Top Items:
Drudge Report:
NYT REJECTS MCCAIN'S EDITORIAL; SHOULD ‘MIRROR’ OBAMA — An editorial written by Republican presidential hopeful McCain has been rejected by the NEW YORK TIMES — less than a week after the paper published an essay written by Obama, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
Discussion:
Jonathan Martin's Blogs, Little Green Footballs, GINA COBB, TIME.com, race42008.com, Gothamist and MSNBC
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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 …
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, The Daily Dish, Liberal Values, www.redstate.com, Salon, The Seminal and The Jed Report
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.
Andy McCarthy / The Corner:
Re: Maliki's “Inartful” Statement — If the New York Times account is to be credited, McCain should stick with the “Maliki was ‘inartful’” explanation. “Mistranslated and taken out of context” is not gonna fly. — The Times indicates that, after Maliki's interview comments in Der Spiegel became known, U.S. diplomats complained.
Discussion:
McClatchy Washington Bureau, Democratic Strategist, Guardian, The Carpetbagger Report and Sadly, No!
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.
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
Juan Cole / Informed Comment:
Obama in Iraq; Der Spiegel Proves al-Maliki Story Correct …
Obama in Iraq; Der Spiegel Proves al-Maliki Story Correct …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Grasping Reality …, Political Machine, MSNBC, CBS News and RADAMISTO
James Joyner / Outside The Beltway:
Iraqi Government Acting Like Real Government
Iraqi Government Acting Like Real Government
Discussion:
The Fix, The Huffington Post, Right Wing Nut House, PoliBlog (TM), The Opinionator and Towleroad.com
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.
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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 …
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
Dobson Leans Toward Endorsing McCain
Discussion:
The Next Right, New York Times, Top of the Ticket, Crooks and Liars, pandagon.net, The Gist and DownWithTyranny!
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 …
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Dion Nissenbaum / Jerusalem:
Kickin' it with Samir Kuntar — Samir Kuntar is sitting under a photo of himself standing next to Hassan Nasrallah and telling friends that he almost didn't come home. — As Israel was getting ready to free Kuntar last Wednesday, the Lebanese militant told guards that he didn't want to walk to freedom in a prison uniform.
Discussion:
Little Green Footballs
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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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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.
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” …
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Ali / Think Progress:
McCain Warns Of ‘Hard Struggle’ On The ‘Iraq-Pakistan Border’ — Today on Good Morning America, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) refused to call the situation in Afghanistan “precarious and urgent,” but admitted that “We have a lot of work to do.” He warned of a “very hard struggle …
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.
National Review:
A Strategy For McCain — EDITOR'S NOTE: A longer version of this piece appears in the new issue of National Review. — The good news for Republicans is that Obama can be beaten. The bad news is that the McCain campaign has embarked on a course that — although it has some of the right elements — seems likely to fail.
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.
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 …