Barack's Brilliant Ground Game  —  For a campaign that says it wants to end the politics of the Bush-Cheney years, the Obama for President effort has cribbed an awful lot from the Bush-Cheney playbooks of 2000 and 2004.  —  For starters, Barack Obama's manager admitted to the New York Times …

Gramm calls slowdown ‘mental’  —  Former Sen. Phil Gramm, a top economic adviser to presumptive GOP nominee John McCain, referred to the economic slowdown as “a mental recession” and called the United States “a nation of whiners.”  —  The comments, in an interview with The Washington Times …

Pelosi says House Judiciary may hold hearings on Kucinich impeachment resolution  —  Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said this morning that the House Judiciary Committee may hold hearings on an impeachment resolution offered by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio).

In an Iranian Image, a Missile Too Many  —  Updated, 9:33 a.m., Agence France-Presse has retracted the image as “apparently digitally altered.”  —  As news spread across the world of Iran's provocative missile tests, so did an image of four missiles heading skyward in unison.

Jesse Jackson Apologizes for Remarks on Obama  —  WASHINGTON — The Rev. Jesse Jackson apologized on Wednesday for critical and crude comments he made about Senator Barack Obama, remarks in which he accused Mr. Obama of “talking down to black people.”  —  Mr. Jackson, before an interview …

Dems searching their souls on drilling  —  In the stages of grief, denial gives way to anger and then to bargaining.  —  It may be an apt metaphor this week, as Democrats' long-held opposition to expanded offshore oil drilling succumbs to the political realities of $4-per-gallon gasoline.

Clinton and Obama do joint fundraiser but he forgets the fund part  —  The unity thing is proving something of a stubborn problem for the no longer officially dueling camps of Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  There've been reports in recent days of some die-hard Clinton supporters …

Testing!  Testing!  Bush finds, again, that speaking softly isn't enough  —  RUSUTSU, Japan: At the gathering this week on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, the lunchtime microphones were on, again, capturing an unwitting President George W. Bush in high chitchat mode as he mingled before the meal.

Survival of the Sudsiest  —  Perhaps, like many sensible citizens, you read Investor's Business Daily for its sturdy common sense in defending free markets and other rational arrangements.  If so, you too may have been startled recently by an astonishing statement on that newspaper's front page.

This year, 6 types of voters will decide the presidential election  —  All voters are not created equal.  —  Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama leads Republican John McCain in the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll by only single digits among registered voters, 48%-42%, at the edge of the survey's margin of error.

The Hubris Of Obama?  —  A few things have unsettled me these past couple of weeks about the Obama campaign.  It is not the small adjustments to previously-held positions - FISA, the Second Amendment, Iraq.  It's a sense that Obama's ample self-regard is lapsing into hubris.

McCain Gets a Third-Rail Shock  —  Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) once said economics was not his strong suit — and yesterday Social Security became a problem for the presumptive Republican nominee as well.  —  In remarks at a town hall meeting in Denver on Monday, McCain laid out what he likes to call “a little straight talk.”

Germany plans to give vote to babies  —  Dozens of German politicians have tabled a new law to extend voting rights to babies, toddlers, children and teenagers.  —  The bill, which has won the cross-party backing of some heavyweight German politicians, would wipe away decades of “exclusion” …

Cowdery indicted on two counts  —  A federal grand jury has handed up a two-count indictment against state Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage.  —  Cowdery, at 78 the oldest member of Alaska's Legislature, is charged with conspiracy and bribery.  The indictment was handed up yesterday but not filed in U.S. District Court until today.

The Price of Fannie Mae  —  As opposed to GM or Ford, most Americans have never heard of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Yet the insolvency of either mortgage giant would have far more profound consequences for every American taxpayer than the bankruptcy of those car companies.

Officials Investigate 3 Alabama Counties in Voter Fraud Accusations  —  MARION, Ala. — Federal and state authorities are looking into accusations of voting fraud in three largely black counties of Alabama, including Perry and Lowndes Counties, which played a historic role in the struggle for black voting rights in the 1960s.

The Audacity of Listening  —  We have to have a talk about Barack Obama.  —  I know, I know.  You're upset.  You think the guy you fell in love with last spring is spending the summer flip-flopping his way to the right.  Drifting to the center.  Going all moderate on you.  So you're withholding the love.