Poll Finds Independent Voters Split Between McCain, Obama  —  Buoyed by a public mood favoring Democrats, Sen. Barack Obama begins the general-election campaign holding a narrow advantage over Sen. John McCain, with independent voters emerging as a constituency critical to the Republican's hopes of winning the presidency in November.

The Supreme Court Goes to War  —  Last week's Supreme Court decision in Boumediene v. Bush has been painted as a stinging rebuke of the administration's antiterrorism policies.  From the celebrations on most U.S. editorial pages, one might think that the court had stopped a dictator from trampling civil liberties.

Clinton Bundler on Obama's Doyle Pick: The Biggest ‘F**k You’ Ever  —  A former bundler to Hillary Clinton just called in to tell me that Barack Obama's selection of Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff to the campaign's eventual vice presidential nominee is the “biggest f**k you I have ever seen in politics.”

Lost Army Job Tied to Doubts on Contractor  —  WASHINGTON — The Army official who managed the Pentagon's largest contract in Iraq says he was ousted from his job when he refused to approve paying more than $1 billion in questionable charges to KBR, the Houston-based company that has provided food …

Obama Gets “The” Endorsement: The Lousy Timing of Al Gore  —  Perhaps one day someone will write a chapter about Al Gore in a new book titled “Profiles In Uncourage.”  —  Democratic presumptive Presidential nominee Barack Obama finally got what he and former rival Senator Hillary Clinton …

California Weddings Make History  —  State-Sanctioned Unions for Same-Sex Partners Begin  —  She said, “I do,” and she said, “Absolutely.”  —  With those words, Robin Tyler and Diane Olson, both dressed in ivory-colored suits, were pronounced “spouses for life” on the steps of the town courthouse …

Dems face budget shortfall for convention  —  NEW YORK (AP) — Facing an $11.6 million budget shortfall, organizers of the Democratic National Convention are cutting events while hoping Barack Obama's emergence as the likely presidential nominee will spur his vast army of donors to pony up.

Barack Obama aide: Why Winnie the Pooh should shape US foreign policy  —  Winnie the Pooh, Luke Skywalker and British football hooligans could shape the foreign policy of Barack Obama if he becomes US President, according to a key adviser.  —  Richard Danzig, who served …

McCain's Secret, Questionable Record  —  “At a meeting in his Pentagon office in early 1981, Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman told Capt. John S. McCain III that he was about to attain his life ambition: becoming an admiral.... Mr. McCain declined the prospect of his first admiral's star …

Don't call me nigger, Whitey  —  Or, how Sly and the Family Stone have prefigured the tortured logic of mainstream “liberal” American academic/media elite discourse on race.  From the Chicago Tribune: … Beyond the irony of being lectured on what people should or should not take offense …

Obama Plans Spending Boost, Possible Cut in Business Tax  —  FLINT, Mich. — Sen. Barack Obama shed new light on his economic plans for the country, saying he would rely on a heavy dose of government spending to spur growth, use the tax code to narrow the widening gap between winners and losers …

Obama Has 20 Point Lead on Lowering Gas Prices  —  Nearly eight in 10 Americans now call rising gas prices a financial burden, with those from lower income households particularly apt to feel the pinch.  —  Pump prices also appear to have a growing influence on behavior …

Judge Backs White House in Dispute Over E-Mail  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled on Monday that a White House office did not have to make public its records about millions of e-mail messages that may be missing.  —  The judge, Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of Federal District Court here …

Second President Bush floats prospect of a third  —  (CNN) - For only the second time in nearly three decades, there won't be a Bush on the presidential ballot this November.  But that absence may not be a permanent one, the current White House occupants hinted Sunday.

TELL THE TRUTH, GOV  —  ABSOLUTELY NO DENYING YOU CALLED MIKE LIAR  —  The laughable nature of Gov. Paterson's half-hearted denials that he called Mayor Bloomberg a tantrum-prone liar wouldn't be significant if New York's accidental governor hadn't vowed from the start to be different …