Poll: Trouble Signs in Obama's Lead  —  After two weeks of sharpened attacks between the campaigns, Barack Obama is maintaining a narrow 5% lead over John McCain in the race for the White House, a new TIME poll shows.  Overall, the poll shows Obama leading McCain 46% to 41% when undecided voters …

THE PHOTOS EVERYONE'S BEEN WAITING FOR!  —  The NATIONAL ENQUIRER is releasing the photograph that the world has been waiting for - the first-ever picture of John Edwards and his love child!  —  The stunning “spy photo” shows the former presidential contender holding his infant daughter Frances Quinn Hunter …

Obama really doesn't like a debate  —  Barack Obama got stung by a challenge from a Las Vegas reporter on his energy policy, and specifically on his efforts to paint John McCain as a lackey of Dick Cheney.  Jon Ralston asked Obama about the contradiction inherent in this strategy …

Sen. Hillary Clinton Seeks Democratic Convention Voice  —  Sen. Hillary Clinton Not Ruling Out Having Name Put Up for Vote in Denver  —  Sen. Hillary Clinton told a gathering of supporters last week that she's looking for a “strategy” for her delegates to have their voices heard and …

Officials Say Documents Tie Scientist to Anthrax Attack  —  WASHINGTON — A few days before the anthrax attacks of 2001, the scientist who has emerged as the suspect in the case sent e-mails with wording that was sometimes identical to the language used in deadly anthrax-laced letters that autumn …

WRONG. . .WRONG. . .WRONG: Obama Lets Muslim Advisor Resign  —  Will anyone notice?  Barack Obama's team just threw its key Muslim advisor under the bus.  —  Barack Obama needs to make a statement loudly, clearly, and with passion that he embraces Muslims as much as any other Americans of Christian …

Obama Fatigue - 48% Hearing Too Much About Him  —  McCain's Ads Seen As Negative, Obama's as Positive  —  As he has since January, this week, Barack Obama enjoyed much more visibility as far as the public was concerned than did John McCain.  By a margin of 76% to 11% respondents …

Bin Laden's Former Driver Found Guilty in Split Verdict  —  GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — A panel of six military officers convicted a former driver for Osama bin Laden of one war crime Wednesday but acquitted him of another, completing the first military commission trial here and the first conducted …

Shutdown possible over oil drilling, Gingrich says  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) — He led Republicans into government shutdowns in the 1990s, and now, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich indicates his party is seriously considering another shutdown threat to force a vote on offshore oil drilling in September.

Who are these Donors the WaPo Found?  —  There's a curious story about John McCain in the Washington Post today I haven't been able to verify though normal FEC databases.  —  Take a look at the lede in this story “Bundler Collects from Unlikely Donors”: … Here's the rub.

For Whom the Times Polls  —  Back in the days when I was writing political advertising—in the pre-Internet, pre-War Room era—the single most coveted piece of information we tried to ascertain was the polling research done by our opponents.  —  Not the answers so much, but the questions.

China revokes ex-speedskater Joey Cheek's visa  —  Former Olympic speedskater Joey Cheek had his visa revoked by Chinese authorities Wednesday, hours before he was set to travel to Beijing to promote his effort urging China to help make peace in the war-torn Darfur section of Sudan.

Milbank's Move  —  Yesterday, I wrote on Dana Milbank's abrupt departure from “Countdown With Keith Olbermann,” which at first seemed to directly follow a disagreement over the Washington Post columnist's July 30 column calling Obama “presumptuous.”  —  However, Milbank's dissatisfaction …

GOP's Pawlenty praises Obama's positive message  —  ARLINGTON, Va. - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, often mentioned as a possible running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said Wednesday GOP candidates would do well to adopt a positive tone like that of McCain's Democratic rival Barack Obama.

Gore Hits the Waves with a Massive New Houseboat  —  The environment guru has a big house, flies in big planes... and now captains a big boat.  —  Former Vice President Al Gore, the Nobel-winning self-proclaimed global prophet of green, has made a lot of money from the so-called “crisis” of global warming.

A Right Wing Man's Plea: Right Wing Women, Please Stop Blogging  —  by John Q. Public I've been thinking about this topic for weeks, but have hesitated to publish it.  It is a controversial subject.  Even my powerful brothers of the far right dare not address it (though they certainly secretly think it).

Those Damn Kids!  —  On Tuesday night, TNA writer Lonnie Affrime spotted the Straight Talk Express in the parking lot of an Embassy Suites in Boca Raton, FL.  He noticed an unusual decal on the back of Sen. John McCain's whip and, as any good American would do, took a few pictures.

You Still Can't Write About Muhammad  —  Starting in 2002, Spokane, Wash., journalist Sherry Jones toiled weekends on a racy historical novel about Aisha, the young wife of the prophet Muhammad.  Ms. Jones learned Arabic, studied scholarly works about Aisha's life, and came to admire her protagonist as a woman of courage.