Top Items:
Marc Ambinder:
Weaver, McCain's Former Strategist, Calls “Celeb” Ad “Childish” — John Weaver, for years one of John McCain's closest friends and confidants, has been in exile since his resignation from McCain's presidential campaign last year. With the exception of an occasional interview, he has …
Discussion:
Real Clear Politics, NewsBusters.org, Political Machine, TIME.com, The Anonymous Liberal, The RBC, The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Pajamas Media, PoliticalBase.com Blog, Hot Air, Washington Monthly, Tom Watson, Political Punch, American Spectator, Campaign Diaries, The Nation, Macsmind and The Huffington Post
RELATED:
Jim Rutenberg / New York Times:
McCain Tries to Define Obama as Out of Touch — WASHINGTON — After spending much of the summer searching for an effective line of attack against Senator Barack Obama, Senator John McCain is beginning a newly aggressive campaign to define Mr. Obama as arrogant, out of touch and unprepared for the presidency.
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
McCain's Risky Ad Strategy
McCain's Risky Ad Strategy
Discussion:
The Trail, DownWithTyranny!, Truthdig, Political Machine, Oliver Willis and The New Republic
Massie Ritsch / OpenSecrets.org:
Watchdogs Compare McCain, Obama on Donor Disclosure
Watchdogs Compare McCain, Obama on Donor Disclosure
Discussion:
Flopping Aces, Buck Naked Politics, protein wisdom, Salon, Don Surber and Ben Smith's Blogs
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Keeping Track — I note with interest today, John McCain's …
Keeping Track — I note with interest today, John McCain's …
Discussion:
Marc Ambinder, The Huffington Post, TPM Election Central, driftglass, BAGnewsNotes, Boston Globe, Hot Air, Washington Wire, Connecting.the.Dots, Sister Toldjah, First Draft, Scripting News, Brilliant at Breakfast, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Caucus, Blue Girl, Red State, Comments from Left Field, The Corner, Crooks and Liars, Daily Kos, PoliticalBase.com Blog, American Power, Hullabaloo, Alas, a blog, Balloon Juice, The Carpetbagger Report, Booman Tribune, MSNBC, protein wisdom, Shakesville, Liberal Values and TalkLeft
Alexander Mooney / CNN:
Obama trip abroad doesn't move poll numbers — WASHINGTON (CNN) — It was a weeklong trip that drew blanket media coverage and sharp criticism from Republicans, but Sen. Barack Obama's recent tour abroad did little to alter his standing in the presidential race, according to a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll.
Discussion:
Top of the Ticket, Reason Magazine, MyDD, Flopping Aces, Taegan Goddard's … and TPM Election Central
RELATED:
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Obama's energy plan: drilling tires; Flashback: Obama on your shoulder! — Want to get an idea why Democrats have no clue on energy policy? Take a listen to Barack Obama explaining how we can get an extra 12 million barrels of oil a day. We can pull it out of thin air — literally:
RELATED:
Barak Ravid / Haaretz:
Olmert to step down in September, vows to push for peace first — Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he has decided not to contend in the Kadima primary election and would resign as soon as the new party leader was chosen, due to the criminal investigations in which he has been embroiled in recent months.
RELATED:
Haaretz:
Poll: Netanyahu is public's preferred choice for next PM — Opposition leader and Likud Party Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu is the Israeli public's preferred choice to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, according to a survey released on Wednesday by Channel 10.
The Onion:
Al Gore Places Infant Son In Rocket To Escape Dying Planet — EARTH—Former vice president Al Gore—who for the past three decades has unsuccessfully attempted to warn humanity of the coming destruction of our planet, only to be mocked and derided by the very people he has tried to save …
Discussion:
Don Surber
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
For White House, Hiring Is Political — WASHINGTON — On May 17, 2005, the White House's political affairs office sent an e-mail message to agencies throughout the executive branch directing them to find jobs for 108 people on a list of “priority candidates” who had “loyally served the president.”
Discussion:
The Raw Story, At-Largely, Hullabaloo, Buck Naked Politics, TPMMuckraker and Think Progress
RELATED:
New York Post:
O'S TOUR DE FARCE — PHOTO OPS & FECKLESSNESS — TERMED a “learning” trip, Sen. Barack Obama's eight- day tour of eight nations in the Middle East and Europe turned out to be little more than a series of photo ops to enhance his international credentials.
RELATED:
Zzaki / Political Punch:
Did Obama Accuse McCain of Running a Racist, Xenophobic Campaign? — “John McCain right now, he's spending an awful lot of time talking about me,” Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said today in Rolla, Mo. “You notice that? I haven't seen an ad yet where he talks about what he's gonna do.
Ben Smith / The Politico:
Obama camp condemns song: Ludacris ‘should be ashamed’ — Barack Obama's campaign is condemning a song by the rapper Ludacris that praises Obama and bitterly attacks Senators Hillary Clinton and John McCain. — “As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today …
The Politico:
Cohen lacks DCCC support — Democratic insiders say House Democratic leaders have refused a request from Tennessee Rep. Stephen I. Cohen — a white man in a majority-black district — for money to fend off a primary challenge from a black woman. — But they gave Cohen a consolation prize this week …
Discussion:
American Spectator
David Ignatius / Washington Post:
McCain's True Voice — In the dog days of summer, John McCain's political personality has become so fuzzy that even some Republicans are worrying about his viability. But if you want a reminder of why McCain should be a formidable candidate, take another look at his remarkable 1999 autobiography, “Faith of My Fathers.”
Jeff Yang / San Francisco Chronicle:
ASIAN POP — Could Obama be the first Asian American president? … With these words in the New Yorker in 1998, Toni Morrison granted our 42nd president, William Jefferson Clinton, a kind of cadet membership in the grand cultural narrative of black America.
Patrick Healy / New York Times:
Obama Camp Sees Potential in G.O.P. Discontent — Chuck Lasker, a political blogger and Internet consultant in Indiana, hosted a gathering last week of 20 people he calls “whispering Republicans” — party members like him who support Senator Barack Obama, a Democrat, for president.
Discussion:
The RBC