Top Items:
Randyj / TIME.com:
2 GOP Sources: It's Romney — Two Republicans close to the situation say McCain has apparently settled on Mitt Romney as his running mate. — Two additional GOP sources say McCain had not offered the slot to anyone as of Thursday night, and that he could still change his mind. — Developing...
Discussion:
Balloon Juice, The Field on the Narcosphere, FiveThirtyEight.com, Moue Magazine, marbury and The Jed Report
RELATED:
Marc Ambinder:
McCain Prepares Rezko Ad; Wright “Now Fair Game”; GOP 527 Attacks — Sen. John McCain's campaign is finishing a hard-hitting television ad highlighting Barack Obama 's ties to shady Chicago land dealer Tony Rezko, the one-time Obama patron who was convicted earlier this summer of fraud.
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice, Sister Toldjah, MyDD, The Jed Report, Taylor Marsh, The Huffington Post, pandagon.net, The Politico, The Political Carnival, Political Radar, American Power, Gateway Pundit, TownHall Blog, The Anonymous Liberal, bustardblog, Wake up America, PrezVid, Commentary and Undiplomatic
Kenneth P. Vogel / The Politico:
McCain family owns 8 properties — John McCain's family owns at least eight properties — not the seven Democrats are alleging or the four McCain's staff identified — according to a Politico analysis of property and tax records, as well as interviews. — The presumptive Republican nominee …
Discussion:
CBS News, Matthew Yglesias, Hot Air, www.redstate.com, The Huffington Post, Don Surber and Undiplomatic
Hindrocket / Power Line:
NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY — The latest campaign kerfuffle is Obama's effort to make hay out of John McCain's inability to tell a reporter how many houses he owns. McCain mumbled something about condos and said the reporter should talk to his wife. Predictably, Obama is trying to spin …
Eric Kleefeld / TPM Election Central:
McCain Camp Responds On Houses Gaffe: He Was A POW! — The McCain campaign is road-testing a new argument in responding to Obama's criticism of his number-of-houses gaffe, an approach the McCain camp has never tried before: The houses gaffe doesn't matter because ... he was a POW!
Michael D. Shear / Washington Post:
McCain Spokesman's Retort: Obama Lives in “a Frickin' Mansion” — SEDONA, Ariz. — A spokesman for Sen. John McCain vowed to retaliate against today's story about how many houses the GOP candidate owns with a renewed focus on Sen. Barack Obama's ties to a Chicago developer and charges that Obama is an elitist.
Discussion:
The Huffington Post, The Huffington Post, Matthew Yglesias, The Gun Toting Liberal, Ben Smith's Blogs, Open Left, Undiplomatic, The Politico, Wake up America, The Poor Man Institute, The Daily Dish, The Mahablog, Hullabaloo, Firedoglake, Cogitamus, Old Man McCain, The Political Carnival, Washington Monthly and VetVoice
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
New group plans Ayers attack on Obama — A new conservative group has produced a television ad attacking Barack Obama for his relationship with former Weather Underground bomber Bill Ayers. — “How much do your really know about Barack Obama? What does he really believe?” asks the ad …
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
McCain Advisers Say Stance on Abortion Is Crucial for No. 2 — SEDONA, Ariz. — Senator John McCain has narrowed his list of potential running mates to a handful of candidates and appears unlikely to select anyone who supports abortion rights, several advisers close to his campaign said on Thursday.
Discussion:
Hot Air
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
McCains Bought Second Beach Condo At Around Time McCain Said …
McCains Bought Second Beach Condo At Around Time McCain Said …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars, Hotline On Call, Balloon Juice, PoliticalBase.com Blog, Oliver Willis, Sadly, No! and Pam's House Blend
Glenn Reynolds / Pajamas Media:
I TOLD YOU THAT IT WAS A BAD IDEA for Obama to bring up houses again.
I TOLD YOU THAT IT WAS A BAD IDEA for Obama to bring up houses again.
On Politics:
Obama says he's chosen his VP — won't reveal who it is yet — Barack Obama told USA TODAY this afternoon that “yes,” he has made up his mind about whom his running mate will be — but he would not reveal the name or just when he will tell the nation about his choice. — USA TODAY's Kathy Kiely writes that:
RELATED:
John Amato / Crooks and Liars:
Is The Narrative Shifting for Hillary as VP? He's ready! — USA Today reports: … With a slew of new polls coming out that have not been good for Obama, I wonder if his camp is rethinking their strategy for selecting a VP? — Check out this CBS/NY Times poll:
FactCheck.org:
Born in the U.S.A. — The truth about Obama's birth certificate. — In June, the Obama campaign released a digitally scanned image of his birth certificate to quell speculative charges that he might not be a natural-born citizen. But the image prompted more blog-based skepticism about the document's authenticity.
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Hot Air, TexasDarlin, Atlas Shrugs, Lonewacko, Liberal Values and www.redstate.com
Martin Samuel / Times of London:
International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age — Tim Reid in Washington, Jeremy Griffin and Jane Macartney in Beijing — The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into mounting allegations that Chinese authorities covered up the true age …
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated, michellemalkin.com, Deceiver.com, Gateway Pundit, The Opinionator, HolyCoast.com and JustOneMinute
RELATED:
Logan Murphy / Crooks and Liars:
Limbaugh: Obama's Nomination “Really goes back to the fact that nobody had the guts to stand up and say no to a black guy.” — Audio and more from Media Matters: … Yes, someone should have told this young, uppity negro to STFU and know his place in American society. You knew he was a baby killer, right?
RELATED:
Myglesias / Matthew Yglesias:
Veep Picks — Veep Day is tomorrow, by all accounts. My against-the-grain prediction: Sebelius. What do you think?
David Brooks / New York Times:
Hoping It's Biden — Barack Obama has decided upon a vice-presidential running mate. And while I don't know who it is as I write, for the good of the country, I hope he picked Joe Biden. — Biden's weaknesses are on the surface. He has said a number of idiotic things over the years and …
Mary Pat Flaherty / Washington Post:
Ohio Voting Machines Contained Programming Error That Dropped Votes — A voting system used in 34 states contains a critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped while being electronically transferred from memory cards to a central tallying point, the manufacturer acknowledges.
Joe Klein / Time:
Where's Obama's Passion? — A few days before Barack Obama was to announce his choice for Vice President, he was asked at a North Carolina town meeting what qualities he wanted in a running mate. He wandered through a derisive, if desultory, critique of Dick Cheney, then switched gears.
Peggy Noonan / Wall Street Journal:
They're Paying Attention Now — Why is it a real race now, with John McCain rising in the polls and Barack Obama falling? There are many answers, but here I think is an essential one: The American people have begun paying attention. — It's hard for our political class to remember …
Discussion:
Ed Driscoll.com
PewForum.org:
More Americans Question Religion's Role in Politics — Some Social Conservative Disillusionment — Some Americans are having a change of heart about mixing religion and politics. A new survey finds a narrow majority of the public saying that churches and other houses of worship should keep …
Discussion:
Dallas Morning News, Washington Wire, Street Prophets, Washington Post and Liberal Values
RELATED:
CNN:
McCain campaign offices get threatening letters — DENVER, Colorado (CNN) — Sen. John McCain received two suspicious letters at two campaign offices, with at least one containing an unidentified white powder, U.S. Secret Service and McCain's spokespeople said.
Discussion:
Washington Post
RELATED: