Top Items:
Karl Rove / Wall Street Journal:
What McCain Should Do Next — Notwithstanding the hype about Barack Obama, here is where the presidential race stands: John McCain was within an average of 1.9% of his Democratic opponent in last week's daily Gallup tracking poll. — It shouldn't be this close. Sen. Obama should be way ahead.
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Financial Times:
Obama adviser blames McCain ad for poll dip — By Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington and Edward Luce in Elkhart, Indiana — A senior adviser to Barack Obama has blamed recent attack advertisements comparing the Democratic presidential hopeful to celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton …
Washington Post:
Obama Hits Back, Too Softly For Some — Barack Obama released a television advertisement yesterday that questions John McCain's claims to be a “maverick,” and he charged in a campaign appearance that the Republican displays independence only when it suits him politically.
Discussion:
Jonathan Martin's Blogs, TPM Election Central, AMERICAblog News, MSNBC, Electoral-vote.com and Hot Air
Lydia Saad / Gallup:
Independents Remain Split Between Obama and McCain — Overall, the race expanded slightly, then contracted in recent weeks — PRINCETON, NJ — Barack Obama's lead over John McCain in Gallup Poll Daily tracking of national registered voters fell from an average of 6 percentage points …
Big Tent Democrat / TalkLeft:
How Would Nominee Clinton Have Treated Obama? — Share This: Digg! — On Morning Joe, Chuck Todd said that the “feeling in Chicago,” presumably referring to the Obama campaign, is that Hillary Clinton is seeking treatment that she would never have given Barack Obama had the roles been reversed.
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Karen Tumulty / Time:
Have the Clintons Gotten Over It? — The July 31 cocktail …
Have the Clintons Gotten Over It? — The July 31 cocktail …
Discussion:
Hot Air, Right Wing Nut House, Commentary, Wizbang, marbury, TIME.com, TPM Election Central and Patterico's Pontifications
Anne E. Kornblut / Washington Post:
Clinton, Obama Seek to Defuse Talk of Contested Floor Vote
Clinton, Obama Seek to Defuse Talk of Contested Floor Vote
Discussion:
New York Times
Jared Allen / The Hill:
GOP planning to revolt right up to Dem convention
GOP planning to revolt right up to Dem convention
Discussion:
Think Progress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Commentary, The Foundry, Weekly Standard Blog and The Crypt's Blogs
ABCNEWS:
Sen. Hillary Clinton Seeks Democratic Convention Voice
Sen. Hillary Clinton Seeks Democratic Convention Voice
Discussion:
The Swamp, American Thinker, Washington Post, Fausta's Blog, Gawker, Althouse, Financial Post, www.redstate.com, Taylor Marsh, Political Radar, The Democratic Daily, Macsmind, Corrente, The Confluence, The Caucus, TalkLeft, MSNBC, Political Machine, PrezVid, Vodkapundit and Riehl World View
Mark Johnson / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Tabloid's claims threaten Edwards' role at party's convention — RALEIGH, N.C. — Former Sen. John Edwards has a deadline to save his spot on the national stage. — With two weeks to go before their national convention, a number of Democrats are saying that Edwards needs …
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Liberal Values, DBKP, National Review, NewsBusters.org, The Corner, Flopping Aces, New York Post, Deceiver.com and Hot Air
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David S. Broder / Washington Post:
A Way Back to the High Road? — The first question I asked John McCain and then Barack Obama was: How do you feel about the tone and direction of the campaign so far? — No surprise. Both men pronounced themselves thoroughly frustrated by the personal bitterness and negativism they have seen …
New York Times:
Guilty as Ordered — Now that was a real nail-biter. The court designed by the White House and its Congressional enablers to guarantee convictions of high-profile detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba — using evidence obtained by torture and secret evidence as desired — has held its first trial.
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Adam Nossiter / New York Times:
Race Takes Central Role in a Memphis Primary — In the culmination of a racially fraught Congressional campaign in Memphis, a black candidate is linking her liberal-leaning white primary opponent in Thursday's contest, Representative Steve Cohen, to the Ku Klux Klan in a television advertisement.
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Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
Nasty Attack Ad Hits Jewish Dem Congressman For Visiting “Our Churches”
Nasty Attack Ad Hits Jewish Dem Congressman For Visiting “Our Churches”
Discussion:
The Carpetbagger Report, Gateway Pundit, Talking Points Memo, Hot Air, The New Republic and D-Day
New York Times:
500: Deadly U.S. Milestone in Afghan War — Not long after Staff Sgt. Matthew D. Blaskowski was killed by a sniper's bullet last Sept. 23 in eastern Afghanistan, his mother received an e-mail message with a link to a video on the Internet. A television reporter happened to have been filming …
Discussion:
The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Firedoglake, JammieWearingFool, Outside The Beltway and AMERICAblog News
Jody Rosen / Slate:
Dude, You Stole My Article — HOW I INVESTIGATED A SUSPICIOUS ALT WEEKLY. — The saga began in the classical manner: with an e-mail about Jimmy Buffett. Several weeks ago, I received a note from a Slate reader drawing my attention to an article published in March 2008 in the Bulletin …
John M. Broder / New York Times:
Obama's View on Abortion May Divide Catholics — WASHINGTON — Sixteen years ago, the Democratic Party refused to allow Robert P. Casey Sr., then the governor of Pennsylvania, to speak at its national convention because his anti-abortion views, stemming from his Roman Catholic faith …
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
The Age Issue — I've tended to dismiss it in the past but a reader directs me to this medical article, Cognitive Impairment without Dementia in Older Adults. He writes: … McCain clearly falls in the population susceptible to this - — not Alzheimers, but less pronounced cognitive impairment …
Discussion:
Althouse
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Dan Froomkin / Washington Post:
The White House's Weak Denials — The allegation in Ron Suskind's new book that the White House ordered the CIA to forge evidence of a link between Iraq and al Qaeda is so incredibly grave that it demands a serious response from the government. If what Suskind writes is true …