Rove: Obama's the Guy at the Country Club Holding a Martini Making Snide Comments About Everyone Else  —  ABC News' Christianne Klein reports that at a breakfast with Republican insiders at the Capitol Hill Club this morning, former White House senior aide Karl Rove referred to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, as “coolly arrogant.”

The evolution of John McCain  —  As a maverick Senator, he took pride in just saying no to everyone's wish list.  But as a presidential contender, he's become a tax cutter and defender of home mortgages.  The inside story of how the candidate is shaping his plan to fix the economy.

Obama Campaign Drops Faux Presidential Seal  —  The Possum Sleeps Tonight  —  Last week, Barack Obama unveiled a new campaign seal — and not the kind that swims, barks and balances balls on the end of its nose.  Rather, it was the kind that has a big old eagle on it and some Latin …

‘The Google’  —  The first question at an excellent panel at the Personal Democracy Forum in New York today with top web folks from the leading campaign goes to McCain aide Mark Soohoo.  —  Moderator Andrew Rasiej asks for a show of hands on whether the panelists have had to tell the candidate not to say …

Too Good to Check  —  I have no way of knowing if this is true, though the source is excellent...but the word in Republican circles is that John McCain is quite frustrated by the vice presidential selection process because he can't go with any of his top three choices.  They are:

The New Republic syndrome  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  The number one problem facing the Democratic Party is that, as events of the last week demonstrate, it continues to be plagued by The New Republic Syndrome, one of the most fatal political afflictions that exist.

Washington Post Editor Leonard Downie Jr. Stepping Down  —  44-Year Veteran Led Newspaper to 25 Pulitzer Prizes  —  Leonard Downie Jr. said today he is stepping down as The Washington Post's executive editor, ending a 17-year tenure in which the paper became a major online force and won …

Home Not-So-Sweet Home  —  “Owning a home lies at the heart of the American dream.”  So declared President Bush in 2002, introducing his “Homeownership Challenge” — a set of policy initiatives that were supposed to sharply increase homeownership, especially for minority groups.  —  Oops.

Obama Camp Closely Linked With Ethanol  —  When VeraSun Energy inaugurated a new ethanol processing plant last summer in Charles City, Iowa, some of that industry's most prominent boosters showed up.  Leaders of the National Corn Growers Association and the Renewable Fuels Association …

George Carlin, Irreverent Comedian, Dies at 71  —  George Carlin, the Grammy-Award winning standup comedian and actor who was hailed for his irreverent social commentary, poignant observations of the absurdities of everyday life and language, and groundbreaking routines like …

Someone Else's Alex  —  The people at MoveOn.org have a new Iraq ad that is, if they do say so themselves, their most effective ever.  Then again, for the group that brought us the “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?” ad last September, that might not be saying much.