Obama Addresses Critics on ‘Centrist’ Moves  —  POWDER SPRINGS, Ga. — Barack Obama had heard quite enough of the complaints that he is pirouetting, leaping, lurching even, toward the political center.  —  He is at heart, he told a crowd in suburban Atlanta, a pretty progressive guy …

McCain Responds to Maliki's Call for an Iraq Withdrawal Timetable  —  Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly derided anyone who advocated a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, now suddenly finds himself in a political box as the American-backed Iraqi leadership yesterday raised the prospect of exactly that.

McCain Campaign Screening Questioners?  —  WASHINGTON DISPATCH: Political reporters are wondering if McCain aides are vetting the journalists who ask questions during campaign conference calls for the media.  The evidence suggests they are; the campaign won't say.

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Energy bill out of gas  —  House Democrats are in a bind on the focal point of their energy plan.  —  Worried that a floor vote on any energy-related measure would trigger a Republican-forced vote on domestic drilling, the leadership has scrubbed the floor schedule of the energy legislation …

Our Full Page Ad in the Washington Post Against FISA Bill  —  The vote in the Senate on FISA is scheduled for this week.  Debate starts today, but the vote will probably be pushed until Wednesday due to Jesse Helms' funeral.  —  Today, thanks to your contributions, we're taking out a full page ad …

How Much Does It Cost You in Wages if You “Sound Black?”  —  Fascinating new research by my University of Chicago colleague, Jeffrey Grogger, compares the wages of people who “sound black” when they talk to those who do not.  —  His main finding: blacks who “sound black” …

Back From War, Into Tabloid Territory  —  Foreign Affairs Correspondent Lara Logan's Public Private Life  —  After four years of living in Baghdad, war was taking its toll on Lara Logan.  —  As CBS's chief foreign affairs correspondent, she regularly risked her life by accompanying American forces in combat.

Murphy won't join McCain  —  Mike Murphy, a political consultant who helped Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) mastermind his 2000 campaign, will not be reboarding the Straight Talk Express.  —  “I do not expect to join the campaign,” Murphy said.  “They're my friends, and I wish them well.”

Former CIA Agent in Iran Comes In from the Heat  —  Going public for the first time in an article and interview on Pajamas Media, an Iranian who infiltrated Iran's Revolutionary Guard for the CIA accuses the mullahs of orchestrating — among other things — the 1988 explosion of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Barack Obama's Berlin visit sparks German diplomatic row  —  Berlin, a city torn apart by war, is the perfect setting for an American president preaching peace.  Ronald Reagan famously stood metres away from the Brandenburg Gate and called on the Soviet Union to tear down the Wall dividing Europe.

A STATEMENT FROM RENE MARIE  —  WHAT HAPPENED?  —  Last month, I was contacted by a staff member of the Mayor's office and was asked to sing the “Star Spangled Banner”.  I knew if I sang at this event I would not be singing the standard version of this song, but would be singing my own version of it.

The NY Times sends a Dittohead to interview Rush Limbaugh  —  In his Sunday profile of right-wing talker Rush Limbaugh, New York Times Magazine contributor Zev Chafets set the scene by describing his visit to Limbaugh's studio in Palm Beach, Florida.  Chafets wrote that when he was buzzed …

Risky Business  —  The waiters were still clearing the breakfast dishes yesterday when John McCain's most prominent adviser raised the subject of erection enhancement.  —  Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief who is now the Republican National Committee's “Victory Chairman,” …