Rerouting McCain's Bus  —  Frustrations Lead Campaign To Limit Reporters' Access  —  KANSAS CITY While the traveling press corps was shipped off to a barbecue restaurant here, John McCain charmed his way through an interview with a local TV reporter.  Surae Chinn of KCTV posed such less …

Pelosi firm: No vote on offshore drilling  —  WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday ruled out a vote on new offshore oil drilling even as Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said he might be open to a compromise that included it.  —  The scramble over expanded drilling …

Obama Leads, Pessimism Reigns Among Key Group  —  Democratic Sen. Barack Obama holds a 2 to 1 edge over Republican Sen. John McCain among the nation's low-wage workers, but many are unconvinced that either presidential candidate would be better than the other at fixing the ailing economy …

Bill Clinton Has Regrets on Campaign for Wife  —  Insists, ‘I Am Not a Racist,’ Despite Anger Over His S.C. Comments  —  In his first broadcast interview since his wife dropped out of the Democratic presidential race, former President Bill Clinton said he still has regrets, and insisted he's …

Housing Lenders Fear Bigger Wave of Loan Defaults  —  The first wave of Americans to default on their home mortgages appears to be cresting, but a second, far larger one is quickly building.  —  Homeowners with good credit are falling behind on their payments in growing numbers …

Obama's crime?  Acting too presidential  —  So the pundits' verdict is in: Obama is too confident.  It all would be funny if many people didn't seem to be inhaling this multimedia stink bomb as if it were fragrant truth.  —  America, meet Barack The Arrogant.

Additional key facts re: the anthrax investigation  —  (updated below - Update II - Update III)  —  It's perfectly possible that Bruce Ivins really is the anthrax attacker — that he perpetrated the attacks and did so alone.  Perhaps the FBI is in possession of mountains of conclusive evidence that …

McCain likely to let Obama choose VP first  —  John McCain's extended circle is divided on whether he should announce his running mate in the immediate days ahead—but the Republican is more likely to wait for Barack Obama to announce his choice first, according to advisers.

How to Pick a V.P.  —  When you try to talk with McCain staffers about vice-presidential prospects, as I did last week, the normally garrulous become guarded and the usually talkative turn taciturn.  Still, here's what I was able to discern.  —  John McCain apparently intends to announce his pick after the Democratic convention.

Obama ad attacks McCain, helps launch ‘Energy Week’  —  From CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser, CNN's Steve Brusk  —  (CNN) — The Obama campaign is out with a new television commercial this morning which outlines some of candidate's energy proposals, including what it says is a …

Solzhenitsyn, Literary Giant Who Defied Soviets, Dies at 89  —  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, whose stubborn, lonely and combative literary struggles gained the force of prophecy as he revealed the heavy afflictions of Soviet Communism in some of the most powerful works of the 20th century, died late on Sunday at the age of 89 in Moscow.

8 years later  —  George Walker Bush brought honor and dignity back to the White House — as he had promised on Aug. 3, 2000.  —  Today marks the 8th anniversary of Bush's acceptance speech.  2000 seemed to be a meaningless election between 2 privileged sons of Washington bowers.

A Slow-Mo Meltdown  —  A year ago, as the outlines of the current financial crisis were just becoming clear, I suggested that this crisis, unlike a superficially similar crisis in 1998, wouldn't end quickly.  —  It hasn't.  —  The good news, I guess, is that we've been experiencing a sort …