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.

Hillary's Growing Shadow  —  Barack Obama and John McCain are running neck and neck.  —  Impossible?  —  It would seem so.  Republican President Bush still has less than a 30 percent approval rating.  Headlines blare that unemployment and inflation are up — even if we aren't, technically, in a recession.

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 …

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 …

Exploding The Edwards Mistress Scandal  —  The Raleigh News & Observer, which unlike other newspapers has never declared itself too good for the John Edwards love-child scandal, is first with the angle that will probably at long last propel the sordid tale into the Times and Washington Post …

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.

John McCain: My Pop-Culture Favorites  —  The presumptive Republican presidential nominee talks to EW about his picks in movies ("Viva Zapata!," Indiana Jones), TV shows ("Seinfeld," “The Wire"), singers (Roy Orbison, Usher), and a fictional president he admires

Kilpatrick will spend night in jail  —  Giles unmoved by mayor's apology  —  Judge Ronald Giles just sent Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail moments after the mayor pleaded for forgiveness and admitted he made an unauthorized trip to Windsor on city business.

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 …

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.

GOP planning to revolt right up to Dem convention  —  House Republicans are gearing up to continue their revolt of Congress' adjournment for at least the next two weeks - right up to the start of the Democratic Convention in Denver - according to a memo sent Wednesday to GOP members from Minority Leader John Boehner.

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 …

President Bush Visits Bangkok, Thailand  —  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.  (Applause.)  Sawatdee khrab.  (Laughter and applause.)  Thank you for the warm welcome.  Laura and I are delighted to be back in Bangkok.  Such a beautiful city, full of gracious and hospitable people.

Dr. iRack is Back . . . But the Elections Aren't  —  Dr. iRack has been away for a few weeks, mostly traveling across Iraq.  When he was in Baghdad last week, the word in the Green Zone was that the provincial powers law would finally pass.  As readers will no doubt remember …

Obama: “America is no longer what it once was”  —  When presidential candidates answer questions from children about why they want the job, most will give an answer that uplifts the child and the candidate.  Not Barack Obama.  At a campaign stop in Elkhart, Indiana, a seven-year-old girl asked …

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.

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 …

CUFI Confidential  —  A reporter goes undercover at the annual conference of controversial pastor John Hagee's Christians United for Israel and finds that, while Hagee may sound more moderate in public, his followers are just as messianic and radical as ever.

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 …