Washington, Sep 2 : Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his running mate Joe Biden have taken a lead of eight points over their Republican rivals John McCain and Sarah Palin after the Democratic convention in Denver.

Obama and Biden now lead McCain and Sarah Palin 48 percent to 40 percent. This is the first CBS News poll to include the vice presidential candidates in the horserace question.

The eight-point lead for the Democratic ticket is up from Obama’s three-point lead before the convention. But there are still a significant number of voters who have yet to firmly make up their minds.

Nairobi/Abuja - Nigeria

London, Sep. 1 : One of America’s best-known character assassins, Jerome Corsi, believes that John McCain’s choosing of Sarah Palin as his running mate for the November 4 presidential poll, is a “brilliant pick” that will capture Hillary Clinton’s voters.

Corsi, the author of The Obama Nation, the No 1 bestseller, which has sought to expose the negatives of Obama’s achievements, has said that the Obama campaign has been more aggressive than John Kerry’s.

Washington - First lady Laura Bush cancelled an appearance for Monday near the Republican convention city of St Paul, Minnesota, as the party readjusted its schedule to accommodate the impending drama of Hurricane Gustav.

On Sunday, President George W Bush cancelled his speech which was to be the centre point of Monday's convention opening.

Instead, he will travel to Texas to be near headquarters for federal operations during the category 3 storm, which was expected to make landfall by noontime (1500 GMT).