Georgian president to McCain: Move ‘from words to deeds’  —  (CNN) - Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili on Wednesday called for John McCain and other American leaders to do more for Georgia in their response to the conflict in his country.  —  “Yesterday, I heard Sen. McCain say …

NY Times tries to torpedo anti-Obama book; succeeds in spreading its message  —  Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear.  Jerome Corsi, author of the bestselling Unfit for Command in 2004, a book that turned the phrase “swift boat” into a verb and helped defeat John “Reporting for Duty” Kerry …

Presidential Race Draws Even  —  GOP Base Getting Behind McCain  —  With less than two weeks to go before the start of the presidential nominating conventions, Barack Obama's lead over John McCain has disappeared.  Pew's latest survey finds 46% of registered voters saying they favor or lean …

Obama tickets come with a catch  —  Some of those hoping to wrangle a seat for Barack Obama's speech were told this week they have to put in six hours of volunteer work for his campaign by Friday to have a shot at a ticket.  —  And that ruffled at least a few feathers.

SEX, MORE LIES & VIDEOTAPE  —  The ENQUIRER has uncovered bombshell new details about the John Edwards sex scandal after the former presidential candidate finally admitted he'd cheated on his cancer-stricken wife Elizabeth!  —  Edwards' headline-making admission confirmed …

Yes, She Can  —  While Obama was spending three hours watching “The Dark Knight” five time zones away, and going to a fund-raiser featuring “Aloha attire” and Hawaiian pupus, Hillary was busy planning her convention.  —  You can almost hear her mind whirring: She's amazed at how easy it was to snatch Denver away from the Obama saps.

Erasing The Race Factor  —  Obama's Best Hope Is To Face the Issue Directly  —  Barack Obama has a problem.  He really, really doesn't want this campaign to be about race.  He wants it to be about change, President Bush, the economy, gas prices, Iraq, Afghanistan — almost anything else.

Beijing Is All Dressed Up, But No One Is Going  —  Chinese Olympic organizers acknowledged Tuesday they were struggling to handle an unforeseen and baffling problem inside Summer Games venues and at the showpiece Olympic Park.  —  Not enough people.  —  Two weeks after announcing …

PHELPS' PIG SECRET: HE'S BOY GORGE  —  Swimming sensation Michael Phelps has an Olympic recipe for success - and it involves eating a staggering 12,000 calories a day.  —  “Eat, sleep and swim.  That's all I can do,” Phelps, who won two more gold medals today, told NBC when asked what he needs to win medals.

Eight Strikes and You're Out  —  John McCain recently tried to underscore his seriousness about pushing through a new energy policy, with a strong focus on more drilling for oil, by telling a motorcycle convention that Congress needed to come back from vacation immediately and do something about America's energy crisis.

RECLAIMING THE MORALITY OF ABORTION AND THE OVERDUE CHANGE TO THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM.  —  The Democratic Party platform of 2008 finally dropped its old abortion language ("safe, legal and rare"), which had asked that women not have abortions unless they absolutely must.

John McCain Must Denounce These Types of Racist Slurs Coming From His Allies  —  This photo was posted on August 8, 2008 on the web site of the Council of Conservative Citizens (C of CC).  This kind of racism aimed at Barack Obama's candidacy for president should not be tolerated as we approach …

Judge says UC can deny religious course credit  —  (08-12) 17:25 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge says the University of California can deny course credit to applicants from Christian high schools whose textbooks declare the Bible infallible and reject evolution.

FIRST THOUGHTS: THE KEY(NOTE) MASTER  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Domenico Montanaro  —  *** I am the key(note) master: The Obama campaign has announced that former Virginia Gov. — and current Senate candidate — Mark Warner will deliver the keynote address on the Tuesday of the Democratic convention.

Report of shots at Arkansas Dems headquarters  —  LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The chairman of the Arkansas Democratic Party was hospitalized in critical condition Wednesday, a party executive said.  A television station reported that three shots were fired at party headquarters.