The Associated Press to Set Guidelines for Using Its Articles in Blogs  —  The Associated Press, one of the nation's largest news organizations, said that it will, for the first time, attempt to define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and Web sites …

A Delegator, Obama Picks When to Take Reins  —  WASHINGTON — In the months leading up to Senator Barack Obama's big loss in the Pennsylvania primary, he was a detached manager: around, but not meddling.  Rarely on early-morning conference calls with his senior advisers …

Barack Obama: Father's Day Speech  —  Barack celebrated Father's Day today by speaking at the Apostolic Church of God in Chicago.  He began by quoting the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus closes by saying, “Whoever hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened to a wise man who built his house upon a rock.”

Fight Their Smears: ABC News, Bob Beckel, Time, AP, Guardian, and NYT slime the Right  —  Time lies.  The NYTimes slimes.  AP distorts.  ABC News, the Guardian, and the blithering Bob Beckel have all now piled on, too.  They are at it again.  Smearing conservative bloggers and talk radio.

A controversial suggestion for NBC's Meet the Press  —  The mourning over the untimely death of Tim Russert — host of Meet the Press and Washington bureau chief of NBC News — may continue, but the Politico, the L.A. Times and BloggingStocks are just a few of the media outlets covering …

Women voters lining up behind Obama  —  McCain hopes to lure Clinton loyalists.  But polls show they are staying Democratic.  —  Marilyn Authenreith, a mother of two in North Carolina, felt strongly about supporting Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary.

Investigation Advances For U.S. Attorneys Scandal  —  WASHINGTON — Justice Department lawyers have filed a grand-jury referral stemming from the 2006 U.S. attorneys scandal, according to people familiar with the probe, a move indicating that the yearlong investigation may be entering a new phase.

GOV BLASTS ‘NASTY’ MIKE  —  SHOCKING BROADSIDES BY MILD-MANNERED DAVE  —  Mayor Bloomberg is a nasty, untrustworthy, tan trum-prone liar who “has little use” for average New Yorkers - like the 1,500 workers who would have lost their jobs had OTB closed, a furious Gov. Paterson has said privately.

COUNTRYWIDE'S PALS . . .  When it comes to charging abuse in markets like the mortgage business, American politicians, right up the ladder, should zip their lips.  They're not ones to talk.  —  That's becoming ever more painfully clear with reports like the one Thursday …

Obama's Down-Ballot Effect  —  With all the talk and worry about the potential “Obama effect” on races down the ticket, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee believes it has identified a very positive one - Senator Barack Obama runs strongly with independent voters.

McCain Takes Gitmo Ruling Personally  —  Why Does GOP Candidate Scorn Supreme Court's Affirmation Of Right Of Habeus Corpus?  —  (CBS) John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, told a crowd of supporters in New Jersey Friday that the Supreme Court's latest Guantanamo Bay ruling is …

The Internet and the 2008 Election  —  A record-breaking 46% of Americans have used the internet, email or cell phone text messaging to get news about the campaign, share their views and mobilize others.  And Barack Obama's backers have an edge in the online political environment.

Taking A Breather  —  A lot of people are understandably taking this caesura in the campaign to reserve judgment on either nominee.  This makes sense to me.  We're exhausted from the Clinton-Obama melodrama and the dynmaics of a McCain-Obama contest are not yet clear.