Top Items:
Carrie Budoff Brown / The Politico:
GOP's celeb-Obama message gains traction — Barack Obama's critics laid down the foundations of the strategy months ago: The Republican National Committee started the “Audacity Watch” back in April, and Karl Rove later fueled the attack by describing the first-term Illinois senator as “coolly arrogant.”
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Marty / Martin Eisenstadt's Blog:
Paris Hilton's family fuming at McCain campaign — I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems that the new McCain ad criticizing Obama for being a celebrity has ruffled some unintended feathers. I, for one, quite liked the ad, but I hear whispers from the inner campaign staff …
Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Where did Barack Obama's mojo go? — Something's going on. Or some things. — A new CNN/Opinion Research poll out Wednesday shows that despite nine solid days of blanket media coverage from overseas with Barack Obama cheered by adoring throngs of Germans and parlez-vousing with the French …
Todd Purdum / Vanity Fair:
The McCain Behind the Curtain — The saddest sight on “Straight Talk Air,” the sleek flying successor to John McCain's one-time rolling caravan of candor, is the couch. It's a soft, tan leather shelf, custom-fitted for high altitude truth-telling when McCain, a former Navy pilot, took his act from the road to the skies this summer.
Mark Murray / MSNBC:
GRAHAM AND LIEBERMAN DEFEND AD — From NBC's Ken Strickland and Andrea Mitchell — Responding to criticism of McCain's recent TV ad depicting Obama as celebrity without substance, two of McCain's key Senate allies fired back in an unrelated news conference.
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Dean Barnett / Weekly Standard Blog:
About that Ad — As you know, I haven't exactly established myself as a robotic defender of the McCain campaign. Thus, in the spirit of a very minor league Nixon going to an even more minor league China, I will be the first member of the right wing press to unequivocally defend the McCain ad …
John Riley / Spin Cycle:Sex celebs: Why Britney and Paris?
Discussion:
The Trail, The New Republic, Washington Monthly, The Carpetbagger Report, Ross Douthat, Political Punch and MSNBC
Zzaki / Political Punch:Did Obama Accuse McCain of Running a Racist, Xenophobic Campaign?
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, Ben Smith's Blogs, Commentary, michellemalkin.com, Washington Post, Hot Air, www.redstate.com, The Carpetbagger Report, Political Radar, TownHall Blog, TPM Election Central, Sister Toldjah, baldilocks, AMERICAblog News, Maggie's Farm, Balloon Juice, Casting Stones, www.redstate.com, Firedoglake, Betsy's Page and Media Blog
Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
Federal judge rules Bush's aides can be subpoenaed — WASHINGTON - President Bush's top advisers are not immune from congressional subpoenas, a federal judge ruled Thursday in an unprecedented dispute between the two political branches. — Congressional Democrats called the ruling …
Discussion:
The Gavel, Balkinization, The Moderate Voice, Think Progress, Hot Air, DownWithTyranny! and The Carpetbagger Report
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Washington Post:
As Aides Map Aggressive Race, McCain Often Steers Off Course — Sen. John McCain last week delivered one of his sharpest critiques yet of Sen. Barack Obama's Iraq policies, carefully reading a prepared speech that accused his Democratic rival of failing the commander-in-chief test …
Discussion:
Washington Monthly, The Politico, Firedoglake, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The Carpetbagger Report and TIME.com
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Matthew Yglesias:
Management By McCain — Kevin Drum's not the only liberal upset by a political press that can't seem to hold John McCain responsible for John McCain's campaign tactics. But isn't the image painted in today's stories — of McCain as a kind of passive bystander to decisions being made on his behalf by his staff — sort of more damning?
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: Obama 45%, McCain 44% — PRINCETON, NJ — The race for the presidency has moved back into a statistical tie in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update of national registered voters, with Barack Obama now ahead of John McCain by just one percentage point, 45% to 44%.
Steve Hargreaves / CNNMoney.com:
Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit — World's largest publicly traded oil firm makes $1,485.55 a second in the quarter, but misses forecasts. — NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income …
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Domenico Montanaro / MSNBC:
FIRST THOUGHTS: BRITNEY-PARIS DAY AFTER — From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro — *** The day after Britney-Paris: Today might be a day when John McCain ought to simply forget to read the news clippings, turn off the cable TV, and not browse The Google.
Discussion:
St. Petersburg Times, The New Republic, Threat Level, TMZ.com, The Trail, Wonkette and The Democratic Daily
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Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
Suggesting the race card and then denying it — Obama's camp recognizes there is both promise and peril in accusing McCain and the GOP of racially-tinged attacks. Yes, it energizes the Democratic base (black and white) while also raising the antennae of suburban swing voters.
Discussion:
Media Blog
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Dan Schnur / Campaign Stops:
Bad V.P. Picks — As the short lists of potential running mates for John McCain and Barack Obama grow shorter, an intriguing but somewhat unexpected question has emerged: Who would be the worse selection? Mitt Romney or Tim Kaine? — Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts …
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Chris Cillizza / The Fix:Obama's Veep Vetting Enters New Stage
Discussion:
Associated Press, Political Machine, Newsweek Blogs, Political Radar, MSNBC, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and Donklephant
Jennifer Parker / Political Radar:
Clinton Supporter Angered By ‘Other Women’ Obama VP Talk — ABC News' Jennifer Parker reports: A longtime friend of Sen. Hillary Clinton said it's “incomprehensible” that Sen. Barack Obama would choose another woman to be his vice-presidential candidate over Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Jane Kay / San Francisco Chronicle:
51% of Californians back offshore drilling — (07-30) 22:28 PDT San Francisco — A majority of Californians favor more oil drilling off the coast, according to a statewide survey released Wednesday, for the first time since oil prices spiked nearly three decades ago.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, LA Times Environment Blog, michellemalkin.com, CNNMoney.com and The Foundry
Joel Achenbach / Washington Post:
A ‘Dead Zone’ in The Gulf of Mexico — Scientists Say Area That Cannot Support Some Marine Life Is Near Record Size — The “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico, an area on the seabed with too little oxygen to support fish, shrimp, crabs and other forms of marine life, is nearly the largest …
Kathryn Jean Lopez / The Corner:
TSA...Seriously — I'm at Newark Airport for a quick flight and upon inspection we discover I have a $12 spray in my unchecked baggage. So I trash it. as she walks away, the TSA inspector says, “you know — once I walk away — if you put that back in your bag, I won't know about it.”
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