NBC/WSJ Poll: McCain halves Obama's lead  —  Obama up three points; still hasn't convinced some Clinton backers  —  WASHINGTON - With just days before the vice-presidential announcements, the political conventions and the final sprint to Election Day, Republican Sen. John McCain has cut Democrat …

Stephanie Tubbs Jones has died, sources say  —  U.S. Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in Congress, has died after suffering a brain aneurysm, said sources familiar with the situation.  —  She was removed from life support at 12:19 p.m. at Huron Road Hospital, the sources said.

Rare Video: Barack Obama Circa 1995  —  Curious to see what Barack Obama was like before he got into politics?  —  This rare TV interview from 1995 will give you some insight.  One thing is clear - the guy is consistent.  He's been talking about post-racial, non-polarized politics for over a decade now.

On Those National Polls  —  The Obama campaign has two disadvantages when it comes to spinning reporters about poll numbers.  —  One is an us-versus-the-establishment mentality that has, at times, served to protect the campaign from the ill-winds of fashionable opinion: last summer, the national press all but wrote Obama's obituary.

FREE ADVICE, WORTH EVERY PENNY  —  Don't ever demand someone stop attacking you.  Doesn't work.  Don't do it.  Sounds weak.  Sounds pathetic.  And a lot else.  —  Look at John McCain attacking my patriotism.  It's sad what he's become.  He'll do anything to get elected.  Attack my patriotism.

Obama's Rice, Clarke Drill McCain Over and Over  —  The Obama advisers light into McCain, his support for the Iraq War and his general attitude toward combat on afternoon media call.  —  Listen to the full call here. … McCain camp response here.

McCain On Reinstituting A Military Draft: 'I Don't Disagree'  —  Today at a townhall meeting, an audience member praised Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) for his vow to “follow bin Laden to the gates of hell.”  After a long question about veterans' care, the questioner said she believed we needed …

Obama team to hold ‘major’ event Saturday in Bayh's Indiana  —  Campaign team gathering for possible veep announcement  —  NashvillePost.com has learned that senior campaign officials from the Barack Obama Presidential campaign are being dispatched from various locations around the country …

Obama Looking to Diminish Superdelegates  —  Barack Obama's campaign will call next week for the creation of a new commission to revise the rules for selecting a presidential nominee in 2012 with a goal of reducing the power of superdelegates, whose role became a major point of contention during …

Barack Obama's ‘lost’ brother found in Kenya  —  Senator Barack Obama's long lost brother has been tracked down for the first time living in a shanty town in Kenya, reports claimed.  —  The Italian edition of Vanity Fair said that it had found George Hussein Onyango Obama living in a hut …

Clinton creates ‘whip team’ to quell anti-Obama protests  —  In an unusual move, Hillary Clinton's staff is creating a 40-member “whip team” at the Denver Democratic convention to ensure that her supporters don't engage in embarrassing anti-Obama demonstrations during the floor vote on her nomination …

Exclusive: McCain calls lobbyists ‘birds of prey’  —  LAS CRUCES, N.M. — Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called lobbyists “birds of prey” Wednesday and vowed to enforce a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of his administration.  —  “Whenever there's a corrupt system, then you're …