Top Items:
William Kristol / New York Times:
Be Afraid. Please. — Life is full of disappointments. — Early Friday, I went to the Real Clear Politics Web site, as I do every morning, for my fix of political news and commentary. I perked up when I saw the third entry on the list of that day's notable articles — “No. 44 Has Spoken.”
Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:
McCain Says Obama Plays Politics on Iraq — Some Fellow Republicans Question Tactics — In his most direct challenge yet of his Democratic presidential rival's Iraq policy, Sen. John McCain suggested yesterday that Sen. Barack Obama had crafted a war strategy designed to further his own political advancement.
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Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: ANALYZE THIS — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** Analyze this: We've now crossed the 100-day mark before Election Day, and the chattering class is going to obsessed with two things this week: 1) over-analyzing the veepstakes and 2) over-analyzing any overseas bounce for Obama.
James Gordon Meek / NY Daily News:
Go take a hike, injured vets tell nervy Cheney — WASHINGTON - Vice President Cheney's invitation to address wounded combat veterans next month has been yanked because the group felt his security demands were Draconian and unreasonable. — The veep had planned to speak to the Disabled American Veterans …
Discussion:
Think Progress
Ezra Klein / American Prospect:
TOO HARD FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND. — For reasons that I try not to speculate on before 9am, the media likes to make policy disputes sound incredibly complicated. Much too complicated for mortals to understand, or base electoral behavior on. Take this Time article on the various tax plans floating around the election.
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Jerry Jones / Out & About Newspaper:
Several people shot at gay affirming chuch in Knoxville — [Editor's note: If you are gay and attend this church, please contact O&AN Editor Joey Leslie at jleslie@outandaboutnewspaper.com or call 615-596-6210.] — Publisher — UPDATE 7/28 7:50 a.m.: Seven people have been injured.
Discussion:
protein wisdom, Shakesville, pandagon.net, Pam's House Blend, Scared Monkeys, The Moderate Voice, Orcinus, On Deadline and WBIR-TV
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Carl Hulse / New York Times:
Democrats Try to Break Grip of the Senate's Dr. No — WASHINGTON — Congress has dealt for decades with catchall bills known as omnibus legislation. Now, for the first time, comes the Tomnibus. — A product of Democratic frustration with the tactics of Senator Tom Coburn …
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New York Times:
Bomb Attacks in Baghdad and Kirkuk Leave Dozens Dead — BAGHDAD — Female bombers struck Kurdish political protesters in Kirkuk and Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad on Monday morning, leaving at least 48 people dead and 249 wounded in one of the bloodiest sequences of attacks in Iraq this year.
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Robert D. Novak / Washington Post:
Closer Than He Should Be — In the contest for president, Barack Obama is a magnetic candidate supported by a disciplined, well-organized campaign. John McCain seems wooden, with a campaign that appears to be in shambles. Yet Obama's lead in the polls over McCain is fragile because he so far …
Washington Post:
For Obama, Hurdles in Expanding Black Vote — MACON, Ga. — Amanda Bass, a volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, had already tried once to get Wilmer Gray to register to vote. But when she glimpsed him in a black T-shirt and White Sox cap again on a recent weekday …
Michelle Malkin:
McCain finally endorses campaign to end racial preferences...or does he? — Over the past year, I've blogged repeatedly about true maverick and civil rights pioneer Ward Connerly's Super Tuesday for Equality campaign to end discriminatory government race/gender preferences across the country …
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Wall Street Journal:
Docking Paychecks for Politics — The mighty Service Employees International Union (SEIU) plans to spend some $150 million in this year's election, most of it to get Barack Obama and other Democrats elected. Where'd they get that much money? — That's a question the Departments of Labor …
Christopher Conkey / Wall Street Journal:
Funds for Highways Plummet As Drivers Cut Gasoline Use — An unprecedented cutback in driving is slashing the funds available to rebuild the nation's aging highway system and expand mass-transit options, underscoring the economic impact of high gasoline prices.
Nancy A. Youssef / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Petraeus won't join bandwagon for Iraq withdrawal timetable — BAGHDAD — The top U.S. military commander in Iraq isn't buying the increasingly popular idea of a publicly stated timetable for American troop withdrawal. — Gen. David Petraeus, the Iraq commander, said in an interview …
Discussion:
Buck Naked Politics, ATTACKERMAN, QandO, Gateway Pundit, Connecting.the.Dots, A Newt One, LewRockwell.com Blog and CNN
Jimmy Vielkind / Albany Times Union:
Cuomo to Obama: Be specific — Former governor, at FBI fete, says he's unhappy with presidential race — COLONIE — Former Gov. Mario Cuomo expressed concern Friday night that Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, is not offering specific policy positions.
Matthew Yglesias:
Shame Economics — Many analysts believe that the incidence of the gas tax falls mostly on oil companies rather than on gasoline consumers and that, therefore, a “gas tax holiday” as proposed by John McCain would do much more to increase the profitability of oil firms than to help out average Americans.
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