Today on the presidential campaign trail

Republican lawmakers appeal to Alaska Supreme Court to block Palin Troopergate investigation ... Bush pivots quickly from bailout to fundraising for GOP candidates ... TV audience for Biden-Palin debate bests ratings for all but Carter-Reagan showdown

___

GOP lawmakers file appeal to halt Troopergate case

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)--Six Alaska lawmakers filed an emergency appeal Friday asking the state's Supreme Court to halt an investigation into abuse-of-power allegations against Gov. Sarah Palin before the findings are released next week.

The independent investigator conducting the probe plans to turn over his conclusions by next Friday to the Legislative Council, the body that authorized it. The six Republican lawmakers, who are not on the Legislative Council, claim the investigation is being manipulated to damage Palin before Election Day on Nov. 4.

Late Friday, the Supreme Court accepted the appeal and scheduled oral arguments for Wednesday in Anchorage.

The probe is looking into whether Palin, who is the Republican vice presidential candidate, and others pressured Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire a state trooper who was involved in a contentious divorce from Palin's sister and then fired Monegan when he wouldn't dismiss the trooper. Palin says Monegan was ousted over budget disagreements.

Five Republican lawmakers sued to block the investigation or remove its overseers and were later joined in their lawsuit by a sixth legislator. But the lawsuit was dismissed on Thursday by an Anchorage judge.

Superior Court Judge Peter Michalski said the Legislature has the ability to investigate the circumstances surrounding the firing of a public officer the lawmakers had confirmed.

___

Bush pivots quickly from bailout to fundraising

ST. LOUIS (AP)--It took President Bush just 28 minutes to move from the nation's economic mess to making up for lost time on the political fundraising circuit.

Bush signed a $700 billion bill 2:48 p.m. EDT on Friday that was aimed at bailing out tattered Wall Street and getting credit markets across the nation moving again. It was a lightning-fast turnaround between Capitol Hill passage and presidential signature, as the bill had been given Congress' final blessing less than an hour and half before.

By 3:16 p.m. EDT, the president's motorcade pulled away from the White House on his way out of town, for a weekend of raising money for Republican candidates and relaxing at his ranch in Texas.

Bush stopped here to raise $1.5 million for Rep. Kenny Hulshof, who is running for governor in Missouri. The reception for about 600 well-heeled GOP donors took place at the home here of Steve Brauer, the former U.S. ambassador to Belgium.

Hulshof rode with Bush to his home state on Air Force One, a flight that might well have featured some interesting conversation. Hulshof twice voted against the rescue plan that Bush had fiercely lobbied for all week. On Monday, Hulshof was one of 133 Republicans to go against the president and on Friday was among 108 "nay" voters.

White House spokesman Scott Stanzel declined to comment on how Bush felt about that. "The president supports his election for governor and looks forward to tonight's campaign event," he said.

___

Joe Biden, Sarah Palin draw huge ratings in debate

NEW YORK (AP)--Who's running for president, anyway?

More than 70 million people watched Thursday's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin on television, far more than the audience for the first contest featuring the top of the tickets.

That would make it the second most-watched political debate ever, behind only the 80.6 million people who watched President Jimmy Carter and challenger Ronald Reagan in their only 1980 encounter, according to Nielsen Media Research.

When John McCain and Barack Obama met in their first debate on Sept. 26, Nielsen recorded 52.4 million viewers. They will have two more debates, the first of them next Tuesday.

Palin has been a television star since joining the GOP ticket a month ago. The curiosity factor undoubtedly brought in viewers this week after Palin raised doubts about her readiness for the job with some wobbly TV interviews.

Most analysts said she erased some of those doubts Thursday but didn't necessarily win the debate or bring more voters into the McCain camp.

Timing may also have played a part in the big ratings. Thursday is one of the most popular nights of the week for TV-watching, while Friday, when McCain and Obama first debated, is one of the least popular.

___

THE DEMOCRATS

Barack Obama holds a rally in Newport News, Va.

Joe Biden speaks at a dinner held by the Human Rights Campaign in Washington.

___

THE REPUBLICANS

John McCain has no public schedule.

Sarah Palin stops in Colorado before holding a rally in California.

___

QUOTE OF THE DAY:

"Let's soar, let's get out there and speak to voters and let them know what their choices are."--Sarah Palin.

___

STAT OF THE DAY:

Of the Bush administration's $700 billion bailout plan, 16 percent of likely voters said in a recent AP-GfK poll they thought John McCain hurt negotiations over the proposal when he bolted back to Washington last week to get involved. Just 5 percent thought Barack Obama did damage.

___

Compiled by Ann Sanner and Ronald Powers.