McCain Camp Pounces on Obama Comments From ABC News Interview  —  The campaign of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., tonight pounced on comments Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., made in an interview today with ABC News.  —  This was the exchange in question.  —  TAPPER: Speaking of the Supreme Court …

Pin at the GOP state convention in Texas: “If Obama is President... will we still call it the White House?”  —  Expect the Republican party to do absolutely nothing about the racists in its own midst.  The national Republican party in Washington has contacts all the time with its state parties.

67% Support Offshore Drilling, 64% Expect it Will Lower Prices  —  Most voters favor the resumption of offshore drilling in the United States and expect it to lower prices at the pump, even as John McCain has announced his support for states that want to explore for oil and gas off their coasts.

Haditha Watch: Charges dismissed against Lt. Col. Chessani  —  Fight the smears.  Call John “Cold-blooded” Murtha for comment: 202-225-2065.  —  Note: As of 1:40pm Eastern, you will not find the Haditha story on the front page of the NYTimes website.  —  Told you to watch out for this yesterday.

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 …

Kerry: McCain embraces Bush  —  Responding to the McCain campaign's shot at Obama as a “9/10 candidate” — a familiar line of attack from the 2004 campaign, the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, told reporters that the attack drew McCain closer to Bush.  —  “He has fully embraced …

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 …

Obama on Social Security, Ctd.  —  The other day I noted that Obama wants to raise taxes on high earners to pay for Social Security, and asked whether he was going to give those people higher benefits, too.  The program as it stands pays you more the more you put into it, although it does not go up proportionally.

Leader of the Pack  —  AS the Democratic primaries revealed, Barack Obama is having a hard time winning the support of blue-collar voters.  —  So here's a piece of strategic advice for the candidate: Lose the Nicorette.  Light up instead.  —  Consider these statistics, culled from studies of smoking patterns.

FIRST THOUGHTS: GORE-ACLE FINALLY SPEAKS  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** The Gore-acle finally speaketh: For months, the question wasn't if Al Gore was going to endorse Obama, but when.  And would he do it at a time that was pivotal in the primary?

Are Dems talking about McCain's age in ‘code’?  —  In a campaign year marked by flare-ups surrounding comments that have offended one group or another, John McCain and Barack Obama have moved on to the next sensitive battleground: the question of McCain's advanced age.