×
- Sarah Palin and John McCain continue to lie about being a pair of mavericks, even as every major news organization, it seems, has called them out on Palin's supposed opposition to the Bridge to Nowhere. So what happens when a lie is widely refuted, yet still lives on? I can't help but think this incident might be the incubation of a powerful narrative against McCain that the Obama campaign, if they're smart, can use to shatter, once and for all, this nonsense about a "reform" Republican ticket.
- Politico details the McCain campaign's efforts to "push biography, not issues," as the new Fall strategy. It's been clear from the beginning that McCain -- even pre-Palin -- was going to run a campaign that relied heavily on his life story, and he hasn't disappointed so far.
- Marc Ambinder reports that the Obama campaign has quietly given the nod to 527s returning fire on the McCain campaign, contrary to Obama's earlier insistence he wouldn't go there. Frankly, having these well-funded groups do the heavy lifting is probably a good thing for the campaign, despite being unofficial -- and hence, unaccountable -- campaign organs.
- This CNN story describing how Sarah Palin's former Pentecostal pastor believes the VP candidate has been playing down her religious beliefs reminds me why Article VI's denial of a "religious test" for oaths of office was, and remains, a good thing.
- Speaking of Palin, it seems that while mayor of Wasilla, she was opposed to offering state funding for rape victims. Lavishing federal pork on things like hockey stadiums, however? No big deal.
- Richard Hasen in Slate reports on the legal battles already being waged for ballot access in battleground states. Expect this story to get bigger as the ground game becomes decisive.
- Barack Obama has a new ad which observes that Senator McCain once proposed abolishing the Department of Education, among other federal agencies. This comes as the Democrat gives a big speech on public education in Ohio today. The McCain response ad can be seen here.
- A slew of state polling shows McCain catching up to Obama in several swing states, but ultimately the race for electoral votes is unchanged. Among the highlights: Survey USA has McCain over Obama in Virginia, 49-47 and Obama over McCain in Washington, 49-45, and McCain over Obama in North Carolina, 58-38; FOX and Rasmussen have McCain over Obama in Ohio, 51-44, Virgina 49-47, tied in Florida, 48-48, and Obama leading McCain in Colorado, 49-46, and Pennsylvania, 47-45; Strategic Vision has Obama narrowly leading in Michigan, 45-44; and Public Policy Polling [PDF] has McCain leading in Florida, 50-45.
- And Finally: Bob Woodward, promoting his fourth book in a series on George Bush, suggests to Larry King that "the September or the October surprise is going to be the apprehension or the death of bin Laden." A worse scenario for Obama, I think, is a repeat of an eleventh hour bin Laden tape, similar to what happened in 2004.
--Mori Dinauer
