Top Items:
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.
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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, The Washington Independent, The Campaign Spot, Balloon Juice and Corrente
Andy Barr / The Hill:
Meghan McCain: My Dad Says ‘Lipstick on a Pig’ — John McCain's daughter Meghan is not taking offense to Barack Obama's “lipstick on a pig” line like the rest of her father's campaign, pointing out Wednesday morning that GOP presidential nominee has been known to use the phrase.
Discussion:
Ben Smith's Blogs, FOX Embeds, Christian Science Monitor, The Impolitic and The BRAD BLOG
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 …
Washington Post:
McCain Camp Sees An Insult in a Saying — Obama Called Policies ‘Lipstick on a Pig’ — Sen. Barack Obama said yesterday that Sen. John McCain's claim that he will shake up Washington after agreeing with President Bush for so long is like “putting lipstick on a pig” …
Discussion:
TPM Election Central, PERRspectives Blog, QandO, Boston Globe, Polimom Says, Emptywheel, MSNBC, Open Left, Political Machine, The Caucus and Donklephant
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Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
McCain ad: “Lipstick”; Flashback: Obama flips the bird at Hillary; Update: Sexist Memory Lane — It didn't take Team McCain long to develop a new television spot from Barack Obama's “lipstick on a pig” comment. They have rolled out this 30-second spot hammering Obama for his sexism …
Fox News:
Obama Accuses McCain Campaign of ‘Swift Boat Politics’ — Barack Obama responded Wednesday to the John McCain campaign's call for an apology concerning his “lipstick on a pig” remarks, by calling the controversy “phony and foolish” and defending it as an “innocent remark” that was taken out of context.
Greg Sargent / TPM Election Central:
Obama On Lipstick Controversy: Attacks Media, Says “Enough Is Enough”
Obama On Lipstick Controversy: Attacks Media, Says “Enough Is Enough”
CNN:
‘Lipstick on a pig’: Attack on Palin or common line?
‘Lipstick on a pig’: Attack on Palin or common line?
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, Reuters, Washington Post, Pajamas Media, The Raw Story and Boston Globe
Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Shaken Dems fear Obama on downslide — Democrats in Congress are rattled over the momentum Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has brought to John McCain's presidential campaign and disagree about how their candidate should respond. — Some Democrats say that Democratic nominee Barack Obama's campaign must …
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Los Angeles Times:
Palin bounce has Democrats off balance — Some fear Obama's more aggressive tone could enhance her appeal among white, blue-collar voters. — The emergence of Sarah Palin as a political force in the presidential race has left many top Democrats fretting that, just two weeks …
Discussion:
Washington Post, US News, Wake up America, American Power, The Caucus, Commentary, Real Clear Politics, JammieWearingFool and The Strata-Sphere
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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Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
As Campaign Heats Up, Untruths Can Become Facts Before They're Undone — From the moment Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin declared that she had opposed the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere,” critics, the news media and nonpartisan fact checkers have called it a fabrication or, at best, a half-truth.
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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 …
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 …
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 …
CNN:
Rangel: I won't quit House panel over taxes — WASHINGTON (CNN) — Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, said Wednesday he will not step down as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee in the face of a call from the Republican leader in the House for him to do so.
Discussion:
A Blog For All
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Mark Hosenball / Newsweek:
Warned by the Court — A judge repeatedly told Palin and family not to badmouth her sister's ex — An Anchorage judge three years ago warned Sarah Palin and members of her family to stop “disparaging” the reputation of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten, who at the time was undergoing …
Camille Paglia / Salon:
Fresh blood for the vampire — A beady-eyed McCain gets a boost from the charismatic Sarah Palin, a powerful new feminist — yes, feminist! — force. Plus: Obama must embrace his dull side. — Rip tide! Is the Obama campaign shooting out to sea like a paper boat?
Discussion:
protein wisdom, pw, The Corner, Althouse, QandO, Hot Air, www.redstate.com and NewsBusters.org
Suzanne Gamboa / Associated Press:
Paul says he turned down appeal to endorse McCain — Featured Topics: - John McCain - Barack Obama — WASHINGTON - Republican Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian-leaning Texas lawmaker who attracted a devoted following in the GOP primaries, said Wednesday he rejected an appeal to endorse John McCain's presidential bid.