Top Items:
Ed OKeefe / Political Punch:
Obama to Break Promise, Opt Out of Public Financing for General Election — In a web video to supporters — “the people who built this movement from the bottom up” — Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, announced this morning that he will not enter into the public financing system, despite a previous pledge to do so.
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Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Obama aide blames McCain on public-financing — Obama spokesman Bill Burton is blaming Senator John McCain's campaign for failing, he says, to negotiate in good faith on a course to public financing. — “In the past couple of weeks, our campaign counsels met and it was immediately clear …
John McCormick / The Swamp:
Obama rejects public financing — by John McCormick, updated with McCain response — In a widely expected decision, Sen. Barack Obama announced this morning that his Democratic presidential bid will reject public financing, abandoning an earlier pledge to participate in the system if his Republican challenger agreed to do the same.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Comments from Left Field and Reason Magazine
Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:
Deals With Iraq Are Set to Bring Oil Giants Back — BAGHDAD — Four Western oil companies are in the final stages of negotiations this month on contracts that will return them to Iraq, 36 years after losing their oil concession to nationalization as Saddam Hussein rose to power.
New York Times:
Obama's Campaign Tightens Control of Image and Access — At a rally for Senator Barack Obama in Detroit on Monday, two Muslim women said they were prohibited from sitting behind the candidate because they were wearing head scarves and campaign volunteers did not want them to appear …
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Bmaz / Emptywheel:
The FISA Shaft Is Underway — As you know, the FISA Amendments Act has been being negotiated behind closed doors by Steny Hoyer, Kit Bond and friends for some time now. See here and here. Well, the action is coming a little faster than we all anticipated.
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David Weigel / Reason Magazine:
More Fun in Obamaconspiracyville: In Which Larry Sinclair Gets Arrested — I blogged a few weeks back about a convicted criminal, Larry Sinclair, who'd been begging the media to cover his wild allegations about Barack Obama. Today Sinclair trotted into the National Press Club to air …
Discussion:
Think Progress, Wilshire & Washington, THE MITCH AND NAN SHOW!!!, Blogger News Network, Comments from Left Field, NO QUARTER, CANNONFIRE, Taylor Marsh, DBKP, The Sideshow, Political Machine, Shakesville, Ben Smith's Blogs, DownWithTyranny!, Firedoglake, The Huffington Post, Pam's House Blend, Blue Girl, Red State, Threat Level and Wonkette
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Roxana Tiron / The Hill:
Rumsfeld repays McCain; declines to back candidate — Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld recently declined to answer whether he will support Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for president. — McCain, the GOP presidential standard-bearer, has been one of Rumsfeld's harshest critics.
Associated Press:
Cindy McCain visits Vietnam — NHA TRANG, Vietnam - Cindy McCain ranged far afield from the U.S. presidential campaign trail Thursday to showcase her charity work helping Vietnamese kids born with facial deformities. — McCain has made several trips to Vietnam, where her husband …
Discussion:
Don Surber
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Jacques Steinberg / New York Times:
Russert's Son Sounds a Theme of Unity at Funeral — WASHINGTON — In death, Tim Russert did on Wednesday what no living journalist has accomplished this campaign season: he got Barack Obama and John McCain to sit together and talk, quietly. — Specifically, it was Mr. Russert's son, Luke …
CNN:
Americans drive 1.4 billion fewer highway miles — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Americans drove 1.4 billion fewer highway miles in April than they did in April 2007, the Department of Transportation said Wednesday. — That marks the sixth consecutive monthly drop and coincides with record gas prices …
New York Times:
Officials Report Routing of Taliban — ARGHANDAB, Afghanistan — After a day of air strikes and ground operations against Taliban fighters, Afghan and NATO officials claimed broad success on Thursday, saying they had largely expelled the insurgents from the strategic Arghandab region near Kandahar, killing more than 50 of them
Discussion:
Weekly Standard Blog
Chuck Bennett / New York Post:
SUBPOENA BLITZ PUTS HEAT ON AL — IRS SEEKS INFO FROM TOP DONORS — The probe into the Rev. Al Sharpton's finances intensified this week, with the IRS sending out a flurry of subpoenas to his most generous corporate donors, The Post has learned. — Anheuser-Busch, the brewer of Budweiser …
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
Obama and McCain Spout Economic Nonsense — Barack Obama and John McCain are busy demonstrating that in close elections during tough economic times, candidates for president can be economically illiterate and irresponsibly populist. — In Raleigh, N.C., last week, Sen. Obama promised …
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Rep. Young's interns cite do's, don'ts — Several lobbyists, including hired guns who worked on transportation, Interior and Alaska issues, had unparalleled access to Rep. Don Young's (R-Alaska) congressional staff, according to an unofficial office document .
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
The Right Iraq Footprint — “Don't be afraid of Iraqi sovereignty,” Gen. John Abizaid used to say when he was Centcom commander. And that's good advice now as Iraqis and Americans think about the new “status of forces” agreement that will shape the country next year when the Bush administration is gone.
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