Top Items:
Katharine Q. Seelye / New York Times:
Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn't in a ‘Cone of Silence’ — ORLANDO, Fla. — Senator John McCain was not in a “cone of silence” on Saturday night while his rival, Senator Barack Obama, was being interviewed at the Saddleback Church in California. — Members of the McCain campaign staff …
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Mike Allen / The Politico:
McCain protests NBC coverage — McCain's campaign manager Rick Davis asked Sunday for a meeting with Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, to protest what the campaign called signs that the network is “abandoning non-partisan coverage of the Presidential race.”
Discussion:
The Daily Dish, FiveThirtyEight.com, TIME.com, The Jed Report, Ben Smith's Blogs, NewsBusters.org and PoliGazette
CNN:
Warren: McCain did not violate ‘cone of silence’ — From CNN Sr. National Editor Steve Brusk, CNN's Dana Bash, CNN's Mike Roselli — (CNN) - Sometimes you just have to take it on faith. — Pastor Rick Warren said John McCain didn't hear any of the questions in advance at Saturday night's Civil Forum …
Nate / FiveThirtyEight.com:
Pastor Warren Contradicts Self on ‘Cone of Silence’ — Note: Second Update below contains video of Warren's appearance today on CNN. [9:19 PM CDT] — In yesterday's Saddleback Forum, pastor Rick Warren on two occasions referred to John McCain's “cone of silence”, implying strongly …
D. S. Hube / NewsBusters.org:
NBC's Andrea Mitchell Floats Idea McCain Cheated — Think John McCain did pretty well in last evening's Saddleback Civil Forum on Presidency hosted by the Rev. Rick Warren? You're not the only one. The Obama campaign thinks he did well too — so good, in fact, that they think he might have cheated.
Michael Goldfarb / John McCain 2008:
Saddleback: McCain Wins, Obama Camp Whines
Saddleback: McCain Wins, Obama Camp Whines
Discussion:
The Jed Report
Beth Fouhy / Associated Press:
No more hugs as Obama tears into McCain
No more hugs as Obama tears into McCain
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Washington Post:
Key Constituency Is at Play At Candidates' Faith Forum
Key Constituency Is at Play At Candidates' Faith Forum
Discussion:
Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Seminal, Don Surber, Guardian, Political Punch, Firedoglake, Marc Ambinder, The New Republic, NO QUARTER, Deadline USA and The Moderate Voice
Ed Stoddard / Tales from the Trail:
Obama says pointed abortion query “above his pay grade”
Obama says pointed abortion query “above his pay grade”
Discussion:
Sweetness & Light, Viking Pundit, Right Wing News, Fox News, Buck Naked Politics, Althouse, Pajamas Media, Wake up America, Commentary and Macsmind
Rickrocket / Daily Kos:
“Cross in the Dirt” story stolen from Solzhenitsyn (updated X3) — I was watching the forum last night and decided that since I hadn't eaten yet, I would try to listen to John McCain speak. I was doing OK with the “my friends” and the evil chuckle when I heard him talk about his POW story of the cross in the dirt.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, Obsidian Wings, Seeing the Forest, Hullabaloo, Truthdig, The Raw Story, The Jed Report and Bob Cesca's Goddamn …
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Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
McCain's “Cross In The Dirt” Story — I've now heard it countless times. McCain has used what appears to be an intensely personal moment in a prison camp as a reason to vote for him in a campaign ad. As he tells it today, it was the pivotal moment in his struggle to survive in the Hanoi Hilton.
Discussion:
The Jed Report, beliefnet, TBogg, Group News Blog, The Political Carnival and Balloon Juice
Tom Maguire / JustOneMinute:
What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits — Excitable Andy has decided to Swift Boat John McCain: … Uh huh. Because the sign of the cross is a pretty well-kept secret, so how could prison guards invoke it twice in one century? FWIW, the story appears in McCain's 1999 “Faith Of My Fathers” …
Jonathan Finer / Washington Post:
Russia Vows Pullout as Troops Dig In — Occupied Georgian City Struggles With Aftermath — Russia pledged Sunday to begin removing its troops from Georgia on Monday, but the streets of this occupied city reflected a broadening, not a waning, of Russia's military incursion.
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Damien McElroy / Telegraph:
Ukraine offers satellite defence co-operation with Europe and US — Ukraine inflamed mounting East-West tensions yesterday by offering up a Soviet-built satellite facility as part of the European missile defence system. — The proposal, made amid growing outrage among Russia's neighbours …
Libby Copeland / Washington Post:
Bob Barr, the Master of a Curious Universe — “I still plan someday to do a book on Bob Barr's laws of the universe,” says Bob Barr, the Libertarian candidate for president. — The rules of Bob Barr's universe are many and fascinating. Several have to do with his libertarian principles …
Wall Street Journal:
Obama on Clarence Thomas — Barack Obama likes to portray himself as a centrist politician who wants to unite the country, but occasionally his postpartisan mask slips. That was the case at Saturday night's Saddleback Church forum, when Mr. Obama chose to demean Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.