Analysis: US now winning Iraq war that seemed lost  —  BAGHDAD (AP) — The United States is now winning the war that two years ago seemed lost.  —  Limited, sometimes sharp fighting and periodic terrorist bombings in Iraq are likely to continue, possibly for years.

McCain Gives Qualified Endorsement to Iraq Timetable  —  First the Iraqi government gave Senator Barack Obama a boost by seeming to embrace his proposal for a 16-month timetable for withdrawing American troops from Iraq.  Now could Senator John McCain, who built his candidacy in large part …

McClellan: Fox News Commentators Use The ‘Talking Points’ That The White House Sends Them  —  On MSNBC's Hardball last night, host Chris Matthews asked former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan if he saw “FOX television as a tool” to get the White House's “message out” while he was in the Bush administration.

Microphone Picks Up Private Conversation Between Obama and British Leader on Need for Vacations and ‘Thinking’ Time  —  At British Parliament today, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, met with Tory Leader David Cameron.  —  Seemingly unaware of an enormous fuzzy boom mike held by ABC News' Eric Kerchner …

Blogging's Glass Ceiling  —  FOR two days last week, many of the men's bathrooms at the Westin St. Francis Hotel here were turned into women's bathrooms.  The stalls on the second floor were lined with note cards featuring nurturing messages like “You are perfect.”

Taking on the Titans  —  The US prison system, with its superjails, now warehouses one in 100 of our citizens.  That's not a model the UK should emulate  —  The first slavery abolitionists were represented as extremist and utopian.  Until the late 18th century, the idea of eliminating this deeply-rooted institution was unimaginable.

Gallup Daily: Obama Retains Lead, 48% to 41%  —  Second day with Obama holding a significant lead over McCain  —  PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama has stretched his lead over John McCain among national registered voters to seven percentage points, 48% to 41%, in Gallup Poll Daily tracking conducted July 23-25.

Candidates Narrow Lists of V.P. Prospects  —  Both presidential candidates are closing in on their selections of running mates — with the timing and atmospherics of their announcements complicated by the opening next month of the Olympic Games.  —  Before leaving on his overseas trip …

One world?  Obama's on a different planet  —  The senator's Berlin speech was radical and naive.  —  SEN. BARACK OBAMA said in an interview the day after his Berlin speech that it “allowed me to send a message to the American people that the judgments I have made and the judgments …

When a Candidate Seeks That Presidential Look  —  LONDON — He stood in the shadow of the Temple of Hercules, held forth at the Élysée Palace and convened a one-man news conference here on Saturday outside No. 10 Downing Street, all with a simple aim: to make a one-term senator …

Obama attention good for McCain?  —  Sen. John McCain spent a lot of time this week making light of the media's focus on his presidential opponent, Democrat Barack Obama - even issuing “junior varsity” press passes to the reporters covering the Arizona Republican while Obama trekked across …

New McCain ad: Obama didn't visit the troops in Germany because he couldn't bring cameras  —  This is a sequel to the attack ad McCain dropped on him at the beginning of his trip, retaining some of the same points about Obama's NATO subcommittee and his having steered clear of Iraq for almost three years.

Beer: It's What's For Dinner  —  Beer is back, regaining a large lead over wine as America's favorite alcoholic beverage after wine threatened to close the gap around 2005.  Fascinatingly, I see no plausible way of correlating this “beer track"/"wine track" data with anything happening in politics.

Oil prices and economic fundamentals  —  Oil was selling for $123 a barrel on May 7, and that's where it closed this week.  Sounds like a calm and rational market, except for the fact that just last week it was going for $145.  —  Spot price of West Texas Intermediate in dollars per barrel.