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 …

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 …

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 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 …

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 …

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 …

Outspoken '06 Medalist Cheek Has Visa Revoked  —  ‘Team Darfur’ Co-Founder Barred From Beijing Games  —  The Chinese government on Tuesday revoked the visa of 2006 Olympic gold medalist Joey Cheek, effectively barring the speedskating champion and social activist from attending the 2008 Beijing Games.

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.

WaPo Blows A1 McCain Story  —  Hours after blogging about the problems in Washington Post reporter Matthew Mosk's A1 story, this correction was posted online: … That means these people Mosk alleged had been somehow forced to make campaign contributions to McCain through a third-party bundler NEVER DONATED MONEY TO MCCAIN.

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.

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 …

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).

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.

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.

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.

Has McCain Walked Into An Energy Trap?  —  The energy debate took what could be a significant turn this past weekend: a bipartisan effort in Congress has created headaches for both Barack Obama and John McCain.  But while the presumptive Democratic nominee has been criticized for acquiescing …

CELEBRITY?  —  Andrew Sullivan makes a good point.  For the ‘celebrity’ in the campaign, how many sitcoms has Barack Obama done guest spots on?  How many movies has he done cameos in?  How many times has he hosted Saturday Night Live.  As John McCain's IMDB bio shows, he's done a lot. 24 …