When your parents went to school, they walked three miles. Each way. Uphill, both ways. In the snow. Right? In the past, everything was better, more like Lake Woebegone: Where all the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.

In politics, the reverse is true. Yes, some other election is important, but this election, everyone will tell you, is the "most important in our lifetime." Here's a hint: The next one will be the "most important" too. In 2008, everything seems bigger, louder, crazier than years' past. Though, as with walking uphill both ways in the snow, maybe we're just remembering happier times past.

We reported yesterday that Sen. Hillary Clinton will hit the trail for a fast-and-furious campaign swing that she hopes will attract enough media to fill up her own press plane (Concord, Portsmouth, Sioux City and Des Moines events so far). Sen. Barack Obama plans a fast-paced tour of his own, with events in Manchester, Milford and Hudson on Monday; Manchester, Waukee, Guthrie and Carroll on Tuesday, and more Iowa events Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Sen. Sam Brownback has South Carolina all to himself this weekend. His campaign just released a schedule showing the Kansan in Summerville, North Augusta and Columbia, where he'll tailgate at the USC-UL-Lafayette game on Saturday. And then he'll sit in a luxury box to take in the game. It's good to be da king.

But Labor Day isn't the start of things anymore, writes Washington Post's Alec MacGillis. "Time was, candidates could prepare for the post-Labor Day rush with a relatively leisurely summer." That hasn't been the case, as the Ludicrous Speed of the campaign has been going on for six months or more. (Side question: How many events will Fred Thompson schedule per day? Will be an important indication of his commitment to overcoming the laziness questions)

MacGillis does note, though, that Rudy Giuliani is off all Labor Day weekend. Well, it is baseball stretch run time too.

In another example of modern gluttony and excess, former Gov. Mitt Romney has procured the services of Stuart Stevens and Russ Schriefer, two top GOP media men, to join Romney's own private media firm, Midnight Ride Media, reports The Fix. The team also includes Alex Castellanos, Curt Anderson, Brad Todd and Larry McCarthy, and they're overseen by Alex Gage. Gage told Cillizza that "such a large number of media consultants is a necessity in the YouTube world."

Back in my day, we started campaigning hard in September, and we had one media consultant who produced nothing but 30-second ads. You kids and your YouTube...

Speaking of new things, did anyone notice that former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, jumping way up in recent ARG polls in early states, won the endorsement of the Machinists' union? The IAM had never endorsed a Republican before, but Huckabee showed up, and he won the nod, reports the LA Times.

The Plank points to those ARG polls and argues that the guv is making it a race. He's not at Mitt Romney levels yet, but with 14% in Iowa, he outpaces Fred Thompson's 13% and comes close to Rudy Giuliani's 17%. The question he'll face now: Can he sustain those huge numbers, or is he going to fade as memories of his strong showing in Ames wane?

Finally, some Friday candy: What do you do with campaign cash when you have never received fewer than 87% of the vote? (Seriously, 19-term Rep. Charlie Rangel has never received fewer than 17 in 20 votes) Well, you pay for your portrait on the committee wall, according to CNN.

To be more precise, you pay $64,500 for a portrait, because you want it three-quarter length and you might be able to stand to shed a few pounds: "Portrait artists determine fees based largely upon reputation, but the size of the subject and detail required also factor heavily in the pricing," Rangel attorney Phu Huynh writes to the FEC, seeking permission to spend campaign funds for the purpose.

"The size of the subject" -- how much is Rangel paying this guy to call him fat?

RCP will head to Charlottesville today to report on Virginia Senator John Warner's press conference, at which he will announce his plans for the future. Keep checking this site for news. And by the way, is he holding the presser at UVA just so Larry Sabato can get in every newspaper in America tomorrow?

It's official -- almost. Fred Thompson will announce his candidacy for president next Thursday, Sept. 6, via Web video at www.imwithfred.com, reports the New York Times' Marc Santora. "There had been little doubt in recent weeks that Mr. Thompson, a former senator, Washington lobbyist and 'Law & Order' actor, would run for president," writes Santora. "But he kept his supporters and the rest of the field guessing as to when he might enter the race, postponing a July announcement as he built up a staff and began raising money."

That process hasn't gone smoothly, with staff firings and resignations, not to mention a lower-than-expected money haul in June. But Thompson still carries a great deal of star power. Indeed, his "formal announcement will come one day after the other Republican candidates debate in New Hampshire, but Mr. Thompson will probably get even more exposure, appearing that same night on 'The Tonight Show With Jay Leno' on NBC," Santora writes.

And it might not be a moment too soon. The Politico's Kenneth Vogel reports that Thompson, "facing scrutiny for stockpiling cash while he purported to be only exploring the possibility of a presidential bid," is returning between $20,000 and $25,000 worth of general election donor contributions. Writes Vogel, "the refunds give Thompson cover as he seeks to fend off a complaint to the Federal Election Commission alleging he violated federal campaign rules by running a full-fledged campaign while shielding his finances from the commission," although it won't end the FEC's inquiry.

There have been a few questions surrounding all the candidates regarding fundraising, especially money raised through "bundlers" -- the well-connected who are able to collect a pile of checks from friends and associates. As the NYT's David Kirkpatrick writes today, "The reliance on bundlers has exploded this year because, for the first time in three decades, the major candidates are planning to turn down public financing in favor of raising and spending money without being subject to any limit." The six leading primary campaigns, reports Kirkpatrick, have a total of 2,000 bundlers.

But both the Jack Abramoff and, more recently, Norman Hsu examples -- both bundlers -- show that the system is ripe for embarrassment for the candidate, as "it is harder for campaigns to be sure bundlers do not bring in money from illegal contributors."

Indeed, as the Boston Globe's Marcella Bombardieri reports, Hillary Clinton's connection to Hsu has been a thorn in the campaign's side all week. In an interview, Clinton vowed to increase "vigilance" in the donor vetting process. Both the Clinton campaign and Barack Obama's, which also received Hsu money, said they would donate the funds to charity.

Coming in at the bottom of the GOP stack, Ron Paul won't likely have many bundling problems anytime soon. But as the Wall Street Journal's Jackie Calmes reports today, the Paul phenomenon is real and spreading. "The iconoclastic 'Dr. Paul' is a libertarian advocate of minimalist government, a foe of the Federal Reserve and anything else not explicitly allowed by the Constitution, and perhaps the most antiwar candidate in the race," writes Calmes. "His rise, though modest, is testament as well to the power of his noninterventionist message, even in a party led by President Bush."

Another long-shot GOP candidate enjoying a profile in a major paper is Mike Huckabee. As the Washington Post's Sridhar Pappu reports , "It's hard to think of a candidate in recent political history who felt such a bounce and media hug after a second-place finish in a nonbinding contest where three of the top-tier candidates or almost-candidates -- John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson -- didn't bother to show. But man, is he working it."

"Though Huckabee's national poll numbers currently linger at single digits, political analyst Charlie Cook calls him a candidate with 'good crossover appeal to social conservatives and more secular Republicans.' "

At a campaign stop in Spartanburg, S.C., John Edwards gave a "breakneck 20-minute speech," reports the Spartanburg Herald-Journal's Jason Spencer. Lashing out at the Bush administration and special interests, Edwards also invoked JFK, Hurricane Katrina and appealing to the Muslim world. "On one side are (Osama) bin Laden and al-Qaida, and on the other side is America. The question is, which way will they go? That depends on us," Edwards said.

Obama's campaign is betting heavily on a win in the New Hampshire primary, reports the Washington Times' Brian DeBose. "Victory in the predominantly white states would energize blacks in early primary states such as South Carolina, where black voters make up nearly half of the Democratic electorate," writes DeBose.

Matthew Nugen, national political director for the Illinois Democrat's campaign, said, "No one in the campaign would disagree with the notion that we have to win a state like New Hampshire to do well with black voters in South Carolina and beyond."

But will the campaigns have to rethink their strategies following Michigan's move to a Jan. 15 primary? The Detroit Free Press' Dawson Bell and Todd Spangler report that the legislature's move yesterday, expected to be signed by Gov. Jennifer Granholm, "will almost certainly be countered by other states, especially Iowa and New Hampshire, which are intent on preserving their traditional primacy in the presidential selection process." Of the leading candidates, only Giuliani has said publicly that he supports the earlier date.

Get these and today's other election news at RCP's Politics and Elections page.

The White House is pushing back on this story in yesterday's Washington Post by Karen DeYoung and Thomas E. Ricks on the leaked General Accounting Office (GAO) report which apparently shows little progress in Iraq. Here's the lede:

Iraq has failed to meet all but three of 18 congressionally mandated benchmarks for political and military progress, according to a draft of a Government Accountability Office report. The document questions whether some aspects of a more positive assessment by the White House last month adequately reflected the range of views the GAO found within the administration.

The clear implication of the piece is that the administration exaggerated and/or misled the public when it published its own report in mid-July declaring the Iraqis were making "satisfactory progress" in 8 out of the 18 Congressionally mandated benchmarks.

But a Senior Administration Official I spoke with yesterday vigorously disputed that characterization, saying that the GAO is applying a different up-or-down only standard, making it "an apples to oranges comparison."

Indeed, the language in the statute does set out a different standard, requiring the President to declare, as he did on July 15, "in his judgment, whether satisfactory progress toward meeting these benchmarks is, or is not, being achieved," while the Comptroller General is required to provide an assessment on September 1 of "whether or not each such benchmark has been met."

As an example of the discrepancy between the two standards, the administration official I spoke with pointed to the first benchmark on the list, which is "forming a Constitutional Review Committee and then completing the constitutional review."

There are three components to this benchmark: 1) assembling the committee, 2) setting up the process by which the review will take place, and 3) conducting the review, which means holding a national referendum.

As of right now, the Iraqis have completed the first two steps. By the administration's standard, that represented "satisfactory progress." But because step three, the national referendum, has not yet taken place, it is considered an unmet benchmark by the GAO's up-or-down standard.

Aside from the administration wanting to clarify the distinctions between the two standards and to knock down the impression left by the Washington Post that it was being either dishonest or manipulative, the GAO report helps illuminate just how difficult it is to apply one-dimensional benchmarks to an enormously complex, fluid, and three-dimensional situation like the one we face in Iraq.

Randy Enright, the national political director for Fred Thompson, just announced on a conference call with supporters that, "next Thursday on September 6 Senator Thompson will officially become a candidate for President of the United States."

Enright said the announcement will come via webcast on Thompson's site and will be immediately followed by a two-part grassroots tour that will begin in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and eventually get to Florida before winding up on September 15 with a "welcome home" rally in Thompson's home town of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee.

Enright said the goal of the campaign was to position Thompson as the "mainstream conservative in this race" and take advantage of the grassroots support and Fred's ability to "powerfully deliver his message."

Campaign manager Bill Lacy addressed the group briefly, thanking supporters for their patience as they worked through the busy period of "taking it to the next level" and assembling a team to move forward with a presidential campaign.

The Pentagon is disputing some negative findings in the new GAO report on Iraq.

Audio of Sen. Larry Craig's arrest has been released.

A few union endorsements today for Hillary Clinton, Mike Huckabee and John Edwards.

Trying to deflect a bit of the controversy surrounding fugitive donor Norman Hsu, Clinton today said she was "surprised by the news."

Mitt Romney didn't call for Sen. Larry Craig's resignation, but he did call the Idaho Republican's conduct "disgraceful."

The Washington Post takes a look at Romney's new "running" TV ad.

Jonathan Martin has the scoop on Sen. John Warner's announcement on his political future. Martin also hears the Fred Thompson will announce on Sept. 6.

Michigan's House today approved a Jan. 15 date for the state's presidential primary.

The Boston Globe talked to the guy behind Wyoming's GOP moving its primary up to Jan. 5.

Larry Kudlow writes about the $127 billion we've allocated to try and rebuild New Orleans - so far unsuccessfully:

Perhaps all this money should've been directly deposited in the bank accounts of the 300,000 people living in New Orleans. All divvied up, that $127 billion would come to $425,000 per person!

Here's a thought experiment. If, in fact, New Orleans residents were handed checks tomorrow for $425,000, that would put them in the "top 1 percent" of all Americans based on annual income - in which case the government would turn right around and tax them in the top bracket.

According to current tax schedules, that means a married couple would have to fork over $120,956 in taxes to Uncle Sam, while single residents would have to cough up $127,824.25. (UPDATE: Plus another 6% for Louisiana state income tax, by the way.)

Those are some big numbers, and they'd be even bigger under a Democratic administration since every candidate has proposed "rolling back" the Bush tax cuts. Obviously, you might not be as upset with Uncle Sam if you had a steady annual income at that rate, but it always looks a bit different when it's put in the perspective of a windfall or a one time payment. Anyone who's ever opened a quarterly sales bonus or Christmas bonus knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Assuming the residents of New Orleans didn't get some sort of special exemption, I bet they'd be none too happy to have to write out a six-figure check to the government. Who knows, it might even make them mad enough to vote Republican.

Here's John McCain's new ad showing him at the beginning as a POW. At 12 minutes, it's more like a short documentary, but very much worth watching.

More YouTubes in the RCP Vlog.

Jonathan Martin reports Virginia Senator John Warner is set to announce his intentions tomorrow at a 2pm press conference in Charlottesville. Everyone is waiting to see if he'll run again (at 80 years old) or retire.

If you missed Reid's piece yesterday outlining the ramifications of Warner's possible retirement, I suggest you take five minutes and bring yourself up to speed before tomorrow, in the event that's what he announces.

It's not a confirmation of Reid's suspicion, but Peyton Manning did give $2,300 to Thompson in June.

Saturday, September 1st, marks the beginning of a mad-dash four month sprint to the Iowa caucuses. It's the beginning of the real campaign season, when airline miles will rack up as fast as ad buys, leaflets and volunteers hit doorsteps, and Iowa and New Hampshire make more tourism money than they will in the next three years combined. In short: It's game time. Put on a jersey.

Appropriately, Saturday marks the somewhat official start of the college football season (though LSU and Rutgers kick off games tonight), and this year's outlook provides convenient parallels to the presidential race.

For Senator Hillary Clinton, who's kicking off the campaign season with a two-day swing through Iowa and New Hampshire that is so hyped she's got her own press plane to go along with it, September finds her leading every national poll, running ahead in New Hampshire and Iowa, a good starting point, and leaving her worthy of the number one ranking.

Some have compared her style of campaigning -- slow and methodical, no turnovers and the best defense in the country -- to Ohio State. This year, though, others have predicted that USC is winning the national championship, or at least the PAC-10, not for their amazing West Coast offense but for their solid defense. Solid play and good defense is what makes Clinton the odds-on favorite to take the title. The campaign swing with a press plane is just like playing Idaho in week one: A guaranteed win. Oh, and Bill Clinton kind of looks like Pete Carroll (Not at all, but just go with it.).

USC's biggest challenges come late in the season, as Clinton's are likely to. On the first of December, competing for what they hope will be a perfect season, the Trojans welcome cross-town rival UCLA, a team likely to stick it out for the long haul and make Carroll sweat. Senator Barack Obama, with the money to compete in the long run, will be the candidate giving Clinton her biggest scare. If both are undefeated going into the last game of the season, the winner is going to the championship in New Orleans. Whether UCLA can survive home games against Notre Dame and Cal will be key to determining if they've got a shot at USC. Whether Obama can survive second- or third-place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire will determine if he gets a shot at Clinton.

Cal comes into the season ranked higher than UCLA, at number 12, and perhaps too many have written off the prospect that John Edwards could get off to a start faster than Obama. Edwards is putting all his eggs in Iowa's basket, leaving him the possibility of a big win right away (he's narrowly trailing in the latest RCP Iowa Average) or a disappointing 0-1 start that could knock him straight out of contention. Last year, Tennessee ran up a 35-0 lead on the Golden Bears en route to a 35-18 win on national TV in the first week. If Clinton or Obama rack up a number of delegates in Iowa, leaving Edwards in the dust, his campaign for the championship could be finished.

The rest of the field looks like the rest of the PAC-10: Mostly speed bumps for the top three teams (the only teams ranked pre-season) to roll over. Danger lurks in Beaverton, where after a surprise 10-win season that included upsets over USC and offensive powerhouse Hawaii, Oregon State will play all three leaders during a five-week stretch. Message: Watch out for Bill Richardson, polling a respectable fourth in Iowa. Comparing Mike Gravel to Stanford seems appropriate, as first-year coach Jim Harbaugh will struggle to win more than two games, while Washington State and Dennis Kucinich each have a decent offense, but little chance of ending the season with a winning record.

The Republican side remains a more wide-open race. With four teams in the top ten, all legitimate picks to head at least to the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten conference is virtually identical. Michigan's high-powered offense (Does it seem to anyone else like Chad Henne's been in college for about 7 years?) lands it the top spot, at number 5 nationally. That offense is the same we see in former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's campaign -- he's got a new ad going up today and has been aggressively organizing in early states.

But Romney comes with question marks. How will evangelical Christians see his Mormonism? Will Republicans ever really vote for a guy from Massachusetts? And will his early lead in Iowa and New Hampshire hold once other candidates start spending money? Michigan's defense is suspect, as well, not a good beginning in a conference known for its defensive powerhouses.

Rudy Giuliani has a strong team around him. He's so far been able to deflect negatives that would otherwise knock him out of contention in any other GOP field (gay rights, a pro-choice past, gun control, et cetera), meaning he's got the defense to stop any mud thrown his way. And recent forays into Iowa and New Hampshire have gone well. Finally, after what may be difficult times in early states, Giuliani gets the home game against Romney, or any other leader, in Florida, which local campaign staffers call his firewall. Wisconsin, the pre-season number 7, welcomes Michigan to Camp Randall Stadium late in the season for what will definitely be a must-win for both teams.

Wisconsin's defense, while not terribly sexy, puts the team in top shape for a tough season, as Giuliani's strategy of keeping his powder for February 5th states seeks to head to the championship.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, probably (though I haven't confirmed this) a huge Volunteers fan, would hate to be compared to a Big 10 team, but he resembles Ohio State awfully closely. Thompson's team has already seen a number of departures, while the Buckeyes lost some key offensive weapons, including Troy Smith, Antonio Pittman, Teddy Ginn and Anthony Gonzalez. That means a lot of pressure on a relatively untested offense, and a lot of pressure on a relatively untested candidate (who last faced voters in 1996).

Wisconsin heads to the Horseshoe this year (foreshadowing a Giuliani-Thompson battle in South Carolina?), but Ohio State has a tough road schedule, including trips to Penn State and Michigan, and less difficult but still challenging matchups at Minnesota and Purdue.

And what about the crotchety old man? The guy who's been around forever? We could be talking about John McCain, or we could be talking about Penn State's Joe Paterno. Both, it seems, just won't leave the stage. And they don't have to: Both are still good enough to cause major headaches for a few front-runners.

To draw another parallel, few teams will be as dependent on one player as Penn State will be on their quarterback, Anthony Morelli. Few campaigns will be as dependent on the candidate as McCain's. When he's on the trail, engaging voters, he's one of the best there is, and it's virtually the only time anyone is reminded why he did so well in 2000. Penn State is unlikely to win the Big 10, especially after a trip to Michigan's Big House, but many wouldn't be surprised if they, like McCain, stuck around longer than most expected.

The rest of the GOP field is probably stronger than the rest of the Democratic field, given a year in which the mood of the country isn't so biased against Republicans. And, in a normal year, the Big Ten is usually better than the PAC-10. Iowa can be trouble for leading contenders, just as Mike Huckabee could be for leading Republicans: Both have decent teams with strong weapons, though both are certainly the underdog. Huckabee is shy to attack, preferring to use lofty and hopeful rhetoric. The Hawkeyes are, luckily for them, skipping games with Michigan and Ohio State (though Huckabee has gone after Romney and Thompson, so the metaphor's not perfect).

Michigan, while the favorite, cannot overlook Michigan State, which, with new coach Mark Dantonio, is said to be back to the traditional Big Ten style of football: Run it up the gut, again and again. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, who has long tested Romney's defense, will continue to pound it up the middle, and while Brownback likely won't be smelling roses in January, he could have a chance to hurt a top team, as the Spartans will when Michigan comes to East Lansing.

Longer shots, like Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo, are on a mission to advance their goals, rather than to win the nomination. Both could score some points and earn a few delegates, but, like Indiana, a six-win, bowl-eligible season is far from a lock. What to make of Ron Paul? The Texas Congressman is the surprise team that will score a huge upset sometime during the season, though we're not going to predict who it might be. He's not going to the Rose Bowl, but he could find himself declared the surprise of the season.

The Spring games are over. Kickoff is less than ten hours away. Big games are scheduled for the very first weekend. No team, no candidate, can be shy. Now's the time to put on a helmet and wait for your bowl of choice: The Rose Bowl, when the Big Ten champ meets the PAC-10 champ, or the Iowa caucuses. There's even a good chance they'll both happen the same day.

A final thought: We know that many conferences got left out, and that Southern schools dominate the top 15. Yes, the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and others are great, Boise State could be undefeated again, Hawaii's Colt Brennan (overserved yet?) could win the Heisman, et cetera. Please don't hate-mail us. The metaphor just worked so well with the Big Ten/PAC-10 rivalry.