Breaking: Novak cited after hitting pedestrian  —  Syndicated columnist Robert D. Novak was cited by police after he hit a pedestrian with his black Corvette in downtown Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning.  —  A Politico reporter saw Novak in the front of a police car with a citation in his hand …

Obama incorrectly claims membership of Senate committee  —  (CNN) - Responding to an Israeli reporter's question Wednesday on his commitment to protect the Jewish state, Barack Obama pointed to a bill “we passed” in the U.S. Senate Banking Committee that tightens sanctions and authorizes divestment from Iran.

McCain to counterprogram Obama in Germany with visit to Gulf Coast oil rig  —  While Barack Obama is speaking about international affairs in Germany before thousands of fans tomorrow, John McCain will be talking about a pressing domestic issue with an equally striking if very different backdrop.

Newt on Veep: No more boring white guys  —  My colleague Ken Vogel has Newt's advice on who McCain should not pick as veep:

Obama politically and physically fit: Merkel  —  BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is an admirer of U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama — even though she has not yet met him in person.  —  Asked at a news conference on Wednesday what she thought of Obama, Merkel responded …

Liberal Fascism  —  Not only does Barack Obama, as uncovered by Patrick Ruffini, try to communicate to residents of Germany in the German language he also (as Dr. Melissa Couthier sagely observes) uses images of himself in profile just like Adolf Hitler did.

TEASING THE NEW NBC/WSJ POLL  —  Here's one result from the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that will be released tonight at 6:30 pm ET on Nightly News and MSNBC.com... With the news that Iraq's prime minister wants the US to set a timetable for withdrawal, 60% of registered voters believe it's …

Hey, Barack Obama Exists After All  —  The latest news from the Obama Conspiracyverse is the first third-party proof of Obama's birth in Hawaii.  It's a birth announcement from a 1961 issue of the Honolulu Advertiser that was dug up, ironically enough, by Lori Starfelt, who's working on an anti-Obama documentary for pro-Clinton PUMAs.

Anbar Sheik Cited By McCain Was Assassinated Last Year  —  The major Sunni sheik who John McCain said was protected by the surge and subsequently helped lead the Anbar Awakening, was actually assassinated by an al-Qaeda led group in midst of the surge.  —  On Tuesday evening …

Olympic Deal Sealed: Obama Makes $5 Million Buy  —  Candidate's Package Includes National Network, Cable  —  WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — It's official.  Sen. Barack Obama's campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal's Olympics coverage.  In the first significant network-TV buy …

Obama tour staged for political pop  —  JERUSALEM - Democrat Barack Obama doesn't travel light.  —  Halfway around the world, the Obama campaign machine appears as sprawling and seamless as it is on its home turf.  As the presumptive Democratic nominee tours five countries in five days …

Tales From The JV Squad: No Press Avail  —  WILKES-BARRE, PA — The one scheduled McCain press conference of the week has just been canceled, we are told.  No word as to why.  Grumble, grumble.  —  Why?  Scheduling.  Which is like answering “food” to “what did you eat for breakfast.”

Not lost in translation  —  One more piece of evidence (not that we need one, the tape having surfaced) that Maliki praised Obama's plan, and one more item making his claim of a “mistranslation” — and CENTCOM's distribution of that claim — all the more incomprehensible:

Election 2008: Florida Presidential Election  —  Florida: Obama Ahead by One  —  Barack Obama has caught up to John McCain in Florida.  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the state finds Obama with a statistically insignificant one-point advantage over his rival, 46% to 45%.

Middlebury Institute/Zogby Poll: One in Five Americans Believe States Have the Right to Secede  —  Survey finds 18% would support a secessionist effort in their state  —  UTICA, New York -One in five American adults - 22% - believe that any state or region has the right to …