Top Items:
Carpetbagger / The Carpetbagger Report:
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.
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Randyj / TIME.com:
Both Sides Inflate Tire Pressure Battle — The Obama team defends the Democrat's call for drivers to properly inflate their tires in order to conserve gas. — Campaign e-mails reporters a favorable story from NASCAR.com and notes that the Department of Energy makes the same recommendation.
Discussion:
CNN, The Huffington Post, The Moderate Voice, PERRspectives Blog, D-Day and TPM Election Central
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 Caucus, Outside The Beltway, TIME.com, Macsmind, D-Day and Wilshire & Washington
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 …
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Susan Page / USA Today:
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 …
Discussion:
Hot Air, The Washington Independent, Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog, baldilocks, New York Times and TalkLeft
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 …
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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 …
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, Firedoglake, Gristmill, AlterNet.org, The Other McCain and TIME.com
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Howard Kurtz / Washington Post:
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 …
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:
Washington Monthly
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:
PoliticalBase.com Blog, The Carpetbagger Report, Talking Points Memo, Sunlight Foundation, MyDD and Blog entry
Wall Street Journal:
What Is a ‘Windfall’ Profit? — The “windfall profits” tax is back, with Barack Obama stumping again to apply it to a handful of big oil companies. Which raises a few questions: What is a “windfall” profit anyway? How does it differ from your everyday, run of the mill profit?
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Jesse McKinley / New York Times:
Firebombings at Homes of 2 California Researchers — SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — The police and federal authorities are investigating firebombings at the homes of two researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz. — The attacks, which the university described as “antiscience violence …
Discussion:
At-Largely
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.
Vikas Bajaj / New York Times:
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 …
Discussion:
Megan McArdle, Newshoggers.com, Washington Post, The Huffington Post, EconLog, Think Progress and The Democratic Daily
Ben Smith / The Politico:
New book: Obama a lefty, not a reformer — The first serious negative biography of Senator Barack Obama casts the Democratic nominee as a fake reformer and a real liberal. — “The Case Against Barack Obama,” by National Review's David Freddoso, blasts Obama for failing to take on the Chicago machine …
Johanna Neuman / The LA Times President Bush Blog:
McCain has no place for Cheney on GOP podium — He might be the most powerful vice president in history, but Dick Cheney is also one of the most divisive. — So, the conservative American Spectator reported this morning, Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain has decided …
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