memeorandum: White House says no to special session of Congress (The Hill)

8:40 PM ET, August 4, 2008

Top Items:

GOP won't let go of its new tire-gauge toy — Atrios asked this morning, “Does anyone understand why Obama suggesting that people keep their tires properly inflated is some sort of hilarious gaffe?” — I've been trying to figure out the same thing for days.

Discussion: FOX Embeds, Think Progress, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, Dean's World, Newsweek Blogs, Happy Furry Puppy Story …, The Field on the Narcosphere, The Caucus, Sadly, No!, Stop The ACLU, Daily Kos, Eschaton, The Huffington Post and The Sideshow

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama 46%, McCain 43% — PRINCETON, NJ — Registered voters show a slight preference for Barack Obama (46%) over John McCain (43%) if the presidential election were held today, according to the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking results. — The three percentage point advantage …

Discussion: Ross Douthat, The Moderate Voice, Newshoggers.com, Taylor Marsh, Open Left and Whiskey Fire

Joe Sudbay / AMERICAblog News:

Rasmussen has Obama and McCain in a tie. This is troubling. — (NOTE FROM JOHN: I've added my thoughts to the end of joe's post.) — The trend of the tracking polls hasn't been good of late. Rasmussen, which is a quite reputable poll, has Obama and McCain tied today — and with leaners …

Discussion: The New Republic, Taylor Marsh, Crooks and Liars, FiveThirtyEight.com, Political Machine, Wake up America, TownHall Blog, Open Left, The Strata-Sphere, www.redstate.com, The Other McCain and Ben Smith's Blogs

The Campaign Spot:

Don't Just Hold Up The Tire Gauge And Laugh — Seemingly every Republican is walking around today with a tire gauge labeled “Obama's Energy Plan.” — Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, holding up the tire gauge as a prop: … Liberal bloggers say they don't understand:

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room and The Moderate Voice

Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
McCain camp amps up tire gauge gag

Discussion: The Jed Report and Swampland

Randyj / TIME.com:
Both Sides Inflate Tire Pressure Battle

Discussion: CNN, Think Progress, Associated Press, The Gun Toting Liberal?, The Huffington Post, Hot Air, michellemalkin.com, PERRspectives Blog, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, D-Day, TPM Election Central and The Moderate Voice

Washington Wire:
Monday Morning Funnies

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

The Hill:

White House says no to special session of Congress — The White House has rejected calls from House Republicans that it convene a special session of Congress on energy, saying it wouldn't make a difference. — “We don't have plans to call Congress into session — it won't make a difference …

Discussion: Capitol Briefing, The Swamp, News Hounds, Bang the Drum, Hot Air, www.redstate.com and The Carpetbagger Report

Johanna Neuman / The LA Times President Bush Blog:
GOP'ers protest over energy — best show in town

Discussion: The Swamp, The Democratic Daily and Truthdig

Think Progress:
Bush Rebuffs GOP's ‘Boston Tea Party,’ …

Discussion: GOP Leader Blog, Hot Air and The Crypt's Blogs

Frank James / The Swamp:
Pelosi's oil slick

Discussion: Sweetness & Light and Blog entry

Frank James / The Swamp:
House GOP's oil-drilling protest resumes

Discussion: The Crypt's Blogs, USA Today, Weekly Standard Blog, The Anonymous Liberal, Gateway Pundit and Wake up America

Robert Novak / Chicago Sun Times:

Sun-Times political columnist Robert Novak retires — FROM SUN-TIMES STAFF REPORTS — Robert Novak has announced his immediate retirement following the diagnosis of a brain tumor, a prognosis the Sun-Times' political columnist describes as “dire.” — “The details are being worked …

Discussion: The Raw Story, The Swamp, The Caucus, Outside The Beltway, The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, TIME.com, NewsBusters.org, Patterico's Pontifications, Wilshire & Washington, Gawker and Macsmind

William Branigin / Washington Post:
Robert Novak Announces Immediate Retirement

Discussion: The Moderate Voice and All Spin Zone

TPM Election Central:

Multiple Oil Company Executives Gave Huge Contributions To Electing McCain Just Days After Offshore Drilling Reversal — Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself …

Discussion: The New Republic, Macsmind, The Carpetbagger Report, Newshoggers.com, PoliticalBase.com Blog, D-Day, Cogitamus, Blog entry, Daily Kos, Sunlight Foundation, MyDD, Truthdig and New York Times

FactCheck.org:

Obama's Overstatement — An Obama ad says McCain's campaign got $2 million from “Big Oil.” The total is actually $1.3 million. — Obama released a TV spot saying McCain's campaign got $2 million from “Big Oil” while McCain proposed “another $4 billion in tax breaks” for the industry.

Discussion: OpenSecrets.org, Flopping Aces, Hot Air, Lynn Sweet, Political Punch and Swampland

Bil Browning / The Bilerico Project:

Obama will name Bayh his VP choice on Wednesday — Updated at the end of the post. — I'm going to put my neck out on the line by making a prediction. Barack Obama will announce his vice-presidential choice Wednesday morning. It will be Indiana Senator Evan Bayh.

Discussion: MyDD, Patterico's Pontifications, Pam's House Blend, The Politico and American Spectator

Ryan Grim / The Politico:
Bayh Partisans cancel softball game

Discussion: TalkLeft

Allahpundit / Hot Air:

Bob Herbert: Why is everyone missing the phallic symbols in McCain's Britney ad? — Between this and last week's Godwin-ing of the crowd scenes, I'm honestly curious to see where the left takes the critique next. One would think they'd either run out of cards to play or would quietly pocket …

Discussion: NewsBusters.org and Little Green Footballs

Christopher Hass / Barack Obama:

Barack in Lansing, MI: “We must end the age of oil in our time.” — Senator Obama just concluded a major speech in Lansing, Michigan where he addressed our current energy crisis and described our addiction to foreign oil as “central” to all of the major challenges facing us today.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Crooks and Liars, The Huffington Post, The Foundry, Firedoglake, Gristmill, AlterNet.org, The Carpetbagger Report and The Other McCain

Mark Halperin / TIME.com:
Prepared Remarks of Obama's Energy Speech

Discussion: MyDD, Swampland and Top of the Ticket

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

THE PLIGHT OF POLITICO — AND EVERYONE ELSE. — The success of Politico actually seems like an incredibly discouraging sign for the media. Here you have this forward-thinking, primarily virtual venture to create a political news organization that marries old-school reporting values …

Discussion: Blog P.I., The Opinionator, Washington Monthly and The Other McCain

Fiona Govan / Telegraph:

Knights Templar heirs in legal battle with the Pope — The heirs of the Knights Templar have launched a legal battle in Spain to force the Pope to restore the reputation of the disgraced order which was accused of heresy and dissolved seven centuries ago. — The Association of the Sovereign Order …

Discussion: I Don't Like You Either

Cernig / Newshoggers.com: Knights Templar To Sue Pope

Wall Street Journal:

Companies Tap Pension Plans To Fund Executive Benefits — Little-Known Move Uses Tax Break Meant For Rank and File — At a time when scores of companies are freezing pensions for their workers, some are quietly converting their pension plans into resources to finance their executives' retirement benefits and pay.

Discussion: The G Spot, The Glittering Eye and Balloon Juice

Mary Ann Akers / The Sleuth:

Mitt For Veep, Stopping Joggers In Their Tracks — The veep frenzy is getting crazier by the minute. One Sleuth informant this morning was certain he had cracked the mystery of who will become John McCain's running mate. The evidence was a big, glossy poster with Mitt Romney's face on it and the message …

Discussion: MSNBC and Boston Globe

Seton Motley / NewsBusters.org:

McCain Not First to Compare Obama to Paris Hilton — Editor's Note: Update below the fold. — The uproar of the media, serving as adjunct PR firms in defense of their beloved Sen. Barack Obama in response to Sen. John McCain's video comparing the Illinois Senator to Paris Hilton, was deafening.

Discussion: Don Surber