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.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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.

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.

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 …

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 …

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.

Is Obama Making a Town Hall Mistake?  —  Even though it's pretty clearly not going to happen, Fred Hiatt argues that Obama should agree to those town hall debates with McCain.  Moments like this make me think it's not as crazy an idea as Noam believes; I don't want to be ageist …

Knights Templar To Sue Pope  —  I just spotted a report that isn't politics, just interesting to me as I've a long-standing interest in the various Templar conspiracy theories.  They're such fun.  —  A self-proclaimed successor group to the famous Knights Templar are to sue the Pope …

Obama about-face: Tap U.S. oil reserves  —  He changes stance on stockpile, saying release can lower gasoline prices  —  “Breaking our oil addiction is one of the greatest challenges our generation will ever face,” Barack Obama said Monday in a speech on energy policy in Lansing, Mich.

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …