Beetle in a Box  —  So John McCain said the surge led to the Anbar Awakening even though the Awakening, in fact, happened before the surge began.  So he's ignorant.  Or maybe dishonest.  But now we learn he's also rather stubborn: … Shawn Brimley tries to bring common sense to bear on this …

Obama Calls Berlin a ‘Symbol of the Victory of Hope’  —  US Presidential Candidate Barack Obama started his much-anticipated trip to Germany on Thursday, and the expectations are massive.  SPIEGEL ONLINE will be following his every move through Berlin with its Live Ticker.

JOHN EDWARDS LOVE CHILD  —  UPDATE: The NATIONAL ENQUIRER is revealing new details about the political scoop we broke yesterday - the secret meeting between Vice Presidential candidate John Edwards and Rielle Hunter.  —  A team of ENQUIRER reporters caught the married ex-senator visiting …

Obama Team Begins Work On Presidential Transition  —  With less than six months to go before he would be sworn in as the nation's 44th president, Sen. Barack Obama has directed his aides to begin planning for the transition.  —  “Barack is well aware of the complexity and the organizational …

GOP losing the new-media war  —  Republicans have no lack of would-be George F. Wills.  —  But what they really need are some more Robert D. Novaks.  —  The distinction between the two prominent conservative journalists isn't always obvious, but it's nevertheless important to understand …

Source: Novak's Victim Worse Than First Thought  —  The pedestrian who was struck by prominent Washington columnist and commentator Robert Novak is in worse shape than first thought, a hospital source tells ABC 7 News.  —  The victim, a 66-year-old man, appeared somewhat incoherent, said the source who had seen the victim.

Sorry We Asked, Sorry You Told  —  Don't ask, don't tell.  And, whatever you do, don't ask Elaine Donnelly to tell you what she thinks about gays in the military.  —  The House Armed Services personnel subcommittee made just such a miscalculation yesterday.

Senate GOP hands Dems oil ultimatum  —  Senate Republicans have threatened to block nearly all other bills pending before the August recess if Democrats refuse to vote with them on expanding offshore drilling.  —  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said bills that do not pertain …

McCain Campaign Running Obama-Castro Ad  —  The McCain campaign has a new web ad out placing Barack Obama, for the second time, side-by-side with a foreign dictator.  This time, it's Fidel Castro.  —  A Democrat in south Florida alerted the Huffington Post to the image, which shows Obama and Castro …

Voter Unease With Obama Lingers Despite His Lead  —  Poll Finds Background, Experience Are Advantages for McCain  —  WASHINGTON — Midway through the election year, the presidential campaign looks less like a race between two candidates than a referendum on one of them — Sen. Barack Obama.

Putting Money Where Mouths Are: Media Donations Favor Dems 100-1  —  The New York Times' refusal to publish John McCain's rebuttal to Barack Obama's Iraq op-ed may be the most glaring example of liberal media bias this journalist has ever seen.  But true proof of widespread media bias requires …

Now, RNC ads attack Obama in Paris—Michigan, Missouri and Maine  —  John McCain bin ein Berliner too.  —  As the Associated Press has reported, to commemorate Barack Obama's visit to Berlin, Germany today the Republican National Committee is running a new ad in all three U.S. cities named Berlin …

Berlin Rally Is Off-Limits for Embassy Workers  —  The U.S. Embassy in Berlin has instructed Foreign Service personnel stationed there not to attend Sen. Barack Obama's public rally today, which the State Department this week labeled a “partisan political activity” prohibited under its regulations for those serving overseas.

Ohio -2  —  Pennsylvania -1 South Carolina +1  —  Texas +4  —  Utah +1  —  TOTAL +8 TOTAL -8  —  Which is to say that, under the new electoral vote distribution, Bush's 286-to-252 electoral vote margin in 2004 becomes 294-to-244.  Bush would have lost in 2004 if Ohio had not gone his way …

McCain: Give Bush credit for oil price drop  —  (CNN) — John McCain — whose campaign launched an ad this week blaming Barack Obama for high prices at the pump — said Wednesday President Bush's new push for offshore oil drilling deserves the credit for the recent drop in crude oil prices.