TIM RUSSERT DIES FROM APPARENT HEART ATTACK … Tim Russert, NBC journalist and political heavyweight host of “Meet the Press,” has died after collapsing at NBC's Washington news bureau, a source said.  He was 58 years old.  —  Russert, who rose from the inside world of politics …

McCain Slams The Supreme Court's Habeas Decision  —  PEMBERTON, N.J.—I am still sitting in a John McCain town hall, so have not had time to transcribe the full quotes, but wanted to post this quick.  After a day of consideration, the McCain Campaign has decided to come out hard against yesterday's 5 …

Town hall talks break down  —  The talks between the McCain and Obama campaigns on debates appear to have broken down, with Obama's campaign — evidently concluding that the format could favor McCain, or at least give McCain some oxygen — offering just one town hall and one extra debate in response to McCain's suggestion of 10.

News Outlets Face Increasing Scrutiny in Campaign  —  Bloggers Rip Fox Over Screen Text About Mrs. Obama  —  For the second time this week, Fox News Channel was driven to respond to criticism over on-air statements about Barack Obama, in this case for screen text that described …

Obama on Social Security  —  I think one of the big questions hanging out there in the campaign is how America's currently McCain-loving seniors will feel when they find out about McCain's passion for wrecking Social Security.  I got some remarks from the Obama campaign in my inbox this morning …

Noonan: Obama Is An Unpatriotic, Effeminate, Cynical, Immoral, Godless Opportunist  —  Today, Nooner bases her entire column on this comparison: … You can see right away where this is headed, don't you? … Translation: Obama hates America. … Yup, and apparently, in Old America …

Updated: Superdelegate Davis slow to endorse Obama  —  Some Tennesseans wonder why Congressman Lincoln Davis (D-Pall Mall) is waiting until the Democratic National Convention in August before endorsing his party's nominee for President.  Courtesy of lincolndavis.com

McCains report more than $100,000 in credit card debt  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his wife reported more than $100,000 of credit card liabilities, according to financial disclosure documents released Friday.  —  The presidential candidate and his wife Cindy reported piling up debt on a charge card between $10,000 and $15,000.

AP Files 7 DMCA Takedowns Against Drudge Retort  —  I'm currently engaged in a legal disagreement with the Associated Press, which claims that Drudge Retort users linking to its stories are violating its copyright and committing “'hot news' misappropriation under New York state law.”

The Ambiguous Economics of John McCain  —  Who can figure out what Sen. John McCain really stands for on the economy?  —  In recent days the Republican standard bearer gave a really strong supply-side taxpayer-friendly speech, hitting all the right notes.  Undoubtedly his best economic statement of the campaign to date.

Gallup Daily: Obama 46%, McCain 43%  —  Obama's lead shrinks slightly compared with earlier this week  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama leads John McCain in national registered voter preferences for the election, but by a slightly narrower margin than he had earlier this week, 46% vs. 43%.

Obama Campaign Dispatching Thousands  —  Moving to harness the grass-roots energy that helped win the Democratic nomination, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will deploy 3,600 volunteers in 17 states this weekend, each committed to six consecutive weeks of full-time political work.

Powell tells B.C. crowd he might vote for Obama  —  VANCOUVER — Colin Powell, the former Republican secretary of state, says he is not ruling out a vote for Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for president.  —  While Mr. Powell served in the administrations of two Republican presidents …

The Kozinski mess  —  So the wires are a twitter with the story of Chief Judge Alex Kozinski's “web site” which, from reading the stories, you'd think was filled with porn (and worse), revealing a dark soul who, some experts in legal ethics suggest, shouldn't be presiding at an obscenity trial.