In Obama's Choice, a ‘Very Personal Decision’  —  WASHINGTON — In the beginning, Senator Barack Obama was not entirely sold on Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. And Mr. Biden told friends that he was pessimistic of his chances of becoming Mr. Obama's Democratic running mate.

Halperin: McCain's Houses Gaffe ‘One Of The Worst Moments’ Of The Campaign For...Barack Obama  —  Last week Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told Politico that he did not know how many homes he and his wife Cindy own.  “I'll have my staff get to you,” McCain said.  ThinkProgress noted …

Anti-war protesters marching to Pepsi Center  —  The first major protest at the Democratic National Convention, which starts Monday, went off peacefully Sunday at noon.  —  Police officers, some on mountain bikes, escorted hundreds of war protesters from the steps of the Capitol down Colfax Avenue …

Too Much of a Bad Thing  —  My mom did not approve of men who cheated on their wives.  She called them “long-tailed rats.”  —  During the 2000 race, she listened to news reports about John McCain confessing to dalliances that caused his first marriage to fall apart after he came back from his stint as a P.O.W. in Vietnam.

SOME MCCAIN CAMP INSIGHTS...  From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell  —  Reporting on the road with the McCain campaign...  The “Biden” ad: Advisors say that spot has been ready for “a couple days.”  The McCain team says they assessed that Kaine “utterly disqualified himself” on the basis …

Colin Powell in McCain mix  —  Retired Gen. Colin Powell is among the potential running mates who have been considered by John McCain, campaign advisers told Politico.  —  Powell was among the possible vice presidential choices the Arizona Republican senator was thinking of when he said he would not rule …

Georgia, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia  —  I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my experiences in Georgia in the early 1990s, monitoring the various conflicts - Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and the then-Georgian civil war in Tbilisi - and noting that the secessionist conflicts were marked on each side …

Biden's Son, Brother Named in Two Suits  —  A son and a brother of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) are accused in two lawsuits of defrauding a former business partner and an investor of millions of dollars in a hedge fund deal that went sour, court records show.