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 …

Book says White House ordered forgery  —  A new book by the author Ron Suskind claims that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a back-dated, handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein.  —  Suskind writes in “The Way of the World,” to be published Tuesday …

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 …

Is McCain's tire-gauge ridicule wrong?  —  Now that many of us have had a good laugh following Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign's use of tire-inflation gauges as weapons of mass distraction against Sen. Barack Obama, can we acknowledge that properly inflated tires could indeed save a tremendous amount of energy?

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.

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 …

Not Quite Ready to Go Home  —  ALMOST everyone now agrees there has been great progress in Iraq.  The question is what to do about it.  —  Democrats led by Barack Obama want to take a peace dividend and withdraw all combat brigades by May 2010.  Republicans like John McCain want to keep troops …

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 …

Presidential hug for controversial senator  —  Republican Ted Stevens is the king of pork-barrel earmark spending.  The senior senator from Alaska is also the architect of the infamous Bridge to Nowhere, a project to connect the town of Ketchikan (population 8,900) with its airport on the Island of Gravina …

U.S. Army hopes to keep native Arabic speakers  —  Washington - The Army may begin paying a retention bonus of as much as $150,000 to Arabic speaking soldiers in reflection of how critical it has become for the US military to retain native language and cultural know-how in its ranks.

Evan Bayh: Latent Liberal?  —  Speaking for a moment as a Democratic partisan, I can't say that I'd be thrilled with the selection of Evan Bayh as Barack Obama's VP nominee.  But this has more to do with personality factors — my feeling that Bayh is a little dull and drab …

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.

Obama: ‘National Priority’  —  Here's a second contrast ad on the subject of energy from the Obama campaign, which seeks to paint McCain as the candidate of the past, of Washington, and of Bush, while Obama is the candidate of “new energy.”  —  The script: … I don't have details on where the ad is airing.

G.O.P. Drops in Voting Rolls in Many States  —  Well before Senators Barack Obama and John McCain rose to the top of their parties, a partisan shift was under way at the local and state level.  For more than three years starting in 2005, there has been a reduction in the number of voters …

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 …