Top Items:
Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish:
McCain's Integrity — For me, this surreal moment - like the entire surrealism of the past ten days - is not really about Sarah Palin or Barack Obama or pigs or fish or lipstick. It's about John McCain. The one thing I always thought I knew about him is that he is a decent and honest person.
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Joe Klein / Swampland:
Apology Not Accepted — Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists—including me—for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
UNFIT FOR HIGH OFFICE — One of the interesting aspects of this campaign is watching the scales fall from the eyes of many of John McCain's closest admirers among the veteran DC press corps. I'm not talking about the freaks on Fox News or any of the sycophants at the AP.
E.J. Dionne / Washington Post:
Does the Truth Matter Anymore? — This is not false naivete: I am genuinely surprised that John McCain and his campaign keep throwing out false charges and making false claims without any qualms. They keep talking about Sarah Palin's opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere without any embarrassment …
Margaret Talev / McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Out of bounds! McCain misstates Obama sex-ed record — WASHINGTON — Throw the flag against: The McCain-Palin campaign. — Call: Unsportsmanlike conduct. — What happened: A new 30-second TV ad attacks Barack Obama's record on education, saying that Obama backed legislation to teach …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Obsidian Wings, Buck Naked Politics, Newsweek Blogs and Talking Points Memo
Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
New heights of stupidity — We're fighting multiple wars; our oldest and most established financial institutions are on the verge of collapse; we've fundamentally transformed and then dismantled our constitutional framework over the last eight years, etc. etc.
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Mike Huckabee / Huck PAC:
LIPSTICK ON A PIG — Last night, while on Hannity & Colmes I cut Barack Obama some slack on his reference to “lipstick on a pig.” Now I personally don't think he was referring to Gov. Palin, but if he was he should apologize immediately. — Almost twenty four hours into this new controversy …
Discussion:
Jonathan Martin's Blogs
Mike Allen / The Politico:
55 days - Lipstick wars - Chuck Todd: McCain and Palin could …
55 days - Lipstick wars - Chuck Todd: McCain and Palin could …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Washington Post:
McCain Camp Sees An Insult in a Saying
McCain Camp Sees An Insult in a Saying
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, CNN, Ablogistan, TPM Election Central, Polimom Says, PERRspectives Blog, Open Left, US News, QandO and MSNBC
James Gerstenzang / The LA Times President Bush Blog:
Lipstick? Palin? Obama? Did someone say Dick Cheney?
Lipstick? Palin? Obama? Did someone say Dick Cheney?
Discussion:
The Swamp
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
McCain ad: “Lipstick”; Flashback: Obama flips the bird at Hillary …
McCain ad: “Lipstick”; Flashback: Obama flips the bird at Hillary …
Discussion:
The Swamp, Little Miss Attila, Wolf Howling, GINA COBB, Wake up America, Althouse, Right Wing Nut House and Shakesville
Charlie Savage / New York Times:
Wide-Ranging Ethics Scandal Emerges at Interior Dept. — WASHINGTON — As Congress prepares to debate expansion of drilling in taxpayer-owned coastal waters, the Interior Department agency that collects oil and gas royalties has been caught up in a wide-ranging ethics scandal …
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Dina Cappiello / Associated Press:
Gov't Officials Probed About Illicit Sex, Gifts — WASHINGTON — Government officials handling billions of dollars in oil royalties improperly engaged in sex with employees of energy companies they were dealing with and received numerous gifts from them, federal investigators said Wednesday.
Jonathan Martin / The Politico:
S.C. Dem chair: Palin primary qualification is she hasn't had an abortion — South Carolina Democratic chairwoman Carol Fowler sharply attacked Sarah Palin today, saying John McCain had chosen a running mate “ whose primary qualification seems to be that she hasn't had an abortion.”
Discussion:
Townhall.com, Hot Air, Fox News, NO QUARTER, Wizbang, Gateway Pundit and Ace of Spades HQ
Ben Smith / Ben Smith's Blogs:
Obama knocks press on ‘made-up controversy’ — Speaking at a high school in Norfolk, Obama took a few moments to address what he calls “the made-up controversy” of the day, Amie Parnes reports. — Obama said the McCain campaign moved to “seize an innocent remark and take it out of context …
Discussion:
Fox News, Townhall.com, Stop The ACLU, Wizbang, Taylor Marsh, JammieWearingFool, Hog On Ice, Gateway Pundit, Confederate Yankee, Don Surber and Right Wing News
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National Enquirer:
PALIN FAMILY SHOCKERS: WHAT SARAH'S REALLY HIDING! — The NATIONAL ENQUIRER'S exclusive ongoing investigation of GOP VP Nom Sarah ‘Barracuda’ Palin's goes far beyond a mere teen pregnancy crisis this week! — The Enquirer's team of reporters has combed the Alaskan wilderness to discover …
Discussion:
The Jawa Report
Ben Smith / The Politico:
CBS takes down McCain webad, suggests it's ‘misleading’ — YouTube has removed a webad that casts Sarah Palin as the victim of sexism on the request of CBS, whose anchor Katie Couric was featured in the ad. — “One of the great lessons of that campaign is the continued and accepted role …
Gallup:
Gallup Daily: McCain 48%, Obama 43% — Nine percent undecided in latest average — PRINCETON, NJ — The latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking update finds John McCain continuing to lead Barack Obama, 48% to 43% among registered voters. — The Sept. 7-9 average — spanning interviewing conducted Sunday …
CNN:
Ron Paul urges voters to skip McCain, Obama — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas called on supporters to back a third-party candidate for president Wednesday, rejecting his party's nominee and offering equally harsh words for the Democratic candidate.
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S. Weasel / sweasel.com:
Meltdown — There are few things in all the world I enjoy more than watching someone come completely unstrung in public. If that makes me a bad person...well, duh. What part of “weasel” was unclear to you? — I am frankly amazed at how prickly and snippy Obama is about Sarah Palin, and with what little provocation.
Discussion:
Ace of Spades HQ
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Maureen Dowd / New York Times:
My Fair Veep — The rain in Spain stays mainly in the Arctic plain ... I hope John McCain doesn't throw his slippers at Sarah Palin's head or get as acerbic as Henry Higgins did with Eliza Doolittle when she did not learn quickly enough. McCain's Pygmalion has to be careful …
James Fallows:
A controlled experiment: Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin — Twice in the last six months we've had the spectacle of a candidate clinging to a provably false personal narrative. Each tale was meant to show something admirable and significant about the candidate's character.
John Bentley / CBS News:
McCain Supporter Fred Thompson Brings Rev. Wright Back Into Campaign — From CBS News' John Bentley: — (FAIRFAX, VA.) - Attacking your opponent is traditionally a role for the vice presidential hopeful on the ticket, not the person introducing the vice president.