memeorandum: Veterans Long to Reclaim the Name ‘Swift Boat’ (Kate Zernike/New York Times)

1:10 PM ET, June 30, 2008

Top Items:

Some on left target McCain's war record — The highest voltage third rail of this presidential campaign may not be race, sex, or age, but Senator John McCain's military service. — McCain's campaign Sunday issued a pair of outraged statements after retired general and Barack Obama supporter Wesley Clark …

Discussion: Newshoggers.com, Hot Air, Blog P.I., The Campaign Spot, TownHall Blog, Oliver Willis, PoliBlog (TM), Confederate Yankee, The Strata-Sphere, American Power, GINA COBB, Daimnation!, Cold Fury, Political Perceptions, TIME.com and Neptunus Lex

John Aravosis / AMERICAblog News:

Honestly, besides being tortured, what did McCain do to excel in the military? — It's not “nice” to ask the question, but it's actually a pretty good question. Yes, we all know that John McCain was captured and tortured in Vietnam (McCain won't let you forget).

Discussion: Right Wing Nut House, NewsBusters.org, TownHall Blog, BLACKFIVE, Ben Smith's Blogs, The Sundries Shack, Right Wing News, michellemalkin.com, JammieWearingFool, Comments from Left Field and Sister Toldjah

Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:

Swiftboating McCain — Ben Smith documents the left's gross attacks on McCain's military record: … Wesley Clark is now and always has been a Clinton-type, but this is pretty revolting. This kind of personal attack was repulsive coming against Kerry from the far right. And it's repulsive the other way round.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, TIME.com, GayPatriot, The RBC and JammieWearingFool

CNN:
Gen. Clark challenges McCain's qualifications

Discussion: Politics Blog, Daily Kos, Fox News, Towleroad.com, Althouse, The Debate Link, Donklephant, Political Fix, Top of the Ticket, The Mahablog, Wake up America, Outside The Beltway and QandO

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
DC PRESS LORDS LAY DOWN FIRE FOR MCCAIN

Discussion: Media Matters for America and Swampland

Dday / Hullabaloo:
Get Ready For The Mother Of All Hissy Fits

Discussion: TBogg, The Political Carnival and pandagon.net

Gottalaff / The Political Carnival:
CNN: “Wesley Clark tried to Swiftboat John McCain today.”

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, ad astra, per aspera, CBS News, MyDD, Cliff Schecter, Associated Press, Salon, The News Buckit, Daily Kos and Yahoo! News

Jill / Brilliant at Breakfast: John asks the question so I don't have to

Mike Allen / The Politico:

Romney tops McCain veep list — Surprising many Republican insiders, Mitt Romney is at the top of the vice-presidential prospect list for Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). But lack of personal chemistry could derail the pick. — “Romney as favorite” is the hot buzz in Republican circles …

Discussion: Top of the Ticket, The New Republic, The Swamp, Donklephant, TIME.com, Althouse, Balloon Juice, Club for Growth and PoliBlog (TM)

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

Lack of funds hobbling the ‘Republican attack machine’ — WASHINGTON — Democrats and the media have used the term so much that it's almost an article of faith. But the so-called “Republican attack machine” waiting with piles of unregulated cash to chew up Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is anything but.

Discussion: Washington Monthly, michellemalkin.com, Informed Comment, QandO, American Spectator and The Other McCain

Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:

GOP Sharpens Attacks on Obama — Allies of McCain Casting Democratic Candidate as Unprincipled, Opportunistic — CLEVELAND — Sen. John McCain's allies have seized on a new and aggressive line of attack against Sen. Barack Obama, casting the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee …

Discussion: MoJoBlog, Commentary, The Caucus, Real Clear Politics and Patterico's Pontifications

Eli Saslow / Washington Post:

In Flag City USA, False Obama Rumors Are Flying — FINDLAY, Ohio — On his corner of College Street, Jim Peterman stares at the four American flags planted in his front lawn and rubs his forehead. Peterman, 74, is a retired worker at Cooper Tire, a father of two, an Air Force veteran and a self-described patriot.

Discussion: Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Ben Smith's Blogs, Reason Magazine, Washington Monthly, The New Republic, Swampland, Lonewacko, The Trail, Shakesville, The Carpetbagger Report, pandagon.net, Amygdala, Feministe, Oliver Willis, Gateway Pundit and Bark Bark Woof Woof

George Packer / New Yorker:

OBAMA'S IRAQ PROBLEM — In February, 2007, when Barack Obama declared that he was running for President, violence in Iraq had reached apocalyptic levels, and he based his candidacy, in part, on a bold promise to begin a rapid withdrawal of American forces upon taking office.

Discussion: The New Republic, MSNBC, New York Times, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The Opinionator, Marc Ambinder, The Glittering Eye, Political Punch, The Strata-Sphere and Swampland

Chris Welch / CNN:

Obama to deliver ‘major speech’ on patriotism — CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) — Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama plans to deliver what his campaign is calling a “major speech” Monday, centering around an issue he's been trying to highlight for months now: his patriotism.

Discussion: Gateway Pundit

Washington Wire:
Obama to Get Patriotic in Independence

Discussion: This ain't Hell …

Simon / Bloggasm:

Who's responsible for shutting down a number of anti-Obama Blogspot accounts? — When Carissa Snedeker went to log into her Blogspot account Wednesday evening at about 7:30, she had no idea what would be waiting for her. She had created her blog, Blue Lyon, three years ago and up until …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, NewsBusters.org, The Campaign Spot, Sister Toldjah, Stop The ACLU and The Confluence

Mark Preston / CNN:

Congressional Democrats hire Bush impersonator — WASHINGTON (CNN) — House Democrats will use a President Bush impersonator in a new radio advertising campaign that seeks to link 13 incumbent Republicans to rising gas prices as the country heads into the Fourth of July holiday.

Discussion: The Swamp, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The Fix and Swing State Project

Glenn Reynolds / Pajamas Media:

I'M WRITING A SHORT PIECE ON HELLER FOR NORTHWESTERN, and something became clear to me as soon as I started writing: What's most striking about Heller is that absolutely everybody — majority and dissents — says the Second Amendment protects an individual right.

Discussion: Cold Fury, Don Surber and Of Arms and the Law

Spencer Ackerman / The Washington Independent:

Iraq Contractor Security Assessment Differs From Bush/McCain — Whenever Bush administration or Sen. John McCain campaign officials open their mouths about Iraq, they portray the country as on a continuous path of Surge-based stabilization. “As security has improved, the environment has changed for the better,” Amb.

Discussion: DefenseLINK and Brilliant at Breakfast

Wall Street Journal:

Obama Seeks to Add Black Voters — Registration Efforts, Often Overlooked, Come to the Fore — RALEIGH, N.C. — On a hot afternoon in this southern U.S. town, Tom Wolf, a field organizer for Barack Obama, delivered the fruits of hundreds of hours of staff effort — 130 voter-registration applications …

Discussion: Democratic Strategist

Robin Toner / New York Times:
Political Memo: Obama Camp Thinks Democrats Can Rise in South

Discussion: The Reaction, God's Politics and TPMCafe

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

The Obama Agenda — It's feeling a lot like 1992 right now. It's also feeling a lot like 1980. But which parallel is closer? Is Barack Obama going to be a Ronald Reagan of the left, a president who fundamentally changes the country's direction? Or will he be just another Bill Clinton?