Top Items:
Associated Press:
Iraqi officials hopes for US troop pullout by 2010 — BAGHDAD - Iraq's government spokesman is hopeful that U.S. combat forces could be out of the country by 2010. — Ali al-Dabbagh made the comments following a meeting in Baghdad on Monday between Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki …
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New York Times:
Obama Arrives in Baghdad on Mideast Tour — BAGHDAD — Senator Barack Obama arrived in Baghdad on Monday, meeting with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki and other senior Iraqi politicians, on the latest leg of a weeklong overseas tour, his first as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
News in terror hot spots appears to aid Obama — Barack Obama's long-awaited and much-hyped trip overseas, in large part intended to overcome a perception that he's not up to the job of commander-in-chief, seems to have come at the perfect time as recent events in Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran have played into his message.
Jason Zengerle / The New Republic:
McCain (and Petraeus) Know Best — Here's the key exchange from McCain's interview this morning on NBC's “Today”: … So, basically, the new McCain position on withdrawal seems to be: we shouldn't listen to what the Iraqi government says it wants, we should listen to what McCain says it wants.
Discussion:
Matthew Yglesias
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
John McCain: Obama's Iraq tour revealing
John McCain: Obama's Iraq tour revealing
Discussion:
Jonathan Martin's Blogs
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
After 2000, McCain Learned to Work Levers of Power — Senator John McCain was all but a sworn enemy of Senator Trent Lott, the former Republican leader. — Mr. Lott had quashed Mr. McCain's most cherished legislative goals. And, worse, Mr. McCain believed that in the 2000 Republican primaries …
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Kate Phillips / The Caucus:
Dobson Leans Toward Endorsing McCain — There seems to be a kumbaya moment occurring on the conservative front, and it's one that would apply a salve to Senator John McCain's uneven, unsettled relationship with the religious right. — Enter James Dobson, who has at times been blistering in his criticisms of Mr. McCain.
Jeanne Cummings / The Politico:
Obama roars with $25M one-day haul — After locking up his party's presidential nomination, Barack Obama's fundraising operation came roaring back to life in June, generating more than a million dollars on five days, including a whopping $25 million that came in on the last day of the month.
Discussion:
TPM Election Central, Political Machine, The Reaction, Daily Kos, Prairie Weather and Boston Globe
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Michael Luo / New York Times:
Clinton Lends Her Campaign More Money as Its Debt Proves Stubborn
Clinton Lends Her Campaign More Money as Its Debt Proves Stubborn
Discussion:
Spin Cycle
Wall Street Journal:
Their Fair Share — Washington is teeing up “the rich” for a big tax hike next year, as a way to make them “pay their fair share.” Well, the latest IRS data have arrived on who paid what share of income taxes in 2006, and it's going to be hard for the rich to pay any more than they already do.
William Kristol / New York Times:
No Substitute for Victory — I'll go out on a limb and say that Barack Obama will be well received when he speaks in Berlin on July 24. — O.K., it's not exactly a limb. A recent poll shows that the German public prefers Obama to John McCain by 67 percent to 6 percent. — But there is angst in Germany.
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Jose Antonio Vargas / Washington Post:
Liberal Bloggers Brace for Victory — Obama's Prospects Pose New Concerns for Netroots — AUSTIN, July 20 — “Yep, the way it's looking, we might actually win this thing . . .” — That's Markos Moulitsas talking, a.k.a. “Kos” to everyone here at Netroots Nation, the four-day liberal blogapalooza …
Michael J. Totten:
The Bin Ladens of the Balkans, Part I — Around a thousand mujahideen, veteran Arabic fighters from the anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan, showed up in Bosnia in the mid-1990s to fight a jihad against Serbian Orthodox Christians. They thought they would be welcomed, and they were right.
Jeremy Olshan / New York Post:
TRAIN-ING DAY FOR JIHADISTS — MUSLIM SUBWAY ADS HAVE TERROR TIE-IN — Allah board! — An Islamic group plans to blitz 1,000 subway cars with advertisements this September in a campaign being promoted by a Brooklyn imam whom federal officials have linked to a plot to blow up city landmarks.
Ian Urbina / New York Times:
Influx of Voters Likely to Test New Machines — With millions of new voters heading to the polls this November and many states introducing new voting technologies, election officials and voting monitors say they fear the combination is likely to create long lines, stressed-out poll workers and late tallies on Election Day.
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Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
In satirical payback, Obama camp denies New Yorker writer plane seat — There's probably no connection whatsoever. — But the New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza, whose long, long article on Barack Obama's early political days in Chicago's ward politics (available here) was the reason …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Marie Horrigan / CQ Politics:
Franken Stumbling in Minnesota Senate Race — Just a few months ago, Al Franken had plenty of reasons to smile about his chances of unseating Minnesota's Republican Sen. Norm Coleman . — Minnesotans oppose the war — and the president — that Coleman supported.