Letterman” on Monday. His host put it to him straight, but with a healthy dose of good humor.

“Was Jimmy Carter onto something … was this unease or poor decorum rooted in racism, or is that just something to talk about?” Letterman asked.

“It’s important to realize that I was actually black before the election,” Obama answered.

“Really?” said Letterman.  “This is true,” Obama said.

“How long have you been a black man?,” Letterman asked.

        –  Pause for laughter from the audience  –

“So the American people, I think, gave me this extraordinary honor. That tells you a lot, I think, a lot about where the country is at,” Obama continued, before the interview moved on to serious issues: healthcare and Afghanistan.

Reuters photo by Kevin Lamarque.

Millions of Americans could be staring at blank TV screens tomorrow, when broadcasters switch to digital signals.

The U.S. government has spent years preparing for the switch, which aims to free up airwaves for broadband and enhanced emergency communications.

The change-over will only affect those who get their TV over the air, rather than through cable or satellite connections.

But many consumers probably still haven’t gotten a converter box which will allow them to watch the new digital signals with their rabbit-ear antennas.

That means they’ll miss out on the frothy mix of news and entertainment (newsertainment?) of NBC’s “Today Show,” where this morning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared she’s “absolutely not necessarily” the future of the Republican Party.

In case you’re wondering, Palin’s still steamed at talk show host David Letterman, who made sexual jokes about her daughter a few nights back.

“It was a degrading comment about a young woman and I would hope people really start rising up and saying it’s not acceptable,” Palin said.

In Washington, the CEOs of General Motors and Chrysler appear before Congress to explain the process of closing dealerships — not a popular move with lawmakers who have taken millions in campaign contributions from car sellers.

President Barack Obama meets Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the White House at 3:30.

Photo credit: REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (Palin joins former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and wife Judith Nathan at a Yankees game, June 7)

For more Reuters political coverage, click here.

The economy is expected to dominate President Barack Obama’s news conference at 8 p.m. But perhaps the power of his prime time presence can be judged by his ability to change the TV line-up –  the popular “American Idol” has been moved to Wednesday.

NBC’s “Today” show asked White House spokesman Robert Gibbs whether Obama wanted to risk angering the show’s 31 million viewers and, more scary, judge Simon Cowell.

“No I think taking on Simon along with the economy might be one too many things to take on,” Gibbs said with a laugh. 

“But I think it’s important that the president talk to the American people about our economic recovery and we’ll just build up the suspense for American Idol,” he said.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke go to Capitol Hill in the morning to appear before a House Financial Services hearing on “Oversight of the Federal Government’s Intervention at American International Group (AIG).”

Predict more talk about corporate bonuses, since it seems AIG can’t be mentioned without someone yelling about the bonuses it paid employees while taking a government handout.

And after 23 years of dating, late-night television host David Letterman married his girlfriend.

Click here for more Reuters political coverage

Photo credit: Reuters/Larry Downing (Obama and Geithner)

NEW YORK - With just a few weeks to go before the U.S. election, the John McCain campaign is still full of surprises.

Cindy McCain, the Arizona senator’s wife, visited the campaign plane’s press section after taking off from New York on Friday to give Halloween candy to startled reporters.

So what, some may ask? Well it was the first time Mrs. McCain, who is generally wary of reporters, has ever ventured to the back of the plane.

Declaring an “autumn surprise”, an aide pulled back the curtain that normally separates the press cabin from the candidate and staff to reveal the potential first lady striding down the aisle doling out smiles and chocolate. The visit was fast and purely social.

When asked how things were going she responded quickly: “It’s going great. We’re right where we want to be.”  Yet polls show her husband lagging behind Democratic rival Barack Obama.

The visit was all the more unusual because of the dramatic decrease in access that reporters have had to McCain and even his staff in recent weeks. The Arizona senator, who used to hold press conferences and informal chats regularly, has cut them off nearly altogether. 

A section of the plane that was designed for press pow-wows was used only once — in July. But glimpses of the “old McCain”, as some reporters describe the senator before his more recent evolution, are beginning to come through. 

On Thursday he rocked the house at a New York dinner with a rare roast of himself and rival Obama, who also spoke.

With jokes about his many houses, verbal gaffes and decision to suspend his campaign during part of the financial crisis, McCain outshined his usually-more polished opponent in delivery, timing, and eloquence. The audience roared.

Earlier in the day his staff had hastily arranged a helicopter ride to New York for McCain when his plane was stuck in Philadelphia because of lengthy airport delays. 

Why the rush? Comedian David Letterman, whose show McCain had skipped a few weeks before in a move that drew extensive ribbing, was waiting for a make-up date.

“Old” McCain or not, he made it to the show, the press followed in the plane, and Letterman was happy.        

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

- Photo credit: Reuters/Carlos Barria      
       

Republican White House hopeful John McCain will appear as a guest on the CBS ‘Late Show’ with David Letterman this week, after relentless ribbing by the comedian for the candidate’s last-minute cancellation last month amid the financial crisis.

The Arizona senator skipped his appearance on the late night show, telling Letterman he had suspended his presidential campaign so he could immediately return to Washington to participate in the negotiations on a financial bailout package in Congress.

However, McCain ended up staying in New York for another day, drawing repeated blasts by Letterman for standing him up as he tried to fill the empty airtime.  To fill some of the show, the comedian discovered footage of McCain getting prepped for an interview with CBS News’ Katie Couric instead of coming on his show.

McCain will appear on Letterman program Thursday Oct. 16, the day after the third and final presidential debate.  No word yet on whether McCain will be bringing some sort of peace offering.

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

- Photo credit: Reuters/Brian Snyder (McCain walks to the podium on Sept. 24 to announce he was temporarily suspending his campaign to focus on financial bailout talks in Washington)

WASHINGTON - John McCain should have seen this one coming.
 
The Republican presidential candidate suspended his campaign and dramatically announced he was going to Washington to help hammer out a $700 billion bailout to save the U.S. economy.
 
Then he called to cancel with David Letterman. At the last minute. Leaving the wickedly funny late night comic with blank airtime to fill. Probably not the smartest move.
 
“Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, was supposed to be on the program tonight,” Letterman said in an opening volley. “But had to cancel the show because he’s suspending his campaign because the economy is exploding.”
 
“You know who John McCain is,” he added to laughter from his live audience. “He’s the running mate of Sarah Palin, you’re aware of that?”
 
And that was just the start. Letterman wasn’t about to let it go. After heaping praise on McCain as an American hero, it was right back to the cancellation.
 
“When you call up and you call up at the last minute and you cancel a show, ladies and gentlemen, that’s starting to smell,” Letterman said. “This, this is not the John McCain I know, by God. It makes me believe something’s gone haywire with the campaign.”
 
“This just doesn’t smell right because this is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody’s putting something in his Metamucil,” he said.

A presidential candidate doesn’t just suspend the campaign, Letterman insisted.

“You go back to Washington. You handle what you need to handle. Don’t suspend your campaign. Let your campaign go on, shouldered by your vice presidential nominee, that’s what you do. You don’t quit,” Letterman said, pausing to let his audience mull over the idea of McCain letting the little-experienced Alaska governor take over the campaign.
 
“Or is that really a good thing to do?” Letterman asked.
 
The jibes kept coming. McCain’s age — at 72 he’ll be the oldest president to start a first term in office — and Palin’s inexperience.
 
He reacted with mock astonishment when he discovered McCain had not raced back to Washington but was instead being interviewed for the CBS evening newscast with Katie Couric. Letterman watched a live TV feed from the studio as McCain’s face was patted with makeup.
 
“Doesn’t seem to be racing to the airport, does he?”
 
“Hey John, I got a question. You need a ride to the airport?”

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.

Photo credit: Reuters/Molly Riley (McCain at U.S. Capitol on Thursday after returning to Washington for talks on U.S. financial crisis)

NEW YORK - As controversy surrounded Barack Obama’s comments about putting lipstick on a pig, the Democratic presidential hopeful found himself joking about the whole idea of putting makeup on an animal.

In an appearance on “The Late Show With David Letterman”, after 24 hours of back-and-forth over Obama’s use of the “lipstick” analogy, Obama found time to laugh.

“Have you ever actually put lipstick on a pig?” Letterman asked.

“The answer would be no,” Obama replied with a laugh. “But I think it might be fun to try.”

Obama said it was “silly season” in politics and noted that the saying “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig” is a common saying and it means that if you have a bad idea you can’t just dress it up and make it better.

“In this case I was talking about John McCain’s economic plans. That just calling them ‘change’, calling them something different doesnt’ make it better,” the Illinois senator said. “Hence, ‘lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.’”

“It’s a common expression, at least in Illinois,” he said. “I don’t know about New York City. I don’t know what you put lipstick on here.”

Obama said he was not calling McCain’s running-mate Sarah Palin a pig and was not referring to her at all.

“Keep in mind, that had I meant it this way, she would have been the lipstick, you see,” he said. “The failed policies of John McCain would be the pig — following the logic of this illogical situation.” 

Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage. 

- File photo credit: Reuters/Keith Bedford (Obama arrives at the Letterman show in 2007)