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.

Blue Dogs strike deal: No health vote before recess  —  Blue Dogs and House leaders have struck a deal to guarantee that the House will not vote on a healthcare bill before August, a leading Blue Dog said on Wednesday.  —  In exchange for putting off a floor vote until after Labor Day …

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 …

Prof. Gates' Unconstitutional Arrest  —  There's a First Amendment right to be rude to a cop.  —  The now-infamous Gates story has gone through the familiar media spin-cycle: incident, reaction, response, so on and so forth.  Drowned out of this echo chamber has been an all-too-important …

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison Clarifies Resignation Talk, Kinda Sorta  —  Here are two things we have long assumed about Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.  —  One, she will challenge Gov. Rick Perry in next year's Texas gubernatorial primary.  Yes, I know, it should be more than just “assumed,” …

On The Birthers  —  So many readers are furious that I have dared to ask the president to show the original copy of his birth certificate.  The reason for demanding it is the same reason for demanding basic medical records proving Sarah Palin is the biological mother of Trig.

Obama's Doctor: President's Vision For Health Care Bound To Fail  —  The man Barack Obama consulted on medical matters for over two decades said on Tuesday that the president's vision for health care reform is bound for failure.  —  Dr. David Scheiner, a 70-year Chicago-based physician …

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.

Vitter defends Southern influence in GOP, slams Voinovich  —  WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana slammed fellow Republican George Voinovich Wednesday for saying the GOP's problems stem from the fact that it is “being taken over by Southerners,” calling the Ohio senator “a moderate, really wishy-washy.”

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 …

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 …

Farewell, Hello....  Like Sarah Palin, I'm outta here.  Well, not exactly.  I am moving this blog from CQPolitics.com to AOL's PoliticsDaily.com.  —  I've had a great ride at CQ, and I am quite grateful to Robert Merry and Bruce Drake, who created and built this site …

Health-Care Poll: Americans Support Obama's Reform Goals  —  Lilly Stanley, 62, speaks with a doctor at the Remote Area Medical health clinic at the Wise County Fairgrounds in Virginia on July 25, 2009  —  Congressional Democrats and a barnstorming President face deep skepticism …

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 …

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.