Top Items:
Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
Schmidt takes control of day-to-day operation — Steve Schmidt is taking over the day-to-day operation of John McCain's campaign, according to multiple campaign sources. — At a staff meeting in the campaign's Arlington, Va., headquarters this morning, campaign manager Rick Davis made the announcement about Schmidt's new role.
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Adam Nagourney / New York Times:
McCain Orders Shake-Up of His Campaign
McCain Orders Shake-Up of His Campaign
Discussion:
Talking Points Memo
Dan Balz / The Trail:
McCain Travels South, Searching for Message — Why is John McCain in Colombia? — Is his commitment to free trade so deep that he needed not one foreign trip (to Canada last month) but two foreign trips to make that clear to people? Is the issue of free trade so central to the outcome …
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Zzaki / Political Radar:
McCain in Colombia — ABC News' David Wright reports from Cartagena, Colombia.
McCain in Colombia — ABC News' David Wright reports from Cartagena, Colombia.
Joe Stephens / Washington Post:
Obama Got Discount on Home Loan — Shortly after joining the U.S. Senate and while enjoying a surge in income, Barack Obama bought a $1.65 million restored Georgian mansion in an upscale Chicago neighborhood. To finance the purchase, he secured a $1.32 million loan from Northern Trust in Illinois.
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Nate / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Irresponsible Journalism Alert — It took more than four months, but something finally beat out the Vicki Iseman story for its sheer chutzpah and utter irresponsibility. — The culprit is this piece from the Washington Post, which alleges that Barack Obama received a “discount” …
Christopher Hitchens / Vanity Fair:
Believe Me, It's Torture — What more can be added to the debate over U.S. interrogation methods, and whether waterboarding is torture? Try firsthand experience. The author undergoes the controversial drowning technique, at the hands of men who once trained American soldiers to resist—not inflict—it.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Guardian, Obsidian Wings, Intel Dump, The Daily Dish, Pharyngula, Donklephant, The LA Times President …, Think Progress, FishBowlDC, The Washington Independent, The Political Carnival, ATTACKERMAN, Lean Left, The Sundries Shack, Hot Air, The Lede, ACLU Blog, Macsmind, Gawker, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Raw Story, American Power, Reason Magazine and Newshoggers.com
Michael Newsom / Sun Herald:
Cochran recounts McCain dustup with the Sandinistas — GULFPORT —Notably mild-mannered Republican Sen. Thad Cochran shocked many earlier this year with comments about John McCain's volatile temper. He has since mended fences with the GOP presidential nominee.
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Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:
McCain denies claim that he roughed up Sandinista — CARTAGENA, Colombia - John McCain denied a Republican colleague's claim that he roughed up an associate of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on a diplomatic mission in 1987, saying the allegation was “simply not true.”
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Well Known Liberal Blogger Shot In Washington, D.C. — Brian Beutler, a well-known progressive blogger, was shot and seriously injured during a mugging last night in Washington, D.C. — One bullet damaged Beutler's spleen, and he had it removed during surgery this morning at the Washington Hospital Center.
Zev Chafets / New York Times:
Late-Period Limbaugh — At one time, Limbaugh did his program from a Midtown Manhattan skyscraper he dubbed, with tongue-in-cheek grandiosity, the Excellence in Broadcasting Building. These days, he mostly broadcasts out of a studio in Palm Beach, Fla., which he calls the Southern Command …
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Media Matters for America:
Fox News airs altered photos of NY Times reporters — On the July 2 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade labeled New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe “attack dogs,” claiming that Steinberg's June 28 article on the …
Simon Romero / New York Times:
15 Hostages Held by Colombian Rebels Are Rescued — CARACAS, Venezuela — Colombia announced Wednesday that it had rescued 15 captives held by the FARC rebel group, including Ingrid Betancourt, a former presidential candidate, and three American military contractors held by the guerrillas for more than four years.
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Michael Scherer / Swampland:
Christian Conservatives Uniting Behind McCain — At a meeting Tuesday in Denver, about 100 conservative Christian leaders from around the country agreed to unite behind the candidacy of John McCain, a politician they have long distrusted, marking the latest in a string of movement that bodes …
Ed Hornick / CNN:
Obama to lay out ambitious national service plan — (CNN) — Continuing his week-long focus on patriotism and national service, Sen. Barack Obama will lay out a plan Wednesday to create new volunteer and service opportunities to address some of the nation's most pressing challenges.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, The Moderate Voice, The Swamp, Lonewacko, Booman Tribune and KIKO'S HOUSE
Andy Borowitz / The Huffington Post:
Liberal Bloggers Accuse Obama of Trying to Win Election — The liberal blogosphere was aflame today with new accusations that Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) is trying to win the 2008 presidential election. — Suspicions about Sen. Obama's true motives have been building over the past few weeks …
Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
The Wrong Stuff — On the way back from Unity, N.H., Friday evening, Barack Obama's plane got diverted by bad weather. Instead of landing at Reagan airport, it landed farther out at Dulles. — Before he got into his S.U.V., Senator Obama walked hesitantly toward the press, who were standing nearby.
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
RNC plans ads in four states — Sources familiar with the media buys say the Republican National Committee has reserved advertising slots in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, large buys that could mark the first serious wave of televised attacks on Barack Obama.
Discussion:
TPM Election Central
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Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
RNC creates independent expenditure arm
RNC creates independent expenditure arm
Discussion:
TIME.com
James Gerber / Political Radar:
Obama Fist Bump Refusal? Not So Fast... ABC News' Sunlen Miller Reports: Senator Obama received critical press yesterday for refusing to give a boy a fist bump while touring the Eastside Community Ministry in Ohio. — According to Tuesday's press pool report, Obama denied the boy, saying …