memeorandum: Kerry: McCain is ‘dangerous’ for the country (Alexander Marquardt/CNN)

5:45 PM ET, August 5, 2008

Top Items:

Steven Thomma / McClatchy Washington Bureau:

New poll shows Obama losing support among young, women — Barack Obama has lost ground among some of his strongest bases of support, including young people, women, Democrats and independents, according to a new ATV/Zogby poll. — The Illinois Democrat has also lost some support among African-Americans …

Discussion: The Moderate Voice, TownHall Blog, The Opinionator, Commentary, Shakesville, Political Machine and Wake up America

David Brooks / New York Times:

Where's the Landslide? — Why isn't Barack Obama doing better? Why, after all that has happened, does he have only a slim two- or three-point lead over John McCain, according to an average of the recent polls? Why is he basically tied with his opponent when his party is so far ahead?

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, marbury, TownHall Blog, The Huffington Post, The Swamp, Washington Post, Power Line, protein wisdom, TPMCafe, The Corner, The Daily Dish, No More Mister Nice Blog, Washington Wire, StephenBainbridge.com, About.com US Liberal Politics and Donklephant

Alex Castellanos / The Huffington Post:

The Molten Core of Barack: Why Obama Can't Win — In which science-fiction movie do aliens visit the people of earth and insist, “Take me to your leader”? If they landed today, America's news media would direct them to Barack Obama, the first American to run a global campaign for President.

Discussion: Hot Air, Right Wing Nut House, Hullabaloo, Commentary, The Glittering Eye and Seeing the Forest

Gallup:

Gallup Daily: Obama Holds 4-Point Advantage — Registered voters prefer Obama to McCain by 47% to 43% — PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update on registered voters' presidential preferences shows Barack Obama with a modest four percentage point advantage over John McCain, 47% to 43%.

Hindrocket / Power Line: OBAMA SINKING IN POLLS

Natalie Gewargis / Political Punch:

Obama Pushes Back on GOP Tire Pressure Attack: “It's Like These Guys Take Pride in Being Ignorant” — At a town hall meeting in Berea , Ohio, today, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, pushed back against the GOP attack on his advice to a voter last week that having a tuned up car and fully inflated tires would help save energy.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blogs, Think Progress, Gristmill, www.redstate.com and TIME.com

Michael Grunwald / Time:

The Tire-Gauge Solution: No Joke — How out of touch is Barack Obama? He's so out of touch that he suggested that if all Americans inflated their tires properly and took their cars for regular tune-ups, they could save as much oil as new offshore drilling would produce.

Discussion: Wonk Room, Obsidian Wings, Economist's View, NewsBusters.org, Stop The ACLU, Hot Air, The Huffington Post, BizzyBlog, All Spin Zone, skippy the bush kangaroo, The Carpetbagger Report and D-Day

Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Obama responds: 'It's like these guys take pride in being ignorant"

Discussion: The Swamp

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press:
Fact Check: GOP mocks Obama suggestion to inflate tires …

Discussion: Don Surber

Frank James / The Swamp: Is McCain's tire-gauge ridicule wrong?

Peter Hamby / CNN:

McCain makes the rounds at biker rally — STURGIS, South Dakota (CNN) - Standing on the main stage at a world famous motorcycle rally in rural South Dakota on Monday, John McCain looked out on a sea of denim-wearing bikers and told them he enjoyed their company much more than that of the 200,000 Germans …

Discussion: Wonkette, The Huffington Post, TalkLeft, MoJoBlog, The Carpetbagger Report, Talking Points Memo, Taylor Marsh, Political Machine and Commentary

Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:

TAKE MY WIFE, PLEASE! — We're trying to find out a bit more about the Bikini Beauty Pageant at the Buffalo Chip, where John McCain showed up and offered up wife Cindy as a contestant. ESPN says the event is topless and “occasionally bottomless”. Actually their description is worth quoting in full ...

Discussion: The Caucus and The G Spot

Mary Ann Giordano / The Caucus:
McCain Woos Bikers

Discussion: Associated Press, The Reaction and Gristmill

The Politico:

Tenet statement on Suskind — Statement by former CIA director George J. Tenet regarding the publication of “The Way of the World,” by Ron Suskind: — New York, New York - — I have not yet been afforded the opportunity to read Ron Suskind's latest literary effort.

Discussion: NPR, Emptywheel, Washington Post, Think Progress and At-Largely

Johanna Neuman / The LA Times President Bush Blog:
Did White House fake link between Saddam and Al Qaeda?

Discussion: The Swamp, MSNBC, OneNewsNow.com and Political Machine

Mary Beth Schneider / Indianapolis Star:

Bayh: Obama hasn't asked me to join ticket — Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., told The Indianapolis Star today that Sen. Barack Obama has not asked him to be his running mate and that he's not expecting Obama to announce his vice presidential pick when Obama is in Indiana Wednesday.

Discussion: TIME.com

Jonathan Cohn / The New Republic:
Bayh? Bah. — My colleague Josh Patashnik and quasi-colleague …

Discussion: FiveThirtyEight.com, MoJoBlog and Commentary

Ezra Klein / American Prospect:

CAN TAKE THE BLOG FROM THE BOY... The blogless life was going okay for Matt Yglesias until he ran across the Pollack, O'Hanlon, and Biddle op-ed from Foreign Affairs and got on Gchat: … That guy should get a blog. Possibly at the Center for American Progress.

Discussion: Foreign Affairs, Newshoggers.com, democracyarsenal.org, The Washington Independent and American Power

Kevin Drum / Washington Monthly:
SECTARIAN CLEANSING IN BAGHDAD....Last night Barron YoungSmith pointed …

Discussion: American Footprints and The New Republic

Daniel W. Reilly / The Crypt's Blogs:

GOP: Oil markets ‘responding’ to our protest — House Republicans issued the boldest claim yet in their three-day energy protest, insinuating on Tuesday morning that their demonstration may in fact have already begun to lower gas prices. — “The market is responding to the fact that we are here talking …

Discussion: Human Events, Gristmill and Angry Bear

Matt / Think Progress:
Conservatives Try To Take Credit For Drop In Gas Prices …

Discussion: The Hill, D-Day and The Carpetbagger Report

Max Blumenthal / The Nation:

Campaign 08: Accused of Acting White to Win — Last week, I reported for the Huffington Post that country singer Toby Keith had performed a pro-lynching anthem on the Colbert Report, and would be playing the same song soon on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and a slew of nationally televised talk shows.

Discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Crooks and Liars and Wilshire & Washington

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

The FBI's emerging, leaking case against Ivins — (updated below - Update II - Update III - Update IV) — It's certainly possible that once the FBI closes its investigation and then formally unveils its evidence — which apparently will happen tomorrow — a very convincing case …

Discussion: Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Firedoglake, Baltimore Sun and D-Day

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Salon Radio: Rep. Rush Holt on anthrax

Discussion: Firedoglake and Los Angeles Times

Jonathan Martin / Jonathan Martin's Blogs:

McCain takes populist turn, offers new theme in ad — A week after airing a mocking ad about Barack Obama, John McCain's campaign is going up with a wholly different commercial aimed at reinforcing the GOP nominee's “maverick” reputation. — Obama's name is not mentioned once …

Discussion: The Swamp, Top of the Ticket, American Power and PERRspectives Blog

Alexander Marquardt / CNN: Kerry: McCain is ‘dangerous’ for the country

Ira Teinowitz / AdAge:

Going for Gold? McCain Makes $6 Million Olympic Buy — Tops Obama Buy by $1 Million — WASHINGTON (AdAge.com) — Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is buying into NBC Universal's Olympics coverage. — The McCain campaign made a last-minute $6 million ad buy …

Discussion: PoliticalBase.com Blog, The Caucus, Ben Smith's Blogs and Open Left

William McGurn / Wall Street Journal:

McCain's Problem Isn't Bush — When John McCain stands before the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis one month from now, the American people will see more than a United States senator. They will see a man who served his nation as a young officer and suffered for it as a prisoner of war.

Discussion: Commentary and MSNBC

The Independent:

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: His final interview — Last summer, as his health began to fail, he looked back on his extraordinary life with Christian Neef and Matthias Schepp — Q: Alexander Isayevich, when we came in we found you at work. It seems that even at the age of 88 you still feel this need to work …

Discussion: Eunomia

The Politico:

Pelosi: At-risk Dems back drilling — California Democrat Nancy Pelosi may be trying to save the planet — but the rank and file in her party increasingly are just trying to save their political hides when it comes to gas prices as Republicans apply more and more rhetorical muscle.

Discussion: Weekly Standard Blog, Washington Post, Political Radar, The Next Right, MoJoBlog, Washington Monthly, Swampland, Hot Air, www.redstate.com, Time, GOP Leader Blog and Patterico's Pontifications

Tom Raum / Associated Press:

Critical of McCain, Obama quiet on own energy vote — YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Democratic candidate Barack Obama criticized Republican John McCain on Tuesday for taking a page out of “the Cheney playbook” on energy, overlooking his own support of oil-friendly policies that the unpopular vice president helped to craft.