Supreme Court Rejects Death Penalty for Child Rape  —  WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled, 5 to 4, on Wednesday that sentencing someone to death for raping a child is unconstitutional, assuming that the victim is not killed.  —  “The death penalty is not a proportional punishment for the rape of a child …

Obama On FISA: Telecom Immunity Issue Doesn't Override National Security  —  At a presser today, Obama weighed in again on the FISA cave, and suffice it to say that what he said won't make opponents any less unhappy about Obama's position than they were already.

Gallup Daily: Obama, McCain Tied at 45%  —  Obama had held at least a slim advantage for most of June  —  PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on the presidential election finds John McCain and Barack Obama exactly tied at 45% among registered voters nationwide.

Inside Barack Obama's iPod  —  Barack Obama is a Stevie Wonder geek.  In the Democratic presidential candidate's new interview with Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Jann S. Wenner, Obama waxed rhapsodic about his favorite artists, many of whom — Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Jay-Z — have shown him love with endorsements.

Conservatives Mount Campaign To Claim ‘Iraq War Was Worth It’  —  The recent decline in violence in Iraq has seems to have given conservatives cover to not only defend the “surge,” but even to attempt to rehabilitate the decision to go to war in the first place.

Netroots feel jilted by Obama's FISA stand  —  When former Sen. John Edwards dropped out of the presidential race, the progressive Netroots took their affections to Barack Obama, defending him against attack from Hillary Rodham Clinton and others.  —  But with his support of a government surveillance bill …

BREAKING ELECTION NEWSGAYPATRIOT EXCLUSIVE:John McCain Meets with Log Cabin Republicans President  —  GayPatriot has exclusively learned that presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Senator John McCain held a personal meeting with the head of the national gay Republicans organization, the Log Cabin Republicans.

The Nader Way  —  Via Andrew Sullivan, Ralph Nader's not very taken with Barack Obama: … I would find this more persuasive were it not for the fact that Obama does want to crack down on predatory lending and other forms of financial exploitation of the poor.  And then there's this:

Pelosi on ‘Hush Rush,’ and Filibustering FISA  —  The speaker of the House made it clear to me and more than forty of my colleagues yesterday that a bill by Rep. Mike Pence (R.-Ind.) to outlaw the “Fairness Doctrine” (which a liberal administration could use to silence Rush Limbaugh …

Queen Strips Mugabe of Knighthood  —  Queen Elizabeth II has stripped Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's strongman president for nearly 30 years, of his honorary knighthood as a “mark of revulsion” at the human rights abuses and “abject disregard” for democracy over which he has presided, the British Foreign Office announced Wednesday.

New Wine in Old Bottles  —  A campaign between Barack Obama and John McCain once offered enormous possibilities for something new.  Instead, the two presumptive nominees have opened their campaigns for the White House with what looks and sounds like a repeat of the kind of politics both have promised to leave behind.

Tough-guy actor eyes Senate seat  —  LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) — Sonny Landham carved out a tough-guy reputation in a series of big-screen roles, from roughing up Sylvester Stallone to getting tossed out a window by Carl Weathers.  —  He pulls no punches in his newest role …

Plouffe On McCain's Squandared Opportunity  —  The most interesting moment of David Plouffe's 90 minute briefing and press conference was a casual assertion that he didn't think McCain “used the period from March 3rd [until the end of the Democratic primaries] very effectively, and for that, we're grateful.”

A hint on the veepstakes  —  Plouffe is asked whether he thinks a vice presidential nominee can help carry a state.  —  “I don't think that's going to be a factor in selection,” he says.  —  As model nominees he cites Al Gore and Dick Cheney.  —  “That worked for them,” he says of Cheney's nomination.

Kansas governor, Obama ally, warns GOP will play race card  —  WASHINGTON — Echoing comments by Barack Obama, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius predicted that Republicans would undertake “a major effort to try and frighten people about him” because of his race.