Russia Threatens Retaliation After Georgia Says It Fired on Planes  —  MOSCOW — The sharpest fighting since the early 1990s in the disputed Caucasian enclave of South Ossetia threatened to draw Russia and the American-backed former Soviet republic of Georgia into direct military conflict on Friday.

An Antichrist Obama in McCain Ad?  —  It's not easy to make the infamous Willie Horton ad from the 1988 presidential campaign seem benign.  But suggesting that Barack Obama is the Antichrist might just do it.  —  That's just what some outraged Christian supporters of the Democratic nominee …

Edwards Admits Sexual Affair; Lied as Presidential Candidate  —  In ABC News Interview, Edwards Says He Cheated, but Did Not Father Child  —  John Edwards repeatedly lied during his Presidential campaign about an extramarital affair with a novice filmmaker, the former Senator admitted to ABC News today.

MCCAIN'S NEW AD CONTAINS DUBIOUS CLAIMS  —  From NBC's Mark Murray  —  The McCain campaign has announced it's running yet another TV ad hitting Obama for his “celebrity” and for wanting to raise taxes.  —  The campaign says the ad is being cycled into its buy in Colorado, Iowa, Michigan …

Know-Nothing Politics  —  So the G.O.P. has found its issue for the 2008 election.  For the next three months the party plans to keep chanting: “Drill here!  Drill now!  Drill here!  Drill now!  Four legs good, two legs bad!”  O.K., I added that last part.

Clinton backers want vote  —  Brenda Krause is tired of fearmongering among the Democrats.  —  The 55-year-old delegate to the Democratic National Convention doesn't think the party — or its unity — is in any way compromised by her voting for Hillary Rodham Clinton at the roll call.

When Identity Politics Backfire  —  Nikki Tinker's resounding defeat in her primary challenge to Rep. Stephen Cohen may suggest that identity politics don't work quite as well as they used to.  —  This week the Democratic primary in the mostly African-American Ninth District in Memphis, Tennessee made national headlines.

Accountability Now/Strange Bedfellows money bomb  —  Richard Nixon, August 8, 1974, 9:01 p.m. from the Oval Office: … Thirty-four years ago today, Richard Nixon was forced from office as a result of mounting public anger, which in turn fueled the bipartisan intent of Congress to impeach him …

One Nation, Under a New Obama Salute  —  George Bush had his three-fingered W salute that supporters flashed when greeting him at presidential campaign events in 2000.  And now, if a Los Angeles creative agency gets its way, Sen. Barack Obama will see fans meet him with his own salute like the one above.

Group Plans Campaign Against G.O.P. Donors  —  Nearly 10,000 of the biggest donors to Republican candidates and causes across the country will probably receive a foreboding “warning” letter in the mail next week.  —  The letter is an opening shot across the bow from an unusual …

Suskind to Release CIA Interview Transcripts on ‘Forged’ Document  —  Author Ron Suskind says he will release transcripts of his interviews with a top CIA official that will confirm his story that in 2003 the White House ordered the agency to fabricate a phony document linking Iraq to the Sept. 11 …

Just Asking...  If there were a group of questionable donations all with the name Abdullah  —  that were funneled through a guy in Jordan  —  who is under investigation for war profiteering  —  would this be a bigger deal?

Atlantic Scores Internal Clinton Campaign Emails  —  Just when you thought everyone had moved on... former advisers to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton are in a tizzy over an upcoming piece in the Atlantic Monthly that chronicles the inner workings of the now-defunct campaign.

After shake-up, McCain ground game revs up  —  A month after a campaign shakeup that reshaped John McCain's field operation, aides to the Republican nominee are touting organizational changes they say are bringing them closer to Barack Obama's sprawling effort.

Republican Energy Fumble  —  Politics has its puzzling moments.  John McCain and most of the GOP experienced one late last week.  That was when five of their own set about dismantling the best issue Republicans have in the upcoming election.  —  It's taken time, but Sen. McCain and his party …

Mayor wants federal probe after SWAT raids house, kills dogs  —  (CNN) — A Maryland mayor is asking the federal government to investigate why SWAT team members burst into his home without knocking and shot his two dogs to death in an investigation into a drug smuggling scheme.