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.”
Discussion:
MyDD, The Mahablog, First Draft, American Street, Confederate Yankee, No More Mister Nice Blog, Real Clear Politics, Gateway Pundit and The Fix
RELATED:
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 …
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:
Firedoglake, The Politico, Jonathan Martin's Blogs, The Carpetbagger Report, Washington Monthly, TIME.com and The RBC
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.
Marc Ambinder:
Hit Me, Davis, One More Time — A night's sleep a few thoughts on celebrity, John McCain;'s ad, celebrity, and what voters will make of all of this. — 1. John McCain is the Republican least associated with the Bush brand of politics. His appeal is based on his independence …
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.
Wall Street Journal:
Roles Are Set, as Are the Perils — Obama at Risk Of Arrogant Tag, McCain, Negative — AURORA, Colo. — Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain both appear to be seizing the roles in which they have been cast: Sen. Obama as front-runner and Sen. McCain as underdog.
Mike Glover / Associated Press:
Obama says Republicans trying to scare voters … SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama, the first black candidate with a shot at winning the White House, says John McCain and his Republican allies will try to scare them by saying Obama “doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”
Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
US judge: White House 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. — House Democrats called the ruling a ringing endorsement …
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Gavel, Think Progress, Hot Air, The Carpetbagger Report, Daily Kos, DownWithTyranny! and Balkinization
RELATED:
Patrick O'Connor / The Crypt's Blogs:
Federal judge rules against Miers, White House on subpoenas
Federal judge rules against Miers, White House on subpoenas
Discussion:
The Washington Independent
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.
RELATED:
Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:
McCain campaign chief: Obama ‘played the race card’
McCain campaign chief: Obama ‘played the race card’
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, Gateway Pundit, New York Times, Hot Air, Stop The ACLU and The Caucus
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.
Discussion:
PSoTD
RELATED:
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 …
RELATED:
Marty Kaplan / The Huffington Post:
On Having Your (Political) Heart Broken — The e-mail came when I was in Mexico, at a fitness resort that — in pursuit of wellness — confines BlackBerry use to guests' rooms. — “Need to chat briefly with you regarding John Edwards and the effects of this scandal on his future political career.”
RELATED:
Chris Cillizza / The Fix:
Obama's Veep Vetting Enters New Stage — Barack Obama's vice presidential vetting process has moved into a new stage in which a larger than previously reported group of candidates is being exposed to a “deeper dig” into their backgrounds — in the words of a source familiar with the process.
Discussion:
Political Radar, Associated Press, Newsweek Blogs, MSNBC, Jonathan Martin's Blogs and Donklephant
RELATED:
St. Petersburg Times:
From ‘straight talk’ to smear campaign — The Straight Talk Express has taken a nasty turn into the gutter. Sen. John McCain has resorted to lies and distortions in what sounds like an increasingly desperate attempt to slow down Sen. Barack Obama by raising questions about his patriotism.
RELATED:
Henry A. Kissinger / Washington Post:
New Premises in Iraq — Prospects for Withdrawal Have to Be Viewed Through the Lens of Progress — The U.S. presidential campaign has been so long and so intense that it seems to operate in a cocoon, oblivious to changes that should alter its premises. A striking example is the debate over withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.
RELATED:
Amit R. Paley / Washington Post:
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader May Be in Afghanistan
Al-Qaeda in Iraq Leader May Be in Afghanistan
Discussion:
MoJoBlog, The Jawa Report, Commentary, Hot Air, Flopping Aces, The Strata-Sphere, A Newt One, Political Machine and Newshoggers.com
Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:
FL, OH, PA Polls — The new Quinnipiac polls for Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania are mostly encouraging for John McCain. How can that be? you might ask. McCain trails in all 3 states according to Q. Here's why - Barack Obama has lost ground in these 3 states. — First of all, I do not believe Obama is leading in Florida.
Discussion:
American Spectator
Aaron C. Davis / Washington Post:
Police Raid Berwyn Heights Mayor's Home, Kill His 2 Dogs — A police SWAT team raided the home of the mayor in the Prince George's County town of Berwyn Heights on Tuesday, shooting and killing his two dogs, after he brought in a 32-pound package of marijuana that had been delivered to his doorstep, police said.
Discussion:
Reason Magazine
Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:
PFC LaVena Johnson Was Raped, Beaten, Set On Fire And Worse - Army Calls It Suicide — Nicole and I have both written posts about the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of PFC LaVena Johnson, and Democracy Now! had a heartbreaking interview with her family last week.
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 …
Publications:
Homeward Bound: Recent Immigration Enforcement and the Decline in the Illegal Alien Population — Monthly data collected by the Census Bureau through May 2008 shows a significant decline in the number of less-educated, young Hispanic immigrants in the country.
Discussion:
The Corner, Los Angeles Times, Newsday, Stop The ACLU, ImmigrationProf Blog, Front page feed, ParaPundit, The Swamp and Immigration Chronicles