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 …

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.”

Say What?  John McCain, Barack Obama, and the “Race Card”  —  We know that operatives in modern-day presidential campaigns are supposed to say things that everyone knows are ridiculous — and to do it with a straight face.  —  Still, there was something surreal, and offensive …

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.

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.

This is Really Pretty Amazing  —  In a 93-page opinion in the Miers/Bolten contempt case, Judge Bates not only rejects all of the various Administration arguments against justiciability, but goes so far as to reach the merits and hold that there is no basis for the DOJ argument …

US judge: White House aides can be subpoenaed  —  WASHINGTON - A federal judge on Thursday rejected President Bush's contention that senior White House advisers are immune from subpoenas, siding with Congress' power to investigate the executive branch and handing a victory to Democrats probing the dismissal of nine federal prosecutors.

Pelosi says Rove contempt citation is possible  —  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that a federal judge's ruling that former White House counsel Harriet Miers has to appear before a congressional committee could pave the way for Congress approving a contempt citation against Karl Rove.

OBAMA REMOVES HIS MASK  —  It's not even quite August yet and he's still ahead in the polls, but Barack Obama has played the race card, claiming that he expects Republicans to inject race into the campaign.  In Missouri, he told a crowd: … The Obama campaign denied that the comment about …

Bluffing 'Bout Bias?  —  CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA — Really, the press corps should pay attention to Barack Obama's sustained defense of his energy policies, which includes new language on John McCain's ties to the oil industry.  But we're not: we're writing about the flashpoint of the day …