Spin Cycle

Yesterday was an extraordinarily busy day, and we didn't get to posting a few things that merit some notice:

1. McCain slightly exceeded Obama's Nielsen rating for his acceptance speech, with both topping 38 million viewers. This is a surprise, and a good sign for McCain. It would be a better sign if he had given a great acceptance speech for all those folks to see.

2. Oprah Winfrey said she's not having any of the candidates on her show, which the NYPost sees as an insult to Sarah Palin because seeing it that way gives them a cover.

3. The Wilson sisters of the group Heart got headlines yesterday by complaining about the GOP's use of its song "Barracuda" as an anthem for Sarah Palin at the convention this week, but apparently the Xcel Center had a license to use it. From the LATimes: "Copyright law may not be on the Wilsons' side, however, as the song is licensed for public performance under a blanket fee paid by the venue to ASCAP, the firm that collects royalties on behalf of composers and copyright owners." Also: Reuters. (Thanks, Tom.)

4. The McCain campign is running ads in Michigan and elsewhere which falsely suggest that Obama will raise taxes on most people, but that turns out to be the high road. A conservative group called Freedom's Defense Fund is pushing a dark ad focused on Obama and Kwame Kilpatrick, the disgraced mayor of Detroit: