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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 …
Discussion:
Newshoggers.com, Achenblog, Hot Air, ATTACKERMAN, The Carpetbagger Report, democracyarsenal.org, Digg and AMERICAblog News
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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.
New York Times:
Obama Meets Iraqi Officials in Baghdad — 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.
Discussion:
Confederate Yankee, Gateway Pundit, Political Machine, TIME.com, Matthew Yglesias and Associated Press
Mark Silva / The Swamp:
John McCain: Obama's Iraq tour revealing — With so much attention focused on Sen. Barack Obama's tour of Afghanistan, Iraq and Europe, Sen. John McCain was asked this morning if he's finding it “a little hard to make news.” — Actually, McCain suggested, Obama will be making the news …
Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: MCCAIN'S ROUGH WEEKEND — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** McCain's rough weekend: You know you had a problematic weekend when: 1) one of your top economic advisers/surrogates finally steps down from the campaign after his “nation of whiners” …
Discussion:
The New Republic, Liberal Values, The Gist, www.redstate.com, The Seminal and The Jed Report
Taegan Goddard / Political Insider:
Could Obama's Running Mate Be With Him Now?
Could Obama's Running Mate Be With Him Now?
Discussion:
GregsOpinion.com
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
McCain and Obama Agree to Attend Megachurch Forum
McCain and Obama Agree to Attend Megachurch Forum
Discussion:
Ross Douthat, Hotline On Call, The Daily Dish, The Caucus, Hot Air, Glamocracy, The Political Carnival, TIME.com, Real Clear Politics, Salon and TalkLeft
James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:
Iraqi Government Acting Like Real Government
Iraqi Government Acting Like Real Government
Discussion:
The Fix, The Huffington Post, PoliBlog (TM), Informed Comment, The Opinionator and Right Wing Nut House
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, MyDD, Daily Kos, The Reaction, Political Machine, The Campaign Spot, 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
Rasmussen Reports:
Belief Growing That Reporters are Trying to Help Obama Win — The belief that reporters are trying to help Barack Obama win the fall campaign has grown by five percentage points over the past month. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey found that 49% of voters believe most reporters …
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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Dana Goldstein / American Prospect:
WHY LOCAL PROPERTY TAXES SHOULDN'T FUND SCHOOLS. — Because some people, who don't have kids in public schools and who aren't particularly civic-minded, will inevitably resent paying them and do everything they can to avoid doing so. Case in point: Sun belt retirees living in “adult” …
Discussion:
The New Republic
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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 …
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 …
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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.
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 …
Clive Crook / Financial Times:
One simple way to predict a victor — One cannot help but be struck by the current disconnection in US presidential politics between, on one hand, the excitement and enthusiasm that attend Barack Obama's candidacy and, on the other, the tightness of the race according to recent polls.
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 Expected to Test New Technology — 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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