Let's watch the Saddleback Presidential Forum together.  —  Saddle up!  —  7:00 CT: CNN's John King pauses to let other networks join, and when he does, we can here a voice saying “God who gave us life, gave us...” King drowns that out with the info that this “is not a debate …

Live-Blogging Saddleback - McCain  —  9.57 pm.  McCain's evolution into a candidate who knows how to stroke the Christianist base is somewhat impressive.  It was a little canned at times, but it will work with evangelicals.  All in all, this struck me as pretty much a draw.

Memo From a Poison Penn  —  Say you find yourself seated on the train behind two white supremacists who are beside themselves over the possibility that Barack Obama could become America's first black president.  —  They are so fired up, they fail to notice you.

Obama nearly doubles McCain haul  —  Barack Obama raised $51 million in July, nearly twice as much as John McCain.  —  McCain revealed Friday that he raised $27 million last month, his best month of the campaign.  —  The summer surge pushed Obama over the $400 million mark for what he's raised …

Kobe Bryant Schools Liberal NBC Announcer On Patriotism  —  It's pretty moving to watch a pampered professional jock show more patriotism than the Democratic candidate for president, more pride in his country than the democratic candidate's wife, and more awareness of this country's opportunities than a liberal NBC announcer.

Obama to General Wesley Clark: Your Services Not Needed  —  (General Wesley Clark speaking at Yearly Kos Convention in Chicago, 2007)  —  General Wesley Clark is not attending the Democratic National Convention.  —  He was informed by Barack Obama's people that there was “no reason to come.”

Roberta McCain denies lawsuit against son's ex-wife  —  ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain's divorce was amicable enough that he and his ex-wife jointly brought a lawsuit 10 years later to recover damages for lost mementos, but it wasn't amicable enough …

Colorado turns purple in polls  —  Electorate's great divide is by age and geography  —  A political battle for the ages may become a battle of the ages.  —  Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are neck-and-neck in Colorado, solidifying the state as a key …

Allies Ask Obama to Make ‘Hope’ More Specific  —  As Senator Barack Obama prepares to accept the Democratic presidential nomination next week, party leaders in battleground states say the fight ahead against Senator John McCain looks tougher than they imagined, with Mr. Obama vulnerable …

Howard Dean Accidentally Calls the Republican Party the “White” Party  —  In an interview with National Public Radio on Friday, Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, referred to the Republican Party as the white party, seemingly accidental.

Cold Friends, Wrapped in Mink and Medals  —  Writing in The Financial Times last week, Chrystia Freeland recalled Francis Fukuyama's 1989 essay “The End of History?,” which trumpeted the definitive triumph of liberal democracy.  The great nightmare tyrannies of last century — the Evil Empire …

Obama: Clarence Thomas Is Just Too Dumb  —  I realize everyone is focusing on Obama's “exp...” gaffe tonight with Rick Warren.  But look for something else in this brief clip via Hot Air.  It seems fairly obvious to me that what Obama actually did, whether he intended to, or not, is imply that Clarence Thomas is simply dumb.

Saddleback: The Contrast  —  A fascinating night that gave us a peek at the fundamental contrast between these candidates.  They both were very good, but in entirely different ways.  Obama was relaxed, reflective, polished, and conversational—truer to the spirit of the event.