memeorandum: McCain makes the rounds at biker rally (Peter Hamby/CNN)

4:45 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, Shakesville, Commentary, 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: TownHall Blog, marbury, Washington Post, The Corner, The Huffington Post, The Swamp, Power Line, protein wisdom, The Daily Dish, No More Mister Nice Blog, StephenBainbridge.com, About.com US Liberal Politics, Washington Wire, Donklephant, Prometheus 6, Newsweek Blogs and Eunomia

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, Hullabaloo, Right Wing Nut House, The Glittering Eye, Commentary 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

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, TalkLeft, The Carpetbagger Report, Taylor Marsh, Talking Points Memo, Commentary, Political Machine and D-Day

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

Mayhill Fowler / The Huffington Post:
Rolling With McCain In South Dakota

Discussion: MoJoBlog

Mary Ann Giordano / The Caucus:
McCain Woos Bikers

Discussion: Associated Press, Gristmill and The Reaction

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

Natalie Gewargis / Political Punch:
Obama Pushes Back on GOP Tire Pressure Attack: “It's Like These Guys …

Discussion: Think Progress and TIME.com

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

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

Discussion: Don Surber

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.

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

Discussion: American Footprints

New York Times:
Not Quite Ready to Go Home

Discussion: Swampland and Weekly Standard Blog

A.L. / The Anonymous Liberal:

The Other Half of the Letter — Everyone is buzzing this morning about Ron Suskind's claim—in his new book—that a letter purportedly written to Saddam Hussien by one of his intelligence officers in 2001 was in fact a forgery authorized by the White House.

Discussion: The Huffington Post, The Politico, The Jed Report, Booman Tribune, Think Progress, No More Mister Nice Blog and Prairie Weather

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

The Politico:
Tenet statement on Suskind

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

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, MoJoBlog, The Next Right, Washington Monthly, Swampland, Political Radar, www.redstate.com, RAGGED THOTS, Time, GOP Leader Blog and Patterico's Pontifications

Jeffrey M. Jones / Gallup:
Voters Not Strongly Backing Incumbents for Congress

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Political Machine, Hot Air and Flopping Aces

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

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:

Salon Radio: Rep. Rush Holt on anthrax — (updated below) — Rep. Rush Holt represents the Central New Jersey district where at least one of the anthrax letters was sent. Rep. Holt's Congressional office was one of the few in which traces of anthrax were found.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Los Angeles Times

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
The FBI's emerging, leaking case against Ivins

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

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

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: PERRspectives Blog

Mark Silva / The Swamp:
John McCain: ‘The original maverick’

Discussion: The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, The LA Times President …, American Power and Top of the Ticket

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

James Glanz / New York Times:

Iraq Government Has $79 Billion in Unspent Cash — The soaring price of oil will leave the Iraqi government with a cumulative budget surplus of as much as $79 billion by year's end an American federal oversight agency has concluded in an analysis released on Tuesday.

Discussion: Think Progress, Political Radar and The Lede

Keith Olbermann / Daily Kos:

Dana Milbank And Unhappy Endings — Since I was a little less than proactive about this issue last week on television (for reasons which I think will become readily apparent), I thought I'd offer a little preview of an item on tonight's Countdown. — The headline: Dana Milbank won't be on the news hour any more.

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.

Discussion: www.redstate.com

Austin American-Statesman:

Former GOP state representative asks Libertarians to drop out of races — Head of LIbertarian Party asking candidates to ‘stand firm’ after they were urged not to take votes from Republicans in close contests. — A former Republican state representative called three Libertarian Party candidates …

Discussion: Off the Kuff and Foolocracy