FIRST THOUGHTS: LOSING THE MESSAGE WAR?  —  From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg  —  *** Losing the message war?  Perhaps the biggest thing that stood out to us at President Obama's AARP town hall yesterday was that the White House appears to be losing the message war on health care.

Waters warns Blue Dogs to beware 2010  —  Liberal frustration started to boil over in the House on Tuesday as negotiations over healthcare reform with centrist Blue Dog Democrats dragged into a second week.  —  The delay prompted Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) to lash out at the Blue Dogs …

Harvard Prof Gates Is Half-Irish, Related to Cop Who Arrested Him  —  Two Men at Center of Controversy Linked by Irish Heritage  —  Henry Louis Gates Jr., the black professor at the center of the racial story involving his arrest outside his Harvard University-owned house, has spoken proudly of his Irish roots.

Stand In  —  Why Obama should make George W. Bush his Mideast envoy.  —  Gerald Herbert / AP  —  Peace Partners: Bush and Obama could play good-cop, bad-cop with Israel  —  On Sunday, George Mitchell, President Obama's Middle East envoy, arrived in Israel to confer with its leaders.

50 Most Beautiful 2009 - Top 40 (HTML)  —  Arjun Jaikumar … Arjun Jaikumar has been on Capitol Hill for less than two months and the shaggy-haired blogger and new-media guru for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is already getting noticed.

NPR Poll Finds Tough Sledding For Obama … text sizeAAA  —  President Obama has hit a rough patch this summer, squeezed between a lingering recession and rising questions about the health care overhaul he has made the centerpiece of his first-year agenda.

Back To Square One  —  The whole birth certificate issue gets weirder still:  —  “I, Dr. Chiyome Fukino, director of the Hawaii State Department of Health, have seen the original vital records maintained on file by the Hawaii State Department of Health verifying Barack Hussein Obama was born …

Dorothy D. Hoft... August 1925 - July 2009  —  Dorothy Hoft loved God and her nine children.  She loved the magnolia tree in the backyard.  —  My dear friend and mother passed away this evening at 10:16 PM.  —  She suffered a devastating heart attack 17 days ago.  We put her on hospice late last week.

Sarah Grabs the Grievance Grab Bag From Hillary  —  The woman who was prematurely counted in is out.  And the woman who was prematurely counted out is in.  —  Goodbye, Sarah.  Hello, Hillary.  —  In their vivid twin performances Sunday — Hillary on “Meet the Press” …

Fox News legal analyst sides with Professor Gates.  —  On Monday, Fox News Legal Analyst and former New Jersey state Judge Andrew Napolitano told to the conservative network's audience that police broke the law when they arrested Professor Henry Louis Gates for disorderly conduct.

Politico announces again: GOP is resurgent!  —  (updated below - Update II)  —  On Monday, I espoused my theory on Twitter about the birth of Politico, which led The Columbia Journalism Review to compare that thesis to the much different Politico-birth mythology created by its Editor-in-Chief, John Harris.

Lou Dobbs Slams “Tea-Bagging Queen Rachel Maddow,” Refuses To Back Off Obama Birth Certificate Controversy (AUDIO)  —  CNN's Lou Dobbs has come under fire for recent comments he made suggesting President Obama might be undocumented, and that, as a result, Obama's presidency and his actions as president could be deemed “illegal.”

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison Explains Plan for Gubernatorial Bid  —  ARLINGTON (WBAP) - U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison on Wednesday told WBAP's Mark Davis she plans to officially launch her bid for Texas governor in August.  She added that she will step down from the U.S. Senate sometime …

White House Science Adviser Advocated ‘De-Development’ of the United States  —  (CNSNews.com) - President Obama's top science adviser, John P. Holdren, advocated the “de-development” of the United States in books he published in the 1970s.  —  “A massive campaign must be launched to restore …

Intern, BF Entangle State Sen. in Sex Scandal  —  Intern's Boyfriend Arrested for Extortion After Discovering Photos From Senator's Affair  —  What began as a government internship for a one-time honors student with a questionable past has become a full-blown sex scandal that ensnared …

Landrieu: Trying to Find the “Center” of Health Care Reform  —  Seventy-six percent of the country wants a public plan, Landrieu doesn't.  Center of what — her own ego?  —  Democrats control the House, the White House, and the Senate — with a 60 vote majority.

City Aids Homeless With One-Way Tickets Home  —  They are flown to Paris ($6,332), Orlando ($858.40), Johannesburg ($2,550.70), or most frequently, San Juan ($484.20).  —  They are not executives on business trips or couples on honeymoons.  Rather, all are families who have ended up homeless …

Obama, Democrats Flunking Health Care Sales Pitch  —  As I've made clear on a couple of occasions, I think there has generally been too much panic over the process of getting a health care reform bill before the Congress.  Given a bill as expensive and complicated as this one …

Exclusive: Michael Steele Blasts Birtherism As “Unnecessary Distraction,” Says Obama Is “U.S. Citizen”  —  For the first time, RNC chair Michael Steele is sharply criticizing the birthers, condemning the movement as an “unnecessary distraction,” reaffirming that the president is a “U.S. citizen …

Rep. Foxx Says Health Care Reform Will Cause Seniors To Be “Put To Death By Their Government” … REP. FOXX: REPUBLICANS ARE PRO-LIFE BECAUSE THEY DON'T WANT SENIORS PUT TO DEATH … THE DEMOCRATIC LEGISLATION ACTUALLY PROVIDES PROFESSIONAL GUIDANCE FOR SENIORS' DIFFICULT DECISIONS - NOT TO ENCOURAGE EUTHANASIA